Break the Chains Holding You Back from Weight-Loss Success · Break the Chains Holding You Back...
Transcript of Break the Chains Holding You Back from Weight-Loss Success · Break the Chains Holding You Back...
REAL APPEAL | VOLUME THREE 181 180 REAL APPEAL | VOLUME THREE REAL APPEAL | VOLUME THREE 181
Break the Chains Holding You Back from Weight-Loss SuccessIt’s Monday night, you’re in your workout clothes, about to press play on the Real Moves Strength 3 video when you get the call from your husband asking if you can drive your daughter to and from her Girl Scouts meeting because he got roped into a last minute business dinner. There goes your workout—and the catching up on bills and emails you were going to do afterwards. You wind up doing bills and emails on Tuesday night, again forgoing a workout. Wednesday evening you had a prior commitment.
The result: Three days of no exercise.
180 REAL APPEAL | VOLUME THREE
Spreading
yourself thin
Unexamined emotionsProcrastinating
Being tired or hungry Being away from home
Unrealistic goals
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What Causes a Chain Reaction?O ften, if you look back, you’ll find that
the reason your eating or exercise
plans went awry is because of a chain
reaction—a series of events stretching
back several days, weeks or even months.
But with a mix of foresight and focus,
you can prevent the reaction from even
happening and break the links in the
“chain” before they mess with your weight!
Sometimes a chain of events is similar to a
multi-car pileup on a foggy road. It’s only
when you can see clearly in front of you
and behind you that you can avoid this
type of accident. By identifying all the links
in the chain that drove you to overeat or
skip workouts, you have a better chance of
preventing the chain reaction the next time,
too. You’ll ace this, because, over the past
year, you’ve acquired all the right skills.
Thinking back on your last episode of
overeating or skimping on exercise, can
you trace back the steps that led to the
problem? Can you think of a way it could
have been prevented in the first place?
Here are common catalysts to chain
reactions to consider.
• Spreading yourself thin.
You say “yes” to too many
people (like your husband
who called asking you to
cover his scout carpool
pick-up), and become too
overscheduled to work out or go food
shopping. (For a refresher on how to say
“no,” go back to the “Stop Weight-Loss
Sabotage” session.)
• Being tired or hungry.
Both can make it hard to resist
fattening comfort foods. Plus,
it’s hard to whip up a healthy
meal when you’re zonked. (See Session
4 on quelling hunger and Session 11 on
getting better sleep.)
• Procrastinating.
This troublesome habit can
make work pile up, crowding
out time you could be exercising
or preparing meals. (For a time
management booster check back to
the “Manage Your Time, Manage Your
Weight” session.)
• Unexamined emotions.
Stress, loneliness, boredom,
anger, hurt, feeling blue and
even being elated can trigger
emotional eating—which, in turn, can
make you disappointed in yourself for
racking up the calories. Then you might
cope with the anger and sense of failure
by eating some more…and the vicious
cycle continues. If this sounds familiar,
double down on conquering it. Sessions
5 and 8 offer lots of helpful strategies.
• Unrealistic goals.
While aiming high is a great way
to embrace challenge, making
unrealistic demands on yourself
is a setup for failure. If you judge yourself
harshly after falling short of your own
tough standards, you might give up and
abandon them altogether. For example,
is it realistic to plan to work out for 1 ½
hours every day this week? If not, how
about planning two bouts of 30 minutes
on four or five days? Check back to the
“Hit the Reset Button and Restart Your
Weight Loss,” session for help with
setting achievable yet inspiring goals.
• Being away from home.
Vacation, business travel,
visiting a relative—being
away from home can make
it tough to eat well and
work out. (See session 14 about dealing
with life’s curveballs and the “Get Off the
Slippery Slope of Relapse” session on
preventing relapse.)
Set Goals
LATER
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No time to eat
breakfast or to pack
lunch 03
Ate 1,750 calories
for dinner (½ chicken,
mac ‘n
cheese, biscuit
and pie)
09A string of meetings
at work, so no time to buy lunch
05
Got hungry and dipped
into the o�ce
candy bowl
07
Woke up late
02Late night internet
shopping
01
Left homewithoutany food
04
Did not each lunch
06
Left work ravenous
08
Break the Chains!
