Focus, Focus, Focus

It took a lot of clarity of purpose to get to my goal.

How did I do it? What strategies did I use?

Well, my fellow newly-fit person, I am going to share with you my insight. I am going to share with you the techniques that I mastered to get where I am. I will let you in on another secret, I still use them. Strategies to develop Mental ENERGY and stay focused.

1- Dropping weight and getting in shape are easy. You must tell yourself this over and over. Do not listen when others tell you how hard it is. Trust me, no matter what your previous experience is with trying to lose weight, the Fat Then Fit Now way is not hard. Losing weight and getting in shape were the easiest things I have ever done.

2- Have clothing in the size you eventually want to fit into. Compare, side by side, those clothes with the clothes you are currently wearing. Depending on how much you want to lose, get clothing in the sizes you are going to need. Try the new clothes on once a week. As they start to fit, you will work harder.

3- Take pictures of yourself from the front and the side (arms back). Keep the pictures in places where

you will see them frequently. I kept them in my bedroom, in my bathroom, on my computer screens and in my office. They are still in most of those places — I don’t ever want to forget where I was. Most importantly, keep a set of pictures with you at all times. Any time the feeling to “splurge” hits you, pull out the photos, and LOOK at them. STARE at them. Know that the food you are about to ingest is the cause of the person in the photograph. It is the person you want to change for the positive. I often refer to the obese person in my old pictures as Joe.375. I didn’t know that guy. He was just passing through life. He was not living.

4 – Write down everything that you eat or drink in a notebook. This will not only let you keep track of your eating, but if you have to record it somewhere, you will not eat the food you are not supposed to. You must be honest with yourself.

5 – Have someone to check in with on a regular basis. Again, this will give you accountability and encouragement. Don’t pick the naysayer. Pick a positive person who wants what is best for you. When you are at your goal, you can then tell the naysayer to kiss what is left of your ass.

6 – This is not a sacrifice, it is an investment in your health! You are doing this so that you can live better and enjoy life better. The sacrifice is having life limited by obesity.

7- Have interval goals. At each interval, take a new photo and tack it up next to the first one. I have pictures at 375, 350, 325, 300, 275, 250, 225 and 200 pounds, (and a some at other weights). Tracking the progress visually is an important reinforcing factor.

8 – Most important. Weigh yourself DAILY! Yes, I said daily. First thing in the morning, wake up and hop on the scale. Record the results on a calendar. I keep mine next to the refrigerator. Write down your weight in red, then pick one day a week (I use Friday) and note your weight in black. That is your “official” weigh in day. The reason for daily weighing is to keep you on track. You will have day to day fluctuations. Some days your

weight will go up a bit. The day to day changes are unimportant. The daily weighing keeps you from eating what you are not supposed to eat. I know, I know… “they” say you should not weigh yourself everyday, once a week is plenty. Well, here is the problem with once a week. Let’s pick Friday as my weigh in day. I hop on the scale and it is down 5 pounds. I feel great about myself. Fast forward to Sunday. I had trouble sleeping and the neighbor decided to mow the lawn at 6 a .m.. I am cranky, tired and to top it off, the coffee maker malfunctioned and there is coffee all over the floor. I forgot the eggs on the stove and they are burned. What the hell, I will just run to a fast food restaurant and get an egg, sausage and cheese on a muffin. I lost some

weight and I am not weighing myself for another 5 days. Later in the day you get behind and you have just a slice of pizza. You aren’t weighing in until Friday so you figure you will just work it off later. Sunday becomes Monday and because you didn’t sleep well on Sunday, you sleep in on Monday morning. The drive-thru is there and that sausage, biscuit and egg looks good, as well as the hash brown. What the heck. You dropped 5 and, you guessed it, you’re not weighing in until Friday. By the time Friday gets here, you are back up the 5 you lost, plus 2. Discouraged and dejected, you fall off the wagon.

Daily weighing means you know you are getting on the scale, so you won’t splurge. On the off chance that you do, you have feedback the next day when it is up only a little more.

You will admonish yourself. You will regain your focus. You will regain traction and pull yourself from the slippery slope. Trust me, you know what to tell “them.” Get on the scale every day.