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Visual Goal Setting

Mini Messages for Smart Brains: Fit Bytes

Calorie Counting

To get to the point of reducing my calories 100 point at a time in order to avoid Famine Brain I need to figure out how many calories I normally consume. I estimate that I eat about 2200 calories a day. That means it would take me about 6 weeks using the 4 day Win concept to get to the point where I should start losing weight.
WOW now that is a new way of looking at things. That means that I have to be really patient with myself and also add 6 weeks onto my 10 month goal. So basically it should take me exactly a year to reach my goal weight and I should be able to do it without feeling like I am starving forever.

I still have not found a calorie counting tool that is easy and efficient. Probaly the patience thing again. Well as I look for a calorie counting tool I will also work on relaxing and meditating.

RMR - Resting Metabolic Rate
Resource tool from Shape Up America - The Shape Up America! Metabolism Calculator is telling you the minimum number of calories your body needs to keep your body functioning properly.
Your resting metabolic rate is 1734 Calories per day. Interesting the diet the dietitian put me on was 1500 calories but I could never keep to it. Now I know why.

Diet Calculator, Body Fat Calculator

157cm

107kg

116cm waist

Neck 41cm

Hip 131cm

BMI – 43.4

Waist Hip ratio 0.74

Peercent Body Fat 59.7%

Lean Body mass 43.1 kg

Overweight by 45.6kg (100.3pounds)

RESULTS

You need to exercise at least 30 minutes every day.

Minimum caloric requirements: 1714 calories per day

Limit your diet to 1456 calories per day ( so maybe the dietitian was right after all)

to lose 0.9 Kg per month.

Your diet should contain at least 49 grams of protein per day.

Back

Hi

I am back and in the little while I was gone I manage to pick up 2 kg. And so this year ends the same as every year has for last 7 years. I weigh more instead of less.

Well technically the year is not over yet I have 7 days before the year end. But I am not going to go into panic mode and try to starve myself or detox. For the next 4 days I want to re-establish the gains I made in exercise, water drinking and cut out the cold drinks, find my inner (thinner peace) through visualization. The I should be ready for a 1-3 day detox - starting the New Year on a fresh and positive note.

Last night I wrote down the following New Year Resolutions - I joined a swap that says its a tradition to write it down but necessarily to keep.

5 things you would like to change in the new year [resolutions]

1. Make healthy decisions on a regular basis. One tool I plan to use to help me is the 4 Day Win by Matha Beck. I have started a blog .
2. Have more sex with my husband. ( I was very sick this past year and this is the area in our relationship that suffered the most.
3. Become more spiritual as a family.
4. Make our a home place where not only enjoy living, but also feel proud of when people visit.
5. Start dancing again (Belly Dance, Spiritual dance, just dance). Any dance, maybe even learn a new one.

5 things you would like to accomplish [goals]

1. Lose 1 kg (2.2 pounds) a week for the next 10 months ie. Weight 65kg at end of October 2008.
2. Climb up Helderberg Mountain – to First peak.
3. Pay off my credit card by the end the year and reduce my debt. I want to be debt free in 18 months.
4. Travel out of South Africa either to another country on the continent e.g. Namibia, Northern Botswana and or Victoria Falls or move to Ireland (a possibility).
5. Learn a new skill e.g. HTML or Photoshop or sewing or………….

Will be back soon

Nibbles

Yesterday I did a 3km hike. Made the mistake of taking chips with me. Bought coke afterwards and ate chocolate. Everything I ate negated the good exercise I did. But instead of going on and beating myself up and getting really upset and I remember to think about my Watcher and rather observe my behavior.

I started eating yesterday in car out of boredom. I only had unhealthy choices in the car. I got tired of drinking water and I associate coke with race walking and running. By the time I got home everything that healthy seemed unappetizing, I wanted something with rich cream. I had made truffles but they did not seem to satisfy my need so I continued to nibble.

