I am requesting a personal favor.

• Eat every 3 hours, smaller meals with protein
• Have protein with each meal.  This will lessen the glycemic spike of carbohydrates that we eat with our meals.  It stabilizes our blood sugar and helps reduce your risk of diabetes over the long haul.  Protein is like oxygen, you don't just breath at dinner time, right?
• If you eat carbohydrates, try and eat the more complex carbohydrates such as whole grain and whole vegetables.  Whole grains contain fiber and this helps with your bowels and your blood sugar. The more complex the carbohydrate, the more calories you will burn with digestion.
• Guarantee yourself success by setting short goal time frames.  Take it a month or two at a time. Don't set up long term goals such as "I am going to work out for 60 minutes a day for the next 12 months."  You should say, "I am going to do resistance training, or strength training, for 5 minutes a day for the next 2 weeks."  You set yourself up for success.
• Develop more motivation and a positive attitude. Read personal development literature or the Bible. You need to surround yourself as much as possible with positive material and positive people. I am a big fan of Stephen Covey and John Maxwell writings.
• Don't dwell on the past. If you are concentrating too much on history, you can not plan for the future. If you remember the movie Pay It Forward then you know the process of paying for positive things ahead of time. Make each mistake a learning process and I call this "Failing Forward."  You will move in a positive direction with each failure, or unsuccessful attempt. If you think you can, or you think you can't, you are right.  Think positively because it does make a difference.
• Eat breakfast.  This is really important because we have the genetics of a hunter or gatherer.  When you go long periods without food your body will slow down it's metabolism. Many people skip breakfast because they don't feel well mid-morning when they eat. Their blood sugar will drop because of the reactive hypoglycemic effect of traditional high carbohydrate food such pancakes, donuts, waffles or toast.  Again, you must have protein. Sometimes you have to make the extra time and try and stay away from the convenience foods.
• Try to regulate your choices by not bringing junk food home from the grocery store.  Make the choice to bring home almonds, cheese, fruit, vegetables, tuna and other good protein sources. This will be a much better choice.
• Identify the differences between hunger and food cravings.  If you just ate an hour ago, most likely you are really not hungry.  You might just be having a craving. Try and change your environment for 15 minutes and see if you still want to eat.  Fill your stomach with 8 ounces of cool water and see if that eliminates your hunger. If you still want it, then get it. Limit yourself to just a taste of pie and not 2 pieces and if you want to really increase your chance of success, don't eat a full piece. Just take a bite. A whole piece will not give you any benefit except gratuitous calories. Does that piece of pie move you closer to your goals?

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0 #1 2009-12-30 14:18

Thank you so much for these simple reminders! Have a very Happy New Year and enjoy the time with your family over the next few days!

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