How To Get That New Body You Want: Change Bad Habits Into Good Ones

Journey Gym Habit

      We are all creatures of habit. Oh sure, we like to think we are spontaneous, and perhaps your routine is not quite as static as your neighbor's boring life. Forget the neighbor. To borrow from Mary Schmich's 1997 Chicago Tribune article,

Don’t waste your time on jealousy; sometimes you’re ahead, sometimes you’re behind…the race is long, and in the end, it’s only with yourself. 

     My friend, Bob Dorste, and I have talked many times about the power of our habits. Over coffee one morning we shared with each other what we were doing to re-invent our lives. Not just our bodies. We confessed to each other that we had allowed ourselves to slip into habits that were not healthy. That was about a year ago; by that time I had lost about 80 pounds. Bob had slimmed down, too. It was fun to talk about the change of lifestyle and the reward that had come from replacing old habits with new ones. And there is the secret key to my weight loss: YOU CAN'T JUST QUIT A HABIT; YOU HAVE TO REPLACE IT WITH A NEW ONE.
      In fact, you need to be smart about how you replace it. Why do you eat that donut in the middle of the afternoon? Are you just thirsty, but sugar tastes better? Maybe you just need to get away from your computer so you go visit a co-worker who always has a stash of chocolate. Could it be that your body is telling you it wants some stimulation, but you think that the caffeine in a "diet" soda would give it a burst of energy?
     And just why is it that you don't walk to the corner grocery store? Why is it that you drive around the parking lot looking for the spot closest to the store entrance?
     One of the blogs I like to read is called "Success Begins Today." Last week I read John Richardson's post about How To Change a Bad Habit Into a Good One. Maybe you will like some of his tips. Maybe you won't. But I can tell you that I like my new habits. I eat more than I did when I was fat. But I eat right and I exercise more and I have fun doing it. My reward is that I like the way I look and the energy that I have. And Cheryl, TLOML*, likes the new husband because he looks a whole lot like the husband she married 31 years ago. In fact, two days ago she told my niece that I look better than when we got married.
     Come on and join me. Develop the habit of eating right and exercising. You will really be glad you did.

Eat Right! Exercise! Get Plenty of Rest! It's that simple!

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*By the way, TLOML = The Love Of My Life = Cheryl DeVore = Prettiest Woman in the World

Have You Ever Wanted to Just Start Life Over? We Did!

It was two o'clock in the morning, January 1st, 2012. Unusual for me to be awake at that time of day. However, it was a fun week, ending with a very fun day. Now it was quiet, a good time to reflect on the blessings of 2011. In a fun conversation with God I reflected how he had shown Cheryl and I grace during the previous 12 months. Not only had I lost more than 150 pounds, we had moved from Missouri to Florida, bought our dream home, I started a new job and Cheryl quit going to one. We knew that we had been blessed beyond what we imagined at the start of 2011.  As the new year of 2012 started I said, "Thank you, God!"

We started over. Cheryl had lost 80 pounds in 2010. With her encouragement, I was now much slimmer and in better shape than when we got married. All because we saw opportunity to "just do it", to start over. Yes, it is  possible to be fat and still have fun. But I am here to tell you that it's more fun being 210 pounds than it is being 367 pounds. Daily activities are just easier when you don't have all that extra weight to move around. There's an extra bounce in my step these days. Co-workers ask how I stay trim and fit. Old friends ask how we did it. The answer is simple. Eat right. Exercise.

Eat right doesn't mean counting calories. Just cut back on the portion size. Quit adding salt. Drink more water. Quit buying potato chips. Losing weight is not rocket science. It's simple math. Calories consumed has to be less than calories used. Read the nutrition labels and make better decisions about what and how much you eat.

I repeat: You do not have to count calories to lose weight. As I have said before, I did not start that way. It was three months into my journey when I stumbled on MyFitnessPal.com. Their tools made it easy to set daily goals. You should re-read my post of March 16 about metabolic rate. Use their BMR calculator to find out how many calories your body needs in order to maintain the weight you are now and then subtract some calories from the daily limit. (check my Tools page for a link to MyFitnessPal).

Exercise does not mean you need a gym membership. If you have one, use it. I didn't have one, so I simply made it a DAILY HABIT to walk. Short distance at first, gradually increasing until I was walking about two miles a day. As you know from my posts about Monica Adams, eventually I did get a gym membership and started working with her as my personal trainer. But, you do not HAVE to start that way; just start doing something. Walking is the best and easiest way.

If you are overweight or out of shape, or both, you are the only one that can do anything about it. If you want to start over, then just do it. Start. Begin now. Enjoy your journey to a new and healthier life.

Be sure to get some breakfast, and take Clif Bar with you.

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Eat Right. Exercise. Get Plenty of Rest.