2 Week Habits Exchange Challenge
Can't think of any habits you have to exchange out? Really? K, here are just some examples you can choose from if there are not any already on the top of your list ;-)
Nutrition
*Sugar, Sugar, Sugar. Sugar comes in many forms: sugar (high fructose corn syrup, etc.), simple carbs (good whole grain carbs and veggie/fruit carbs are good for you, but the rest is crap and PI material), alcohol (wasted calories that goes straight to sugar and on top of that slows down your metabolism). To figure out what to replace this overindulgent habit with, first determine why you over consume. If it is an emotional trigger or stress reaction, then replace it with something healthy to ingest as well as a behavior modification to replace the food response. If it is a social habit, then announce to your social group your new goals for the support and accountability and curb your social intake of the bad and increase better choices. Alcoholic Beverages
*Not enough produce: If you are either not getting enough produce in (at least 8-10 servings), or are consuming way more fruits than veggies (shoot for at least one to two more servings of veggies to fruit total), or are choosing low fiber, high sugar produce and your total daily fiber intake is below a 25g minimum (I'd shoot for 30-50g a day), then preplanning is going to be the habit you need to make to hit your minimums at least. Produce Serving Sizes
*Too many processed foods: Ideally, you'd consume a grand total of ZERO processed foods in your daily life, but life is rapidly zooming and that is not always doable. If, however, you are consuming more than one or two processed foods in a day on average, then I'd aim for zero and see where you land. Preplanning and preparation is going to be key with this habit change.
*Eat out too much: If you eat out for more lunches and/or dinners than you make yourself at home, then you need to preplan and prep for your weeks. Even making the best possible choices when you do eat out is disrupting your fitness, health, weight loss goals as you are, at the very least, getting way more sodium, fat, and calories than you would had you prepared that healthy choice yourself. Short On Time? Eating out is a PI and you are only supposed to be getting 3-4 of those a week....remember a PI is not a whole meal but a serving....Eating Supportively
*Too many PIs or UPIs: Planned Indulgences and Unplanned Indulgences.....Reign it in folks. If you are bite, licking, and tasting your way through the day, then you need to hunker down and get serious about your goals! Preplan and stick to the plan!!!
*Don't journal or Don't preplan meals: If you have not practiced journaling your food, then I'd highly suggest giving it a whirl. You might think that you do not consume that much or that little, but unless you start logging your actual daily intake, you will never know....and believe me we are always wrong on this one! If you are great at journaling, but fall down because you don't plan, then that is where you need to be...."If you fail to plan, you plan to fail."
*Wait too long in between meals: If you are go, go, going and go longer than 3-4 hours before eating your next meal, you are only slowing your metabolism way, way down and setting yourself up to UPI all over the place. Trust me, busy days do not have to equal not eating what you should, the way you should and when you should, but what it does mean is that you are going to have to make the choice that your goals are important to you and preplan, preprepare, and Just Do It!
Fitness
*Workout too little: If you read my blog, then you are familiar with the 3 times a week resistance/interval workout recommendation and why. If you cannot find 90 min to no more than 3 hours a week to accomplish this, then I'd have to say you are also too busy to watch tv, blog, post on Facebook, Tweet, read a book or a Kindle, play a game on any device, take a bath, chat to a friend on the phone, you get the idea. All of us waste an exorbitant amount of precious time, so carve out at least 90 minutes a week to no more than 3 hours to at least prolong your life...it's like a savings account of time then!
*Workout too much: If you are strength/resistance training and interval training more than three times a week for more than 3 hours a week. If you are running more than 3 days a week in addition to this. If you are doing additional fitness activities in addition to all of this....You are probably working out too much and not allowing your body the proper recovery time to heal, mend, and benefit you. Aside from overuse injuries, you are actually slowing your metabolism down by overworking out. Make a sensible and reasonable plan and stick to it. If it is almost a compulsion, this can be as serious as over indulging on sugar, so sit down and dive within to figure out what is going on.
*Don't stretch enough: If you do not properly cool down your muscles post workout and in addition to this do some sort of stretching regime a couple to a few times a week, you are setting your joints up for some real issues down the line. With strength training, you are building short muscles that pull the joints apart which is great if you are balancing that with stretching....so be sure to stretch those muscles out to relieve that otherwise building tension.
*Don't push to workout intensely: If you just go through the motions during your workouts, you might as well go for a walk as the good it is doing you. If you want strength, endurance, fat loss, go for the heart pumping, air gasping, sweat through every fiber of your clothing workout. Get in, get done! If you're doing it, DO IT!
