The 80% Rule: Hard Work and Commitment
It takes hard work and commitment to accomplish a major change in your life, like losing weight and keeping it off. Nearly every one has experienced this hard work and knows that they are capable of it. The nature of the hard work is sometimes not clear in our minds.
With this particular challenge, this life change that is going to require work, the nature of the work is as follows: 80% of it is “work” to keep calories out. That means cutting down on calories that are trying to find their way into your body. It means refusing food and drink, turning down treats, snacks, meals, portions hors d’ourves, desserts, handouts, birthday cakes, and drinks. This may not sound like “work” until you’ve really put your heart into it and begun doing it on a day in, day out basis. This is, in fact, unfortunately, probably the hardest work that there is because it means fighting against your own nature, your own intrinsic hunger and the desire to enjoy not only the food but the camaraderie and to please others who are offering and encouraging.
20% of the work comes from probably what you expect: Increased exercise and physical activity. Increasing your walking time, wearing a pedometer, setting a goal of 10,000 steps or 15,000 steps a day. Walking up one flight of stairs, adding some hand weights to your routine at home, parking farther away, walking all the way across the long parking lot into your office and out every day, and many more examples covered in Doctor’s Orders, 101 Medically Proven Tips for Losing Weight.
Think of this: It takes about one minute to eat five delicious bites of a frosted, delicious donut, at around 80 calories a bite. It takes about four miles of jogging to burn that one minute treat off. So it better have been really, really tasty.
Better yet, get in the habit of NOT eating it in the first place. This habit takes work to create, but you can do it.
Tags: advice, habits, weight loss help
