I have always struggled with my weight and therefore have an ongoing interest in weight control. There is some much out there on this subject that you have to do lots of reading to get to the heart/truth of the matter. This is a great artcile that I thought you guys would all enjoy! Stay healthy!
By Jay Dixit, PsychologyToday.com
There's no question that losing weight is hard and keeping it off even harder. But it's not impossible. The National Weight Control Registry lists thousands of people who have lost more than 50 pounds and kept it off more than five years. Here's how to do the same.
Make radical changes.
People think moderate dietary changes are easier to stick with. But as with quitting drug addiction, drastic changes are actually easier. "We don't tell heroin addicts if you stay clean all week, you can reward yourself by shooting up a small amount on the weekend," says Deirdre Barrett, a psychologist at Harvard Medical School and author of Waistland. "Sugar derails glucose metabolism in a similar way." She advises cutting out sugars, refined foods, simple carbohydrates, and trans fats.
Reprogram your brain.
Losing weight means developing new eating habits—like reaching for an orange instead of an Oreo. The hardest part is the first 72 hours, when eating right is an act of will. After two or three weeks of sticking to it, your hunger and cravings subside, and control over eating choices becomes more automatic. Voilà, your brain is rewired.
Eat breakfast.
Without breakfast, your body plunges into starvation mode, slowing your metabolism and tempting you to binge later. Over 78 percent of the registry's successful losers eat breakfast every day.
Exercise like you mean it.
An evening walk every other day isn't going to cut it. Ninety percent of registry participants exercised—for a full hour, on average, most days of the week.
Stretch your mind.
Stop living on autopilot. A study shows that people who push their comfort zones and try new things—like reading a different magazine or listening to a new radio station—lose weight and keep it off. Breaking out of your routine may make you more aware of your choices in general, and less likely to engage in mindless eating.
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Sunday, September 7, 2008
Observing Successful People!
We know this to be true, yet we don't seem to follow through with this concept. In all my readings on successful people this comes up time and time again. It's time to find the person you would most want to be like and "observe" their ways and actions!!
Chris Widener
I thought about my subscribers on Saturday night and realized that you can learn a lot from observation. Simple, right? Let me explain.
A good friend of mine bought, virtually on a whim, a new, nearly $3,000,000 home. I didn’t even know he had purchased it. They were “keeping it a secret.” Then he invited me over to play pool, billiards if you will, which we do quite regularly. But, of course he had to give me the new address.
It was stunning: 16 acres. 7500 square feet. Beautiful custom woodwork. Tens of thousands of square feet of outbuildings, including horse barns (though he is going to raise Yaks – don’t ask me why) and what is to become the new indoor basketball court. An indoor pool rounded out the best of the offerings. And, of course there was the billiards room. As we were going through the house I kept thinking, this would fit into most people’s dreams… including many of my subscribers.
And that got me to thinking. I really needed to step back a bit and look at my friend again. I mean, I know him too well. We play basketball together. We play pool together (He beats me at pool, I beat him at basketball). We have shared some of the very highest points of life and some of the lowest. We have laughed together and we have fought with each other.
But what is it that makes him tick and be able to become so successful financially? I had never thought about that before. As I did, I realized that you can learn a lot from observing successful people… if you do it.
A little about my friend: 40 years old. Runs 1/5th of one of America’s most well-known companies (you may even use them today). Married. 6 children.
But here is what I realize when I look at what makes him so successful:
Intense. One thing my friend is, is intense. Whatever it is that he is working on or doing, he puts every ounce of energy into it. It is all or nothing. This keeps him going when it gets hard.
Focused. Similar to intense, or perhaps going with it, is that my friend is extremely focused. When he sets his mind to something, he gets his eyes on it like a laser beam. This helps him achieve it.
Strategic. He “begins with the end in mind.” He tells me frequently that the day you start a company is the day you plan on selling it. Whether you agree with that or not, it does indicate that he is thinking well down the road, which is a lesson we could all learn. This helps him keep his mind on the big picture.
Hard working. My friend puts in long hours. In today’s get-rich-quick-without-much-work mentality it is easy to forget that most fortunes are made by plain old long hours. And most people just aren’t willing to do it. If I want to get a hold of my friend between 6 am and 6 pm, I call the office, because that’s where he’ll be. Just as a side note, he knows how to relax too: He just got back from a three week bicycling trip through Europe with his whole family, ending with a seven day cruise through the Mediterranean.
Competitive. When my friend gets in the game, he wants to win. He doesn’t play to lose or tie. He goes all out, within the rules as well as the spirit of the rules, and he doesn’t let up until the game is over. If he wins or if he loses, he is gracious. Well, okay, most of the time he’s gracious. Sometimes he rubs it in a little bit when he beats me!
