Motivation

Fitness Report: November 2015

November 2, 2015 By James Salmons

You have heard the old saying, “Time flies when you are having fun!” But the truth is, as I have found, sometimes it also flies when you are not having fun.

Of course, sometimes time just flies, whether you are having fun or not. That is the way October was for me. In other words, it seems I thought little about my weight loss efforts and did even less. Still, I never lost my awareness of my eating habits and there were a few important observations which I can share briefly.

Concentrate, No Matter What

Even though for me it took many months to lose all the weight I needed to shed, I did not find it impossible to keep my mind focused on my goal. It was sometimes hard to resist overeating or sneaking a treat here or there, but I never lost awareness or my “hunger” for a trimmer shape!

But once your weight loss goal is achieved it seems commitment is a little harder to maintain. It is easy to think that you can ignore this meal or another and just splurge a little. After all, even if I gain a pound or two I know I am under my target weight a few pounds, right.

Obviously, one meal will not ruin your life. But one can easily lead to another and then another. Then, your concern and awareness will begin to drift away. The danger is not in ocassionally eating a meal with more than the usual number of calories but one of being unconcious of overeating and allowing eating habits to get out of control. And if you do, very quickly a lot of months will fly by and a lot of weight can be picked up along the way!

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Little Known Secret to
Maintaining Weight Loss

September 20, 2015 By James Salmons

There is, I have discovered, a little known secret to maintaining weight loss. It is not inherently obvious to most people so few ever think of it. But once you do think about it, its value is clear.

Take up a new hobby! Not just any hobby but a certain one. Cooking. It may not be a necessity, but it can be a definite help.

Even if you never considered it before or thought it to be enjoyable, get into it. You do not need to spend an inordinate amount of time on it, but make cooking one of your enjoyable hobbies and it will do wonders to help you maintain your weight at its proper level.

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Fitness Report: September 2015

August 31, 2015 By James Salmons

If you read my most recent (the previous) post, you know that this month marks a major milestone in my personal getting fit at last program. On August 16th I reached my weight loss target goal of 175 lbs.

Altogether I have lost over 80 pounds. Beginning at just over 255 pounds, I now weight under 175 pounds. The achievement feels great, but I am very much aware that this is just a transition point, even as far as my weight is concerned.

So What Goals Are Next?

Naturally I have been anticipating this moment for a while and giving it some thought. Nevertheless, I recognize that I must give a lot of additional serious thought to the transition into my next stage….

There may be more, but I can readily see a few things that are absolutely essential. I will need to:

Accurately identify the requirements of a workable weight maintenance program, one that will adequately control calories and at the same time be practical and easily adopted.
Develop a written action plan including motivational steps that will enable me to permanently shape my eating habits for long term success.
Project an eating program that will…
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Exercise Goal Motivation

April 5, 2015 By James Salmons

In my monthly report for March I acknowledged my failure during February to adequately exercise, or at least to follow my own intentions to exercise six days a week.

At the same time I noted that when we fail at anything it is almost always due to a lack of proper goal setting. For this post I decided to share the basics of my plan for improving my exercise regimen by adopting proper goal setting methods.

The First Step in Goal Setting: Statement

The first and most important step in goal setting is to clearly define the goal. Losing some weight is not an effective goal. Losing 80 pounds is better. Getting my weight down to 175 pounds by Christmas, 2015, is a better one. It is specific (can be measured) and it has a time of completion.

Applying this principle to my exercise program is relatively simple because I do not want to set a long term exercise goal for specific levels or types of exercise at this time. Instead, I want to set only a basic goal for consistently exercising, general types (aerobic and strength), and time devoted to it.

Because I do not want to draw too much of my focus away from my weight loss effort and some other aspects of my health planning which are priorities now, I want my current goal to relate only to establishing an exercise base line with the idea of adding to it later.

That said, my new, current exercise goal is this:…

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Fitness Report — March 2015

March 1, 2015 By James Salmons

It may not be Spring, but March is a month of expectation. We could have some cold days and lots of new snow (where I live in Minnesota, USA), but we all know that by the last part of the month the snow will be melting and days will begin to get warmer.

This kind of thinking pretty well describes my weight loss progress as well. Right now I am trying to stay the course, get through the grind of the middle ground and look for the light at the end of the tunnel. I can’t quite see it yet, but I know a light is just around the corner so I am fortifying my determination and looking forward to my weight loss “Spring.”

February Weight Loss Progress

Last month I observed that my steady weight loss has been continuing for long enough now that I am beginning to feel really good about the plan I am following. That confidence is getting stronger all the time.

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Celebrate Weight Loss Milestones

November 30, 2014 By James Salmons

Today I reached another milestone along the way to personal fitness. Now to figure out how to celebrate! No, it will not be with food.

No longer obese!

Finally this morning, after losing a full thirty-five pounds, my scale dropped below 220 pounds (at least momentarily until I grabbed that first cup of coffee). So officially I am now just overweight, not obese.

Of course I know I am at the very top edge of being overweight. I also know that I am less than half way to my goal of a fit weight. But it feels great nevertheless.

From a fitness point of view there is little difference between my weight yesterday and my weight today, but reaching this point has been a marker, a sub-goal along the way toward my ultimate weight goal. I have had my eye on it for some time.

It is important to set major goals if we want to achieve anything in life, and certainly that is true of getting fit. A weight goal is one of them.

It is equally important, perhaps more so, to have intermediate goals, so we can recognize our progress and be motivated by our achievements….

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Hanging On One Day at a Time

November 26, 2014 By James Salmons

Like a lot of other things, sometimes success with a weight loss plan is a matter of just hanging on. I like to think of it as succeeding one-day-at-a-time.

Some Days It Is Hard

For several days I have been on a mini-plateau with my weight loss. This is pretty normal. Eating something with a little more salt than usual or whatever can bring on a little stall.

It is harder to exercise the self-discipline needed on days when the scale doesn’t cooperate (how could I gain two pounds in one day without eating much of anything!) even though we know it is temporary. It helps to have some method for giving a boost to our motivation on days like this.

For very short plateaus like this it is only necessary to have a very short—intense but short—boost in commitment and focus. My approach is to collapse my view of the project at hand, to forget about my long term goals, and focus on maintaining my diet for just one day.

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