MY MOST IMPORTANT POST EVER

 I'm down to 215 for a total of 7.2 pounds lost, only about 32 more pounds to go!

IF THERE'S ANYTHING IN YOUR LIFE, ANY GOAL, THAT YOU'VE BEEN WANTING OR TRYING TO ACCOMPLISH AND HAVEN'T BEEN ABLE TO, THIS POST WILL MAKE YOU UNDERSTAND WHY (yes, it's that powerful).

Be prepared, because I am about to get all self-helpy on yer ass:

WATCH THE FOLLOWING VIDEO. I swear to God, it will change your life and make you see things from a new perspective. It involves two well known internet marketers, Frank Kern and John Reese, speaking informally with coaching guru Tony Robbins. JUST WATCH THE FIRST 5 MINUTES and if it doesn't make you want to watch the rest, I will literally, literally eat my shorts (you bring the 2 pounds of BBQ sauce I'm gonna need to eat them). THIS IS THE VIDEO THAT WILL CHANGE YOUR LIFE.

Get it now?

(skip this paragraph if you watced the videos) Now JUST IN CASE any of you skipped the video (which I'm sure none of you did), the main point goes something like this: Most people don't accomplish the goals they want to accomplish because they don't actually believe, or can't picture themselves, accomplishing the goal. So they don't take action (because they don't think they can do it), and as a result, don't get any results. When they don't get results, it reaffirms their belief that they can't accomplish that goal.

(skip this one too if you watched the video) So how do you break that cycle? By envisioning yourself accomplishing those goals. If in your mind you can see yourself accomplishing a goal, and know with certainty that it can be accomplished, your actions will start to reflect that thinking. And as your actions align with your belief that you can accomplish that goal, you start to see results, which then reinforces your belief that you can accomplish the goal. Like I said, a little self-helpy, but it actually works AMAZINGLY well. 

So where am I going with all this? Well, I lost 2.6 pounds this week, for a total of 7.2 pounds lost so far (woohoo!). The black polo shirt I'm wearing as I write has always been a little tight on me, and needed some gentle stretching before I could put it on :) Today I put it on, and thought it was my OTHER, LARGER black polo (yes, I have multiple in different cuts, I'm a polo whore) because all of a sudden it wasn't tight! How'd this happen?

I started boxing twice a week. Since I'm paying a ridiculous $250 a month for this boxing gym, I'd really be an ass hole not to get my money's worth, so I've actually managed to go twice a week for the last 3 weeks.

Now the first time I went boxing, I didn't know shit about it, except it was supposed to be a good workout. But once I got there, and saw myself in hand wraps and boxing gloves, I started to see myself as a boxer, and as someone who went to the gym and exercised. I've always had the attitude that I hated the gym (my belief about myself), so as a result, I wouldn't go, and wouldn't get results. This REINFORCED my belief that I hated the gym, since my lack of going wasn't providing me with any results to prove that I didn't hate the gym, and just led to a big old circle of couch potato-ness.

But after getting over the initial hump of going boxing JUST ONCE, I started to picture myself as a boxer and as someone who enjoyed learning a new sport. Because I started to see myself this way, I took action that was in line with my beliefs, and started going boxing more. Then I started to see the results. And what were those? All of a sudden, my polo shirts fit, I have more energy, I look better, I feel stronger, and I'm getting better at boxing too! Seeing the results has reinforced my belief that I enjoy working out, which leads me to keep going back to boxing. TADA! My changed beliefs have changed my results!

How else did seeing myself this new way change my actions? Well there's this new burger place in my neighborhood I've been wanting to try called The Counter. Had dinner there after my workout today, and I'd like you to notice something about the following pictures:

Seeing it? Take a closer look at the plates... Why what's the? THERE'S FOOD LEFT ON THE PLATES! To be exact, there's half a bun, half of fried onion toppings, and half an order of fries (and some veggies and junk).

NOW I NEVER LEAVE FOOD ON MY PLATE. But as I was eating, and feeling like the type of person who's getting into shape and taking care of my body, I realized that I didn't need to eat THE ENTIRE MEAL. I could ACTUALLY leave food on my plate (gasp, oh no, what?). Yeah, this is not a standard thing for me, I've been referred to as the human vacuum at restaurants before, finishing everything on both my plate and my friends' plates.

So my belief that I was getting my body into shape extended past getting myself to the gym and made me make a different decision about how much food I was eating (now I suppose I could have had a salad or something for dinner, but a burger just tastes SO much better).

