Stop Moaning. Just Do It.

Over the last few weeks, I’ve received loads of advice from various friends about losing weight. All different. All good. So, this is where it gets tough….whose/what advice do I take? It’s all relative I’m afraid….

Well, as I’ve said before, I consider weight loss to mostly be a psychological problem. I say this in terms of overcoming psychological barriers and ingrained habits that prevent you from achieving what you want to. We all have the tools to lose weight and we all know how to, but it’s putting that knowledge into practice that’s the difficult part. It’s here where our mental resolve fails us most often.

I recently read the following article, and I found it to really ring true….It’s titled “If You Want To Be Fit, Don’t Buy New Running Shoes”! In as nutshell, it deals with feel-good tasks and how they can in fact hinder actual positive productivity.

For example, if I spend ages working out a training schedule or weekly menu, I will feel good, because I’m positively contributing to losing weight. The problem here is that I’ve spent a large amount of time on these schedules and menus instead of actually just going out and exercising or choosing healthy food as I go through the day. These feel-good tasks might not be directly aiding your goals, but you trick yourself into believing that you’ve done something positive, so stop there instead of actually just doing it.

I hope this is all making sense so far….Have a read of the article here if you’d like….or here:

http://www.scotthyoung.com/blog/2009/08/05/if-you-want-to-be-fit-don%E2%80%99t-buy-new-running-shoes/

Now, I know different things work for different people, but I just wanted to share this article with you all today. I just don’t want people to lose sight of what they really want to achieve. Instead of spending so much time planning things, just do it. Don’t even think about it. Just get it done. I’m not trying to tell people not to plan anything at all – some structure and goal setting is always good – I just don’t want people to over think things. That’s where the trouble lies.

So, how am I going to incorporate this into my life? Well, I do like planning, so I’m not going to give that up all together. For example, I’m running a 10K in July, so want to stick to a training schedule for that, but I’m going to keep it flexible. I’m going back to roughly working out menus for the week, but only for dinners (I want to cut out carbs for dinner!). BUT (and it’s a big but), I’m going to take every day as it comes. Not plan too much ahead and not think of my goals in big terms, rather tackle each day at a time.

Well, I hope I’ve made some sense in this post. I’d love to know what you all thought about this! 🙂

picture courtesy of http://www.someecards.com

Snacking…My Everest.

I’m writing today with a quick update on the status quo…..

I’ve spent the last two days at home being quiet. Very, very quiet. Let me explain……I woke up yesterday morning with no voice, so went to see the doctor. The verdict? Laryngitis. I’m a receptionist and my job entails speaking to people all day every day. So, as you’ve probably already guessed, Laryngitis and my job don’t really go hand in hand. Ergo, I’ve been at home for two days….

It’s very strange to be feeling okay, but just have no voice. I mean, I’m a bit head-achey, but otherwise I don’t feel terrible. My boyfriend, Greg, is loving the peace and quiet though. As he so eloquently put it…”a couple of nag-free days”. He’s even given me a new nickname….Larry Laryngitis. At least this is fun for one of us! 😉

Puddy & I snoozing on the couch yesterday!

Well, being off from work isn’t all perks. I’ve actually been a bit bored! Yesterday I spent the day on the couch watching day time telly (with the cat!) and just generally feeling sorry for myself. So, when I woke up today, I felt I had to do something…….I’ve cleaned the entire house (which really did take me quite some time), done some filing, read one trashy magazine, caught up with some correspondence and did some blogging. Not too bad, eh? The problem though is food. My usual habit is to snack when I’m at home. With this new Weight Watchers ProPoints system I’m following, I really didn’t want to ruin all the hard work I did last week. So today has not been easy!

Puddy helping me with my blogging!

I know it sounds a little crazy, but I think one of the reasons that I’ve kept myself so busy today is to keep myself from snacking. At one point, I even considered walking up to the cornershop for a bag of crisps or a chocolate! But it’s been really tough, because when you’re home alone you always tend to go for things that are the quickest and easiest to make. For instance, cheesy toast, pasta, pastry from the cornershop, etc….

Snacking has always been a problem for me. I think I’m only eating a little here or a little there, but it all adds up. And who ever snacks on anything healthy? Not me. If given the choice between snacking on some crisps or fruit, I will always go with the crisps. Always. That’s why staying at home with nothing much to do is so hard for me……inevitably, I will end up snacking. Mainly out of laziness.

So, I’m happy to report that I resisted temptation and remained indoors and stuck to my WW menu for the day. The amount of times I walked past the kitchen cupboards/fridge eyeing up the contents was more than I should probably admit to. So, I’m really pleased with myself for not giving in. It would’ve been so easy to lose the battle of wills between my stomach and my brain today, but today the brain won. Yay!

Snacking.....my Everest!

And to top it all off, I got a beautiful bunch of daisies from Greg to make me feel better. Although I think it might be a peace-offering to “Larry Laryngitis” and her no nagging. Either way, I love them and they really have made me feel better, even though I could only whisper “Thank You”!

xxx

picture courtesy of http://www.someecards.com