Week One – Lose Weight Easily Without a Diet?

If you read my first post on this book, you’ll know that my interest in it stems from initially reading another book by the author, Sheconomics and being impressed by the ideas contained within. Intrigued by the idea of a No Diet Diet from well respected psychologists I took a look. You can read that first post here.

What is particularly appealing is the notion that changing habits in one area of your life will change your eating habits, without you focussing on food. We all know diets put a huge focus on food so suddenly it’s all we can think of :

Don’t think about cream cakes, banish all thoughts about eating luscious cakes from your mind. Too late, now you have an image of a cream cake floating in your head! It’s like someone saying to you, just as you engage the reverse gear -don’t hit that kerb! There’s a good chance you now will.

Week One Instructions

I’m not going to reveal all the secrets of the book here, but week one does encourage you to change one habit each day as well as two additional tasks. The additional tasks are things like: don’t always sit in your usual chair, try a different newspaper, use a different shop, go watch a film alone, etc.

So how did I do? Well, I more or less did as instructed but my life is so non routine that I sometimes felt I was cheating a little. For example, the very first instruction was not to watch TV (or if you don’t watch TV, stop listening to the radio). That day I was travelling to London and probably wouldn’t have watched TV anyway so I tried that on another day as well (I chose Saturday, the day I watch most TV as am a Strictly addict!)

However, it has had an interesting effect of making me realise how much of my life is just habit. I was training in London over two days and my husband was with me (he goes and plays golf!). At the end of the first day’s training he suggested half heartedly that maybe we could go out, knowing that usually I just flop and read through my material for the next day. That has become a habit. I wrote the course; I rarely need to review the material unless I am adapting it to suit my group.

So, I said yes, and let’s have a meal out while we’re at it. Cue very surprised but happy look from partner of 34 years! And we had a great evening, although I’m not sure if going out for a meal is quite what one should be doing….

Weight Loss?

So that’s great, Jane, I hear you say. You’ve changed a few things but did it make a jot of difference to your weight? Well, in the book the authors suggest that weight loss is small but consistent. Their research shows that most people in the first week lose a pound and that’s exactly what I did.

The author’s point out that week one is not about weight loss but about laying the correct foundations; that phase one simply creates the conditions necessary for change. Phase two puts it into practice.

I’m about to start Phase Two which lasts for one week, so drop by again next Monday and I’ll let you know how it goes. I have visitors most of this week which usually means an excess of all things edible! Watch this space…

And if you’ve been following the book too, please so share how you are getting one!

Be Like A Strictly Dancer!

OK, I admit it. My name is Jane and I am a Strictly Come Dancing addict. I hope you’re not shocked!

The show is compelling to me; I think it’s partly because you can watch people very proficient in one field, trying to be proficient in another. You can see them trying to transfer skills learned in one area to another complicated task.Their motivation to succeed is very strong (in most cases!)

Unsurprisingly, the sports people tend to do well. Much of what we know about motivational psychology has been learned in the sports arena and you can see it being played out each week.

So try this as a wee exercise next time you have a few moments. What skills, qualities and attributes do you have that would stand you in good stead if you were asked to do something totally different tomorrow? How would you manage if your job changed overnight? Imagine you are writing a letter to apply to be on Strictly (or similar). Give them all the compelling reasons to pick you, and tell them why you and all your transferable skills would be wonderful!

The Tipping Point

The Tipping Point was the book which propelled Malcolm Gladwell into the public eye and was a massive best seller. I recommend it when running my seminars on change, both as a good read and as an aid to thinking about change.

A tipping point is the point at which things change, or he could have said ‘the straw that breaks the camel’s back’. It’s the point when change becomes inevitable. He talks of new ideas, or products, or types of behaviour as being like an epidemic which at the right moment will take hold and spread.

I like his style of writing; he fills his books with anecdotes and stories. Here’s an example of his style. He’s talking about the actor, Rod Steiger, whom he uses as an example of a great connector:

..he has made great movies like the Oscar winning ‘On the Waterfront’ and dreadful movies like ‘Car Pool’. He won an Oscar for his role in ‘In the Heat of the Night’ and also made bad B movies …. Rod Steiger is the best connected actor in history because he has managed to move up and down and back and forth among all the different worlds and subcultures and niches and levels that the acting profession has to offer.

This is what connectors are like. They are the Rod Steigers of everyday life. They are people whom all of us can reach in only  a few steps because, for one reason or another, they manage to occupy many different worlds and subcultures and niches.

As well as Connectors, Gladwell talks about Mavens and Salesmen and stickiness, but I’ll let you discover those for yourself. Oh and Sesame Street also gets a mention!

It’s a simple and elegant model of change that he puts forward and it’s a book well worth reading if you haven’t discovered it yet.

It’s still available in good book shops, your local library and from Amazon where it is currently on sale at less than £5. The publisher is Abacus.

You’re Worth It!

Are you really good at setting yourself goals and targets but then seem to find yourself falling short?

There are probably many reasons but one of them may be that you are focussing too much on very practical goals, for example:

‘I will lose 14 pounds by December‘.

Instead try thinking more about what you want to feel like in December. Why is losing 14 pounds important to you? Do you want to feel more attractive? Do you want to feel more healthy? Do you want to feel more confident?

Once you’ve worked out what the ‘feeling’ goal is implicit in your practical goal, try focussing on that and see what happens!

What tips/advice/techniques have you find useful in making sure you reach your goals?

End of the Weekend Blues?

If you often find yourself feeling a bit down as the end of the weekend approaches, maybe it’s time to think seriously about what you are doing the rest of the week!

When you feel fed up with your job it’s hard to motivate yourself. So you stay stuck in a place that doesn’t excite or inspire you.

Even though jobs are thin on the ground at the moment, you can take action to put yourself into the right place for when the jobs market picks up. There are still jobs out there but you have to be much more proactive.

Here’s an exercise adapted from ‘When Work isn’t Working’ which will help you start to take some control.

Exercise

List all your friends, family,colleagues, acquaintances. Think widely across your network to include home, work, hobbies, faith groups, union/professional groups, everyone you can think of.

Supporters

Now, take a long, hard, honest look. In that group who are your supporters? Supporters may include people who can offer you emotional support and those who can offer practical support. Differentiate between the two.

Who on your list might hold you back? You might find, surprisingly, that the same person can pop up in both camps. Friends or family who give you emotional support can be the same people who tacitly encourage you to stay where you are. It’s not done from malice, more a fear of change. When we change it impacts on those closest to us.

Look at your list and pick out those who can help you, either with new skills, introductions, experience, advice, enthusiasm or maybe signing up to an evening class with you, or introducing you to a networking group.

Have you asked them to help? Make a note in your diary to speak to them this week. Take back some control and  perhaps Sunday evenings will soon be your favourite time of the week. When you have a job you love, it really doesn’t feel like working at all!

What advice has worked for you?

What’s Stopping You?

“Our lives can change with every breath we take. That is why we have to let go of what has been done.”
Author Unknown

One reason we can find change difficult, even when we really want the result making the change will bring, is because changing to something new means losing something. Change and loss, as well as change and gain are inextricably linked.

If we haven’t worked out what we’re afraid of losing, we’ll find reasons not to make the change. And we usually do this subconsciously, so our inability to make positive changes puzzles us…

If you have struggled to change your life for the better it’s worth taking considered time to ponder this question:

“What might you be afraid of losing?”