Hey all,
I just wanted to drop in this morning because I had a blog post that popped into my head...I thought it was important enough to do this in the morning when i am not all with it.
What are you good at...
I don't want people thinking that somehow I am 'special' because I lost a hundred pounds.
I am not.
I took little victories and built on them.
I started with something I knew I was crappy at...which was consistency.
So I started this whole weight loss thing off with walking 'every day in may".
I wanted to get rid of the fear that I just didn't have enough sticktoitiveness...
Once I had 26 days of walking under my belt, I felt I had flushed the consistency problem.
Then I gave myself a calorie cap and was consistent with it.
It was very important that I gave myself a cap and stuck to it.
So I knew I could tell myself no.
Those were my first two bricks in the wall.
Consistency and capping the calories. I capped them at 1800 for the first month or two.
It wasn't the deficit I was worried about so much as the knowledge that It was me controlling the food, not the food controlling me.
Now, I have been hopping around the weight loss blog world a while now...
People are known for certain things.
Sean for his simple and common sense approach and his iron curtain.
Jack for his sense of humor and success.
TJ for her food and her great and caring attitude.
Loretta for her positive outlook and patience.
Christine @ exquisite christine for her honesty and her tracking (and great sense of humor)
Merry for her balance..
Sue for her sense of humor and her willingness to be open...
People who are successful take on one thing and get good at it and then build from there...
Alix from the casa hice asked me why I do 210 situps...
just so everyone knows they are dfferent kinds.
I do 3 sets of 25 regular (75)
then 3 sets of 10 obliques (each side) (60 total)
then 3 sets of 25 lower ab leg thingies...(hard to explain) (75)
They each target a different area of my abs.
I do it three times a week...before I do them I say to myself..
"To discipline the mind and the body".
It's to show ME that I control me.
So, what are you good at?
If you feel there is NOTHING you are good at in regards to controlling your body or how it operates...
then maybe you could challenge yourself to get control over one aspect this week.
Once you have control over that area...it's like establishing a beach head or a perimeter.
You don't relinquish it..you build on it.
Grab another area and get a hold of that.
Exercise is my main area of control.
Food is not.
I eat 1450 to 1550 calories a day.
I will never eat 1200 calories...It just isn't something I want to do.
But I do know when to stop now...
It's not my strongest area.
But it's an area I have control over..Now.
So find your area of exellence.
Then build.
It will help you, and motivate you.
have a great day guys.
Chris
27 comments:
i am good at exercise too!
when i started trying to lose weight i did the same thing as you which is i just focused on one thing at a time and went from there. for me my biggest weakness was drinking regular soda. so i switched to diet soda and havent drank a regular one since december 7! (after trying to quit soda for literally 7-8 years!). i did it by capping my calories and saying no matter what, i will not eat more than 1500 cals a day, so if i want a soda, ok, but that is gonna cost me! and it worked!
congrats again on such a huge loss! you are an inspiration and motivation!
I definitely seem to have a lack of "sticktoitiveness" so I am going to think of something to do consistently. Great idea, thanks :)
THANK YOU so much for this post. It is what I need to hear right now. Why? Because in my head, those are kind of the goals I have. I wanted to start walking more, so that is what I am working on now. In the future I am going to tackle tracking calories, but like you I am going to set the cap high until I can get consistency.
Its just great to see that this approach has worked for someone, and has led them to a 100 lb. loss. I usually start off with too many unrealistic goals, and then don't stick with any of them! This time, I am going to take it one step at a time. But my goal is CONSISTENCY!
That is one elite group of people you talked about, I think I follow all of them too. Quite the inspiriations!
i think i am pretty good with consistency and follow through. I try anyways :)
the only thing i am good at is writing to you and others on their blogs, but i am sure that doesn't COUNT
My strength is planning, I plan everything from what I will eat to what exercise I will do, and I stick to it 95% of the time, if I don't plan I totally fail to do the things that I should, even if I know what they are. In writing it has weight for me.
It's hard for me to believe that consistency was ever a problem for you because you are one of the most consistent bloggers that I read.
Congrats again on the 100. That is so awesome.!
Chris, again with the great post! ☺
I'm glad you took the time to post it this morning rather than waiting. You've given me a boost for the day.