Risk-taker. One of my favorite stories about my friend is how he went to his boss at his company and told them they should begin to develop a certain product because they would need it in a year or two. The boss told him it wasn’t in the cards. So my friend quit his job and went and started a company that produced that product. Guess who bought the company from him shortly thereafter for many, many dollars? Yep, his old company, where he now runs a huge part of the company.
Fun. When it comes right down to it, my friend is a lot of fun. He is never boring – that’s for sure. He and his family have 25 bikes and use them regularly and competitively. He loves sports and plays them well. He laughs, even when he loses. That helps him keep perspective and enjoy life.
My friend isn’t perfect. No, I have seen not only his best, but also his worst. He is, like the rest of us, making his way through life the best he can as a person who is not perfect. But he does have quite a few things down pat that you and I could learn from, lessons that would make us more successful in life and work.
So let me ask you:
Are you intense? Are you focused? Are you strategic? Are you hard working? Are you competitive? Are you risk taking? Are you fun?
These are the characteristics of successful people; people who achieve great things in this life and make a difference for their families and others as well.
Chris Widener
I thought about my subscribers on Saturday night and realized that you can learn a lot from observation. Simple, right? Let me explain.
A good friend of mine bought, virtually on a whim, a new, nearly $3,000,000 home. I didn’t even know he had purchased it. They were “keeping it a secret.” Then he invited me over to play pool, billiards if you will, which we do quite regularly. But, of course he had to give me the new address.
It was stunning: 16 acres. 7500 square feet. Beautiful custom woodwork. Tens of thousands of square feet of outbuildings, including horse barns (though he is going to raise Yaks – don’t ask me why) and what is to become the new indoor basketball court. An indoor pool rounded out the best of the offerings. And, of course there was the billiards room. As we were going through the house I kept thinking, this would fit into most people’s dreams… including many of my subscribers.
And that got me to thinking. I really needed to step back a bit and look at my friend again. I mean, I know him too well. We play basketball together. We play pool together (He beats me at pool, I beat him at basketball). We have shared some of the very highest points of life and some of the lowest. We have laughed together and we have fought with each other.
But what is it that makes him tick and be able to become so successful financially? I had never thought about that before. As I did, I realized that you can learn a lot from observing successful people… if you do it.
A little about my friend: 40 years old. Runs 1/5th of one of America’s most well-known companies (you may even use them today). Married. 6 children.
But here is what I realize when I look at what makes him so successful:
Intense. One thing my friend is, is intense. Whatever it is that he is working on or doing, he puts every ounce of energy into it. It is all or nothing. This keeps him going when it gets hard.
Focused. Similar to intense, or perhaps going with it, is that my friend is extremely focused. When he sets his mind to something, he gets his eyes on it like a laser beam. This helps him achieve it.
Strategic. He “begins with the end in mind.” He tells me frequently that the day you start a company is the day you plan on selling it. Whether you agree with that or not, it does indicate that he is thinking well down the road, which is a lesson we could all learn. This helps him keep his mind on the big picture.
Hard working. My friend puts in long hours. In today’s get-rich-quick-without-much-work mentality it is easy to forget that most fortunes are made by plain old long hours. And most people just aren’t willing to do it. If I want to get a hold of my friend between 6 am and 6 pm, I call the office, because that’s where he’ll be. Just as a side note, he knows how to relax too: He just got back from a three week bicycling trip through Europe with his whole family, ending with a seven day cruise through the Mediterranean.
Competitive. When my friend gets in the game, he wants to win. He doesn’t play to lose or tie. He goes all out, within the rules as well as the spirit of the rules, and he doesn’t let up until the game is over. If he wins or if he loses, he is gracious. Well, okay, most of the time he’s gracious. Sometimes he rubs it in a little bit when he beats me!
Risk-taker. One of my favorite stories about my friend is how he went to his boss at his company and told them they should begin to develop a certain product because they would need it in a year or two. The boss told him it wasn’t in the cards. So my friend quit his job and went and started a company that produced that product. Guess who bought the company from him shortly thereafter for many, many dollars? Yep, his old company, where he now runs a huge part of the company.
Fun. When it comes right down to it, my friend is a lot of fun. He is never boring – that’s for sure. He and his family have 25 bikes and use them regularly and competitively. He loves sports and plays them well. He laughs, even when he loses. That helps him keep perspective and enjoy life.
My friend isn’t perfect. No, I have seen not only his best, but also his worst. He is, like the rest of us, making his way through life the best he can as a person who is not perfect. But he does have quite a few things down pat that you and I could learn from, lessons that would make us more successful in life and work.
So let me ask you:
Are you intense? Are you focused? Are you strategic? Are you hard working? Are you competitive? Are you risk taking? Are you fun?
These are the characteristics of successful people; people who achieve great things in this life and make a difference for their families and others as well.