One the thoughts that did pop into my head was that if I just have a good meal I will stop snacking. So I finally ate 2 weetbix cause that was the quickest thing I could do. I did stop snacking after that.

"Hunger is the biggest diet-killer of all. Hunger undermines ALL your good intentions and leads to bingeing, guilt and weight gain. Ironically, a full stomach makes weight loss easier." from Anne Collin's weightloss tips.

Online Resources

I get regular messages from Sparks People. I never really got the hang of uses their resources like the food diary, calorie counter etc. But I like some of the articles and I have used some of their exercise videos.

They also have good motivational tips and quizzes.

Here are two interesting links:

SparkPeople's Online Workout Videos

Try All 6 of Our Fitness Videos!

-- By SparkPeople

10 Tips to Avoid Holiday Weight Gain

Are You Beginning to Look a Lot Like Santa?

-- By John McGran, Food Writer

Do you have an online resource that you have found useful?

Losing slowly

Most diet advise says you must only lose 1-2 kg a week max. Most of us want to lose more.

Well I have lost another 0.2kg. Now weighing in at 105.2 kg.

I plan to give my diet a kick start with a 2 day detox this week and a longer one after Christmas.

Cycle 4 Day 1

Had a good day. I watched my hunger barometre and made wise eating choices.
Water - check
Exercise : Walked on the Beach

Still considering detox plans. Here is a 7 Day Detox Plan that looks reasonable.

Improving my visualisation

I have completed re-reading Chapter 21. The two things that stand out for me is to avoid developing famine brain (this has sabotaged my previous dieting attempts) and to the need to truly link and eat from my Watcher view point.

Virtual Model

Cycle 3 Day 3 and 4

I am reading the 24 Hour Dayt by Joanna Hall. I enjoyed her exercise DVD. I tried to find some of the stuff she spoke at the Health food shop. The lady there suggested that I should just eat raw fruits and vegetables for 3 days - for a good cleanse and a kick start to my diet.

She also recommend drinking up to 5 glasses of water with flax/linseed for a colonic cleanse and sleeping with a charcoal and linseed paste around my waist to draw out the toxins.

I am contemplating doing this.

Day 3

Had a rest from exercise
Drank the required water

Ate too much chocolate

Day 4

Went to the gym for the first this year ! Exercise for 40min - 10min on bike, 5min on the treadmill and then did the circuit and some free weights.

Water is becoming a good water and I am starting to drink it without effort.

My eating has gone well today.

Rate your diet

You scored 29 out of a possible 111

Hmmm. Don't be discouraged. This eating business is tough.

Rate your Diet


Going to try this again in a weeks time and hopefully my score would have improved.

I love doing doing personality type quizzes.

Cycle 3 Day 2

Sjoe what a day.

I did Joanna Hall's Yoga Aerobics in the morning. Good stretch - always feel energised when I do it. My muscles and body were so I decided to do something light.

Late afternoon we decided to have a picnic on Helderberg Mountain. Now my body is really sore. Day 3 is definetly going to be a rest day.

My reward was a great view, great company and a foot massage.

Kept up my water in take.

I was so hungry when get home - ate yoghurt and Ultra Mel custard. Not sure if that was such a great idea.

Cycle 3 Day 1

Goal for this Cycle
*Increase exercise
*Maintain water intake
*Getting my mind ready for dietary changes.

Reasonably good day today.

Exercise: In the morning walked for 40 min in the mountain
Afternoon walked for 25-30min road route

Water: 8 glasses

Extras: Chili wrap and investigated another possible eating plan and detox.

Food: Ate all the right food and the right quantity.
Only downfall - baked cookies with my daughter and could not resist eating a few.

Cycle 2 Day 4

Water - check
Exercise - double check ( went for a walk in the morning - took 100 photographs along the way and walked in the evening as well - 35min each)
Food - minus
Did not any visualization today but I did do some more reading on eating plans.

No reward today

Cycle 2 Day 3

Yes ! Yes! and Yes!

