Ok, Ok you've been trying to tell me...!

So I learned a lot from the Jillian Michaels podcasts.. not only how to lose weight, but also lots of other 'mindhacks' and things to be aware of. I didn't always use them, but they were obviously stored in some filing cabinet in my brain because all of a sudden one of them has popped up.
Jillian would talk about how the subject of a podcast would be determined by 'what the universe was trying to tell her', so she would look at what had been a running theme through the things she read, the discussions she had, the experiences she was having in life. So if she seemed to pick up a few magazines and they all had an article about injury and then someone close to her got an injury and then someone wrote to her over facebook about an injury, she would realise that this theme was running through her week and discuss this in the podcast. She would often say that the universe will keep telling you this over and over until you take the action and learn the lesson and then you can move on.

Well everything I seem to look at, to listen to this last week or so seems to be going down the route of not calorie counting, just eating clean & working out. I must have read 4 articles over the weekend out of random magazines that all push me down this route. Whilst sorting out the Xmas tree I found an old book just stuffed under the sofa, it was a Jackie Warner book telling me not to count calories and that I need a lifestyle change.

So I laid out in the bath yesterday in my chocolate waffle bubble bath (oh if you can't eat it.... ) and thought this through. We all know I lost 20lbs, but I did it by reducing my basic calorie intake to 1200 ( and eating mostly clean), I would probably have a couple of cheats on top of that to tip me to more like 1400, but still... my focus was on calorie control and what has happened? Over the years since then I have gone to a more relaxed way of eating and bad habits have come back and I have put on 1/2 of that lost weight again. I will go from being super strict to binging and round again, so I have become the classic yo-yo dieter that I have always frowned upon, because I believe it is the worst thing you can do to your body.

So my new plan has been chosen.... I am going to focus on health, on eating an abundance of clean foods and treat it as a lifestyle overhaul, not just another quick plan to reduce my weight!

Talking of focus... That's my other problem. I need to flip my brain over. All the books and articles I have read about making goals say to focus on what you want not what you don't want... apparently the mind can't understand the word 'don't or do' so if you are thinking 'I don't wanna weigh 155lbs' your mind hears 'I wanna weigh 155lbs' I am a big one for this, I seem to constantly focus on the 'don't wants' and then I never seem to move forwards.  

So a new journey begins.... I am calling it Xmas with my Inner Athlete! It is where I pretend I am already at goal and act how I would in that instance and see what happens. No more 'don't wants', no more calorie counting...it's time to start enjoying the journey!!!