The Victory Mindset

Published on November 16th, 2011 by

Over the last few months, I diligently observed my mood and my motivation before, during and after various weight loss activities. These include waking up early in the morning to workout, the workout itself, post-workout, preparing food, ordering food etc. During this observation period, I’ve noticed something that I find remarkable and may help me lose more weight and get healthy.

I found that if I approach working out, or finding food to eat as a “weight loss” task, I don’t generally enjoy doing it. I feel like I am obliged to participate as someone trying to lose weight. It almost seems like a burden. The workout seems like a quick fix and the food aspect feels like a diet. After I have completed the task, I don’t really feel that satisfied. I know that I have to do it all over again tomorrow and it wears on me.

However, if I approach the day and the various activities with a “I’m getting healthy” mindset (as opposed to weight loss), I feel much more upbeat and happy about it. I know that its for the long haul and that I am taking steps to live a healthier life. Post-activity, I feel a bit more satisfied and accomplished as I know I just took one more step to getting healthier. Its no longer a task that I can check off when complete but a behavior that I strive to live day-in-and-day-out.

After I made this discovery, I put this observation to the test. Over the course of the last month, I tried really hard to get into a “health” based mindset instead of “weight loss” mode to see how it impacted my decisions and actions throughout the day. When I was able to get into, what I am calling “The Victory Mindset”, my workouts were more efficient and satisfying as I exercised with a sense of purpose. My meals were more enjoyable as I ate them knowing that its the right thing for me to eat long-term and not just a quick fix to lose 10 pounds. Overall I was happier throughout the day knowing I was leading a lifestyle of health instead of trying to diet. At the end of the day, I felt a great sense of accomplishment and self-pride.

I am calling this The Victory Mindset because losing weight and getting healthy really is a battle and a competition. Its a battle with myself, my body and my mind. In this battle, health goes to the victor. Everyday that I workout, I feel victorious. Everyday that I don’t stop at a gas station to eat a candy bar, I feel victorious. I am also calling this The Victory Mindset because this reaches far beyond weight loss and health. I have applied this mindset to my job and to friendships with great reward. The Victory Mindset is a great place to be in for all facets of life. its not only good for my physical health, but for my mental health as well.

I noticed a few other interesting things about The Victory Mindset:

  • It isn’t always easy to get into the mindset.
  • Sometimes when I was in the mindset, I would slip out of it into the weight loss mode.
  • It takes preparation and effort to get into the mindset.
  • The more and more I’m in the right mindset, the more it becomes my general mindset and part of my life.

As I tried to achieve this mindset on a daily basis, I started to figure out what was needed to get into this mindset. As I’m getting ready to go to bed every night, I run through a checklist of what I want to accomplish the following day. This was basically a list of short-term goals. Wake up early to run. Eat right. Make good decisions. Drink water. (Also stuff like: Smile often, tell my wife and son I love them) This short list has become a bedtime mantra. I don’t write anything down or go crazy with lists, just a short mantra to get myself prepared for the next day.

When I wake up in the morning, I repeat the mantra, but also try and attach realistic expectations for the day. This includes: how far do I want to run. What will I eat for breakfast, lunch, and snacks (my amazing wife takes care of dinner plans). When will I take time out of my day to make sure I am drinking water. Just lay out my day so good decisions are easy to make.

When I get home, I review my day to see what worked and what didn’t. I use this knowledge to make adjustments for the future. Rinse and repeat the process.

It might sound like a lot, but it really isn’t. It only takes a minute or two, and that time is well spent. It gets my mind right to live a healthy life and not just reach some weight loss goal. Everyone knows someone that they haven’t seen for a while who lost a ton of weight and looks great. But the next time you see that person they gained all the weight back plus some. I don’t want to be that guy. I don’t want to live a healthy 8, 9, 10 months, I want to live a healthy life.

This may all sound a bit kooky, and it is, but it works for me. If/when you find something that works…stick with it and try to perfect it!

 
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Everyday is a Struggle

Published on November 14th, 2011 by

At my heaviest, I would have a king size Milky Way and 24 ounce energy drink everyday on my way home from work (which is partially the reason I got so heavy). I didn’t even think twice about it. My body and mind were on auto-pilot as I would pull into the store and make my purchase. The candy bar was like a drug. I needed it for my drive home. Doing this was easy, there was not thought or effort to accomplish this.

When I made a decision to lose weight, I knew I had to make different eating decisions. I knew I couldn’t eat a king size candy bar every day. I couldn’t eat four slices of pizza for lunch. I couldn’t eat a bowl of ice cream at 10pm every night.