I achieved all my goals today:
Walked for 35min
Drank 8 glasses water/herbal tea
Ate 100 calories less
Spent 25min doing relaxation and visualization exercise. (I am using a CD I bought two years ago and the exercise in Matha Beck's book - Thinner Peace (Watcher)).

TAKING THE WEIGHT OFF…AGAIN (from the book and Oprah.com)
Becoming the Watcher

"I call this mental exercise "Becoming the Watcher." When I first learned it, I never suspected that one unprepossessing visualization would free me, and many of my clients, from the hellish roller coaster of rebound dieting. Going on the fad diet du jour may—temporarily—change you from a caterpillar into a thinner caterpillar. This exercise can turn you into a butterfly: a different body, no going back.
Hold out your right hand, palm up. Imagine that standing there is an inch-tall version of yourself—the part that insists on losing weight. We'll call her (or him) the Dictator. The Dictator wears a uniform, carries a whip, screams insults and orders—the things you tell yourself when you're feeling fat: "You'd better stop eating now, you disgusting blob of &*%$!" Let these words, and the Dictator's hostile energy, fill your consciousness.

Now notice: Do you want to eat more, or less?

Both Lisas, along with everyone else I've ever guided through this exercise, respond, "More."

Interesting.

Now hold up your left palm. Standing on it is another tiny version of you; the animal part that isn't verbal or logical, and doesn't understand what the Dictator wants. I call this the Wild Child, because it's like a kid who's continually assaulted by the Dictator's attacks and privations. The Wild Child is tired, afraid, and frightened. Notice: Is she planning to obey the Dictator in its effort to starve her? No?

Interesting.

Now hold out both hands. See the Dictator in your right, Wild Child in your left. This next part's tricky: Notice that both mini-yous are essentially good. The Dictator gets frantic when you gain weight just as you would if you saw a toddler wandering into traffic. It screams and yells, pushes and forces, because it's trying to save you from a terrible, fat fate. And your Wild Child isn't remotely malicious, just devastated, confused and afraid. Consider both perspectives until you can empathize with them.

At this point, it's time to realize that the Wild Child and the Dictator deserve compassion. Offer it to them. Say this: "May you be well. May you be happy. May you be free from suffering." Repeat it to both Dictator and Wild Child, until you mean it. Take your time.

All right, now answer the following question: Where are you in this picture?

The only reason you can "see" both the Dictator and the Wild Child is that you're not either of them. You've moved into a third realm of consciousness, in a different part of your brain. I call it the Watcher." Read more..... Click Here


Here is another exercise you could do:A Guide To Positive Imaging For Weight Loss

Cycle 2 Day 2

8 glasses of water - YAY

Had the chili wrap and a reflexology session - very relaxing.
Did a 25min relaxation and visualization exercise and spend some time rereading about the famine brain and Watcher Self concepts. Think I am going to shift my focus on getting Thinner Peace and the right frame of mind and less on food.

Decided that today would be a rest day.

Too many carbs and no veggies (sad). NO JUNK FOOD.

Cycle 2 Day 1

I am so proud of myself. I am only half-way through the day and I have already had 5 glasses of water/tea. Counting herbal tea (black no sugar) as water.

Did Taebo 2 workout

Breakfast: 2 scrambles eggs, 2 slices slimline bread (1CC according to Weight-Less), 2 bay tomatoes, 3 slices of cucumber.

Planning:
Lunch
Roast potato, macaroni and cheese, tossed salad.

Supper
Unknown - going to a wedding.
But I will have 3 carb servings, protein and lot of other still left in my daily allowance.

Starting Point

Each four days is a new starting point. Today I would like to record the big picture and then get back to just focusing on accomplishing taking small winning steps.

I have scale the measure fat % and hydration and a tape measure. My current weight is 105.7kg and my fat% too high that I get an error reading on the scale. When I changed it to the male function it reads 49.1% at hydration level 36.9%. My waist measurement is 115cm.