So moral of the story, pick one of your goals, and start envisioning every day what it will look and feel like to accomplish that goal. KNOW that you can accomplish that goal (even if you're just saying the words and don't believe them, YET). I think you'll be surprised how quickly your actions start to line up with your beliefs, and how quickly you'll actually start moving towards that goal. I know I have!

That's all for this week folks, if you've made it this far, leave a comment below with the current goals you're trying to accomplish, weight loss or otherwise!

----Alex

P.S. If you're at all interested in the type of Internet Marketing that Frank Kern and John Reese were talking about, please please please reach out to me. I'm just starting on my own Internet Marketing journey and would LOVE for any and everyone to come along for the ride!

On Planning Ahead

Anyone reading is welcomed and encouraged to send me their weekly weight so we can track together and motivate each other to lose weight. "Alex - Projected" would be my weight loss of 40 pounds by my birthday on 6/12/11, at a steady 1.9 pounds per week. "Alex - Actual" is my actual weight loss. I can also post your weight anonymously under a name of your choosing! Also you may have noticed that the numbers under "Judy" don't correspond to the graph. She's opted to only send her weight changes, so we'll track from an arbitrary starting point of 190 pounds (because it fit nicely in the graph). You're al welcome to pursue this option as well if you don't want to give your actual weight. We'll make a nice colored line on the graph for you too!

This was one of those weeks where I realized the importance of something that's so completely obvious and simple, that I had to kick myself a little for not realizing it sooner. It was much like the times I realized that "kitten kaboodle" was actually "kit and kaboodle", "all intensive purposes" was "all intents and purposes", and lastly, I could never figure out why in the song "Home on the Range", the word "seldom" was itself, a discouraging word ("where seldom is heard, a discouraging word..."). It's amazing anybody gave me a college degree, because I didn't realize that last one until I was IN college :)

So my realization started this week when I decided I deserved a nice 12 oz. boneless NY strip steak for dinner one night. With all the fixings, my meaty masterpiece clocked in at about 20 Weight Watchers points, out of my 49 points for the day. So what did I do to be able to eat this steak guilt free? I made more healthy choices for the rest of the day, and kept under the 29 remaining points! Duuuuuhhhhhhhh. Now I know this might seam obvious, but I think it's the first time I've put any thought in the morning to how many points I'd be eating for dinner. Usually I get to dinnertime, see how many points I have left, and then make/order whatever I'm in the mood for (usually whether or not it stays within my daily points). Here I had figured out a way to both eat a delicious steak, AND not go over my daily points. Genius!

This got me thinking about other ways that different types of planning ahead can make weight loss easier and healthier:

1. Order your groceries for the week in advance: I know I've mentioned it before, but having healthy food in the house prevents you from running out to get an unhealthy snack, or ordering an unhealthy meal. While some people go as far as planning their daily or weekly menus in advance (which I encourage if it works for you), I just like to always have some breakfast, lunch, dinner and snack foods around the house that I don't have to feel guilty about eating.
2. Plan your exercise into your calendar: I've only started doing this in the last week or two, since I joined a boxing gym, but it's been a HUGE help in actually getting myself to go to the gym. Also, in an odd bit of reverse psychology, I've realized that BECAUSE my new gym is about an hour round trip commute, it makes me want to go there MORE than I want to go to the gym in my building. Seems odd, right? I think it's like a fraternity hazing thing, where I value going to my new gym more BECAUSE I have to go out of my way to get there and plan in advance when I'll have time to go. Also, boxing's a kickass workout.
3. Plan your weekend eating/drinking in advance: If you know you're headed to a restaurant Friday or Saturday night, take a look at the menu first to get an idea of what you might like to eat. If you live in NYC, I recommend http://www.menupages.com for restaurant menus. Then calculate in advance how many points you think you'll eat (including drinks, bread, appetizers, entrées and dessert) and eat within the remaining points for the rest of the day. OR if you know you'll be having a particularly large, heavy meal, make an effort to go to the gym that day to offset some of the calories! This goes for drinking too. If you know you want to get completely shit-faced on a Saturday night, figure out how many drinks that takes (hopefully after college you'll know the magic number), calculate up the points, and eat within your remaining points that day.

For anyone keeping track, I'm now a total of 4.6 pounds lighter than when I started, with 35.3 pounds to go. This averages out to losing about 3.5 pounds a week for the next 10 weeks, so we'll see how that goes :) Honestly, if I could get down to 200 (which would mean losing another 17.6 pound by my birthday), I would be thrilled. And of course now that I'm boxing, I'll be building muscle too... sure we'll go with that excuse :)

'Till next week!

----Alex