Red's Health Tips

Here I am at the end of Week 3. I am looking forward to stepping on the scale tomorrow morning and checking my status. I know that losing weight is especially difficult when you make an abrupt change in your eating habits. I mentioned yesterday that plateaus happen for a number of reasons. I had been exercising at a minimal level before I went to New Orleans. The seminar was form 9 am to 9 pm on both Friday and Saturday. I was unable to exercise during that trip and even after I returned. I finally managed to get to the gym this morning and I could tell it has been a while – maybe even a week since I set foot in a gym and did some serious strength training or cardio.

Yes, I know that I can do some of that stuff at home. I don’t need to go to the gym. However, I didn’t do it at home either. My mindset is changing, but not keeping up with my plans. It happens to all of us. We plan something and get distracted – or, obstacles get in the way. I was listening to a Jerry Clark CD (recorded on my iPod) in the sauna today talking about this very thing. I reflected on his main points and agreed that I have been allowing non-productive things to take up my time.

I am publishing a book on multiple electronic bookstores at the same time that the rest of my life is ongoing. Many obstacles have been presented that have given me some unique insight into electronic publishing. My next book will be published in a fraction of the time.

However, when I think about my weight loss program, there are obstacles and distractions that can take away our focus and commitment. I heard an interesting thing on Jerry’s CD this morning. It was phrased in the context of a home business. What if you truly failed in whatever business you are in? What proof would you have to convince others that you really failed? That’s a pretty interesting set of two questions!

I was thinking about that while I was driving today and rewrote it for a weight loss program. What is you really tried to lose weight and didn’t? What proof would you have to convince others that you really succeeded at not losing weight? A lifestyle change is a mindset change. Yes, actions are more measureable than thinking about something. However, your mindset has to be firmly shifted and established in what you need to do.

You should have a daily action plan for success for any business you own. Why waste time each day doing something unproductive? You have short-term and long-range goals for your business to be successful. You probably have short-term and long-range goals for your weight loss program. I do. My short-term goal is to complete my 28-day program and see noticeable results in both weight lost and inches lost. I’ve succeeded already in both those categories already. Is the progress I’ve made to day reasonable and expected? I believe they are reasonable. I expected more, but I always expect more. Is my expectation too high? Maybe.

Everyone would love to get on a new lifestyle change program and lose tons of weight overnight. We all know that that doesn’t happen. I know that I am shocking my body by changing a major aspect of my eating pattern. I eat now when I am hungry, not just because of what the time is on the clock. I’m still having problems because I am not really hungry as night approaches. I have been altering my plan to eat something earlier in the evening so that I won’t have a meal disrupting the quality of my sleep.

Side note: I normally have poor sleep whenever I sleep on a new bed (at a hotel or visiting family). I spent two nights in New Orleans at two different hotels and slept exceptionally well. I was surprised.

I haven’t tried (yet) to just go through the evening and see if I really get hungry after dark. I might be planning for a condition that doesn’t happen – or doesn’t happen that often. When we are hungry, we will eat. My old lifestyle told me to eat at certain times whether I was hungry or not. My new lifestyle is trying to adopt a ‘eat when hungry’ philosophy. I am finding it easy and difficult to accomplish. Easy in that I am not hungry for several hours after awakening. Difficult in that I am hesitant not to eat before going to bed when I am not hungry.

I tracked my weight every day when I was on the Atkins Diet (1994). I didn’t lose anything for several days. Then I lost weight and felt pretty good about it. Then I hit a plateau that made me question what I was doing. I wasn’t paying attention to anything but carbohydrates. I still ate according to the clock. Hunger was never an issue for when I ate, unless it just happened to occur at the same time. My life was on autopilot and at noon I ate lunch. Same with other meals.

I was thinking about the success plan and applying it to weight loss. What is productive to be doing each day to ensure that you are trending in the direction of weight loss? Hydration, moderation, portion control, and nutritional balance are part of each day. Nutritional supplements to combat insulin resistance or excess estrogen or low levels of testosterone should be added to that list. Exercise is also a factor to be considered for daily success. A good night’s sleep and repetitive stress reduction sessions are critical also. There are many things for daily success that don’t include the actual food that you eat.

We tend to focus on food only when we are on a weight loss regimen. It is tangible and relatively easy to measure. Yet, most of us don’t even know the vitamin and mineral content of what we eat. What vitamins and minerals are present in the foods you eat on a daily basis? You get better quality vitamins and minerals from the foods you eat compared to the pills you might taken. Google is a great source of information on food nutrition. Make a list of the foods you regularly eat and find out the nutritional content of each. You might be surprised that you could be deficient in vitamins or minerals and not even know it.

A major portion of our population is deficient in many vitamins and minerals. As we age, our vitamin and mineral deficiency increases because our digestive absorption ability decreases. Probably the biggest vitamin deficiency we have is vitamin D3. We cover up and don’t go outside to ‘soak up’ the sun. We might supplement, but at levels far below what is needed. Vitamin B (most) is another common deficiency. Vitamin C, believe it or not is another common deficiency. Iron, selenium, magnesium and zinc are also typical deficiencies in the American diet.

Sit down and make a list of what nutrients you should have and what you are actually obtaining on an average day. It might surprise you. To be successful in your new lifestyle you must ensure that you have nutritional balance.

Red O’Laughlin
Your Prosperity Professor
281-437-8114 H/W 281-687-1188 C