10 Things I Wish I Had Known Before I Went Into the Real World!
So how come no one told me about this before I went into the Real World!! - comment by MGL - Great article by Chris - very well done!
by Chris Widener
I must confess, I laughed when I saw that Maria Shriver has come out with a book called, “Ten Things I Wish I Had Known Before Going Into The Real World.” The real world? Come on, she grew up a Kennedy and married the biggest action movie star of all time! That aside, it got me to thinking: What are ten things I wish I would have known before going out into the real world? So, here they are…
1. Life isn’t fair. You know, your mother always told you this but as kids we never believe it. We think that somehow mom was two tacos short of a combo plate and that eventually we will go into the real world and show her how those who work hard and do right always do come out on top. Then after about five years we become disenchanted and start to smell the coffee. Life isn’t fair! Why didn’t anybody tell me that? I guess they did, didn’t they? Unfortunately, sometimes the bad guys wins. Sometimes people die early. We shouldn’t take this lightly, but we must be realists. While we accept what comes our way, we still strive to work hard, dream big, and do right.
2. People play favorites. It is true that it isn’t what you know but who you know that counts. This is because people play favorites. Sometimes it doesn’t matter that you are the best person or have the lowest bid. People will regularly cut deals with people they like or who can scratch their back in return. I guess the lesson to learn is that while we strive to achieve much and have excellent skills, we should also develop a strong network of healthy relationships.
3. People will let you down. Being a person who does what he says can be a blessing and a curse. It is a blessing because I am able to look at myself in the mirror each day. It is a curse because if you are like that, you will most likely expect that from others and yet they will regularly let you down. People can be bad at keeping their word or doing what is right. I could have relieved a lot of emotional stress if I would have known this one before getting out into the real world.
4. Not everybody wants to grow personally. I just assumed that everybody loved to learn and to grow. I thought everybody wanted to get better at what they did. The reality is, however, that most people do not. That is why there is something that we call “average.” Most people want to stay where they are. That is why they do. Those who strive to go forward will always be cutting against the grain and will often be resented, even if quietly, for it.
5. The stock market goes down sometimes. Some of you older folks knew this. But us young whippersnappers, we have been riding it high on the hog for a while. This is good in a sense, but unless you have some common sense of how financial markets work, you can get quite a shock from time to time. You see, before you get into the real world, everything gets handed to you and you really don’t have to work for much. Then you do and you think that every investment will turn out grand – whoops!
6. The older you get, the harder it is to lose weight. I was always a little “pudgy.” Nothing big, just not like the cover guys of Men’s Health Magazine (You know, the ones that say “Six-pack abs in 20 minutes a day.” I think that means they only eat twenty minutes a day, and it is usually stewed vegetables! But I digress…). If I would have known better, I would have worked harder when I was younger to keep the weight off so I wouldn’t have to work that much harder now!
7. Marriage is work. A good marriage is more work. When you are young you think, “I’ll find the girl of my dreams and we’ll live happily ever after.” Well, hello! You forget that your spouse is human and you are too, most of the time! To live under the same roof with someone and to work out likes and dislikes, personalities, and schedules, not to mention life goals and the like is HARD WORK! Not drudgery, just work. Yes, there will be plenty of bliss and joy, but marriage will make you work for it!
8. It takes longer to get out of debt than to get into it. I have never really had much debt. I did take out student loans to pay for school and wow, do they take a long time to get out of. Fortunately I have them paid off but for a while there, it was one of the big checks we wrote every month. Many people think credit cards are great because they can have what they want when they want it. Too bad they don’t realize that twenty minutes of shopping ecstasy will result in months or years of payments.
9. It doesn’t work to try to please others. I have always wanted people to like me. Many times, I wanted them to like me too much. That isn’t good. This doesn’t work because I realized that most of the time, people liking or disliking you has nothing to do whatsoever with rational thought. Some people will dislike you, no matter how well you have done, and others will love you, warts and all. So I do my best and let the chips fall where they may – now.
10. You need to tend to your spiritual, emotional, and physical health or you will crash hard. If you don’t take time for yourself, both inwardly and outwardly, your body will catch up with you. You can take time for yourself by choice or not. It is much more fun by choice! Life is hard and it can and will weigh you down. We need to tend the fires of spirit and mind while keeping our physical bodies tuned for success as well. If not, our bodies break down.
Bonus: In spite of the above, life is very much worth it! Some of the above may seem like bummers. They aren’t the “positive” things we like to focus on, but they are true. Being positive doesn’t mean sticking your head in the ground in order to avoid the negative of life. What it means is that we are realists who understand the negative aspects of life and choose to be optimists instead. We deal with the negative and pursue the positive. That is why I can say that life is worth living no matter how expensive or painful the lessons I have had to learn have been. Life is good and I can make it better!
