Mindset Matters! 

If you have ever tried to ignore a box of doughnuts at work, you know how hard it is to keep your hands to yourself and walk on by.  And once you walk by, the battle isn’t over.   Even if you are in a different room and down the hall, you can’t stop thinking about those doughnuts.  Why is it so hard to resist something as small as a doughnut?  It has to do with habit—and mind set.

Hardwired habits are the draw you feel from that doughnut that goes way beyond just a mild interest:  you are wired to want it, and resistance is hard.  

When you taste foods that contain excess sugar, fat and salt, your brain releases opioids into your blood stream. Opioids are brain chemicals that cause you to have intense feelings of reward and pleasure, as well as relieving pain and stress.  The pleasurable effect is similar to the feelings that morphine and heroin users experience.  The desire may be so intense that you keep taking one bite after another:  it can be hard to stop.  It’s one of the reasons when we are sad, we turn to comfort food.

BUT why do you give in and approach that doughnut box in the first place?  Why not just refuse to take that first bite?

The answer is another brain chemical called dopamine.  Dopamine is responsible for motivating you to seek out the doughnut so you can get the opioid release.  You remember how good it tasted and how great it made you feel.

Dopamine energizes you to work for that doughnut.  It causes you to concentrate on it and drives you to seek it out. Once this process happens a few times, the whole cycle becomes a habit that is very reward focused, very ingrained and very hard to break.  Your brain’s circuitry has become mapped and wired to want the doughnut.  And you don’t even have to be near the doughnut for this process to start—the dopamine can kick in even when there are no doughnuts in site:  ever made a run to the store for a treat that you just had to have right then? 

 The dopamine process is not just limited to food.  Alcohol, drugs, sex give dopamine highs too and as most of you know millions of people have alcohol, drug and sex addictions.  Dopamine is some powerful stuff.

1/3  of all adults in our country are obese.   The habit of eating unhealthy food and too much of it is widespread. Everywhere we turn we are bombarded with unhealthy food, and also some hard wiring within us that drives us to pursue that unhealthy food.  

The good news?  you can start right now to change the path that you are on.  You can rewire your brain and begin reducing the power that those opioid-producing foods have over you.  You can draw a new map in your mind that will have you passing by the doughnuts.

The secret is mindset or in easier terms, self control.  You must want something else more than you want those fleeting moments of pleasure .  What is it? What do want?  Maybe you want to drop a couple of jeans sizes.  Maybe you want to be off your blood pressure medication. Maybe you want to be more ‘athletic’.  Maybe you want to keep from becoming ill.  Or maybe you just want the satisfaction of being in control of yourself!

How to stop the madness??

1.  Stop.  There is no other way : you must stop eating foods that are not good for you.  In the beginning, it’s really difficult.  When everyone around you is tossing back pizza, beer, ice cream and soft drinks, you will struggle.  You will smell the pizza, you will be in an atmosphere of relaxation and dopamine will be flowing in your bloodstream.  Think about what you want more than that doughnut; think about what you can only have by resisting the doughnut.  Sheer will power is what you have to use at this point.

2.  Victory!  Once you come out on the other side having successfully won the battle within your own mind, you will have accomplished much more than just saying no to a piece of pizza.  You have begun ‘cooling’ the stimulus.  You have taken the first step toward weakening the circuitry in your brain that drives you to habitual patterns of behavior.  The next time, it will be easier.  

3.  Focus on new rewards.  As you remap your brain, you are creating new neural pathways that in time will be stronger than the weakening, “doughnut-centered”

pathways.  Make sure these new rewards are healthy and not an equal replacement for the doughnut/

All well and good on paper, but it’s really hard to do this… and now I want stupid Doughnut!

There are some days where fitness tips and relaying information onto you guys is easy.  And other days, I am blanked.  Today was one of those days.  When that happens, I try to pull out a relevant email or article that I’ve written you in the past.  Alot of you have never seen some of this information, so that’s good, right?  And some of you never read it all, so it may not even matter LOL.

INSTEAD CHALLENGE

For a stretch in camps (last year?), we did a weekly challenge.  For about the first five months it was very successful.  Then..well then it wasn’t.  Most lost interest, some didn’t have time and others just didn’t want to face the fact that they might really NEED these challenges; they either got lazy, got bored or just didn’t find the time to do it.  Let’s see if we can revamp our motivation for THIS challenge

Instead: (definition) as a substitute or alternative to; in place of.

HUH?  This challenge is going to be different for all of you.  The reason being that we all have different weaknesses.

AND…it’s OK to have weaknesses (after all, we are only human). We just have to recognize what they are and be able to handle them when we feel vulnerable.

This week, I want you to find your instead.  Bear with me..

Instead of trying to STOP a bad habit, you should replace it with a HEALTHIER option instead of trying to get rid of it all together.

Trying to stop something will only make you focus on what you can’t have.  

You can give it up entirely and be miserable or you can trade it in for a better option.

So, I’d like you to:

1.  Identify ONE of your “not-so-great” habits or weaknesses in your diet that you want to change. And don’t tell me you don’t have any bad habits or weaknesses – I’m not buying it!

