Read The No More Excuses Diet Online
Authors: Maria Kang
The No More Excuses Diet (6 page)
DELIVER THE RESULTS.
Perhaps you’ve tried other diets before but gave up when you weren’t getting the results you wanted. That’s not going to happen this time. The No More Excuses diet is not just about celebrating results; it’s also about celebrating all the work you put into achieving good health. Each day you have countless opportunities to do something good for yourself. Every bite of fresh food, every half hour of heart-pumping movement, and every good night’s sleep are steps toward achieving your goal. Take the time to applaud yourself with each step you take!
Once you seed a desire, that intention will grow daily through attention, reflection, and action. Put aside some time to dream, allowing your thoughts to implant those desires.
Examples
Everyone’s short-term goals are different, but the techniques for achieving them are the same. To take focused and deliberate action, you must set, plan, envision, execute, and deliver. Now that you have been given the program rules, you can apply them to any goal and succeed. Here are some examples of how to apply the S.P.E.E.D. strategy.
GOAL:
Lose 25 pounds
SET:
On your fitness calendar, write down your goal weight of 25 pounds less than what you currently weigh. Consider tracking all areas of progress, including body composition, vitals, and fitness level. For the majority of overweight people, losing 1 to 2 pounds per week is normal and healthy.
PLAN:
Make an action plan for how you will lose those pounds. Decide how you will be documenting your daily intake. Mark off the days every two weeks that you will measure your progress. Figure out how many calories you need to create a deficit. Schedule the most realistic times for you to train. Delegate a space where you are going to work out, and purchase any fitness supplies you’ll need. Complete your fitness calendar, write down your planned treat meals, and post some motivational quotes. It’s time to get serious!
ENVISION:
Wake up each day with
intention. Envision completing a successful workout, overcoming temptation at a party, or enjoying a guilt-free splurge. Think about the person you want to become, and focus on positive thoughts and progressive actions all day. If you know you’ve been challenged by waking up early to work out, then picture yourself not hitting the snooze button when your alarm goes off and getting up out of bed without struggling. If you know there will be treats at work or snacks during your children’s playtime, envision bringing your own healthy meal and rejecting any food outside your nutrition plan.
EXECUTE:
Now that you’ve set your goal, planned your journey, and envisioned your success, you need to take action. Start eating your healthy breakfast each morning, drinking your water, and exercising four times a week. Write down your food intake. Measure the changes in your body every three weeks. There will be days you will struggle and days you will succeed; just focus on staying on course until your good actions become good habits.
DELIVER:
Do not make a decision about your results until you reach the three-week mark. Have you lost 5 pounds? Has your activity level increased? Did your body fat drop 1 to 2 percent? After three weeks, measure your success and reflect on your plan. Look at your food diary and review your fitness calendar. See where you are struggling and identify ways to overcome those struggles. No one is perfect, so don’t feel frustrated if you aren’t delivering as fast as you planned. Restructure your short-term action plan and start setting achievable goals you can reach.
GOAL:
Run your first 5K
SET:
Set your goal, which will include a date when your 5K will be completed. Sign up for a race in your area so that you are accountable!
PLAN:
Plan your running schedule. If you have no experience running, make your goal to run 1 mile a day, a few times a week. As your endurance builds, you can increase your miles every few weeks; remember, your goal is to feel challenged but not get in over your head. Purchase running shoes with good support and find some running partners who can help and encourage you—someone who has run a 5K race before, a friend who will participate in your training, or a beginner with whom you can share the learning.
ENVISION:
Becoming a serious runner is an endeavor that requires consistency, persistence, and belief. Envision yourself moving swiftly and smoothly as you run past houses or along park roads, pushing past physical discomfort and completing your daily mileage. If you can see yourself feeling tired, weak, or incapable, your body will listen to your mind’s voice and discourage you; don’t allow that to happen. If you are not yet a runner, believe right now that you are! What you think, you will become.
EXECUTE:
Start running! Follow your running schedule. Ensure your nutrition reflects your energy requirements, and don’t forget to take a breather. Taking action means training, eating, and resting!
DELIVER:
Within three weeks your body will have acclimated to your new training habits and your composition, vitals, and fitness levels will have altered. Your body may have dropped some fat, your leg and core muscles will be stronger, your
resting heart rate will have declined, and your endurance will have increased. If you are still struggling to follow through, if you are not eating properly or prioritizing your training, then you’re definitely not delivering the results you need to hit your 5K goal. Reflect on your progress and restart the S.P.E.E.D. plan by setting shorter, more achievable goals. If you have succeeded at your running goal and are making progress, set a new round of S.P.E.E.D. goals that will take you to the next level.
