One thing I’ve learned from this diet is that when something goes wrong, everyone knows why and is ready to explain it to you! I’ve hit a plateau hard and everyone but me seems to know why. Problem is that every new thing I try based on everyone’s explanation doesn’t work.
Plateau
May 19th, 2009Back online again!
March 3rd, 2009I’m finally back online and able to post again, so I’ll be starting again in the next several days as I catch up with things. What amazes me most while I’ve been offline is the volume of spam posts there have been to the blog. So many attempts to get something posted! All of the attempts were so obvious, yet they keep coming in. I sometimes wonder why, but I’m sure I know. It doesn’t require any effort. Adding one posting address to a list and everything else is automatic. What a waste.
More importantly, I’ve gotten back in harness, lost some weight I picked up over the holidays, and I’m back to losing again.
Packing & Moving
February 5th, 2009We’re in the process of packing and moving right now (I expect to actually move in about a week), so while I’ll try to post some updates during that time, problems with Internet access and such will likely cause difficulty getting online. I’ll be picking up again for sure once we’re settled in our new location.
SMART Goals
January 27th, 2009Ever heard of SMART Goals? I’ve seen several variations on the title, but it’s used something like this:
S - Specific M - Measureable A - Achievable R - Relevant T - Time dimensioned
Most people think of them as important for things like life goals or large projects, but you need to think about them even for your diet.
Many people just don’t realize how important goals like this are. If you really want to lose weight, take some time to develop SMART goals and you’ll find that everything goes smoother.
Just what ARE your SMART Goals?
- Specific - What EXACTLY do you want to achieve? How much weight loss? What other life changes? Be CONCRETE. Be EXACT.
- Measurable - How will I know I’ve been successful? How can I tell that I’ve been successful? What milestones have meaning?
- Achievable - Can I REALLY do this? Is there anything which stands in my way? What obstacles am I likely to face?
- Relevant - Does this REALLY matter to ME? Am I passionate about this or is this something that I’m expected to do for someone else? If it’s not personally important to me, then I’m probably not going to make it.
- Time Dimensioned - What’s the deadline? When EXACTLY will I reach my goal weight? When EXACTLY will I reach each milestone?
Don’t take this as a need to build some sort of formal goal structure. That’s not necessary, but some goals even informal ones are important to success.
Once you can clearly see your goal and you know that you’re passionate about it, you know that it’s really achievable, then get to work and make it happen!
Moving in the next week
January 25th, 2009I’ll be moving in the next week, so there will likely be some interruption in my posting schedule. I’ll try to get some posts ready to go, but no promises.
Take a look at my other blogs
January 25th, 2009If you find this interesting, try these
- Writing for Techies - my collected notes and thoughts on writing, speaking, and communicating in general
- Antennas, Modeling, and More - Antennas, Propagation, and Low Power operation are my interests in Amateur Radio. Here is where I talk about them
- Customer Facing Systems - I’ve spent much of my career building and running systems that interact with customers. Here is the collected insight I’ve gained
- In2SciFi - My personal thoughts on a wide range of topics originally driven as a
SPAM is Amazing
January 16th, 2009Since I started this blog, I’ve been trapping spam and rejecting it before it gets posted. I’m amazed at how much there is targeting blogs like this one. There is no discrimination, no attempt to get it to any sort of right place. Further, there is no apparent concern that it doesn’t get posted, just that it gets submitted. It’s hard to believe someone pays for this stuff, but obviously they do.
I’ve got to ask myself WHY? Why would someone PAY to have someone do this?
The stuff they’re trying to post isn’t just ’spam’, it’s junk. There’s no relation to the topic, just get some links out there. The worst ones are the ones that are trying to social engineer by posting something that LOOKS OK superficially. They have embedded links to questionable locations that have nothing to do with the topic or the words in the post.
So why? It’s simple really. People are making money at it. In fact, people are making millions of dollars doing this.
Bad News Today
January 13th, 2009A friend who had weight loss surgery is having problems. The stitching on the pouch is apparently tearing and other related problems are happening. She’s in a lot of pain.
ANY time you have surgery, there are risks to consider. Weight Loss Surgery (WLS) is no different. If ANY doctor tells you nothing but how reliable and safe the surgery is, then run … Run … RUN! and find another doctor.
A Problem: The people who love me
January 12th, 2009One of the major problems with my diet is the people who love me. Always offering me something out of love, but which compromises my diet. This is a problem of an extra special nature for me.
FIRST - I grew up with parents and grand parents who lived through the depression. Food was important to them. It was a marker of their love and their success. “Clean your plate.” … “Don’t let the food go to waste.” … “Eat this, eat that, eat everything.” I heard that over and over again while growing up and it’s hard to break the habit learned as a child which says I must not let food go to waste!
SECOND - When I was young, food was equated with love in many ways. Good food, tasty food, LOTS of food was always a sign of love. Rejecting food hurt people’s feelings. I still find it hard to say NO when someone offers me something out of love.
It’s so easy to say YES. It makes people happy. It makes my conscience comfortable … EXCEPT … it opens up a buried feeling that I ’shouldn’t oughta’. I know I need to lose weight, but unless I give it conscious thought, I can easily lose my way.
A key for me is to keep my head in gear and keep my focus on the goal. I know how much weight I want to lose, but it’s not something I think about every moment. I DO need to keep it more in mind though whenever I’m offered something that I know I shouldn’t have.
Total pickup 5 pounds
January 4th, 2009My holiday total comes to 5 pounds up. I’ll have to work harder now to get rid of it, but I’m pleased it wasn’t more.