Don't Start With What Doesn't Work

I think I have decided what makes this different from a lot of other diets, food plans, or food related programs.

This program is based on your mental health, your cognitive capabilities and reducing suffering.

Jillian Michaels, one of my all time favorite trainers, always seem to give off the impression of no mercy, YOU DON'T LIKE IT- IT FEELS TOO HARD TO YOU- WELL TOUGH!

And she's pretty scary, so I think if I had her yelling in my ear I'd be able to do what she had to say also.

But in the real world, when people CAN'T do something, I turn around and ask- well what part of that CAN you do?

You can't give up having a beer on the weekend? Fine, no problem let's work around that. You can't workout more than twice a week- ok let's start there- and see if the person can give five more minutes of push ups and sit ups at some point during their week. You don't like vegetables? Ok- what fruit do you like? What vegetables would you be willing to try? How about with a sauce?

We build for success. We take what people can do and build off of that. We don't push them down a tunnel and say GO without making sure they feel equipped to do it.

A lot of people tell me that they're told in order to lose weight they must stick to 1200 calories, no if, ands or buts. And certainly they cannot add in extra calories for exercise.

Now that might work for some people. But for people that have tried, tried again, and tried some more to lose weight and keep it off- why would we start there?

Let's start with 1600 calories, stick to that, deal with the sabotaging thoughts and hard situations that arise at that level, and give lots of 'high-fives' for accomplishing that for a few weeks.

Then let's move down to 1400- and see how that feels. After that feels good, maybe just maybe, we'll move down to 1200.

But finite numbers with no wiggle room are mentally unhealthy to me. Between 1200-1400? Now that sounds like a range that someone can handle.

What if one week they exercise a lot? Or go to a once in a life time party? or have the stomach flu for a few days?

Rigid numbers are prison bars that don't resemble the real world we live in.

My next blog post will be about the "sufferring" theory of healthy life changes. But for now let's just end with this:

In order to make a change you need a food plan:
-that has some flexibility
-that feels doable
-that works in treats and things that make you happy
-that considers the amount of exercise you do
-that doesn't feel like you're holding your breathe until its over

And if a plan sounds too hard- ask yourself what pieces you can start with- and then slowly but surely- giving yourself a lot of credit for what you are able to accomplish- move your way up. Build on your competency- don't drive yourself to failure by starting with something that wasn't meant for beginners, eating or exercise wise.

Let's hope for a 2014 filled with habits that make us feel good about ourselves, our capabilities, our resistance muscles, our forgiveness muscles, and our healthy habits as a whole.