SpiritDragon

A note to everyone about critical moments - Critical moments are moments of decision that lead to either a single event/action or cascade of events and actions. It is really helpful to look at what critical moments lead you to positive and negative actions. Examples: The person who over-eats when eating out at such'n'such with so and so. This person may need to either not socialize with the person who tends to be an accomplice in over-eating, or work to turn this accomplice into a "friend" of the desired behaviour. This is an important distinction because often friends are the worst accomplices when it comes to poor behaviour patterns. Another option may be to simply eat somewhere else. By changing the environment, the pattern of events may be broken. It could be worth exploring this first or doing both. Perhaps, the eating somewhere else means not eating out at all, but eating in. The person who struggles with pornography viewing late at night all alone with a screen. This person is much less likely to break down into this habit by simply not allowing themselves to be alone with a screen after hours. The critical moment preceding inappropriate searches is simply being at the TV or computer/device alone. This may mean planning to get any work or games done when family or room mates are around.

That is exciting for your son. As for you, let me start by asking you about a doctor Is your doctor in the Philippines a situation where the doctor in the Philippines is the only one who you trust, or is there a situation where you can't really be seen by an American doctor for some reason? I respect your right to make decisions for yourself, but if we were meeting in person I'd have to stop working with you until you had a doctors note explaining you're okay or setting limits on your activity - especially because of the feeling lightheaded and almost passing out which can signal heart trouble. As for giving you an F, I want you to remove that type of thinking. Instead of looking at the week as a failure, I want you to look at it for information that is empowering. Look for the times where you did not follow through on your plans and try to determine the critical moments that lead up to each one. Perhaps, if you could give some specific examples of where you fell short of your plan, I can help you find some of those critical moments. If you look at days/weeks where things do go well and those when they don't you should be able to find extremely useful information that will help you move forward. Thus, I'll gladly give you an A for information gathering so long as you choose to take a look at what events lead to what and work on strategies to limit the risk of it happening again.

Just for fun!

That sounds just right!

That certainly makes things tricky, especially when starting on new behaviours. Over time you should have it mastered enough that even during a hectic weak your default is fairly healthy and balanced for energy. Try to keep it simple with one key focus over this next hectic week.

Everyone loses weight at different rates so don't get hung up on that. A lot of the time it's due to water retention, bloating, inconsistent bowel elimination - especially when the weight fluctuates often and quickly. Try not to feel like you are being left behind if others appear to be making faster progress. Consider when Roger Banister did "the impossible" and ran a mile under four minutes, the record only lasted a couple months, because suddenly the impossible was possible. So while he ran that distance faster than ever recorded before, instead of getting discouraged, other athletes took that as their cue that they could do it too. Try to think of it in the latter frame of mind. If others can do it, you can do it too. I'm glad to hear that you are eating a little better, how did you feel about the week?

Digging is great exercise!

Awesome. Yes the point is to be working hard enough that you do more than your body is accustomed to so that it adapts. From the strengthening and endurance side of things that is lifting heavier loads and doing more repetitions, from the cardiorespiratory fitness side of things that is creating a need for increased oxygen delivery requiring increased blood distribution which is accomplished in the short term by increasing heart rate to keep up demand, but in the long term adaptations take place where all throughout the circulatory system your body gets better at handing off oxygen where it's needed and the heart adapts by being able to pump more blood per stroke so the heart rate doesn't have to increase as much at the same workload. It sounds like you worked at a sufficient level to elicit adaptations in all of these areas which is wonderful. Now you'll have to let us know if you experience any residual soreness in the next few days. A little is good, and I'm strange enough to kind of like it, but too much is just unpleasant and likely means one has overdone it. I suspect in a short but intense 15 minutes you may have a little soreness, but hopefully nothing crazy.

This all sounds great. I'm glad the desk is just right, because I can appreciate the desire not to switch parts on and off your equipment. Another option to work the same muscles in a very similar manner to the modified pull-up is the total gym pull down. This will avoid the need to change equipment much, but you may still need to change the incline of your total gym between exercises to get the right resistance. I like your push-up solution a lot though, and would suggest you start with exactly what you're doing and then transition to these if you want to incorporate the presses because you don't have furniture the right dimensions You've got the right idea with your lunges and squats too. I'll be out most of the day, but look forward to reading about how it goes.

If I lived close enough...

I totally understand the clean house - better mood, higher motivation connection. Let me know if you want any help or have any questions or concerns as you're building your routine.

Any news? No pressure, just curious - okay maybe a gently nudge, but I'm really looking forward to your update.

I'm interested in trying it, do you get it at the grocery store? I wonder if it's available in my area without ordering it online - not that that's a problem either necessarily, I just sometimes like to pick things up in a store, maybe that makes me old-fashioned.

Is it sort of like relish?