So talking to you really IS like talking to a brick wall? hehe
I am so good at lots of things until I begin comparing myself to others. Then I stumble.
I am fantastic at the Grindstone. I am a super healthy eater. I realized this past week that I can indeed be organized and neat.
I have to work on being consistent as well as impatience. I would like to build on becoming consistent and being patient with the results that are sure to come.
my ver word was ambled. "to move along at an easy gait" how appropriate.
I'm proud of you, Chris.
*Blinking* I didn't recognize you in the morning light Chris!
The last segement of this post is worth the whole post. Fabulous advice as usual.
Great post Chris! I started just like you with walking. I'm good at the exercise too. The food not as much but I've made it where I am so it must work enough *smile*. I was never good with consistency either but now I know I really can do anything I put my mind too. I'm good at follow through now.
What a great group you put together! I think it's so smart to focus on the positive and know what you are good at!
Beautiful post Chris!
I like the way you write :)
Short Poems
That was a great post. We are built differently and are good at different things. Cater to your strenths. For someone who is just getting started, that is excellent advice. Do what you are good at and do it consistently.
I don't know if you got my comment about the little thing I left for you on my blog. If so, sorry about the repetition. If not, drop in on my blog about TAKING A DETOUR. Hope you like it...
Great advice. The same approach worked for me. Got me rid of 100 lbs, too. Two years and counting. :D
Good post! I'm a long time lurker who has decided to come out of hiding :-) I would have to say I'm good at keeping things going until "the job" is done. And I am getting better everyday @ running.
I beg to differ with you- I think you ARE Special because you lost 100 pounds. You had the will, determination, dedication, & strength to DO IT! You have helped motivate & inspire many many others to DO IT TOO! :) Special indeed! :) xoxo
I'm a great interpreter (American Sign Language)!
I can also kick the crap out of an elliptical machine.
I hear I blog pretty well too.
That works for me, too. That is exactly how I got started... I picked one thing at a time from my "Improvement List" and just worked on it, and didn't move on til satisfied.
Sometimes I had to backtracked to brush up my methods a little, or even change them, but consistently doing what you are good at is great advice!
Loretta
=^..^=
What a wonderful post! That's a great way to work our way to being the person we want to be.
I'm better at exercise than food too, but I can do food.
Congrats on your 100lb weightloss!
That is an amazing post. I am building on being known as consistant. To being able to face my fears and smile.
Thank you for giving us people at the start of our journey some great advice. I'm going to take baby steps, focus on one thing at at a time :-)
I am flattered I was in your list. And I love your motto you say before the situps. Good stuff, I am taking notes.
Consistency is the key. Consistency and time will move mountains. Thanks for the pep talk.
I love that you went to self defense class for your "guys are asshats" issue, and I am glad to feel that someone gets it. It's not a "Do I love myself enough?" issue, it's a "Am I safe that small?" thing. And I am working on finding new, healthier ways to feel safe. Both physically and emotionally. ♥
Funny, one of the smartest things I ever did was stop connecting exercise with dieting. I started exercising no matter what I was eating so that it would just be part of my life. Then a few weeks later I started dieting.
Not everything worked right then but at least I stopped quitting the exercise the minute I bombed the diet.
I am so blessed to have found and subbed to your blog.
I lost 60lbs. before being sidelined by injury. I'm back to 300lbs and will be seeing a surgeon on Friday about bi-lateral knee replacement. Once I'm healed from that, I'll be scheduling double shoulder surgery.
I recognize that I'll be able to do some exercising after my knee surgery, so I don't have to wait to walk.
Cutting the calories is always hard for me. I've figured 1800 is about where I need to start up. I do better with 5 small meals, heavy on protein/light on bread-type carbs.
Looking forward to seeing you go all the way!!
Trece
Hopefully this doesn't sound super arrogant, but I think I'm good at balancing healthy eating, exercise and a positive attitude. I don't know if you can be successful without a combination of all three.
Holy lady - I just read your story and it just makes sense. Great job! I love the way you approached your new life. Amazing.
I'm average at exercise...yeah. Anyway congratulations on reaching the 100 pound mark and all. You keep on going you're almost at the top of the hill. Or from a different perspective, you're at the top of the hill and now you have to walk down to the finish line... I'm over analyzing. Have an Ok day.
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