Oh I just love that title – I crack myself up sometimes – ho – more than I can chew… get it?  Journey back into LBD – chew – food?

Guess you had to be there.  It sure was funny to those of who were here.  All of us.  No, I’m not telling who.  Me, myself and I don’t want me to tell.

Yah, I’ve been alone too long today.  There is a point to this blog, tho.  I had a lot of people mention to me lately that they needed to lose some weight.  Practically everyone I know needs to lose some weight be it 5 pounds or 105 pounds.

I just figured out this week one of the reasons I blow it about 2 weeks into any program I start, restart, begin again, follow, etc.  I bite off more than I can chew.

Rather than take it one goal at a time – one item – one change – I decide to do it all right now.  If one thing works, then it stands to reason, adding another thing in will make it go faster!   Exercise, drink plenty of water, take the right supplements, eat right, weigh all foods, write everything down that goes into my mouth, get plenty of sleep, cut out chemicals and processed foods, etc., etc., etc.

Pretty much?  I set myself up to fail.  This is true of any goal we want to accomplish, but especially so for those of us who need to lose some weight.  Why?  Cause our bodies are just waiting for us to blow it so it can, first get us to eat that pan of brownies, then second, start the guilt talk.  You know, “Man, you blew it AGAIN!  What is the matter with you???  Can’t you just stick to the plan?  You never do it right.  What’s up with that, chubby??”

Yeah, negative self talk is the WORST thing we do to ourselves.

Today’s point is this:  Long term goals are great but you get that elephant eaten one bite at a time.  Whew – profound, huh?  It’s a mix of other peoples proverbs.  What does it mean?  how the heck should I know Oh, it means ONE STEP AT A TIME gets a big goal or project accomplished.   One change.  One something done until it becomes a habit.  One change you get down pat before you go on to the next change.

Instead of worrying about how much I have to get off long term, I need to break it down and take one week.  I say, “This week’s goal is ____. ”  Then I take it one day at a time to get to the end of the week.  What can I do today to ensure I make this week’s goal?  Sometimes you gotta break it down to hours such as, “What can I do RIGHT NOW to meet today’s goal?”  Even minutes.

You know what I mean – right before you stuff that bag of potato chips into your mouth, maybe you can stop and ask yourself, “Will this bag of potato chips help me reach today’s goal that will help me meet this week’s goal?  No?  Oh, well, maybe just for this moment, I’ll wait on the chips and save them for later.”  Don’t tell yourself “NO I CAN’T HAVE IT” ’cause then your body will go into, “What? I want it.  I want it now.  I want it I want it iwantitiwantit” and pretty soon you’ll be throwing yourself in the floor having a 2 year old type tantrum.  It’s ugly.

Just tell yourself, “I won’t eat this right now.  I’ll save it for later.”  Then, the super smart thing to do once you’re past the craving (and you can fool your body) is either hide the chips, get rid of the chips, or stomp the chips into inedible mush. 

No temptations mean no temptation.  Ooooh wasn’t that good?  I made that up all by myself.  Can you tell???  But you know what?  I did NOT eat that chocolate candy bar for one reason only.  It was not in the house.  Because it wasn’t in the house, there were no temptations to each a chocolate candy bar.  Trust me, your body knows when it is on the shelf no matter where you put it.

So take your long term elephantine goal and break it down into little sized bites.  Figure out how much weight you need to lose, then forget that number. Instead, figure out how much you are willing to work toward losing by the end of one week, the set that goal be it 1-2-3 or 5 pounds. Create short term goals that lead up to the long term one – but only focus on what you can do RIGHT NOW.  Then do it.