Logical Weight Loss

In examining myself, it doesn't take much to notice that my problem is staying consistent. I lose weight, and I find weight. So I went digging to find out how to keep goals in front of you that

• keep you moving toward your goal
• don't bite off too much and leave you're discouraged
• don't leave you bored to where you quit

 

My Goal This Month is 1 LB a Week

I started April at 223 lbs, and I want to be 219 at the end. As I write this on 4/18 I am .57 lbs behind my target weight. Like many goals, I came out of the gate and was ahead of schedule but then got lazy and now I'm struggling. The good news is by being able to see how I was ahead/behind it inspires me to stay on track. 

Now if for whatever reason, I can get achieve my goal of 1 lb a week, then maybe next month I will drop to .75lbs a week. Without making the goal so easy that you are bored, you want it to push you. For me, it is something I focus on from the moment I wake up. It requires my attention. For you, you may be able to lose 1 lb a week in your sleep. That's fine, and this is key. Find a goal that works for you. 

Try Not to Repeat Bad Behaviors

In the book Atomic Habits (finally finished the book) he mentions having goals and having daily strategies and he said something that is inspiring me. You're not going to be perfect, but when you see on one day you don't achieve a goal, do your best to avoid missing two days in a row. 

In the past I've mentioned I use an app called Way of Life and I also tried HabitShare (which is very similar but you can share your habits with an accountability partner) that I have specified meal goals and activity goals. I could see where my lunch meal was consistently going over calories. Without starving myself I reduced the portion size and now I'm back on goal.

I'm Testing The Streaks

I just heard about a new app that I have not tried called "Streaks" 

STREAKS. The to-do list that helps you form good habits. Apple Design Award winner. Track up to twelve tasks you want to complete each day. Your goal is to build a streak of consecutive days. * Streaks automatically knows when you complete tasks linked to the Health app * Streaks reminds you. It's $4.99 and only works on iOs/Apple (including the watch). If you are primarily using it to track exercise they have a specific app for that at https://streaksworkout.com/

Never Break The Chain

These streaks app can help you see just how good or bad you are doing (you do need the discipline to enter the data, but that's the good news you can track as little or as much info as you want. For me, when I have to put in that I didn't meet my daily calorie goals, the next day (trying to avoid having two in a row) I feel inspired. 

Do What Works For You

Find your sweet spot where you have challenging goals that keep you motivated, and most importantly you can sustain in the long run. You are not going to burn yourself out, and you're not going to bore yourself. There is only one person who knows you, your heart, and your dedication. If you start off with a goal that you can't reach, be sure to add the word yet to that statement. Lower the bar slightly and come up with a goal you can reach. Do that goal consistently, and then raise the bar. 

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I got a review in Apple Podcasts from Bridghside92

It’s depressing how much he bounces back and forth with his weight and seems to constantly make excuses as to why he keeps gaining weight despite the podcast before he talks about making better decisions or something similar. The guy is very relatable and I enjoy listening but it seems like he doesn’t really want to lose weight. Also, it seems like he is just advertising atomic habits the last several episodes and not really giving any other kinds of advice.

So I read this and thought, "He's right." 

“Lack of direction, not lack of time, is the problem. We all have twenty-four hour days.”- Zig Ziglar

“Whenever you want to achieve something, keep your eyes open, concentrate and make sure you know exactly what it is you want. No one can hit their target with their eyes closed.”
― Paulo Coelho, The Devil and Miss Prym

“Most of us spend too much time on what is urgent and not enough time on what is important.”
― Stephen R. Covey

“It is not a daily increase, but a daily decrease. Hack away at the inessentials.”
― Bruce Lee

Mentioned in This Episode

Way of Life app

Nutrition of a Thomas' Cinamon Raisin English Muffin

Logical Losers Support Group

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In listening to the book Atomic Habits the chapter I listened to explained that in one experiment they would send in a person into a group. The group had chosen to say how delicious something was when the food was purposely created to be awful. At first, if there was just one person, the person would be honest and say they didn't like it. As more people entered the group that would say how delicious something was, the person would change their mind to go along with the group. 

This is dangerous and we need to be able to identify when it happens. 

This week I had a family member in from out of town which meant extra get-togethers that involved eating not so healthy food. I did "OK" on one, and not so good on the other. 

Other Things That Happened While I Was Gone 

While I might occasionally get a "cold" I got a fever and caught the "real life" flu (Type A) and it knocked me out. 

You Need Lose Weight For You

I had been using a female that I had a slight crush on as an inspiration to lose weight. In a nutshell, there just isn't any spark there on her part, and it's not going to happen. This somewhat ruined my attitude, but all in all, I'm back on the horse trying to lose weight. While it's great to have multiple levels of inspiration, in the end you need to lose weight FOR YOU. 