Wow, You guys have been busy today. @unixknight thank you for your trust in the group and courage in getting personal. I think the better we all know each other the stronger our bond and the more effective we can be keeping each other accountable as well as an increased sense of responsibility to help each other. @Carborendum @NeuroTypical @zil @anatess2 @seashmore @beefche @person0 and everyone else who is commenting in this thread, thank you for being supportive and providing an environment that feels safe enough that people feel comfortable enough to share things that might otherwise remain furtive. Keep up the great work everyone. If I have missed responding to any questions or concerns please tag me in a comment and let me know where I have fallen down on the job. I can assure you that I'm not intentionally giving more attention to anyone or trying to slight anyone. If I have missed anything it's as simple as that. I almost need to make a spreadsheet to start keeping track of goals and commitments.

This may be of interest to some of you, although it doesn't deal directly with what you can do for yourself right here and now.

Partly because of a desire to help out in the weight loss thread I wanted to share some of the many benefits of exercise, which go far beyond weight loss. I'm sure most of us are familiar with exercise being beneficial to the cardiovascular system, but perhaps not as familiar with the ability of exercise to improve immunity, help resist cancer, fight diabetes, and improve mental health issues and cognitive function. I'd love for everyone to feel welcome to share insights about exercise being helpful for anything and everything. I'd love sharing of personal experiences/ anecdotes, research studies, case reports, youtube videos, something you heard on the radio and so on. Let me kick this off with a Ted talk on the benefits of exercise for the brain because I don't think the effects of exercise on the brain are known of widely enough.

You'll get nothing but support from me on dangling a carrot to get out of bed and into the world. I think you are bang on that getting up and going with McD's outweighs hibernating at home in pj's all day. If you want to share it I'd love to help you set some prioritized strategies. If you don't want everyone to see, I'm happy with a PM. Sounds like you had a good time. That can really help your efforts to feel more like fun than work which is very beneficial. Keep up the good work. There is no rush to increase your time, be sure to get comfortable with your new routine of doing it all before stressing over doing even more - of course if you just feel like doing more go for it.

Rest up. No need to push yourself when you're sick and your body is telling you it needs down time to heal. Great work with the water and the soda abstinence.

I'm really glad to hear that you're finding this helpful. Great job with day two, if I had a a Jimmy Johns around that would be an excellent tip to share with others. Looking forward to your successful report.

Sounds good. If you find that you cycle up and down it may be worth revisiting how you are going about things to create some more sustainability. On the flip side, I also totally understand seeing that something has worked before so you know it works and it works for you. There is nothing wrong with doing those things that have worked in the past as long as you can also find ways not to rebound and find yourself back to square one every year or so. For those that love Cheat meals and cheat days it works best if the other days are stacked the other way. I've heard of great results following the Slow Carb Diet from Tim Ferris's Four Hour Body. I haven't used it myself or with any clients, so I'm going on hearsay and promotional testimonials. It makes sense though that you can cycle lower calorie days with higher calorie days and keep the metabolism from becoming sluggish as it tends to when calories remain restricted. It's just that the routine days are very repetitive and plain - all worth it for some though because they know they can have anything and everything they want in a few days. It might be up your alley. I'm not sure what the best advice for you is, other than to stick with it. By this I mean stick to a plan long enough to give it a chance to work, but if it's not working or you find yourself yoyoing then consider looking at a different method. There is something out there that will work and it will work long term. I think you may be close to finding it, but I am also cautiously concerned about what appears to be an up and down cycle which some research suggests may be more dangerous than staying at a steady weight, even if the steady weight is heavier, although the evidence isn't as robust as would be ideal https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4241770/

This is an excellent point about cheat meals/days and so on. They are definitely not for everyone. Sometimes one cheat meal can do enough damage to offset an entire weak. On the flip side, for some people they are great as part of a program that plans for them. I find it really helps people to know they are "allowed" to eat treats from time to time. The trick is keeping those treats in responsible portions and keeping from time to time meaning something closer to weekly/monthly (my annual pop) than daily, or more frequent. I can agree the word cheat can have bad connotations and lead to excessive overindulgence. I prefer to call them treats, goodies, and or outlets/escapes, but also don't like to have them thought of as rewards especially not for working out, the math is never in favour of eating a treat that was "earned" on the treadmill. It is way too easy to underestimate the calories in the goodie and overestimate the calories burned exercising. I also don't like the inverse of punishing oneself on the treadmill (or other form of exercise) for slipping up. It builds into the idea that exercise is punishment instead of self-care and the math still doesn't work out.

Great job with day 1. If no one else likes those cookies consider throwing them out. If you had some dirty magazines around the house wouldn't that be the thing to do? Why make it different with this temptation - especially when the excuse, "it's for the others" is off the table. By making change very simple and gradual you can often avoid the, "blew it today" mentality. It's a lot of stress having forbidden food around you all the time. You may need to have planned outlets such as every third day you are allowed a certain sized portion of XYZ goodie or perhaps you just need to enlist the help of the family to clean up the home environment as it will benefit everybody. Easier said than done, I understand. In any event good luck with day 2.

I feel like that rule may need some training and reiteration because it sure doesn't seem to be getting applied universally.