The Calorie Blow-Out
“I’m mad at myself for overeating tonight. How come I still can’t control myself?”
Work backwards and you might find
the answer. It could have been a chain
reaction like the following one.
Up late shopping online, you skimped on
sleep. The next morning, you slept through
the alarm clock, got up late and flew out the
door, without eating breakfast or packing
lunch. At work, meeting after meeting
meant no time to go out and get lunch. You
ate the granola bar in your desk drawer and
periodically dipped into the office candy
bowl. On the drive home, you pulled into
the rotisserie chicken takeout restaurant—
absolutely ravenous! Instead of your usual
order—chicken leg, corn on the cob and
steamed vegetables, 420 calories—you
had a half chicken with a side of mac-and-
cheese, a biscuit, and a slice of pie. That’s a
whopping 1,750 calories!
When figuring out your own chain reactions,
it’s useful to write them out as a chain, so
it’s easy to see where you can break a link.
Even after a chain reaction is launched, you often have one or more opportunities to stop it before it messes with your weight. Take a look at the following examples to see how you can break the chain.
What triggered this chain? It could have
been emotions (boredom, loneliness,
anxiety), procrastination (delaying your
evening chores or even your bedtime), or
fatigue (too tired to get off your chair!) that
kept you shopping online until all hours.
Now take a look at a few ideas on how to
prevent the chain or, once triggered, how
to break the chain before succumbing to
that calorie bomb of a dinner! Your problem-
solving skills come in handy here—for a
refresher turn to the “Four Simple Steps to
Solve Your Weight- Loss Problems” session.
Prevent the chain from happeningSet a “bedtime!” timer and
get off the computer when
the bell rings.
Chainbreaker Ask a co-worker to pick
up a sandwich for you. Or,
keep a stash of apples and
cheese sticks in the office
fridge and peanuts in your
desk drawer for a quick
makeshift lunch!
Chain breaker Keep Real Appeal bars
(recipes on pages 49 and
53 of the Real Foods guide)
in your freezer. Grab one
on your way out the door.
Microwave it as soon as
you get to work and eat it
at your desk.
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The Lost Workout DaysHere’s another example, this one of how a chain reaction could lead to days of no exercise. We found three points in which you could have broken the chain so that you could have made it to your workout. You may see even more opportunities!
O nce you get in the habit of thinking
about missteps as chain reactions,
all kinds of chain breakers start to present
themselves. What’s your biggest weak
spot on the Real Appeal program right
now? Think hard. Is there a chain reaction
at work? If so, brainstorm a few chain
breakers, then try one out right away—you
might be amazed at how the right tweak at
the right time can make all the difference!
Prevent the chain from happeningAnticipating lots of work,
you get up an hour earlier,
and exercise before going
to work.
Chain breaker Get a co-worker to help you
with the project so you can
get the job done on time.
Chain breaker Leave work without
completing project—check
with your boss to make
sure that taking an extra
day or two is OK to finish it.
Your ChainFill in the blanks.
(If your chain is shorter, just ignore the last link or two.
If it’s longer, add links and chain breakers.)
Link 2First trigger Link 3
Link 4 Link 5
Your Chain Breakers
Link 2First trigger Link 3Prevent Chain from Starting
Link 4 Link 5
Chain Breaker Chain Breaker
Chain BreakerChain Breaker
Start here
Start here
Feel guilt about not exercising.
06
Leave the o�ce too late to go
to the gym or exercise to a Real
Moves workout.
05
Drive to work.
02
Wake up to leave
for work on time.
01
Bigger workload
than you'd even
anticipated; running behind.
03
Work later than
planned in order to catch up.
04
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I will break any chains holding me back
Commitment Contract Because chain reactions can lead to weight gain, I will either
head them off or break the links. To help me find effective chain
breakers:
My signature: ______________________________
I will analyze episodes of overeating or missed exercise
to see if a chain reaction led to it.
If there was a chain reaction I’ll:
• Write down all the links in the chain
• Come up with ways I could have avoided it, or points at
which I could have intervened and broken the chain.
Meanwhile, I’ll continue my other healthy habits to the best
of my ability.