I am writing this blog for real people like you and me.  People that are trying to be a good spouse, parent, employee while balancing all that life has to offer.  People that have launched kids into the world, as well as people in the midst of raising a young and growing family.  People that know they need to exercise and lose weight.

What gets in the way?

One thing I am learning on this life journey is that somehow we get lost in all the hustle and bustle of daily life. There always seems to be more to do than time

to do it. So we sacrifice ourselves in the process. Sacrificing for the kids, for elderly parents, for the greater good of the family, to have a better life. We make the trade offs to make a better life for our families. And why do we do it?

 

Mainly because we believe it is the right thing to do.

The clock is ticking….and I’m still procrastinating.

For me, I’m not getting any younger. And I’ve battled with diet and exercise throughout the years, and putting off the things that I enjoy doing. The one thing that gets swept aside is self care. That can take many forms, such as taking care of ourselves physically, mentally, and spiritually and putting off hobbies until someday when there is time.

The thinking goes like this. Someday I’ll…. start exercising…. go on a diet…. change my habits…. startup that hobby I used to enjoy… etc, etc, etc. This is another form of procrastination. In effect, I keep thinking that I can do it later, and get caught up in the activities of daily life and taking care of others.

 

 

Food as a reward

The other thing I know about myself is that I used food as a reward. The family culture I grew up in was centered around food. Food provided comfort in good times and bad times. If something wasn’t going right, then eat, and it would feel better for a while. Ice creme was always a favorite in the house. Back in those days, we would get 5 different flavors of ice creme and always had something good in the freezer.

I remember as a young kid that the power had been out for hours in a particularly bad storm. It was raining, and there was plenty of thunder and lightning. The battery operated radio said there were tornado sightings in the area, so it was a scary time. We had been huddled in the basement for a while, and I remember being afraid of the storm.

 

My Dad decided, that if the tornado was coming anyway, we need to save the ice creme. No sense letting it continue to melt in the freezer.  Same thing with the donuts and cookies.

So there we sat, in the basement, eating all the cookies and ice creme in darkness with the candle light flickering. Everything turned out OK, but somehow that memory stuck with me.

Exercise, who me???

This is another area I struggled with. Exercise was something you did in gym class. It never developed as part of my routine. I’ve joined various health clubs over the years, but have had a hard time making it stick. For some reason, I could always come up with an excuse to avoid going. There was a time when I was a member of two health clubs and did not use either. As I’ve gotten older, I’ve gotten less active. So exercising had become a back burner priority.

You know what to do…..

We all know what to do to improve health and lose weight. Exercise more, and eat a healthy balanced diet. The challenge is not in knowing what to do. Everyone gets that, but for many, it is easier said than done. It’s about getting out of your head and actually doing something about it.

It’s all in your head…

The self talk is all in your head. That’s what I have come to realize recently. I spent more time thinking about doing the right things rather than doing them. It seemed like I had become a professional procrastinator when it came to my health and wellness. I was so wrapped up in work and other things that were more important that I didn’t take the time to take care of myself.

I realized that I was telling my self a story, and using that story to justify my action or inaction. You see, there was no one actually putting the food in my mouth, it was only me.

As far as exercise, I had studied different ways to exercise, and joined various health clubs. However, there was never anyone else that could actually exercise for me. You see, I could think about exercising all I want. And when I did go to the gym, I could talk myself out of it in a hurry. For all the health clubs I’ve joined and fads I’ve followed, the truth is finally staring to sink in.

There is only one solution. Do your own push ups.

The catalyst.

Recently, a coworker had a serious health issue. Fortunately, she is doing OK, but it made a lot of us stop and think. What if it had been me…. I did not want to go through something serious before I actually did something about my health. I realized I had been fooling myself all along. Procrastination, my constant companion, was always kicking the can down the road.

I made a choice…

I decided to change my story and take ownership of my health. This issue was not about diet or exercise. It was about personal integrity to myself. I need to take ownership of my health before something bad happens, and I need to do it for me. I need to do my own push ups.

Overcoming Procrastination

But making a choice was not enough. I needed to create new rules for myself to overcome my old friend procrastination. There had to be a better way. Procrastination means that you hesitate, and wait for a better opportunity to do something. You over analyze, over think, defer, and talk yourself out of taking action today. You spend a lot of time in your head, but little time taking action. I had developed this into a fine art. I had to figure out how to use procrastination as a strength in my favor. So I came up with two new rules.

• Rule 1 – Exercise first, think later.

• Rule 2 – Think first, eat later.

Rule 1 – Motion means Exercise first, think later

The key to this rule is motion. It’s harder to procrastinate when you are moving. So while I am thinking about procrastinating, I keep my body in motion.

I put on the gym clothes while I’m thinking about not going out to walk. Then, keep moving, and get my phone, and headphones. I know that I could spend a lot of time figuring out what to listen to while exercising, but the key is to stay in motion. So down the stairs I go to get my gym shoes. I put the shoes on, and sit down to tie them.

The urge to sit there and surf for something to listen to is strong. But motion is the key. So I stand up and point my feet towards the door. And then I start walking and get outside the garage. Again, I need to push the button to close the garage door. Seems like a good time to look at the phone and find something to listen to. Noticing I’m back in my head again, I realize that I need to keep moving. So I push the button to close the garage and start walking down the driveway.

Now I’m in motion, and still thinking about what to listen to. The good thing here is that I can multitask. So I keep walking and settle on a you tube how-to video that runs for 45 minutes. My feet are still moving so that is good. Now I can just keep the feet moving while getting lost in the you tube video, but I’m made it out the door and to the path. My mind is distracted with the you tube video and the rest just happens naturally.

Rule 2 – Creative Procrastination – Think first, eat later.

Procrastination is about hesitating, overthinking, over analyzing, and never actually doing something. This is exactly the skill set I need when it comes to my eating habits, especially mindless eating.

When I find myself in the kitchen, I’m often mindlessly eating. That entails eating while my mind is wandering, and being on autopilot for what is going into my mouth. I have no idea how much I’m eating and it is certainly not because I’m actually hungry at that time.

The key to this rule is to stay out of the kitchen. So when I find myself taking a break and heading into the kitchen for a food reward, I need to stop and think about it. Think about whether I really want this now, whether I’m hungry, recognizing that I’m on autopilot, and interrupting that pattern. Turn my feet and walk in a different direction, like towards the computer.

In fact, I should probably research online what some healthy snack ideas could be. Or I could write down the top 10 reasons why I overeat. Any kind of analysis will do. Maybe I should research better ways to analyze data. Perfect, that should keep me busy for a while, especially since I’ll likely come across another topic that interests or distracts me further. Mission accomplished, and I have creatively procrastinated the mindless eating episode and gotten myself away form the kitchen.

Every day I need to make good choices

I face the same challenges each day, and I need to choose my path intentionally. So my primary area of focus is on gaining health and wellness for me. Do my own push ups, and eat right.   

This blog is going to be about what I am actually doing, how I’m doing it, and what I’ve learned along the way. It is all about doing, and less about thinking about doing. I will be sharing some of my internal dialogue about these topics, and how I’m shifting that to make healthier choices.

I’m hoping that this story, my story, will help inspire some of you to start taking care of yourself.

Please let me know in the comments area what you most struggle with.

So please join me on this journey taking small steps for health.

Thanks

John