I’ve now lost 50 pounds, but the urge and temptation to pull into every corner store to get a candy bar is still there. The temptation is still there to skip the healthy lunch I brought to work and go get 3 slices of pizza instead. This is the struggle within that I deal with and manage everyday. The urge and temptation is still there, however I feel a small sense of victory and accomplishment when I pass the gas station or the pizzeria without going in. The feeling I get from these small victories make it possible to keep going and fighting these temptations. While the struggle makes it difficult to stay on course (I won’t lie, I succumb to the urge every so often), I like the struggle. On days where the scale doesn’t move, the struggle provides me with the small victories to provide the motivation I need to keep going.

I hope that one day I won’t have a problem with food and that this struggle within will go away. I want to drive past a gas station, restaurant, pizzeria or ice cream shop without having an urge to stop in and gorge myself. I wish I didn’t have to think about that. But, at this point in time, I do. And I will keep struggling with myself and I will keep fighting the good fight.

 
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Excuses

Published on November 11th, 2011 by

When it comes to weight loss and physical activity, I used to be the king of excuses. I created a new excuse for an old problem. I needed to get off my a** and workout. Didn’t have to be a full on weightlifting session, but something would have been nice. Even a walk around the block would have sufficed. When I want to make an excuse, I go and watch this video. The same goes for eating healthy…excuse after excuse after excuse. One day, I decided I was sick of being unhealthy and lying to myself and making excuses for my poor health. The day I stopped making excuses and started taking action is the day that changed my life forever.

Now I’m really into running and running events such as the Muddy Buddy, Rugged Maniac, Du-athlons, Spartan Race…basically any 5k obstacle course or bike/run du-athons. When I talk to my friends and other people about this, they always seem interested and invite them to join me. Its at this time where I hear excuses on why they can’t participate. I never hold it against them, because that was me. I understand where they are coming from and why. Some excuses are: “I have an old bike that’s not very good” or “My running shoes are really old” or I don’t have any clothes to run in the winter” or “I don’t have time to workout”. I take this as an opportunity to educate them on how very little you need to be active, go for a jog and/or participate in these events.

My Running Shoes are Too Old

Who cares! This is one of the excuses I hear most. People want to start jogging when they get a new pair of running shoes. They go to get said running shoes and find out they are at least $100 if not more. They don’t buy them cause of price so they never go for a run/workout etc. I guarantee that you have a pair of shoes in your closet that are good enough for you to run or workout in. I wear a pair of Asics that I have had for years. I know that if I went to a legitimate running store and got properly fitted for running shoes that my running performance would probably improve. But not sure by how much. My guess is that its only nominal. If running is something I am going to do for the long-term, than better running shoes is on my list. But just to get up and get active, what I have is perfect!

I Have an Old Crappy Bike

Who cares! I have an older Giant mountain bike that I purchased on Criagslist for $50. Made about $50 worth of improvements in components and now its perfect for what I use it for. You don’t need to go out and buy a $1,500+ bike to get into du-athlons or to get out and get active. Dust off the bike you have in your garage or shed and log some miles. If you really need to upgrade, either check Criagslist or just upgrade a few aspects of the bike you already have.

I Don’t Have Any Performance Apparel

Who cares! I run in an old hoodie and sweat pants. Would expensive dri-fit or Under Armor gear make me feel less sweaty? Probably. But who cares! Wear the clothes you have and build your workout collection over time. It’s really not needed!

I Don’t Have Time

This is the fall back excuse of too many people…myself included. The fact is, I had to make time. I now wake up an hour or so earlier every day and make it happen. As the old adage says, if you want something bad enough, you’ll find a way to make it happen!

There are countless other excuses for not getting up, getting outside and being active. In the past I’ve either used an excuse or invented one. I know them all. I didn’t lose the weight and get serious until I stopped telling myself those excuses.

Nike was right…Just Do It!

 
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Personal Truth

Published on November 2nd, 2011 by

I read a blog post today by Jerry Kennedy that sparked something in my brain and really got me thinking about weight loss and being healthy. In his post, Jerry speaks about finding your personal truth and “Choosing the truth is simply this: a resolve to stop lying to yourself.”

