Psychology And Achieving Goals: Day 143

Evolution Two – week nine

Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Hello Folks,

Why I think the psychological/mental training is more important than the physical training...

Everyone, for the most part, knows what exercise is and how to do it. Everyone, for the most part, knows what eating healthy, well balanced meals looks like....but it is the mind that gets us to do it.

For anyone who has ever struggled with weight or making some changes in their lives, it is pretty clear that it may just come down to believing in yourself; knowing deep down that you are capable of achieving your desired outcome.

For those of us who have struggled most of our lives with not getting the desired outcome in a given area, we have it programmed into our brain that we will fail at it. That programming can be very self sabotaging for anyone.

Another popular pattern is making excuses...an easy way of saying it is not my priority. I have seen people with the most ridiculous schedules achieve their goals because they knew how to prioritize what they wanted for themselves and found a way to do it no matter what.

I am famous for excuses, so I am not saying that it is a perfect science, but I do think that whatever we choose to focus on will dictate the outcome. For example, if I choose to watch TV for an hour a day (which I do sometimes) and then I say I didn’t have time to clean my house, then it is clear that my priority is watching TV; and it really only takes an hour to clean my house.

How do we get our head on straight? Write down our priorities first. Then make a schedule of each day. Then make an action plan for our goals around that schedule. For example, when I know that I have something planned in the evening that will not give me access to my computer, I will plan to blog in the morning on that day. Or when I know that I will be out of town, I start to make preparations early for what I will do to keep to my fitness schedule and eating schedule. I do have days that don’t quite come together perfectly because I planned it to, but I learn how to be flexible with that too.

Planning is key. But there is still the believing in yourself piece. I think I have talked about this before but I believe it must come down to using as many tools as you can to trick yourself into believing that you will achieve your goals. Whether it be watching video or reading books about other people who have succeeded against all odds or forcing yourself to blog and take photos.

Tricking the mind is training the mind to get out of the rut.

Exercise: Interval (run 30 min., bike 25 min.), Continuous training

Menu: Raw food experiment

Until next time…

Think, Believe, Act, Achieve

Dakota

Today’s Mantra: The mind is the rut.

Nurturing Yourself With Exercise: Day 142

Evolution Two – week nine

Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Hello Folks,

There are a few factors that I must face in order to keep going on this fitness schedule....

Number one is that I have to expect that I will achieve all of my fitness goals. Since I am still confronted by my progress plateau I am faced with this number one thought. Do I expect to reach my goal? I set the final goal for when I turn forty, which makes me feel like I have a long time to achieve it. However, this can act as a deterrent as well as a motivator. For me, if I don’t set short term goals ~which is what I originally started off doing~ then it makes it all that much harder to achieve my long term goal.

Number two is that if I actually believe in the law of cause and effect (which I do) then as long as I put effort towards this goal there will be results. By working with the law of Karma I can use it in my favor.

Number three is that I have to ask myself how determined I am to achieve this goal. If I can apply inner strength, will power, discipline, and stamina to stay on course then I can achieve anything.

Number four is that I ask myself how much I place value on this part of my life. Do I feel that health and fitness are important and a high priority in my life. This is when I look a little into my past and compare my quality of life now as to then. On many levels my quality of life increases as I “Take Care” of myself. This is really what is most important to me, since exercise and nutrition have been self-nurturing activities for me.

Last is to believe in myself and follow the priniciples that apply to weight loss. Emotional eating can be a big opponent on the path to fitness. The laws that apply say that energy consumption and output leave a blueprint on your body. If I apply these laws and challenge the old opponent I will succeed.

I know that effort is key to success. I am also suspicious that if I learn how to be more present with my feelings and really know them and sit with them in the moment that my opponent “Emotional Eating” will soon lose its power over me. I have a very old habit of detaching from my feelings when I am hurting. What would it feel like to stay with them for a while and feel them rather than placate them with food?

Finally, exercise can be a meditation on all of these things....emotions, self-awareness, staying present. I know when I am present exercising because nothing else enters my mind, because I am so body aware and since body and emotions are truly one and the same, what better place to start.

Exercise: Interval (run 30 min., bike 25 min.)

Menu: veggie and protein

Until next time…

Think, Believe, Act, Achieve

Dakota

Today’s Mantra: If you wonder about the difference between attachment and enjoyment, ask yourself how you would react if suddenly an object you valued was gone.

Gratitude Helps Attitude: Day 141

Evolution Two – week nine

Monday, July 20, 2009

Hello Folks,

I am pretty tired today, so I am going to keep it short. One thing that has been on my mind is how important it is for me to be grateful. I think attitude can affect how our days go and how we see life. Since I am still breathing I am feeling pretty lucky. So many people have passed away recently and it makes me think about how precious it is to be alive. That is the energy I hope to send out to the universe...thank you for today.

Exercise: Interval (run 30 min., bike 25 min.), Pyramid training

Menu: Raw food experiment

Until next time…

Think, Believe, Act, Achieve

Dakota

Today’s Mantra: Gratitude can strengthen attitude.

How To Re-Inspire Yourself: Day 140

Evolution Two – week eight

Sunday, July 19, 2009

Hello Folks,

Today I want to talk about how I get my inspiration after working out and watching my nutrition for 140 days. When my workout starts to feel like “ground hog day” and my meals start to look all the same, I go on-line for inspiration. I love to look at articles that talk about the latest nutritional information out there. Here is one website I find interesting...

http://store.rawreform.com/index.php?osCsid=ece91959eb06b5e5746833e433f4904d. The site was started by a woman named Angela Stokes who struggled with her weight and discovered a raw food diet that help her gain control of her weight and life again. It is very inspiring and an interesting sight to check out. The idea of always eating live foods is appealing to me. I have been doing some experimenting with eating raw food, but I am still finding my body responding really well to fish and poultry, so I am only partially practicing raw food eating.