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Talk to Future You

I was listening to a friend's podcasts called "You Wanna Do What?!" (www.youwannadowhat.com ) and she had a great segment I wanted to pass along (as well as add some thoughts I had).

There is some food in front of you. You want to eat it. You know it's not a good choice. However, you really would love to eat it. Monica brought up a great point. Talk to your future self. In the past, I've said I never felt bad getting off of a treadmill.  I have felt bad waking up the next day and stepping on a scale and realizing that food choice that I knew wasn't good has had a negative effect on my weight loss efforts.

So Monica says to talk to your future self. Think about how future self will be. Ask yourself do you really need the thing you are wanting to eat. Ask yourself "tomorrow will I be glad that I _____" and if you answer NO, then you'll be glad you stopped yourself from taking bad steps.

Make Your Goals Attractive

I'm still listening to Atomic Habits (get it free on Audible) and he previously talked about habit stacking where I have stacked lifting weights while I wait for the microwave to finish. In the last chapter, I read he talked about taking things you know you should do and tie them to something you WANT to do. I do this during football season. I can only watch football if I'm on my treadmill or my exercise bike. The idea is you start to look forward to the exercise you have tied to the activity you want to do. This requires discipline and integrity. In other words, don't lie to yourself. 

If you say, "I'll walk around the block before I watch my favorite TV show, and decide "I'll walk around the block AFTER the TV show, you have to discipline yourself. This sounds a bit like parents trying to get their kids to eat vegetables. "If you eat your green beans, you get an extra 15 minutes of video games..."

I love the idea of tieing actions to things you want to do, but don't fool yourself.

From the Audience:   Hey, my name is Caryn and I just started listening to some of your podcasts here recently and I have really enjoyed them. I like that you talk about what people really go through with their weight journey.   I myself have been on a "WEIGHT JOURNEY" for quite some time now and it never fails I give up when I plateau just because I get so discouraged that I am not losing weight and I want that instant gratification that I got from say the first 30-40lbs.   I started back in May(this time) on the Keto diet and lost 40lbs without exercise, then I lost my dad in October to cancer and kind of plateaued and then started to gain weight back. I had gained almost 10 lbs and was struggling with keeping it off. I would gain and lose it in the same week. I was basically going from 198 to 204 for months, so here recently since listening to your podcast and the Ed Mylett podcast, I have changed some things.   I decided I need to exercise more (well Duh), but also switch up my diet. Like I said before I was on the Keto diet since May, well I just switched to healthy foods and slowed down on my cheese intake. When I say healthy, I added in good healthy carbs as well, like I was able to have a baked potato and steak with salad the first night and it was so YUMMY. being on Keto you can't have stuff like that, I also switched to doing intermittent fasting just a couple times a week, not every day.   I was so shocked today being the end the 1st week of the change, I have almost lost 6lbs I started at 201.4 when I changed everything and now I am at 195.8. It was able to get me over thinking about giving up and has helped me focus on why I started doing this in the first place.   I started listening to your older podcast and have kind of skimmed through the list and listened to different ones and I just want to thank you for what you do, it really can make a difference in someone's life. - Caryn Support the Show, be a Logical Loser

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Right now as I look at my progress, I want to quit eating all food, go on a liquid diet, run a marathon, and dump a ton of weight by 6:30. We want the weight off. We want it off yesterday. Meanwhile back, in reality, a better strategy is to set up some habits to do the right things on a consistent basis. 

Full show notes at www.logicalloss.com/379

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I got an email. In it stated:

4 years ago, I weighed over 275 lbs. I was depressed and addicted to video games. I played more than 12 hours of games per day. Fortunately, I lost over 70 lbs and I've kept the weight off for 4 years.

More importantly, I transformed not only my physical health but my emotional and mental health too. I'm at that stage where I wanna share my experience with others who wanna make the same “health gains” that I did. So I invited Danyon Toniga on to the show to share his story. Some of the keys to his success:

Do what you love. If you make it a chore, you'll never do it.

Drink water before the meal and eat healthy first, then have a taste of the junk food

If you can't do a taste, then plan it ahead of time and work it into your schedule, but keep that calorie deficit.

Danyon uses the scale, but more importantly how he feels as a gauge of his success.

Mentioned in This Episode

Check out his YouTube Channel

His article with all of his tips is at http://www.healthvi.org/guides/fat-loss/

His email is [email protected]

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January started great for me, but mid-monthI started to go back to my old habits. We've talked about doing little things. I know what I want in my routine:

• Meditation (God time)
• Affirmations
• Exercise
• Water
• Sleep
• Food that helps me achieve my goals
• Taking my Advocare MNS 3 Suppliment

Yet, for some reason, I'm not doing all of these and the one that is mind boggling is taking a supplement. Really? how hard is swallowing a pill? The MNS 3 has a few pills you need to take at certain times, and yet at the end of the day, there is always one package I forgot to take with my lunch. 

