psychological warfare

mmm · Post by **mmm** » Fri Nov 30, 2007 3:04 am

Hi, I'm new here. My name is Matt, and I started No S on Monday. I started at 267.5lbs and I'm 6'0" tall.

I wanted to share a few thoughts that have helped me lose weight. Some of these were taken from other places (at least one or two from this message board

) so if I'm stealing your stuff I'm sorry!

The thrust of No S is to retrain yourself. We got ourselves here by establishing bad habits and thinking patterns, and these same thought patterns can undermine the progress we're trying to make as we try to establish new habits. I've noticed certain thought patterns in myself and use some of these ideas to try to combat them.

First, I've noticed that I try to make excuses to not go to the gym, to not eat correctly, etc. Every time I notice this happening I concede a little BUT I demand a little. For example, yesterday morning I woke up and started getting ready for work, thinking to myself I was way too tired to go to the gym after work. When I noticed that I was thinking "there's no way I'm going to the gym", I changed it to "I'll take my gym bag just in case...if I'm still tired after work I can skip". Later in the day I did the same thing as 4:00 was approaching. I said "no way I'm going" and changed it to "I'll pull into the parking lot and if I'm still tired I'll drive off". I ended up doing my longest run so far and felt great about myself. Give it a try, it's pretty effective.

I also have a tendency to overeat or to eat foods that aren't healthy for me (like everyone else here!). I read somewhere that an effective technique is to not just imagine how great what you're craving will taste, but to also imagine how it will make you FEEL. This really works for me. I might want a brownie but I think to myself "that tastes really good, but it's going to make me feel gross and really disappointed that I fell off the wagon". So far I've been doing No S since Monday and have avoided all the S's. This has helped.

Finally (and I'm sure I saw this here somewhere) -- when I get discouraged I think to myself "a mile's awhile but an inch is a cinch". We'd all like to see results immediately but it took forever for me to get to this weight, so it's going to take a long time to bring it down, too.

Anybody else have any mental coping mechanisms? Also, anybody else use Nike+iPod? I love it!

Post by **reinhard** » Fri Nov 30, 2007 4:47 am

Welcome, Matt!

Psychologically, you seem to be in great shape.

Your "Just Get There" approach to the gym is right on target. With exercise, the hardest part by far is starting. As far as willpower is concerned, the actual physical work is nothing compared to that. It's like that woody allen line: "80% of success is showing up."

I got the nike+ thing for my ipod as a gift but I never got it calibrated correctly... the one run a week I do is with a friend, and wearing headphones would be a tad antisocial. Seems like a great idea for solo runs, though.

Best of luck and keep us posted,

Reinhard

Jaxhil · Post by **Jaxhil** » Fri Nov 30, 2007 2:22 pm

Hi Matt! Welcome!

You have some great ideas, and I can see how helpful having these "talks' with yourself would be. I have a similar one when it comes to exercise, however since I work out at home rather than a gym, mine is a bit different. I tell myself (if my inner child is whining about being tired or not feeling like exercising) that I'll only do ten or fifteen minutes instead of my full workout. This works to get me on the bike or the treadmill or whatever my workout for the day is and I have *never* not done at least 30 minutes when I do this. Once I'm on there I always think, "well, this isn't so bad...I could keep going..." LOL. Very effective!

I also try to keep in mind that it took awhile to get this weight on, and it's going to take awhile to get it off. But that is a hard one for me to swallow, not because it isn't true, but because I'm impatient, lol. I tend to do better with " I don't know how long this is going to take or if I can keep it up, but I can make it through today, and I'll be one day closer to my goal". Then I do it again the next day. It helps. Instead of thinking of the big picture, which is (to me) very discouraging, I just concentrate on doing the best I can TODAY.

silver · Post by **silver** » Sat Dec 01, 2007 6:49 am

i've talked about it here somewhere and maybe even more than once, but i feel like doing it again...

i've stopped smoking more that one year ago using the same technique. not thinking long term, just managing day after day. but about the diet. now i'm using the same thing when it comes to that. i just don't understand why i haven't thought of it earlier! and speaking of exercise. i started jogging in march. it's become my major hobby. but the beginning was terrible. it doesn't even seem true anymore. but i used to push myself into it saying: oh, i'll just put my trainers and all the rest on and see. oh, i'll just go a shorter round, and so on. i never went the shorter round, after i've found my perfect one, it worked. although my first attempts were to wear myself out completely on a really long jog. when i started growing to hate it. i changed the tactics to the one i (and you lot) just described. it payed off. i simply went for a shorter track but more often. 5 times a week instead of 3. well, to be perfectly honest one of the key factors that made me change it also was, when my two friends and jogging pals started to look for excuses not to go more and more often. so since may it's only me and i started taking my mp3 too.

unfortunately, i injured my knee quite badly (not while jogging) in july so jogging is still out of the question, i'm guessin' till spring. my rehabilitation nurse taught me some exercises that i do 5 times a week instead. even though they are not as much fun, i've already had that necessary training of willpower so i just practice the same thing with that. she said i'm the most conscientious patient she's ever had. so i'm recovering noticeably, especially after some disgusting and painful injections i started getting. maybe i'll be fit by fabruary but i don't want to gat my hopes too high. until then i'm sure i'll grow to hate those exercises i have to do, even though i'll take it day by day. i only do them to get in shape and get on "track", (literally and metaphorically) sooner.

lots of success to everyone

JustAnnie · Post by **JustAnnie** » Sun Dec 02, 2007 6:15 pm

Welcome Matt! You know, I've noticed that a lot of people think that exercise has to be going to the gym or jogging or some sort of scheduled exercise that requires dropping everything else and ONLY exercising. I've found that moving your body is what is important and it doesn't HAVE to be formal, scheduled exercise. I've been getting off the couch and working in the yard or even giving my house a thorough cleaning. You'd be surprised how much energy you burn when you dust, vaccum and clean the floors, even cleaning a closet or sweeping the walk! I use to let that suff go as long as possible but now I go after some active household chore daily and not only am I burning calories, but my house is MUCH cleaner too!! Just my two cents worth.

bonnieUK · Post by **bonnieUK** » Mon Dec 03, 2007 2:34 pm

Hi Matt,

Just wanted to echo what others have already said really about this being a great idea! and something I will use as another tool to help me with my new daily exercise habit (which I just posted about in the "Everyday systems general discussion" forum).

It's funny how we can use this kind of psychology quite effectively on ourselves!