So I had to learn some lessons AFTER I got into the real world. So what? At least I learned them and can live the rest of my life to the fullest from now on! I hope you can too!
by Chris Widener
I must confess, I laughed when I saw that Maria Shriver has come out with a book called, “Ten Things I Wish I Had Known Before Going Into The Real World.” The real world? Come on, she grew up a Kennedy and married the biggest action movie star of all time! That aside, it got me to thinking: What are ten things I wish I would have known before going out into the real world? So, here they are…
1. Life isn’t fair. You know, your mother always told you this but as kids we never believe it. We think that somehow mom was two tacos short of a combo plate and that eventually we will go into the real world and show her how those who work hard and do right always do come out on top. Then after about five years we become disenchanted and start to smell the coffee. Life isn’t fair! Why didn’t anybody tell me that? I guess they did, didn’t they? Unfortunately, sometimes the bad guys wins. Sometimes people die early. We shouldn’t take this lightly, but we must be realists. While we accept what comes our way, we still strive to work hard, dream big, and do right.
2. People play favorites. It is true that it isn’t what you know but who you know that counts. This is because people play favorites. Sometimes it doesn’t matter that you are the best person or have the lowest bid. People will regularly cut deals with people they like or who can scratch their back in return. I guess the lesson to learn is that while we strive to achieve much and have excellent skills, we should also develop a strong network of healthy relationships.
3. People will let you down. Being a person who does what he says can be a blessing and a curse. It is a blessing because I am able to look at myself in the mirror each day. It is a curse because if you are like that, you will most likely expect that from others and yet they will regularly let you down. People can be bad at keeping their word or doing what is right. I could have relieved a lot of emotional stress if I would have known this one before getting out into the real world.
4. Not everybody wants to grow personally. I just assumed that everybody loved to learn and to grow. I thought everybody wanted to get better at what they did. The reality is, however, that most people do not. That is why there is something that we call “average.” Most people want to stay where they are. That is why they do. Those who strive to go forward will always be cutting against the grain and will often be resented, even if quietly, for it.
5. The stock market goes down sometimes. Some of you older folks knew this. But us young whippersnappers, we have been riding it high on the hog for a while. This is good in a sense, but unless you have some common sense of how financial markets work, you can get quite a shock from time to time. You see, before you get into the real world, everything gets handed to you and you really don’t have to work for much. Then you do and you think that every investment will turn out grand – whoops!
6. The older you get, the harder it is to lose weight. I was always a little “pudgy.” Nothing big, just not like the cover guys of Men’s Health Magazine (You know, the ones that say “Six-pack abs in 20 minutes a day.” I think that means they only eat twenty minutes a day, and it is usually stewed vegetables! But I digress…). If I would have known better, I would have worked harder when I was younger to keep the weight off so I wouldn’t have to work that much harder now!
7. Marriage is work. A good marriage is more work. When you are young you think, “I’ll find the girl of my dreams and we’ll live happily ever after.” Well, hello! You forget that your spouse is human and you are too, most of the time! To live under the same roof with someone and to work out likes and dislikes, personalities, and schedules, not to mention life goals and the like is HARD WORK! Not drudgery, just work. Yes, there will be plenty of bliss and joy, but marriage will make you work for it!
8. It takes longer to get out of debt than to get into it. I have never really had much debt. I did take out student loans to pay for school and wow, do they take a long time to get out of. Fortunately I have them paid off but for a while there, it was one of the big checks we wrote every month. Many people think credit cards are great because they can have what they want when they want it. Too bad they don’t realize that twenty minutes of shopping ecstasy will result in months or years of payments.
9. It doesn’t work to try to please others. I have always wanted people to like me. Many times, I wanted them to like me too much. That isn’t good. This doesn’t work because I realized that most of the time, people liking or disliking you has nothing to do whatsoever with rational thought. Some people will dislike you, no matter how well you have done, and others will love you, warts and all. So I do my best and let the chips fall where they may – now.
10. You need to tend to your spiritual, emotional, and physical health or you will crash hard. If you don’t take time for yourself, both inwardly and outwardly, your body will catch up with you. You can take time for yourself by choice or not. It is much more fun by choice! Life is hard and it can and will weigh you down. We need to tend the fires of spirit and mind while keeping our physical bodies tuned for success as well. If not, our bodies break down.
Bonus: In spite of the above, life is very much worth it! Some of the above may seem like bummers. They aren’t the “positive” things we like to focus on, but they are true. Being positive doesn’t mean sticking your head in the ground in order to avoid the negative of life. What it means is that we are realists who understand the negative aspects of life and choose to be optimists instead. We deal with the negative and pursue the positive. That is why I can say that life is worth living no matter how expensive or painful the lessons I have had to learn have been. Life is good and I can make it better!
So I had to learn some lessons AFTER I got into the real world. So what? At least I learned them and can live the rest of my life to the fullest from now on! I hope you can too!
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