I cannot remember Martha's advise about scales and measurements. I am sure I will find it again.

The goal for the next 4 Days:

1. Maintain a water intake of 8 glasses.
2. Increase activity levels.
3. Reduce my food intake by 100 calories.

I was tempted to go for more and then I remember the famine brain. While I have thinking about food and contemplating plans. It kicked in and I having eating ice-cream and chips etc.... The thoughts running in my brain was , tomorrow I will start again. I will just have this now because then I am going on a diet. This is the last time........ Last night I ate chips and I did not even enjoy it but I finished the packed anyway.

Typically I eat??
Breakfast cereal and milk (1-2 carbs and 1/2 diary portion)
sometimes a banana
Snack sometimes - cheese and provitas or nothing
Lunch sandwich (2 carbs , 1 protein, some fat)
Snack chips/ice-cream or both
Supper Pizza/burgher/pasta (4-6carbs, 2 protein, lots of fat)
Sometimes salad and 1 veggie serving
Snack 200ml low fat yoghurt (sometimes more)

Recommendation from the dietician is
5 carbs
5 protein (I think)
2 diary
3 fruit
3 veg
fat - I can't remember 1-2 ( lost the booklet)
comes to about 1500 calories

So my Plan
7 carbs
5 protein
3 diary
2 fruit
1 veg ( if I eat more great)
fat - keeps as low as possible - have two desserts a week (one full fat and one low fat)

Cutting 3 carbs and junk food should and increasing my protein.

Rewards:
Today - a home facial
2 - reflexology

3 - ??
4 - Feet pampering session (home foot spa)

Decision time

I have studied various menu options and final set up a menu for this week. The calories vary from 1500-1800. According to various programs I tried I am probably consuming between 2500-3000 calories a day.

Will post the menu tomorrow.

I have succeed in drinking 4 or more glasses of water the the last for days.
Mildly active.
Spent time looking at diet plans.

REWARD

Watching Surfs Up movie with my family.

Progress

7 Glasses of water

Some gentle exercise

spent time looking at various menu plans - still not finding something that I think will work for me.
I need to do food shopping tomorrow. I must come up with a plan.

Ridiculously Easy Daily Goals

Yesterday I stated my goals. Today I redefined them according to the principle Martha explains as playing halvsies until your goal is ridiculously easy to attain.

That means that today I have attained my goals:

1. Spending 10min looking at various eating programs
2. Drinking 4 glasses of water.
3. Fidgeting (form of movement of exercise)

Current Diet Profile

Page 327 in Book.
Quiz

1. False 6. True 11. False 16. True
2. True 7. True 12. False 17. False
3. False 8. True 13. True 18. True
4. True 9. True 14. True 19. False
5. True 10. True 15. False 20. True

6-10 Most True answers. VIP profile

That means I have a High need for information and a High need for structure.

FOR THE NEXT FOUR DAYS:

1. I will drink 8 glasses of water
2. Do some type of movement (exercise)
3. Investigate various diet programs and then pick a program.

I have been to a dietician twice. I have recently given up coffee and tried a Candida diet (very difficult to keep to). I want to find a diet that will be a balance between things that I like to eat Low GI and close to Candida friendly.

lets see what happens

Martha Beck

1. Interview

"The Four Day Win" Author, Dr. Martha Beck, Talks with The Diet Channel

2. The Book at Amazon

3. Book Review: The Four Day Win: End Your Diet Wars and Achieve Thinner Peace

Written by Mary K. Williams,Published March 26, 2007

The Begining

I have read Martha Beck's book The 4-Day Win. I really enjoyed the way she wrote the book. I felt like she was really talking to me. But like most of the the self-help books I have read in the past, I impatiently read the book want to get the whole, but did not do all the exercises.

Well this time I am determined to things right. Seen as I have successfully kept one blog running for a year, I figured why not take the blog route with my diet journal.

I welcome your comments, experiences, advise and support. Getting ready for a life changing experience 4 days at a time.