I decided I would write down all of the things I wanted to accomplish each day into the Way of Life app. I was determined and decided I would start on Sunday.

Here it is Monday, and I didn't do it. I was so pissed. Do I need to make a checklist to remind me to use my checklist? UGH! So my initial reaction so that I could get a perfect week (my goal) was to try again next Sunday. Wait, what?

Yep instead of getting on track on Tuesday, in an effort to have a perfect week, I would wait until Sunday to try to get hyper-focused. 

I was being poisoned by the thought of perfection. I noticed how this idea made me waste sic days where I could work on improving my efforts. Why wait until Sunday when I can take another crack at this tomorrow? So I did, and I did.

Don't start “tomorrow” or “next week” or ” (insert day/event, etc) you can start improving you health right now

Advocare Spark Energy and Focus Drinks

I love Advocare Stick Packs. They are introducing a new flavor that is pineapple and coconut. I love it, and will be very sad when my free sample runs out. In the meantime, my favorite is Mango Strawberry. Add these to your water and you've got a unique blend of 20 vitamins, minerals, and nutrients that work synergistically to provide a healthy and balanced source of energy.* Spark contains an effective amount of caffeine to give you a quick boost, B vitamins to enhance your body's natural ability to produce and sustain its own energy, and neuroactive ingredients that enhance mental focus and alertness.

I became a distributor cause I love their chocolate protein shakes. When you are a distributor, you get deep discounts, and it pays for itself.

Follow Up On Last Weeks Interview With Karina Melvin

Last week I interviewe Karina Melvin and got lots of great feedback. She is from Ireland, and it turns out her books is not available in the US. I let Karina know we are trying to get her book, and she sent this link to a book distributor that should deliver to the US.

Atomic Habits

Thanks to Josh from www.onthebubblepodcast.comhttp://www.onthebubblepodcast.comand www.punchingsideways.com for recommending the book, “Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones.” You can get this as an audiobook for free by going to www.logicalloss.com/audible 

In the book, the author James Clear talks about how little things can add up to big results. Think of it like compound interest with money. This is what inspired me to create my checklist of atomic habits I want to create. I'm only through three chapters and so far I love it. 

One easy step you can do is to ask, “What would a healthy person do?” Then do that. Eventually, YOU will be a healthy person. The other thing that really struck me is when we start doing these small steps, in the long run, they can change how we feel about ourselves.

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I don't normally have interviews but I saw all the credentials of Karina, and how she had multiple degrees in psychology and addition I thought she must have insights that can help us all.

Today you will hear her say things that may make you go, “Wait, what?” but on the other hand if you've been doing the same things for year and all you have to show is a yo-yo weight loss plan, Karina explains how some of the very things I do (restricting my food choices, focusing on calories, and other things) may be the wrong strategies. 

With this in mind you might check out her book and if you are new to audible you can get her book for free when you sign up at www.logicalloss.com/audible

Check out her book, her courses, blog, podcast and more at www.karinamelvin.com

Thanks to all of our Logical Losers (our accountability and support group) at www.logicallosers.com

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Special thanks to Nick Florido for the $30

Today I share how I was doing everything I was supposed to do I:

Drink 60-80 oz of water
Get seven hours of sleep a night
Eat less than 2000 calories
Get 60 minutes of exercise or 10,000 steps
and yet the scale didn't move. In fact, in some days the scale went up. I was furious, and frustrate and I wanted to quit, but I didn't. I'm glad I didn't

Today I woke up and I hit my goal.

I focused on doing all the right things that lead to weight loss instead of the skill. On the Biggest Loser they had a saying, “Trust the process” and in this case I did

Inspirational Quote about Not Giving Up
“Character consists of what you do on the third and fourth tries.” -James A. Michener
“Winners never quit, and quitters never win.” -Vince Lombardi
“It always seems impossible until it’s done.” -Nelson Mandela
“How long should you try? Until.” -Jim Rohn
“There is no failure except in no longer trying.” -Elbert Hubbard
“You just can’t beat the person who won’t give up.” -Babe Ruth
“Never give up on something that you can’t go a day without thinking about.” -Winston Churchill
“Most of the important things in the world have been accomplished by people who have kept on trying when there seemed to be no hope at all.” -Dale Carnegie
“Never give up, for that is just the place and time that the tide will turn.” -Harriet Beecher Stowe
“You do what you can for as long as you can, and when you finally can’t, you do the next best thing. You back up but you don’t give up.” -Chuck Yeager
“Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time.” -Thomas Edison
“It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop.” ?Confucius
“If you fall behind, run faster. Never give up, never surrender, and rise up against the odds.” -Jesse Jackson
“Survival can be summed up in three words- never give up. That’s the heart of it really. Just keep trying.” -Bear Grylls
“Successful men and women keep moving. They make mistakes, but they don’t quit.” - Conrad Hilton

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Topics For the Future

Have you tried Theraworx Relief? I keep hearing about this product for sore muscles on other podcasts and was curious if you've tried it. If so leave a comment below

Start Your Own Weight Loss Competition

If you start going to start your own weight loss competition like the old “biggest loser” TV show, I've already done all the work for the calculations. Just put in your starting weight, and the weights as you weigh in, and the spreadsheet calculates your weight loss. Check it out.