While the S.P.E.E.D. strategy can be used for many long-term goals, I often use it to set short-term, daily goals. For example, I have a foot injury that prevents me from applying any weight on my right foot right now. So, in accordance with my “excuse,” I’ve created this S.P.E.E.D. strategy:
SET:
Stay active by connecting with a favorite childhood activity; eat cleaner.
PLAN:
Eat five small meals with a 40/30/30 ratio (see
Chapter 7
), with high emphasis on protein. What will I eat? Where will I get the ingredients? When I was young, I used to love swimming. Perform a core routine (no weight on legs) and swim laps for 30 minutes.
ENVISION:
I will pack my swimsuit and towel, and go to the gym after dropping my child off at school. I envision the locker room, the cold water, the people around me. I know I’ll be limping, probably nervous about being in a swimsuit, and likely fatigued from this new exercise as a result, but I envision pushing myself to finish in 30 minutes.
EXECUTE:
I schedule my meals for 9
AM
/12
PM
/3
PM
/5
PM
/8
PM
, and I take action! I start with my first meal of the day, then drop my child at school, then head to the gym, then proceed with the rest of my work day, including my planned meals.
DELIVER:
At the end of the day, I consider whether I followed through or “failed.” The good part is, I didn’t really fail—I failed only if I didn’t reflect and figure out what prevented me from executing the plan. Did I forget my swimsuit? Was I unmotivated? Did I forget to eat? I reflect and move forward.
Even if you don’t feel strong, svelte, or sexy right now, believe that ideal version of yourself is just around the corner! When I was 30 pounds overweight, I wrote the phrase “You are strong, fit, and beautiful” in the front of my journal. I didn’t really feel this way; I was often battling thoughts of fatigue, frustration, and failure. It’s easy to get on the shame train and ride it for a week or more, but keep in mind that this track leads nowhere worth going. When you view the world through a negative lens, you can never see any positive possibilities. In fact, you won’t see much at all, because your vision is blocked by images of the things you can’t do. So, I repeated positive affirmations about my body, even though in those days my legs felt like tree trunks, my belly looked like gelatin, and my arms shook every time I waved. Those affirmations allowed me to keep believing that it
was possible
to have a body I would love one day, even if I didn’t have it at that moment.
Protect your thoughts, because what you believe is what you will become. The first
belief you must have in this journey is that
you will complete it. You
can
do this. When you truly commit to the journey, you redefine your purpose and reshape your identity.
When you live a purposeful life, you develop a passion for living, a resilient attitude that only gets stronger, even in times of stress. Some of your purpose stems from desire, but most of it comes from pressure.
1
Find some paper and write down your goals.
Choose at least five goals that are specific: “I want to fit into old jeans,” “I will lose 20 pounds,” or “I’m running a 5K.” The goals should be well defined and segmented into units that are manageable. Tape your goals to your bathroom mirror, so that you will be able to see them often.
2
Invest in your
End Date.
What will you do to motivate you to stay on track so you reach your three-month date? You invest in something that will make a personal connection with that date. Is there a family event that you can orient toward? A birthday coming up? Can you schedule a special trip or activity? If you want to add pressure to your weight-loss journey, create a level of social accountability by telling others of your goal and lifestyle change. By revealing your intention, you start to align with people who are on the same journey and you deflect people who don’t bring value to your life. Being around people with healthier habits will encourage you to persist in social situations when there’s pressure to eat poorly.
3
Measure your
starting point.
Remember, progress is made when progress is measured. Get on a scale, and do not be afraid of the number because that is just your starting point. Put that number in your journal. Use a measuring tape to measure your neck, shoulders, arms, chest, waist, hips, legs, and calves. Make sure you know exactly where you placed
the tape by keeping notes in your journal. If you have access to a trainer at the gym, have the person take your body fat via skin calipers. (If you can’t, that’s okay; it’s just another measurement to track your progress.) I say more about why this measuring is so important in
Chapter 4
, but in short, you can’t celebrate how far you’ve come if you don’t know where you started!
4
Perform a series of
fitness tests.
In
Chapter 6
, I give you a list of exercises that can test your fitness: How many military push-ups can you do without dropping? How long can you perform a plank? How fast can you run a mile? Put your results in your journal.
5
Write down everything you’re eating.
It’s key to see your
eating patterns: When do you eat, what do you eat, or why do you eat (or overeat!)? In
Chapter 7
, I give you my rules for a healthy diet, which you will be able to customize to fit your needs.
6
Create a
fitness calendar.
This large poster-like three-month calendar will keep you accountable and record your workout progress. You can color-code it as you complete your workouts, but do not write down your workouts in advance—only record them once you’ve completed them. Write down your goals, your power words, and your important event dates.
As I said in the last chapter, it’s important to start your No More Excuses journey with an honest
assessment of where you currently are. To calculate your success, you need to be able to measure your progress.