After realizing that 2006 will be over in 31 days, I wanted to do a self assessment of how I'm doing. I know that sometimes I may be too hard on myself and other times, I may be slacking off.

My thought and discussion topic is:
How satisfied with your progress are you and what do you think that you could be doing to improve (if anything)? Be honest with yourself and share how you're overcoming your issues.

My own situation is that I've been told that I'm MUCH too hard on myself but don't agree. I am hard when I don't workout or if I have a cookie here and there but that's because I have so much weight to lose and I look at that as a weakness...that I failed myself. I hope to come to a comfortable medium where I can be supportive of myself AND enjoy food rather than looking at it as an enemy.

I also would like to stop thinking that this weight loss thing is a journey and will end sometime. I really need to mentally get tough and change my thinking. THIS is how I must act, eat and exercise for the rest of my life unless all my weght will come back and this work will be for naught. I also am working on an anti-slack process. Something that will motivate me at all times. Im dabbling in meditation and visualization.

Dave

Hey Dave,

“The mind is not a vessel to be filled, but a fire to be lighted.”
- Plutarch

One of my favorite quotes, and very relevant to this topic.

It's good to have a realistic view of your progress. Diet isn't a physical battle as much as a mental/heart/attitude one. When I realized it was time for me to get fit, I knew that I had to change my entire "food world view." You almost need to have a religious-like experience where your entire perception of eating, health, fitness and discipline are completely changed.

Find a "life bookmark" that helps you remember that this is a total breakaway from your past views. For me, it was the birth of our first child, my adorable daughter. I realized I wanted to be around for her high school and college graduations, to walk her down the aisle someday and to bounce my grandkids on my knee. I had no idea how profoundly having our daughter would change my thinking, but she did. She is a source of motivation and an important reminder to stay on track. When I am tempted by Hot Tamales (holy cats I love those things), I take one look at her and I know that a banana is a better sweet fix than candy.

You right about this: You're hard on yourself if you're not taking care of yourself. But you can also set unrealistic expectations and become defeated. That's why I really like traineo, because I can choose Motivators to be accountable to and they can both motivate me and tell me when I'm being unreasonable -- they give me a reality check.

So, to address your topic:
I haven't been signed up with traineo for long, but I like it very much so far. The above paragraphs address how I overcome my issues. As far as my progress, right now it's easy to say I'm doing well because it's not been too long since I started, but I feel better physically because of my walking. The exercise is the frustrating part for me -- I just don't want to do it. My wife, daughter and I enjoy going for walks together and try to walk for at least 20 minutes. Like many folks these days I work a desk job and it's easy to want to stay put in the chair. Not being a "morning person" makes it difficult to establish a routine time to exercise.

Best to you, Dave!

Paul, what a great post!

Thanks for sharing... I hope that you contribute more posts.

Dave O,

Slay those Demons!

Dave,

This process is about learning to make better judgments and not about finding ways to be judgmental.

Thinner people aren't better than you or stronger than you are mentally or physically; they have simply had better long-term eating habits. You ate when they didn't eat. Or you ate larger portions or more fattening things than they did. Or your metabolism slowed and you didn't compensate with exercise.

You and you alone can decide whether or not you will make choices in any given instant that satisfy you over the long term. And you and you alone can determine how you will then react to having made decisions that you later regret. But if you want a friendly suggestion, you'll be happier over the long run if you decide that your mistakes aren't failures in mental toughness or weaknesses that demand punishment.

Making mistakes is inevitable. Acting outside your best interests from time to time is probable. The before and after photos posted on Traineo testify that even people who sometimes believed that they "made mistakes" and "let themselves down" could learn how to change their eating and exercise habits and thereby transform themselves (and their self-esteem) over the long term. That's what this process is all about.

By the way, contrary to what you wrote, weight loss is a journey that has to end or you'll end up anorexic at the opposite end of the spectrum! What does not end is the process of learning how to make healthy choices more frequently. And that process isn't just for weight loss, you know. It extends to everything else in life.

Which brings me to your question ...

When I decided to lose weight, I didn't go on a diet. I figured that if I took that approach I would gain the weight right back as soon as the regimen ended. Instead, I decided to eat/exercise as if I were trying to maintain my ideal weight.

The pounds have been dropping off of me more slowly than if I had truly deprived myself. But I am pleased that the needle on my scale is headed slowly, inexorably, in the right direction.

Good luck, Dave!

P.S. to Paul. I agree with K M--great post, and welcome to Traineo!

I agree a lot of the whats been posted by all. i have just started this site. as a way to help myself and my family to start having healthier happier life styles. traineo seems like a great site. i have already gotten a number of friends and coworkers, and their freinds onto this site, that are working towards a healthier life style. it's about 6 people now in 24hr. shows how great this site really is.

what i like most is that it gives us data to establish a base line of how we want to live our lives. the core is to live health enough to do what we want in life for how long we want.

to live a healthy life, it is something that has to be a core value in how one lives their life every day, day to day. one can make goals of this in a number of ways on a number of aspects.

i see a lot of ways to track what i do that influences my desired healthy life style.

i know this site tracks mostly weight loss, and exercising. these each, have to become a core value in how we live our life. if we want to live healthy and happier.

it lays the foundation, the routine to continue to live a healthy and happy life.

there are a lot of things that throw us from our path's. many of them are from our own doings. why is it that i keep lighting up that smoke, or need that cookie. i have the urges for junk food just as i do a smoke (I'm trying to stop smoking as well as eat health, and exercise)

the thing is if one desires something, depending on a person's will power at that moment and the desire, they will obtain it no matter the consequence.

dave, the key is moderation. you have to reward yourself at some point. if you never reward yourself that desire, it will just keep come. let yourself have that cookie. over time you can trend those desiers down. go from that cookie a day to a cookie a week. allow yourself that beer every once in a while ect.

we all have bad habits we have to break in order for us to live the healther life styles we want.

you cant be hard on yourself about it, when you just let yourself go and go beyond the moderation into excess, i know i felt bad when i pigged out on the work appitizer banquet this week, so many brownies, and hot wiings. you do have to realize "if i make a mistake towards my goals is that i have to try that much harder the next time i'm in that situation.

you may want to look into setting up a food routine for yourself, and a pay out of sweets, in sizes that accommodates the diet, and exercise regime, that gets your to your target goal, and time.

what ron said is right on the money. figure out what it is that you want your healthy eating and exerise regeim to be in the end. it will have to be continued on a regular basis, otherwise we will fall back into our old habits, that put us here in the first place.

find a personal balance for those self rewards. example, a cookie every day, means i have to do a 1 mile run or other exerise that day to burn that cookie off. you have make it your schedle. one can see if the work / rewards are worth it. by reducing the bad stuff, the cookies. and keeing the same exersie regemine as before, you will drop those pounds even faster.

all it takes is saying, nope no cookie today.

i'm right there with you paul on all your points.

the social aspect of this, lets one see how unrealistic they truly are. i think we all seem to make ourselfs set to high of realistic goals at times.

one just has to find joy in exersicing as well. i the found forced death marches / exersice routines to be enjoyable after a few months when i was in the military. though once i'm out and have a non physical job. i dont feel like doing any kind of exersie. but the thing is, one just has to get up and go do it. i know easy said. impossible to do.

well i'm off to try the impossible. as it's what has to be done. enjoy guys and good luck on your journeys.

Great posts everyone...thanks for taking the time.

Dave