Happy Eaters food fun fitness

I thought I'd start a random thoughts thread because sometimes we all have a little observation or ah-ha that we want to share but it seems too trivial to start a whole thread. It's almost like I wish I could tweet my brain trivia to the rest of the happy eaters. So, here's the first one:

I'm really glad I brushed my teeth already or I'd be mowing on almond brittle right now.

That is all. LOL

You?

Random thought. I have been using visualization lately, visualizing myself as a fit happy person, where I want to be. Less body fat, strong healthy and fast. I think it is helping me push harder on my workouts and eat less than I normally would. Any one else done this visualization technique for anything, whether it be fitness related, career or any other thing?

I need to stop making food a bigger deal as it is. It is my ONLY problem and I consider myself lucky.

I keep wondering if there is a way to apply happy eating concepts to finances.  

Tenacity, absolutely there's a way to apply happy eating to finances.  It's the "every decision counts" point that's most transferrable.  So just like every time you don't eat something you're stocking your calorie bank account, ditto every time you don't buy something, or buy something less expensive, or put a few dollars away for the future.  I think it absolutely works.  It's 1000 small decisions every day, not just one big one.  Similarly, if you're paying off debt (losing weight) you can't think about how far you have to go, but instead each small step toward the goal.  A year from now, you'll be much better off than if you'd never tried.

JessiCat, I always visualize every detail of myself doing 4 strong, beautiful, flawless chin-ups in a row...right before I do 4 ugly, swinging, kicking, cussing ones. :-) But I KNOW that visualization helps me to get my head in the game and make it happen. I've doubled my chin-ups in the last couple of months.

I also visualize, well, everything about being fit, healthy, lean and awesome. I see myself that way and reinforce it every chance I get. You have to see it in your mind and believe it's possible before you can become it. 

As an aside to that idea, I used to do photoshop head transplants for people, putting their head on their ideal body so they could literally see the person they were becoming. I also used to put my head on a whole lot of bodies that look just like the one I'm walking around in now. So, hey! It worked! :-)

Another stupid or brilliant thing I used to do was ask myself, "What would Batman do?" Would Batman cry and eat all those cookies? No, he would not. Be Batman! That was one of my "fake it 'till you make it" or "acting as if" schemes. I didn't always have the strength to do the right thing, but Batman did. I think I read something about emulating someone you admire. What would they do? What would they say? I skipped over all the fitness people and went right for super hero. 

JessiCat, absolutely!  that avatar next to this message is nothing like my actual body at this moment, but what I want to look like.  I find the real picture helps me visualise.  I'll have to try to photoshop my head in next (it worked for Skwigg...)

This morning's random thought is something from Alwyn Cosgrove that popped into my head. He said basically, "It's not what you eat and how you exercise between Christmas and New Year's that matters. It's how you eat and exercise between New Year's and Christmas." In other words, it's what you do the vast majority of the time that makes or breaks you, not the isolated holiday or vacation week.

And I'm sure I was thinking that because I'm having dinner at The Cheesecake Factory. :-)

My goal through the holidays is to practice good habits most of the time and to maintain. I'm not going to be setting any buffness milestones at the end of December. I've tried that before, being the killjoy who diets hard all through the holidays and skips events to go workout. Never again. 

"It's not what you eat and how you exercise between Christmas and New Year's that matters. It's how you eat and exercise between New Year's and Christmas." In other words, it's what you do the vast majority of the time that makes or breaks you, not the isolated holiday or vacation week.

That's funny - I was just thinking about that quote earlier this week!  So true.  But as you say, no reason to go crazy either.  Enjoy the holiday!

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skwigg - Posted 5 Hours Ago

 

This morning's random thought is something from Alwyn Cosgrove that popped into my head. He said basically, "It's not what you eat and how you exercise between Christmas and New Year's that matters. It's how you eat and exercise between New Year's and Christmas." 

 

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I love that!