What?

What I Dislike and Don't Want…

• I dislike not fitting into restaurant booths; having my gut squished onto the table.
• I don't want to be the one that everyone has to wait on while I catch up to them.
• I dislike feeling the need to curse the scale every time I walk up to it.
• I don't want to miss out on seeing my grand children graduate high school, college and get married.
• I dislike that being responsible about fitness doesn't cone natural to me.
• I don't want to have to stop for a breath 2 & 3 times when walking with pack and rifle to & from the deer stand during hunting season.
• I dislike flexing my muscles and not being able to see them because they are encased in too much fat.
• I don't want to have to drive a SUV so that I feel comfortable and enjoy the drive.
• I dislike looking upon exercise as a burden or chore vs. something that is necessary and enjoyable.
• I don't want look in the mirror anymore and wonder what on earth is it that my wife sees in me.
• I dislike not being able sit on the floor with my legs even remotely close to being crossed without also feeling complete agony.
• I don't want to find relief from life's difficulties & stress by opting for the easiest remedy; strapping on the feed bag.
• I dislike that I have to wear 3x shirts so that I can feel comfortable in what I wear.
• I don't want to ever consider having to buy a 4x shirt so that I can feel comfortable in what I wear.
• I dislike having to take a blood pressure pill every morning.
• I don't want to have to ever gesture frantically to my wife, or anyone nearby, that I need help with the stroke or heart attack I am in the throws of.
• I dislike not being able to climb two flights of stairs only to feel there is no oxygen to be found up here.

What My Mission Has Taught Me...
Hey, I didn't come up with all of these teachings on my own, most were given to be by the generosity of my followers here on Blogger. Thanks to one and all who have helped in this education...
CHANGE

1. Frequency: Don't try and change into healthy behaviors all at once. Adopt them one at a time, gradually; one or two a week.
2. Size: Any change, whether it is a big lifestyle change or small for you, any change adopted and practiced will make a difference.
3. Control: Changes are achieved mentally. When you move control of your health over to your mind from your gut you then achieve the power to ignore temptations to over indulge, to get in that exercise, etc.; you are in control when you choose to be in control.
4. Discover: Experiment with new foods, new flavors. Losing weight often leads to the belief you have to eat less. The opposite is true, you get to - you need to, eat more varieties of foods to prevent from buying into this misconception and build a palette of healthy foods you like to enjoy for a life time.
5. Measurements: The measure we track on the scale is certainly an important measure we follow. If it's not right the measures of body size or body chemistry are less likely to be right too. Know these measurements too as you start your mission and make changes that will affect them positively too.

EATING

1. Balance & Portion: Eat five or six well balanced small or medium sized meals during the day. No more than three should be medium in overall meal size.
2. Evenings: Eat 80%, or more, of your daily calories BEFORE arriving home for the day to curb the urge to nibble before dinner and/or over indulge at dinner.
3. Skipping Meals: Start each day with a healthy, balanced breakfast to set the tone for a day of healthy eating. Skipping any meal and you'll be playing catch-up the rest of the day and be more likely to give into unhealthy urges.
4. Calories: I do not count calories daily although I do write down what I eat daily. I do that in a simple palm sized composition notebook. Just the act of logging my food helps keep me accountable and it takes very little time to do. In previous weight loss attempts I used to track calories and energy percentages on various websites, but each time I quickly grew bored with it and the time it took to do the logging. Today when I hit a rough patch and need a reality check I will take a day out of my log book and punch it up on a site to see just where I went wrong or validate that I didn't.
5. Food Log: Keep a food log to aid in reflection and keep yourself honest about your food intake. Keep it simple, just a small notebook to jot down what you eat and when. Take it one step further and use one of those classic white & blue plastic Bic pens with four ink colors to choose from. If what you ate is well balanced and portioned then it goes in the book in green ink. If it was just OK, not bad or great; then blue ink. And if you've missed the mark entirely then red ink it is.
6. Parties: When you know you are going to face extra temptations to overindulge try these tips; a) When asked/pressured to over indulge learn the art of saying 'No thanks I am fine'; polite responses usually do the trick. b) Twenty minutes before the party starts enjoy some nuts (almonds work great) and a piece of fruit, or eat a protein bar; you'll be less hungry & less likely to cave into to temptation in the face of party food. c) Water, drinking a glass or two (8-16 oz.) of water also within that twenty minutes will further help to curb temptation. d) When fixing a party / buffet plate survey the offerings, pick one healthy item you like and put as much of that as possible in the middle of your plate, then select 2 or 3 other slightly less healthy treats and place a bite sized portion of these on the plates sides. Eat a majority of the healthy item before enjoying the treats.
7. Restaurants: When possible go online and preview the menu before you go and decide on a healthy option to order. Do this at least a few hours ahead of time or even a day or more. And do not do so when you are not hungry, certainly not when you are starving. The idea is doing so lessens chances you will give into temptation's best shot at beating you, when you are at the table looking over the menu on a hungry gut surveying all of the many non-healthy options seducing you.
8. Tit-For-Tat: Eat healthy foods and you will hunger for healthy foods, eat unhealthy foods and you will crave unhealthy foods.
9. Gum: Chewing a stick of sugarless gum does suppress the urge to snack. A strong flavor gum would likely do an even better the job I imagine.  

EXERCISE

1. Difficulty: Any exercise that is difficult or awkward for you at first will get easier the more you work at it. You'll also feel better about yourself for seeing it through.
2. When: Don't fret over the scientific studies on when the best time is and when to eat considering exercise. Sure, learn all you can, but don't let knowledge overload and inconsistencies of opinion frustrate you. Regardless of the ideal exercise/eat timing, as long as you get that exercise in you are better off that not doing it.
3. Variety: Trying new exercises, varying the technique of the same old ones, etc. is essential to keeping exercise from getting boring and preventing the chance you'll reduce or stop the amount of exercise you take in.
4. Combine: For best results it is necessary to incorporate both cardio and strength training into every workout. The two best times to do cardio are after weight training or as soon as you wake in the morning. Of course you can mix cardio with weight training either by doing cardio intervals or circuit training to keep the heart rate up.

MISTAKES / SET-BACKS

1. Mistakes: We do this one day at a time, we make mistakes, and we learn from our mistakes and try and make the next day even better.
2. Bouncing Back: So much of our success is dependent upon our state of mind. When you have an off day, talk to yourself, question the choices made. Before the conversation ends challenge yourself to make the next choice a good one, to follow the changes you have committed to.
3. Binges: They happen. Our challenge is to not string binges together, keep the distance between them as far apart as possible. When they do happen, recognize it, announce it to someone, and realize this minute is the time to move onward. Make your very next choice a good one, put the binge behind you and take a step towards a healthier you.

MOTIVATION

1. Dislike/Don't Want: Listing out what you dislike about the current you and what you don't want to come from your continuing to live unhealthy is an effective mental exercise to perform at the beginning of your mission to ignite your attitude and blast off.
2. Focus: Focus only on what motivates you and the rest will fall into place.
3. Pictures: When you start your mission taking 'Before' pictures can be very powerful motivators throughout your journey. When you have achieved some success, looking back at those 'Before' pictures keep your fire stoked. When you've had set backs they can re-ignite your fire. When you've achieved your goals you can see just how far you've come.
4. Rewards: Reward your accomplishments by celebrating your successes small & large in ways that motivate you to go on and achieve your ultimate goal.