I also like to check out sites that demonstrate the latest in exercise programs. The most popular programs out there of course include cardio/interval training and some superset resistance training workouts. I do get some really good ideas for my workouts that I like to incorporate from various on-line trainers. Some of my favorite sites to go to are http://www.iwantsixpackabs.com/abs.html and youtube exercise videos by Craig Ballantyne at http://www.turbulencetraining.com/youtube-videos.shtml. Both sites have very intense workout ideas and useful information.

I also like to look at other success stories. The only way I think I can psychologically believe in the possibility of achieving anything is to learn from others who have overcome their own obstacles. I think the secret to success really has to do with watching and copying and incorporating all of the techniques that others have used. I like to look at Adam Water’s site at http://rtp-blog.com/ or go to youtube videos made by everyday people who have recorded and achieved some of their fitness goals.

Exercise: Interval (bike 30 min., stepper 10 min., row 5 min.), bodyweight training

Menu: free day

Until next time…

Think, Believe, Act, Achieve

Dakota

Today’s Mantra: Learn from those who came before you.

Still Under The Weather: Day 139

Evolution Two – week eight

Saturday, July 18, 2009

Hello Folks,

I was still feeling a little under the weather today, but I decided to make the best of it. I had to get a few things done at home today...and frankly I am feeling like a homebody, so I am going to get out before I have a freak out. Seriously, I need to get some vitamin D...you know, sunshine.

Anyway, talk to you tomorrow!

Exercise: Interval (run 30 min., bike 25 min.)

Menu: Veggies and Protein

Until next time…

Think, Believe, Act, Achieve

Dakota

Today’s Mantra: For everything there is a season.

Trick The Mind Before It Tricks You: Day 138

Evolution Two – week eight

Friday, July 17, 2009

Hello Folks,

Today explained why my appetite went up the last the couple of days. Whenever I get my period I find myself craving more food. I am not a craver of chocolate like some, but more of a craver of bagels and cereal and stuff like that for some reason.
I also wasn’t feeling particularly well today; probably due to a combination of things. I decided to take it easy today, even though I had planned to run lots of errands. I have been thinking about incorporating more visualization techniques into my training. I know that when I focus my progress during a workout I see better results.

As usual this all is an experiment that continues to unfold as I go. There are a few surprises along the way!

Exercise: Interval (bike 30 min.)

Menu: veggies and protein

Until next time…

Think, Believe, Act, Achieve

Dakota

Today’s Mantra: Visualize yourself as though you were already there and trick the mind into believing in yourself.

Awareness And Hard Lessons: Day 137

Evolution Two – week eight

Thursday, July 16, 2009

Hello Folks,

Today was not supposed to be my free food day. I was going to have it be on Sunday, but the forces that be were at play. Usually, on my free day I eat various samples of all of my favorite treats, including ice cream, and I am more flexible with my meals. Since I didn’t plan well enough today and I had a few “opportunities” to eat less than optimal nutritionally valuable food, I ended up changing my Sunday free food day to today.

Frankly, I am frustrated about this, because I ate a piece of cake I would never have bought or chosen to eat on my own. I don’t want to fall into the category of putting too much energy into the food issue, because I know it can be unhealthy; But let’s face it, when you are working in an environment that doesn’t support healthy food choices and you are surrounded by a lot of less than optimal options for nutrition, there lies some challenges to a healthy lifestyle. As a result, I am dealing with some of my feelings around this day. I decided to eat the piece of cake (probably packed with 600 calories and no nutritional value), because I thought it was the balanced thing to do, and now I am feeling unbalanced in body and mind.

What I realized though, is I ate it because I didn’t want to be the only one who didn’t eat it and feel left out. I also ate it because I thought it would mean that I wasn’t being freaky about food. However, what I should have done was what I wanted to do in the first place, and not it eat it (I didn't crave or desire it in the first place). Usually, under those circumstances I save it for my free day or figure out how to get rid of it.

The funny thing- is that- if it had been ice cream (my favorite free day dessert) I wouldn’t have these feelings. I am feeling mad at myself for eating something I didn’t want to eat for the wrong reasons. Since, I can’t change what I did I am going to share with you what I learned.

Don’t eat something you don’t want to eat to please others or to prove to yourself how balanced you are...

Use the moment as a learning process to teach you something about yourself.

The final thing I want to add about this is that I feel a little sick now. My body did not react well to the food. My body is reminding me of the consequences. Also, when you look at the amount of calories versus nutritional value, you realize what a waste of calories it is to eat food like that regulary(everyonce in a while is good (the middle way)….and for me especially so, because I didn’t want to eat it in the first place.

One thing I like about my free day is that I go out and get all of the foods I love. I especially love bagels, ice cream, hot tomales, dried mangos, and sometimes pizza. My body doesn’t react too well to most of these foods, so that is why I reserve them for the free day. I have a funny free day palate.

Now that I have splashed my feelings all over this blog, I am going to let it go and use it as my lesson for the week...and know that I am choosing to have these feelings because of my own beleifs. Someone once said before you make a decision, ask your wise self what you would do and see how "correct" that feels. Fortunately for all of us, there will always be more opportunities to test our learning curve.

Exercise: Interval ( bike 36 min.)

Menu: Free

Until next time…

Think, Believe, Act, Achieve

Dakota

Today’s Mantra: Listen to the small, still voice within.