Hi Friend!
Yesterday we had a minor delay in getting to school as an adhesive got attached to a private area and required a pre-school bath to remove it. Pete, a fellow dad, said having kids would give you a reason to laugh and smile everyday and he sure is right. I may not of listened well enough though because I don't remember the part about problem solving, frustration or challenges. In any event, we made it to school and all is good.
On the subject of problem solving you'd probably agree its useful to look at the past and see what's been successful for other people and when it comes to tracking trends over decades for successfully maintaining weight loss of 30 lbs or more, the National Weight Control Registry in Rhodes Island is a useful resource. Wikipedia says they have over 10,000 members who've lost at least 30 lbs and kept it off for at least 1 year. The NWCR surveys their members annually on a number of lifestyle behaviors and habits and they write many papers with their results.
NWCR Facts
A cool thing you'll probably appreciate is the summary of their findings that you can see below. Many things stand out and a couple I'll comment on are:
- 98% changed the way they ate
- 94% increased their physical activity
- walking was most frequently reported activity
- 78% eat breakfast
- 75% weigh themselves at least 1x/wk
- 90% exercise on average about 1 hour per day
98% Changed the Way They Ate
You can't outrain a bad diet.
On the hierarchy of fat loss, the #1 most important factor of change is nutrition!
If you want to improve your health and what the scale reads, start here.
You know this though, so I'll move on.
94% Increased their Physical Activity
What does Sir Isaac Newton say about motion? "An object at rest stays at rest, and an object moving makes change happen!" (wink)
So you can't make change happen if you don't move!
Walking was Most Frequently Reported Activity
When in doubt keep it simple. You can walk most of the time wherever you are.
Bad day. Walk.
Good day. Walk.
Sunny day. Walk.
Rainy day. Walk.
When you have momentum, you can do more, different and better things, but if you find yourself as an "object at rest" too long, then get moving and walking can help.
*If you need a pep talk, call me, I'll encourage you.
**If you need a kick in the butt. You also know where to find me.
78% Eat Breakfast
You gotta break the fast at some point.
If you've been dreaming of bun, bun's and rainbows, clambakes at the beach or roasting marshmallows on the fire while making s'mores (all references from my 3 y/o daughter), then when you wake you gotta get some nourishment to support a high performing day.
Anecdote. When I was in college, I decided to change my life, and one way I did it was by getting up for breakfast. As you can imagine the dining halls were packed at lunch and especially dinner, but at breakfast it was much quieter. You know who was at breakfast? All the leaders, action takers and achievers. Class presidents, national honor society members, student gov peeps, Captains of sports teams, athletes, fit people, John Cena the WWE wrestler, Mike Alves, you name it. It was a who's who of people that got stuff done at school.
Random thought. Would you start a road trip on an empty tank?
75% Weight Themselves at Least 1x/wk
I recognize not everyone should weigh themselves, but that's a small % of the population, which means it might be useful for everyone else. It's a lot easier to learn the results of your behaviors if you build in the habit of tracking the weight of the body you kick a** with. Remember it's a number. Sometimes it's up, down or the same. You can probably figure out why it changes if you think back to what you've done recently.
Also remember: What gets measured, gets managed! - Peter Drucker
Who wants to go to the doctor every year and be told they're getting worse, have to take medications or anything else that's unexpected and difficult to hear.
Why not choose to be proactive and do things to get better and stop doing things that make you worse.
I'm guessing you'll cross off more bucket list items if you around longer to check them off.
90% exercise on average about 1 hour per day
If Newton says, "An object at rest stays at rest, and an object moving makes change happen!", then you'll keep making change happen if you keep moving.
So keep moving!
For those who did the math in their head, 1 hour / day = 7 hours per week.
7 hours per week x 60 minutes = 420 minutes / week.
That's a commitment.
It might seem like a lot or a little, but if you're looking to see what other successful people have done to lose at least 30 lbs and keep it off, that's a rough average of what they do.
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