You say you want to exercise. You have the best of intentions to exercise. But the day goes by, and you still don’t do it. But what’s stopping you? That’s where BJ Fogg’s ability chain comes in. It might be time, routine, physical effort, mental effort, money, or a combination. This week, Catherine and Donald walk you through letting go of ideals and by using the ability chain, help you focus on what you can control and how you can empower yourself to take care of yourself. Plus, Catherine rubs virtual elbows, Donald buys the world’s most expensive coat racks, and the couple reveal a shocking secret about Dr. Fancypants.

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Tiny Habits by BJ Fogg PhD on Amazon:

BJ Fogg blog post about the ability chain:

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If you’re like most people, you try to eat food every day.  Sometimes, even making a dinner that fits into our health and fitness goals can be a challenge.  But what’s really stopping you?  This week, Catherine and Donald use BJ Fogg’s “ability chain” to break down the reasons that it might be giving you trouble.  Buy looking at each link in the chain, Time, Money, Routine, Physical Effort, and Mental Effort, you can break down the barriers and start the habits that get you closer to your goals.  Plus, Catherine has vampire oats, Donald gets accused of being fun, and this episode is guaranteed to be thirty minutes or less or it’s free!

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Tiny Habits by BJ Fogg PhD on Amazon:

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Whether it’s racing formula 1, becoming a fire truck when we grow up, or losing 5 pounds, we’ve all said that we wanted to do something, but then haven’t done it. Most of the time we don’t take the next step and really look at what’s making it difficult to do what we say we want to do. That’s where Dr. BJ Fogg and his ability chain comes in. This week, Catherine and Donald introduce you to the 5-link chain and how using it can unlock what’s stopping you from doing the habits that will get you to your goals. Plus, Catherine breaks down the Power Rangers, Donald finally gets into wine coolers, and the word “ability” puts on a cape.

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Tiny Habits by BJ Fogg PhD on Amazon:

BJ Fogg blog post about the ability chain:

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Historians and the people who lived through it, often ask the question, “what the heck was wrong with the 1970s? Disco, mood rings, pet rocks, and of course, streaking. The act of running through a public place without any clothes on as a prank became very popular. Sure, you burned some calories, but what the fudge? Anyway, this episode is about a different kind of streak. In weight loss, we often try to do the same healthy habits every single day for a period of time. There can be a lot of good things about this, but what happens when the streak ends? Do you start again or just give up entirely? This week, Catherine and Donald talk about the pros and cons of streaks and suggest some other ways to approach your positive habits. Plus, Catherine has been sitting under a heat lamp, Donald marries a streaky wife, and the couple let you behind the cloak of the dagger.

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The word “postmortem” comes from the Latin words “post” (after) and “mortem” (death). What a cheerful way to start a podcast! My point here is that businesses are too lazy to come up with new words, so they’ve co-opted the word “postmortem” to refer to looking back at a project after it’s over to figure out what went right and what could have been improved upon. This week, Catherine and Donald are asking you to do the same thing, but for your weight loss and fitness goals. By looking at what we’ve done in the past, we can make adjustments moving forward to get us even closer to accomplishing our goals. Plus, Donald gets involved in some monkey business, Catherine plays the blame game, and despite what you may have heard, there are no more mortems.

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If you’re a longtime listener, you already know that our second favorite thing is to make parallels between business strategies and health goals.  If you’re also a fan of that practice, this episode is for you.  Usually, we encourage you to imagine that you can accomplish your goals and figure out how to do just about anything.  This week, we’re asking you to imagine that it’s all gone wrong.  Using a technique from the business world called a “premortem”, Catherine and Donald walk you through predicting the obstacles and setbacks to your weight loss and fitness goals and how to come up with plans to deal with them before they even occur.  Plus, Catherine tries to get along with tarantulas, piranhas keep Donald from losing weight, and success is supesy dupesy great.

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Everything Is Figureoutable Hardcover by Marie Forleo on Amazon

Geocaching 101

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After last week’s episode, you probably thought that it was impossible for a weight loss and fitness podcast to include even more facts about Ohio.  You were sorely mistaken.  This week, the couple answer the second question from listener Erin in Ohio, “How will I know when I’ve lost enough”?  The answer isn’t as easy as it might seem to some and the couple walk you through some steps to prepare for maintenance, what maintaining a goal weight really means, and how to keep the pursuit fulfilling.  Plus, Donald has an imaginary t-shirt cannon, Catherine picks out shoes for ponies, and the couple ask the age-old question, what would people say if they didn’t say, “hot dog”?

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Listener Erin wrote in asking about how to deal with plateaus.  At first, we thought it was strange that she’d turn to us for information about areas of relatively level, high ground.  Maybe there was a Geology podcast we could recommend. Then we realized she was asking about how to deal with periods in your weight-loss journ-venture when your results level off.  How do you know when it’s “normal” and when you’ve really hit a plateau?  How do you deal with it both physically and mentally?  What are some strategies to push past a plateau?  Catherine and Donald talk about all of this and more.  Plus, Catherine says “hormones” like an adult, Donald listens to the Ohio based cover band, “The Buckeye’d Peas”, and learn the startling origin of the mutant, “Loosey Goosey”.

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You’ve probably heard the old expression, “People: you can’t live with them”. But if that’s true, why do we spend so much of our time and energy trying to make them happy? A lot of us are “people pleasers”. Most of the time we put the needs of others above our own. It turns out that that may be one of the main reasons we can’t hit our weight and health goals. This week, Catherine and Donald walk you through an article by clinical psychologist Jennifer Guttman which focuses on 6 things you can do to untangle your habit of being a people pleaser. It’s time to make your own health a priority. Plus, Catherine has the finger quivers, Donald keeps his appointments written down in his flying car, and no one knows how much water is in a liter.

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Breaking the Habit of People-Pleasing by Jennifer Guttman Psy.D.

A Path to Sustainable Life Satisfaction by Dr. Jennifer Guttman:

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As it is nearing Valentine’s Day people’s attention turns towards one thing; business strategies.  It is generally accepted that business strategies aren’t good for anything, but what if I told you that you could apply some of the concepts to weight loss?  This week, Catherine and Donald walk you through doing a S.W.O.T. (Strategies, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) analysis on the business that is your health and fitness goals.  By focusing on what you can do and identifying obstacles ahead, you can get yourself to thrive.  Plus, Catherine gives briefcase lessons, Donald lets rodents decide his future, and love was sprung in the nineties.

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