The Running Total

Understanding how humans think is wrapped up in a wonderful science called Psychology. I don’t pretend to be a practician or an expert but there are a few things I have observed about myself, and that others have mentioned that help inform my view.

I used to have an app called Money for Blackberry. The app was an interesting idea (but lacked PC support, a necessity for me.) It gave the ability to track your net worth from your blackberry. It manages your transactions (you enter them as they happen) and helps keep you fully aware of your expenditure. I had found that I have more money during the month when I counted those pennies. Sometimes the balances wouldn’t reconcile neatly with my bank, sometimes I wanted a relatively advanced report- but just seeing instantly the dip in my net worth worked for me.

I read an email from a company called YNAB about a man who lost 28lbs just by constantly measuring his weight. Not exercise or diet, just setting a target, and measuring. There is something that happens when you set a target for yourself and regularly check your progress. That is one of the reasons my Mystery Shopper programme at work enjoys success. We have a target, we constantly check it- and we create the required pressure to ‘encourage’ adherence to the target.

I know this is anecdotal; I appreciate that criticism. However, I have seen in my own life that when I apply discipline and awareness I get results.

Awareness

I regularly check my weight. I look at whether my arms feel flabby or whether they have some definition. I observe how big my stomach looks each day. It is a gruelling exercise.The act of observing my imperfections with brutal honesty does something to me. It makes me uncomfortable.

It makes me want to increase my cardio warm-up from 10 minutes to 15 minutes.

It makes me want to push heavier weights and overcome the inherent challenges.

It makes me imagine what it would feel like when I have a six-pack- then I harness that and avoid the soda.

Positive pressure is created. I use the constant awareness to keep focused on my goal and to enhance my diet and exercise. Let us talk about that next.

 

From 12 days to 6 months

I feel pretty great about my health. My family is equally divided between diabetes and hypertension. I have been searching for a lifestyle plan that is achievable, results driven and inexpensive. I want to share my ideology with you and take you on my journey. In the next few blogs I will share the building blocks of the idea, as well as what a typical day looks like. To help with my discipline I have set some time lines.

Diet. Exercise. Awareness. Discipline. (D.E.A.D.)

The irony was intended. However, if you don’t have a healthy diet (not an expensive diet, but healthy), regular exercise, full awareness of your status and discipline to stick to the plan then you will not change. I wanted better for myself. I wanted to be a better person, mainly out of love for myself and life. I always strive to be the best (Age Quod Agis) and just having an average body was’t my way.

Eating the right types of food most of the time, for the right purpose is basic. You can lose weight by just managing what you eat alone. If you stop eating meat and have a high fibre diet, you will lose weight, automatically. Similarly if you exercise regularly (and ferociously) you will lose weight. You are guaranteed to lose at least 10lbs, though you may not lose much more. Same can be said for Awareness- counting your calories, regularly checking your weight causes a psychological discomfort that makes you eat less, take the stairs instead of the elevator and other clutch reactions to what you are both aware of and uncomfortable with.

Discipline

The one item that brings the whole plan together is discipline. If you do any of the other items alone, but lack discipline you will be unsuccessful. Sometimes you will feel tired, sometimes you will fall off the wagon- but you have to get back on it. It is for this reason that I have challenged myself with “12 Days of Fitness” and “6 Months of Personal Training.”

I used to be an avid fitness buff in 2010 to early 2011 but I had curtailed my adherence for about eight months. I said it was work and finance related, and it probably was, but I hardly even jogged on the home treadmill, which is free. When I finally restarted recently I was alternating weeks. Sure, the reasons seemed genuine. I was in another country for one week, working on a conference for another, vacation overseas for another. These are all outside of my control. However, I didn’t seek out a gym elsewhere; when I travel I don’t stick to my diet- all within my control.

Consequently, I have decided that I am going to do 4 consecutive weeks of exercise, dubbed 12 days of Fitness. The aim here is to break my mind and schedule back into accepting the gym as a critical part of my week. Once I have achieved this I will graduate to six months of Personal Training. I anticipate it will take me six months to achieve all my fitness goals and learn the methods my trainer uses. After that period I should be able to “show off” at a boasy gym like Gymkhana. I wouldn’t use their methods (I have my own) but I would use it for the status it affords.

Discipline is #1. Set a target and stick to it. Simple to say, hard to achieve. In the next blog post I will go through Awareness, another critical pillar that when paired with discipline unlocks some amazing results.

**DISCLAIMER – I do not endorse the video I pulled from Youtube. I will explain my exercise routine in detail in coming posts.**