Monthly Archives: January 2006
Just 4 Today: January 31, 2006
Just 4 Today, I’m going to take my 2 liters of water to work and drink one in the morning and one in the afternoon.? And I’m going to walk around (and around) the building at work.
What are you going to do today — please let us know!
Eat 4 Today – The Commitment (Day 15)
I’m not going to eat between meals and I’m not going to take seconds. Just today. And I’m going to try this for a year.
The most common negative reaction to my commitment is from people who point out that this plan won’t work at all. Because if I don’t control my portions at meals, I could continue to gain weight.
And of course that’s true, if weight loss was what this project was all about.
But it’s not just about my weight, this commitment has more to do with getting a grip on myself. It has more to do with not just drifting through my days waiting for tomorrow to make big changes. It’s about using the fact that “time flies” to see what could happen if I try something for just one day, and do it again & and again for a year.
For weightloss portion-control is critical, of course. And we can talk about that in other articles. But, this commitment is about self-control. Just Today.
Just 4 Today: January 30, 2006
Just 4 Today: I will use my lunch our to call my Republican Senators to beg them to support the filibuster (why not jam their phone lines — they should know how I feel just like a Democrat would).
And I’m going to drink 2 liters of water while I’m at work. Just 4 Today.
Eat 4 Today – The Commitment (Day 14)
I’m not eating between meals and I’m not taking seconds. Just today. And I’m going to try it for a year to see what happens.
Looking at a commitment as an experiment can be an effective way to maintain your interest. You may be starting to lose focus. Maybe you haven’t seen actual results. Maybe you aren’t sure anymore that this is a useful idea.
But if you go into it as an experiment you can form mini-goals thinking: I will do this for a week and monitor what happens. Maybe your afternoon hunger will make you appreciate dinner more. Or you might quite snoring after you stop eating through the evening (I did — I stopped my heavy snoring completely). Or you might like that feeling of power when you tell yourself that there’s nothing in the candy machine for you, so don’t even bother with it. And don’t forget the money — snacks are expensive. You could save a hundred dollars for the money some people spend in those machines a month!
When this commitment starts to feel old, think about some of these less obvious effects. Remember there’s more to life than simple weightloss. What else are you gaining through this experiment?
Sneaky Depression
Last week we talked about Depression = ANGER. This week another face of depression presents itself. Depression = SNEAKY SNAKE.
Right now, as I sit here at my computer I am experiencing a more insidious form of depression…….the sneaky snake form. It’s more insidious because I don’t see it coming, it is so sly. I can be feeling really pretty good, then I’ll notice that things are beginning to irritate me a little. Nothing serious, only a couple coat hangers entangled, nothing to fuss about.
I move on to my next task…..a little slowly and without much of a sense of purpose. I walk past an end table that is stacked with magazines. The whole stack topples over. Now, this is equal to about 10 coat hangers entangled and I get irritated. But, I tell myself, “You clumsy oaf, if you had cleared off the end table, the stack wouldn’t be there and you wouldn’t have been able to brush against it and knock it over.” But you hadn’t cleared, and it was there, and you did knock it. And now you have to stop what you were going to do (what was it?) and stoop over and pick them up and restack them on the same end table again. Geez!!! And in the middle of restacking them, the big ones on top slip off again because of the small ones on the bottom. 15 coat hangers. So….get them balanced and carefully walk away. Continue reading