And this, my friends, is where rubber meets the road. That sentence is what made me and will make you lose weight. Once you stop lying to yourself and start being honest with yourself, you will do the things you need to do to lose weight and get healthy. “I can eat that candy because I am going to the gym tomorrow”, “I am going to the gym starting Monday” (this is the biggest lie I used to tell myself and one that i hear from many people who want to get healthy). There are countless lies I told myself and those lies lead me to be overweight with gout, sleep apnea and borderline diabetes. I didn’t actually start losing weight until I looked at myself in the mirror and started being painfully honest with myself. This isn’t an easy thing to do, and it hurts at times. But its the only way to go.

From time to time, I still catch me lying to myself. Sometimes I’m not cognizant of it and fall off the wagon for a few days. However, its when I catch myself that I smile and know that I need to be honest with me always. Being honest with myself was and is the catalyst for my weight loss and healthy lifestyle.

If you are struggling with starting or sticking with a plan, look yourself in the mirror and tell yourself the truth.

 

 

 
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Worry About The Right Things

Published on October 25th, 2011 by

When I was very overweight I worried about the dumbest things. I worried about what people thought about me when they saw me trying to squeeze into a booth at a restaurant. I never took my shirt off at the pool cause I worried about people pointing and laughing at me. I worried about how I was perceived at the gym from fit people. I worried that I was being judged by waiters when they brought out my food. I think you get the point. I worried about what people thought about me and my weight. I worried that people were associating ugly with fat (via The Anti-Jared). While I was worrying about stupid things, I completely ignored the things that I should be worrying about…my health.

It took me time and diligence to change my focus and worrying from what others thought about me to what I thought about myself. Once I did this, weight loss success feel into place. I have Gout and Sleep Apnea and I knew it was just a matter of time until Diabetes caught up with me. Once I started worrying about the right things, I got focused on what I needed to do to get healthy and lose weight.

I am now out of the Diabetes danger zone, although the thought of Diabetes is always in my head. This debilitating disease is something that many people suffer from and I refuse to suffer from something that I can prevent. I recently took another sleep study to see if my weight loss has had any impact on my Sleep Apnea status. I am hoping that my results come back showing that I don’t have it anymore and I can sleep knowing that all my organs are getting the oxygen they need. I can never get rid of Gout, but with the right diet I can control the frequency and severity of flare ups. I haven’t had a Gout attack since October of 2008 and I’m very proud of that.

I don’t think worrying is a bad thing. Worrying about the wrong things can have a negative emotional and physical impact. Worrying about the rights things help be get off my couch and lose the weight that I needed to and wanted to.

 
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To Snooze or Not To Snooze

Published on October 19th, 2011 by

For anyone trying to lose weight and working out in the morning, the sound of the alarm clock is dreadful. There are times when I hit snooze and go back to sleep and miss my workout that morning. This leads to a downward spiral of skipping workouts all together and not accomplishing my goals. I am determined to hit my goal weight and realize the importance of waking up when my alarm clock goes off and getting my workout in.

When my alarm clock goes off, I find myself staring at the clock and making all sorts of excuses to hit snooze. I tell myself that I will workout later, or workout instead on a planned day off. Its a dangerous game that can and will lead to me hitting snooze and not working out. Before I went to bed last night, I made a game plan. A strategy for me to get up and go when the clock bell rings. I laid out all my clothes and my gear (headphones, keys etc). I also promised myself that I wouldn’t lay there and play mind games, but I would jump out of bed and get going. When the clock went off this morning, I popped out of bed, threw on my clothes and went for a run.

Its amazing how quickly I forgot how much I wanted to hit snooze. Working out in the morning is something I love and starts the day right. I wrote a post about working out in the morning that covers this in more detail. While I’m working out I always wonder why I hit snooze and not want to get up and workout. When my alarm goes off and I lay there making excuses, I am going to try and think about how good I feel when I workout and hope that that feeling helps me get out of bed and do what I need to do to hit my goals.

The snooze button is now on my list of official weight loss enemies. Do they make an alarm clock without a snooze button?

 
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Rugged Maniac

Published on October 18th, 2011 by

This past weekend, I ran in the Rugged Maniac. This is a 5k with numerous obstacles including, walls, water, mud and severe hills to climb…it absolutely lived up to its name! We had a group of about 15 people which made this event even more fun. Its always fun to run these events with other people pushing you and motivating you to keep going.

We stayed together as a group through most of the run and finished as a group. Our official finish time was 1:00:59. This is a pace of 19:40 per mile, which is pretty slow! We need to improve that next year!

