I have been super infrequent on this blog that few people read anyway.
I did the 2020 program. For 6 months I went on a high protein diet - and I lost a bunch of weight and also acquired some really great habits.
Despite all of these good changes and feeling stronger and more energetic than before - I have gained 7 pounds back
To be honest - I have not really stayed on the food plan as well as I should. I appear to also have become carb-sensitive. ie the eating of simpe carbs makes me gain weight ridiculously fast as well as feel excessively sluggish and tired
I want to shake things up a bit so I and DH are going back on one of our old diets that I have written about here. The 17 day diet which is not very different than the 2020 diet - except that it does not have protein shakes and protein bars ( which I am a bit sick of right now )
17 days is also exactly the time I have between now and going back to India for 4 weeks so its perfect for going back into a land where delicious carbs will surround me and I will allow myself to eat some of my favorite foods
Why am I writing here?
That is because I want to declare here that I intend to lose 5 pounds by January 29.
Declaring a goal is important because per a habits book I read recently I am "Obliger" when it comes to habits . For more on this read Gretchen Rubin's "Better than Before". One of the best books I have read on habits ( For more on Habits you can read Nudge, Switch, Why we Decide and or course the wonderful "Power of Habit")
Obligers respond readily to outer expectations, but struggle to meet inner expectations. In other words, they work hard not to let other people down, but they often let themselves down.
Obligers may find it difficult to form a habit, because often we undertake habits for our own benefit, and Obligers do things more easily for others than for themselves.
For Obligers, the key to forming habits is to create external accountability.
For me Temperence is much harder than Abstinence as it requires considerably more will power ie it takes enormous will power to just eat one square of chocolate and much lesser to eat none at all
I need to make bad habits harder. So for instance in the evening when DH and I sit on our recliners and watch TV we have a tendency to munch on something . Instead if i sit on the Love Sac - its impossible to eat as there is no place to put a plate or a cup
Finally food rituals =pleasure. So I need to find new rituals to look foward to
Today's rituals will be
I did the 2020 program. For 6 months I went on a high protein diet - and I lost a bunch of weight and also acquired some really great habits.
- The first was the consumption of protein
- The second was exercise. I work out almost daily now. I bought a Nordic Track for my birthday and really love it ( not exercising)
- Plus I have substituted a good habit for a unhealthy one. DH and mine Sunday date has changed into a long walk and then eating at home or ordering something super healthy like Pho ( and not eating the Rice noodles)
- I meet a dietician every month for accountability
Despite all of these good changes and feeling stronger and more energetic than before - I have gained 7 pounds back
To be honest - I have not really stayed on the food plan as well as I should. I appear to also have become carb-sensitive. ie the eating of simpe carbs makes me gain weight ridiculously fast as well as feel excessively sluggish and tired
I want to shake things up a bit so I and DH are going back on one of our old diets that I have written about here. The 17 day diet which is not very different than the 2020 diet - except that it does not have protein shakes and protein bars ( which I am a bit sick of right now )
17 days is also exactly the time I have between now and going back to India for 4 weeks so its perfect for going back into a land where delicious carbs will surround me and I will allow myself to eat some of my favorite foods
Why am I writing here?
That is because I want to declare here that I intend to lose 5 pounds by January 29.
Declaring a goal is important because per a habits book I read recently I am "Obliger" when it comes to habits . For more on this read Gretchen Rubin's "Better than Before". One of the best books I have read on habits ( For more on Habits you can read Nudge, Switch, Why we Decide and or course the wonderful "Power of Habit")
Obligers respond readily to outer expectations, but struggle to meet inner expectations. In other words, they work hard not to let other people down, but they often let themselves down.
Obligers may find it difficult to form a habit, because often we undertake habits for our own benefit, and Obligers do things more easily for others than for themselves.
For Obligers, the key to forming habits is to create external accountability.
For me Temperence is much harder than Abstinence as it requires considerably more will power ie it takes enormous will power to just eat one square of chocolate and much lesser to eat none at all
I need to make bad habits harder. So for instance in the evening when DH and I sit on our recliners and watch TV we have a tendency to munch on something . Instead if i sit on the Love Sac - its impossible to eat as there is no place to put a plate or a cup
Finally food rituals =pleasure. So I need to find new rituals to look foward to
Today's rituals will be
- Nordic track and watching Deborah Gruenfeld of Stanford lecture on Mastering Body Language in Group Settings (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dHciMDvgtBg)
- Watching River
- Drinking a Skinny Latte