2.  List out (actually WRITE them down) 2 ways you are going to plan for success.

3.  Throw away, give away, or donate your “Weakness” item.

4.  Go to the store and buy your “INSTEAD” item!

Remember…you HAVE to make a change in your BEHAVIOR if you want to see a change in your BODY.

It’s happened to all of us.  You know the feeling – you are away from home running errands, or you are out late because you had to stay at work longer.  And you realize that you are hungry.  Not just a little hungry though, you’re ravenous, your head is starting to throb, and you can’t even think straight.

You have to eat.  Now!

Obviously because you are busy there is NOTHING even remotely healthy anywhere in the house, the office or your car.  Okay a quick stop to McDonalds for a “Salad” with grilled chicken will do right? NOPE – processed, manipulated, transformed – you better think again.

And if you did do that? You just  put food into your body that will lower your immune response, raise your blood sugar, reduce your energy and put weight on you.

We’ve all been there.

Sometimes you really do have to eat ‘right now.’  But over time, these eating emergencies add up and significantly impact your health and fitness.  Right now  I’m all out of the “Healthy snacks” because I haven’t grocery shopped in oh about 8 days…I’m setting myself up for disaster – because guess what?  The snack cabinet with the chips is totally stocked.  Funny how that happens.

You need to plan for eating!

The first step is to make a list of healthy, on-the-go foods that you enjoy eating.  Make sure that you include things with healthy fats, protein and carbs (if it’s around your workout time).  When you are very hungry, you need to have all the macronutrients covered in order to get quick energy, satisfy your hunger and clear your brain fog.  This does not have to be a complete meal, but it needs to be balanced enough to  substitute for one if needed.

Unsalted nuts.  Walnuts, pecans, hazelnuts, almonds, cashews, Brazil nuts.  (These will provide protein and good fat)

Raw Veggies.  They are crisp, juicy, cold and sweet and full of the micronutrients your body craves.

Protein shakes – easy, portable and good for you

Cheese (PLEASE USE MODERATION IF AT ALL).  If you eat dairy, having a small slice of your favorite cheese will give you a complete protein, a little fat and be very

comforting.  

Nut butters.  Cashew, almond, peanut…find your favorite.  Almond butter is great on a banana; cashew butter is perfect on whole grain crackers.  

Boiled eggs.  Do you like cold, salted boiled eggs?  They are a powerhouse of protein.  Just be sure to get free range eggs.

Water.  You have to drink water.  

The second step seems obvious, but it has to happen if you are going to eliminate impulse eating:  buy the food on your list.  You have to get it in your house, so you have it when you need it.

The third step is to plan to bring your food daily.  This food has to travel with you, and you have to decide how you are going to transport it.  Make it convenient!  If you only have five minutes to grab your snacks on your way out the door before work, it has to be streamlined.  Ideally you will leave yourself more than five minutes, but life happens.   

Get a Small cooler.  Put Plates, utensils, napkins in the cooler. Pickup Small storage containers or plastic bags. You need individual containers to put your food in.  Don’t take the whole package of  cheese!  Make sure you pack the snacks – and voila – run out the door.

Make sure to always have these favorite snack items on hand and you’ll never be caught with no healthy alternatives…

Fitness starts in your mind. Ask any athlete or fit person what the number one secret is to his success at fitness, and they will tell you it is commitment.

Commitment means that you are in it for the long haul. Commitment rises above bad days, hectic schedules and volatile emotions. Commitment hangs in there when you don’t want to do it, when you don’t feel like doing it and when you don’t have time to do it.

True commitment doesn’t depend on how you feel. It depends on your integrity and on living for the purpose you have set for yourself.

Are you committed to get fit?

No Weekend Warriors

Committing to be fit eliminates the weekend warrior syndrome. You may know a weekend warrior.  It’s the person who does little physical exercise during the week, but when the weekend arrives, they blast out of the gate like a mad person. In a desperate attempt to make up for sedentary behavior all week, they go to the gym or run, pushing themself to the limit.

The result, however, is not what is expected.

More than likely this person will end up with an injury, because the muscles, tendons and joints are not conditioned for the intensity exercise.

They are also not getting in shape, because they are not committed. Physical fitness depends on consistency. And consistency requires commitment. It takes consistent, near-daily exercise to cause your body to make the changes that bring about fitness. For example, your joints and tendons will strengthen, your aerobic base will improve as your body becomes more efficient at utilizing oxygen and ridding itself of carbon dioxide, and your endurance will increase.

In fact, that you do something consistently is as important, or maybe even more important, than what you actually do. Even if you are just doing low intensity walking, doing it every day is infinitely better than doing something more strenuous only occasionally.

But the real rewards come when you not only commit to intense workouts, but you also commit to being consistent with those workouts.

Commit

In order to get fit, you do not need expensive clothes, fancy home-gym equipment or a complicated workout plan.

What you need is commitment. If you are committed, the rest of the pieces will fall into place.