Click here for more photos of the event

 
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Intentions vs. Promises

Published on October 17th, 2011 by

When I wake up everyday, I have the best intentions of a healthy lifestyle. I have every intention of working out and eating right. But those intentions are not always fulfilled. I feel bad and a bit guilty when I don’t fulfill those intentions. I quickly get over it as I tell myself that I’ll get back at it tomorrow. To fulfill intentions I have created a mind game with myself. I take the most important intentions and create promises to myself. I have a real tough time breaking promises to any one, especially to myself. Once I make a promise to myself, it will only get broken under circumstances beyond my control.

I’ve intended to lose weight and get healthy my entire life. That got me nowhere and very obese. Results didn’t start happening until  I made a promise to myself and to my family. Promises have a strong mental influence. Most people don’t like making promises unless they can keep them and most people don’t like breaking promises.

When I write down my goals, I draw a line horizontally across the paper. The goals below the line are intentions and goals that I’d like to achieve. The goals above the line are promises and goals that I need to achieve. Once I’ve fulfilled several of my promises, I re-evaluate the list and intentions that were below the line usually move to promises above the line.

With promises to myself, I’d still be obese and in poor health. I promise to do everything I can to keep losing weight and getting fit.

 
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Run

Published on October 6th, 2011 by

I’ve never, ever been a runner. Even when I ran (ok, there was a lot of walking) a half marathon for charity. I never enjoyed running for the sake of running. I love playing basketball and other sports that have a strong element of running, but never liked running. Running wasn’t in my comfort zone. It may have been that I wasn’t able to run very far/long without having to stop and walk; which makes me feel like a loser. It may be that I have a perception that runners have a culture unto themselves and are a bit snobbish about it (I feel the same way about cyclists as I tried to enter a cyclocross event one time and was told not to enter…different story for a different day). The bottom line is that running has never felt right for me.

Losing weight and getting healthy is not an easy task. One reason its not easy is that you must step outside of your comfort zone to accomplish the goal. From eating different to disrupting your schedule to get gym time in. Everything is new, new means change and change is outside of comfort zones. I’ve lost anywhere from 46 to 55 pounds depending on the day (and how much sodium I’ve consumed) but I’ve stalled a bit in losing more weight. I have maintained my weight loss, thankfully, but haven’t lost more because I have confined myself to my comfort zone (which is a different comfort zone than when I was overweight. As I formed new and healthy habits, those habits became my new comfort zone). To lose the weight I want and to hit my goal weight, I must get out of my comfort zone and do things that I wouldn’t usually do. Enter running.

Its only been two days since I picked up running, but my experience in those two days have opened my eyes to a whole new world of fitness. Two very enjoyable days of running have me wondering why I didn’t try running before. I ran two miles each day without stopping to walk. This feels like a huge accomplishment to me and drives me to want to run more to see how far I can push myself. I can’t take all the credit and say that I started running solely in the name of fitness. My sister-in-law Lindsey pretty much made me sign up for a 5k event that has pushed me to run. And while I was on the fence about participating at first, I am now pumped for these events and looking forward to them. A 5k isn’t too far of a distance, but seemed daunting when I haven’t run even 1k since I was a kid!

Getting out of my comfort zone has given me a sense of awareness that I haven’t had previously. I am now aware that I can do and accomplish things that are outside of my comfort zone…things that will make me better!

 
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Compare

Published on October 5th, 2011 by

In the past, I’ve wasted a lot of time and energy comparing myself to others when it comes to health and physical appearance:

“I wish I was built like that guy”
“I wish I was as healthy as her”
“I can’t squat as much weight as that guy”
“My bench isn’t as good as his”
etc, etc, etc

This practice caused me great stress and anxiety as I was always trying to be someone I’m not nor will never be. Luckily, I figured out that comparing myself to others was getting me no where and my time and energy was much better served improving myself within the boundaries of myself…not others.

I now compare my current self to the self I want to be; physically and mentally. I have an image of physically self that I compare myself to and I shoot for that. That image is my goal. Its not only outward physical appearance but also overall general health (eating clean, workouts etc).

I’ve found that comparing myself to others is a dangerous game and gets me nowhere while comparing myself to myself helps me set a goal and strive to accomplish it. Not only is comparing myself to myself much more realistic, its also rewarding and satisfying. If I were to compare myself to someone else, I know for a fact I would see someone else that I can compare myself to and that would go on forever. If I compare myself to a future image of myself, I have one goal/vision to shoot for.

This probably sounds like I’m rambling and its a confusing concept. Its very similar to creating a vision board that was detailed in the Secret (if you’re into that). However, my vision board isn’t about material possessions. My vision board is me and my health.

 
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