Past Topics : Habits of Health Tuesdays

Beginning any new process requires change – that means transitioning from a place where you are normally comfortable to a place where you are uncomfortable.

Transition – change – movement – change from the status quo will all be required.

Moving from where you are towards optimal health and losing excess weight begins a transition period for your life. Lifestyle changes can be difficult or easy, depending upon your attitude and your ultimate reason for making the change.

Are you making this change for some trivial, frivolous reason? (Losing weight for a wedding or class reunion).
Do you have a serious health issues, which are forcing you to make this change? (Type two diabetes, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, digestive problems).
The degree of passion with which you face this transitioning period will contribute greatly to the success of your endeavor.

This transitioning period will require a change in physical processes (how-to's), and mental thinking (developing a why) will have to change; hopefully you can create a reliance on a power greater than yourselves that will give you the strength to carry through.

My personal belief is that the mental change will probably be the most difficult. You will be required to evaluate your life, as well as analyze and accept new definitions for old processes. Many individuals will be required to see themselves in a new light. Being a victim will no longer be an option.

The transitioning period begins with phase 1 - Weight loss. It may require new thinking and acceptance, on a gut level, of new ideas and processes. Body mass index (BMI) is a means of tracking how you are doing.

Your old thinking got you to where you are today. That same thinking will not move you forward to a new life.

The whole idea of taking responsibility for everything that happens in your life, incorporating discernment into every decision, and choosing what we call simple disciplines will be required.

The transition period begins immediately when we start in a new process.

Old beliefs, many of which were based on lies, developed unhealthy habits. These habits seem to want to continue on almost an automatic basis.
The committee in our mind (ego) will want us to remain in the same place and comfortable as we are today.
Our friends and Family members are comfortable with us as we are today - they will also not want us to change.

Throughout the process we will find ourselves wanting to go back to the old and familiar. Our ego would make it appear that it is, or seems to be, a great idea.

Learning to live with change, having the mind accept that it is exciting rather than challenging, is a huge key to making it happen.

Phase 1, losing weight, is simple and easy as long as you follow the "how-to" plan.
Transitioning back towards your old (new) lifestyle brings on new challenges.

We cannot go back to eating the same old things that we ate before.
Just because we ate healthy foods in the past does not mean that we can continue to eat the same portions of those healthy foods and remain thin.

They say it takes 21 days as a minimum to establish a new habit.
During phase 1, you will be required to become more knowledgeable about foods and how they affect the body, just like medicines.

They affect us chemically, every organ, and all of the hormones are affected by what we ingest, as well as how much we ingest.

New rules are required to continue the path towards optimal health.

Rules to live by:

• Weight is controlled with food, not exercise
• Three bite rule – Your cravings will normally be satisfied within three bites.
• Normal meals (fuelings) will use a Portion controled nine-inch plate = 50% greens (carbs) 25% lean meat (protein & fat) 25% Starch (carbs & fat)

New Knowledge to understand: Gaining new Healthy Habits

• Understanding the three major food groups — fats – protein – carbohydrates
• Calories ingested and expended – basic weight loss equation
• The facts about exercise – use for fitness, not weight loss
• Fast foods - empty calories – avoid them at all costs
• Movement – burns calories – keeps you fluid and young
• Sleeping – restoration / regeneration time
• Hydration – the body is 70% water / fluids – maintenance is required
• Prayer – talking to God – keeping the relationship fresh
• Meditation – listening to God (Holy Spirit) – guidance and wisdom
• Breathing – full deep breathing a cure for stress
• Circulation – the importance of feeding all 70 trillion cells
• Stress – stress hormones
• Insulin – baseline balance
• Blood sugar spikes – maintaining a balance
• Triglycerides – the amount of fats we ingest
• Slight Edge Theory – incrementalism – small changes over time make tremendous differences
• Together i Can theory – nothing happens in a vacuum – we require the assistance of others to succeed.

Sound overwhelming – it is
Potato chips Theory – you eat a bag of potato chips one chip at a time not the whole bag at once.
Learning a new way of life – takes time.
Transitioning to a new lifestyle will require gaining new knowledge and giving ourselves the time to truly absorb that knowledge.
Many individuals having knowledge (information) are convinced that knowledge alone will take them to the promised land. It's very seldom, if ever, does!

Information or knowledge put into action is what brings about change.
Knowledge or information itself typically does nothing to move us forward.

Many people get defensive – they get argumentative wanting to defend their old beliefs – right or wrong.

Do your beliefs (Old Habits) trap and enslave you or do they give you freedom to move into a new realm?

For our process to be successful, there is no transitioning back. It is always transitioning to a new future.

New rules – new roles to play - for some it may be the same game played with entirely new rules and in a new way.

When we have lost the weight we desire to lose, a new transitioning period will begin.

Having a full understanding of the process, we now begin to bring in a new way of eating.
We will have come to an understanding that we cannot go back to our old ways of thinking and eating without yo-yoing our weight back to what it was.

What you once looked at as treats or rewards, you may now look at as a poison. You may have to give up some of your old friends, white bread, baked potatoes, white rice, and white sugar.

Previously, fiber may not have been considered part of the diet and now we ask you to ingest 25 to 35 g per day. (Each and every day)

Walking into this process with your eyes wide open is a good way to start.

You can resist the process from day one and set yourself up for failure, or you can surrender and accept a new life! That choice, of course, is yours!

 

Need help or assistance in transitioning to a new lifestyle?
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Michael McCright
Free Health Coaching – provided by the "Together i Can Group"
Togetherican.com
September 5, 2016