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Go with me for a moment. Most of your friends come from your job. You are all close in age, you spend 40 hours together and often go to lunch together. In some cases, you even hang out after hours.

Then you hire a new person. They are also similar to your age. Then you notice some characteristics:

• They seem to do things with little thoughts about long-term effects as you "only live once."
• They seem to talk negatively about many of the things you do
• They seem unfocused on your companies goals and are a bit self-centered.
• You try to ignore them, but every time you turn around they seem to be there.
• They seem to lie to you all the time

Would you want to hang out with this person? How frustrating would this person be?

How To Turn the Tides on Your Negative Inner Talk

1. Notice it
2. Notice what you're doing when you hear it
3. Talkback and tell them to go away

No matter what the inner critic has told you, you do have positive traits, although it may take you some time and discipline to retrain yourself to see them.

We all have an automatic selective filtering system that (our brain) will look for evidence in our environment that matches up with whatever we believe to be true about ourselves. We will then disregard other evidence to the contrary.

How We Feel About Ourselves Matters

Events + Thoughts = Emotions

If our thoughts determine how we feel, that means how we habitually think will determine how we habitually feel. (source)

Give Your Negative Talker a Name

I have a friend of mine who refers to his negative talker as "Grizz" as it's like a bear that roars at him to go eat bad things.

I think I'm going to name mine "Charlie." I'm not sure why, but I can hear me telling Charlie to piss off, so I'm going with Charlie.

Think about what kind of clothes this person would wear. Visualize this person.

Now That It's Easier to See The Negative You Pay Attention to Your Environment

The other night I found myself at an ice cream parlor. I thought to myself, why am I here? My inner voice told me one cone wouldn't hurt (lies).

What had happened? I had been asked by my ex-wife to attend a Christmas party with her. Not as a date (They actual date had something come up and she didn't want to go stag).

I wanted to help, and I'm not worried about us on a romantic level, but there was something in my gut that said this was not the best idea on the planet.

The next thing I know, I'm at the ice cream parlor.

Seeing Is Believing

I have a wi-fi- Digital Scale which automatically enters my weight into My FitnessPal. Consequently, I don't really look at it much. My scale shows if I went up or down from the last time I weighed myself (which is typically daily).

As the year is coming to an end, I downloaded all of my stats from Myfitnesspal and looked at the lowest and highest weight of the past years

My goal for years has been 185 lbs.  May sites say 190 is the top of the range, and so I wanted to go to 185

Then I say that in 2016 I was five pounds from hitting my goal. After each year getting closer (with 2013, 2014, and 2105 each getting closer). I also see them when I get close to 220, or 225, I ge mad and get dedicated and focused.

You Don't Need to Wait Two Weeks To "Start Over"

Here is what I've done

I'm using habitshare (I talked about this on a previous episode) to focus on the things I need to do (getting sleep, hitting calories goals, activity goals, etc)

I joined a Stepbet this helps me focus on being active

I bought a new treadmill (more on that later)

I'm going to enter my weight into a spreadsheet that shows what my goal weight should be. (All Logical Losers can get a copy of this spreadsheet)

My New Treadmill

I've said the best exercise is the one you do. I tried a manual treadmill, but in a nutshell, I just liked a motorized treadmill better. I didn't really bother me until it started snowing. My activity went down to nothing, and the weight started to come back up. It wasn't cheap, but I know it would get used. I pulled out a credit card (not my favorite way to pay for things) and but the bullet.

I bought a Horizon Fitness T101-05 Folding Treadmill that was on sale.

Here is what I like:

Built in blue tooth speakers

built-in racks for tablets

Featherlight folding

Super quiet

Goes up to 10 MPH and it also inclines

Here is what I think needs improved:

There are 40 different variations of programs that you can run, but the documentation on how to use them is poor.

The built-in fan is an absolute waste of time

Things to Know:

It's heavy. While you can fold it up and drag it around, it's very heavy so pick where you want it, and put it down.

From what I read, the Johnson company builds this brand all the parts for the unit, and they are well made and have won awards.

Conclusion

I've had it a week, and love it.

https://youtu.be/CqDf2M6gq7c

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