Hope this helps beyond just a two week Challenge. If there are some references you don't understand, check out Eating Supportively and/or Workout Tidbits to get answers or contact me at cagib1@charter.net
Can't think of any habits you have to exchange out? Really? K, here are just some examples you can choose from if there are not any already on the top of your list ;-)
Nutrition
*Sugar, Sugar, Sugar. Sugar comes in many forms: sugar (high fructose corn syrup, etc.), simple carbs (good whole grain carbs and veggie/fruit carbs are good for you, but the rest is crap and PI material), alcohol (wasted calories that goes straight to sugar and on top of that slows down your metabolism). To figure out what to replace this overindulgent habit with, first determine why you over consume. If it is an emotional trigger or stress reaction, then replace it with something healthy to ingest as well as a behavior modification to replace the food response. If it is a social habit, then announce to your social group your new goals for the support and accountability and curb your social intake of the bad and increase better choices. Alcoholic Beverages
*Not enough produce: If you are either not getting enough produce in (at least 8-10 servings), or are consuming way more fruits than veggies (shoot for at least one to two more servings of veggies to fruit total), or are choosing low fiber, high sugar produce and your total daily fiber intake is below a 25g minimum (I'd shoot for 30-50g a day), then preplanning is going to be the habit you need to make to hit your minimums at least. Produce Serving Sizes
*Too many processed foods: Ideally, you'd consume a grand total of ZERO processed foods in your daily life, but life is rapidly zooming and that is not always doable. If, however, you are consuming more than one or two processed foods in a day on average, then I'd aim for zero and see where you land. Preplanning and preparation is going to be key with this habit change.
*Eat out too much: If you eat out for more lunches and/or dinners than you make yourself at home, then you need to preplan and prep for your weeks. Even making the best possible choices when you do eat out is disrupting your fitness, health, weight loss goals as you are, at the very least, getting way more sodium, fat, and calories than you would had you prepared that healthy choice yourself. Short On Time? Eating out is a PI and you are only supposed to be getting 3-4 of those a week....remember a PI is not a whole meal but a serving....Eating Supportively
*Too many PIs or UPIs: Planned Indulgences and Unplanned Indulgences.....Reign it in folks. If you are bite, licking, and tasting your way through the day, then you need to hunker down and get serious about your goals! Preplan and stick to the plan!!!
*Don't journal or Don't preplan meals: If you have not practiced journaling your food, then I'd highly suggest giving it a whirl. You might think that you do not consume that much or that little, but unless you start logging your actual daily intake, you will never know....and believe me we are always wrong on this one! If you are great at journaling, but fall down because you don't plan, then that is where you need to be...."If you fail to plan, you plan to fail."
*Wait too long in between meals: If you are go, go, going and go longer than 3-4 hours before eating your next meal, you are only slowing your metabolism way, way down and setting yourself up to UPI all over the place. Trust me, busy days do not have to equal not eating what you should, the way you should and when you should, but what it does mean is that you are going to have to make the choice that your goals are important to you and preplan, preprepare, and Just Do It!
Fitness
*Workout too little: If you read my blog, then you are familiar with the 3 times a week resistance/interval workout recommendation and why. If you cannot find 90 min to no more than 3 hours a week to accomplish this, then I'd have to say you are also too busy to watch tv, blog, post on Facebook, Tweet, read a book or a Kindle, play a game on any device, take a bath, chat to a friend on the phone, you get the idea. All of us waste an exorbitant amount of precious time, so carve out at least 90 minutes a week to no more than 3 hours to at least prolong your life...it's like a savings account of time then!
*Workout too much: If you are strength/resistance training and interval training more than three times a week for more than 3 hours a week. If you are running more than 3 days a week in addition to this. If you are doing additional fitness activities in addition to all of this....You are probably working out too much and not allowing your body the proper recovery time to heal, mend, and benefit you. Aside from overuse injuries, you are actually slowing your metabolism down by overworking out. Make a sensible and reasonable plan and stick to it. If it is almost a compulsion, this can be as serious as over indulging on sugar, so sit down and dive within to figure out what is going on.
*Don't stretch enough: If you do not properly cool down your muscles post workout and in addition to this do some sort of stretching regime a couple to a few times a week, you are setting your joints up for some real issues down the line. With strength training, you are building short muscles that pull the joints apart which is great if you are balancing that with stretching....so be sure to stretch those muscles out to relieve that otherwise building tension.
*Don't push to workout intensely: If you just go through the motions during your workouts, you might as well go for a walk as the good it is doing you. If you want strength, endurance, fat loss, go for the heart pumping, air gasping, sweat through every fiber of your clothing workout. Get in, get done! If you're doing it, DO IT!
Hope this helps beyond just a two week Challenge. If there are some references you don't understand, check out Eating Supportively and/or Workout Tidbits to get answers or contact me at cagib1@charter.net
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