The Rules For Success

It's been quite a while since I posted anything that wasn't incorporated into a daily log, but I figured that this is something worthy (to me, since I'm the audience) to post on it's own.

Given my decades of efforts and (mostly) failure, I have learned a few things.  It might help to write them down and keep them together, maybe if I review them often enough the lessons will stick.

Anyway, without further introduction, my personal rules for success.

1.  Always have food prepped.  I have been failing recently by eating out, triggered by the fact that I would have to cook something.  It was my plan to have things prepped for the week on Sunday, but I did not get it all done.  And so rather than do something as simple as cook up a pound of ground beef, I hit a drive thru.  Make it easy, make it a no brainer - have food prepped.

2.   You aren't going to do it on short sleep.  About a million times over the years I have cut something short in the evening, telling myself I'll get up early to finish.  That almost never works.  I'll tell myself I'll get up early to start the schedule reset, but then I go to bed late.  Never works.   Productivity drops like a rock on short sleep.  Bad eating happens on short sleep.  You aren't going to be successful, you're not going to do good things on short sleep so get your rest.

 3.    It's all connected.  Sleep, exercise, eating, breathing.  All connected.  If you can't breathe, you can't sleep.  Don't sleep and you won't exercise.  Don't do those things and you aren't going to eat right.  To fix the problem you have to address them all. 

4.    Habits are hard to start but can be surprisingly pleasurable to maintain ... but can be easy to break.  The obvious thing is exercise.  I have a hard time making myself do it.  I don't enjoy it.  But I know I need to.  It's difficult to get into a consistent routine, but once you get over that hump -- I forget what the experts say, is it 30 days to make it a habit? -- it's not so bad.  When I was a regular walker I enjoyed it. But ... it doesn't take all that much to break a habit.  You can't let yourself get away with that.

 5.    There is always a reason.  While the vagaries of weight loss can be puzzling, there is always a reason why for any gain or loss.  It may take time to reveal itself, but there is one. 

More to come...