The Health Blog by Ryan Healy

You Don't Have to Finish

If you're having trouble losing weight, then these admittedly simple suggestions may come as a revelation to you (as they did to me a few years ago). That is, you don't have to finish everything that's on your plate... or take a larger portion just to finish the "last little bit" that's leftover.

I grew up in a family where you had to finish everything on your plate. If you were full, it didn't matter. You still had to finish everything. I remember fighting my Dad over the fat and gristle I left on chicken bones. I refused to eat it; my Dad believed I should finish it.

If you (like my Dad) harbor a stubborn belief that you have to finish all that you take, then don't be surprised when several pounds of fat take up permanent residence around your middle and on your thighs.

A second common habit I've observed is that of finishing the "last little bit" that remains in cereal boxes or casserole dishes or whatever. It seems there's this natural human urge to "finish things"... to "follow through"... as if it were virtuous to polish off various food items to make room for newly purchased groceries.

I'm here to tell you—you don't have to finish that last little bit. Don't force yourself to overeat for the sake of that vain feeling of accomplishment you get when you throw an empty cereal box away or remove a large dish from the fridge and put it in the sink to be cleaned. Just save whatever's left for later... even if it's a very small amount.

If you have a spouse that asks, "Why don't you just finish that?" the answer is simple. "I'm just not that hungry," you say. And let it go at that.

Follow these two simple guidelines and it'll make your quest to lose weight a whole lot simpler.

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Half Portions

My wife and I went to On the Border for dinner with my brother and his wife on Tuesday evening. Instead of ordering two entrees, my wife and I ordered one and split it.

This is a great way to spend less... and eat less.

There's an old rule that says you'll eat whatever's on your plate, even if you're already full.

For instance, let's say you put more food on your plate than you're able to eat. So long as the food is there, you'll keep eating!

Conversely, if you take less than you think you can eat, and you finish what's on your plate, you're not very likely to get up for seconds.

Use this knowledge to cut back how much you're eating at each meal. Split an entree with your spouse or simply take half of what you'd normally eat. You'll be surprised by how much less you eat... and how content you'll feel.

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"Because I Don't Want To"

These five words may be more valuable to you than any others as you try to change your eating habits, lose weight, etc.

Most people choose self-talk that goes like this: "I shouldn't eat that." Usually, right on the heels of that first thought, comes, "And so I will."

It's a classic case of the law inspiring rebellion in your flesh. You know you shouldn't (the law), which only increases your desire for it (the rebellion).

It's best to eliminate all thought of rules—all the things you should do or shouldn't do—while you're improving your eating habits. Rather, change your self-talk so it focuses on your personal desires.

Let me explain...

When you see something unhealthy you really want to eat—say, ice cream—ask yourself, "Why not?" (Remember, there are no rules. Asking the question, "Why not?" reinforces this. You are free to eat whatever you want.)

Then, in response to your question, say, "Because I don't want to."

This is a statement your mind can't argue with. "Because I don't want to" is straightforward and doesn't leave any room to wiggle. You've just told yourself you don't want to eat the unhealthy food!

This concept is extremely simple, yet very powerful. Try it. Choose a single food that you really struggle with... an unhealthy food that you just love to eat.

When you're faced with the decision whether to eat it or not, ask yourself, "Why not?" Then answer, "Because I don't want to."

Do this consistently with that one food over a period of weeks and see if your desire to eat that food doesn't rapidly decline. In what will seem like no time at all, you'll no longer want to eat that food nearly as much as you did before.

Public Weight Loss

One way to make sure you stick to your weight loss goals is to make them public: tell your family members, coworkers, and friends about your intent to lose weight so they can keep you on track.

But possibly the best way to make your goals public is to write a blog about your weight loss journey. And, in fact, this trend is growing in popularity.

Two examples. I periodically read My Big Fat Ass (http://mybigfatass.blog.com) and Mark Askey's Weightless (http://maskey.typepad.com/weightless)—both blogs dedicated to the personal sagas of two individual men trying to lose weight.

If you're currently trying to lose weight, then you may find some encouragement from reading these blogs. Even if you're not, you'll find interesting insights and helpful information about obesity and losing weight.

Speaking of sticking to goals, I imagine these two guys will have a few more readers to stay accountable to now that I've written about them. :-)

Hernando Cortez and Weight Loss

My friend Pam Getchell passed along a weight loss tip I thought would be useful to pass along to you. It's another one of those simple things that's very powerful when you act on it.

Here's the tip. When you lose enough weight to buy smaller clothes, get rid of the larger clothes you've just "out-shrunk."

Whether you give them to the Veterans of America, Goodwill, or just sell them off in a garage sale doesn't matter. Heck, burn them if you have to! What matters is that you eradicate the large clothes from your life.

In 1519, Hernando Cortez landed on the coast of Mexico and commanded his men to burn the ships. In this way, he insured that he and his men had no choice but to move inland and face whatever dangers lurked there.

Getting rid of clothes that are now too large for you is similar to what Cortez did when he burned his ships. You're eliminating your escape routes... forcing yourself to move forward... lose more weight... and face the obstacles that confront you in your quest to conquer obesity.

So, next time you drop a size, imagine yourself as Hernando Cortez. "Burn" your too-big clothes and discover the personal power that comes from cutting off your escape routes.

Junk Food Defense

The best defense against eating junk food is don't bring it in the house. I find that it's just too difficult to say no when cookies are in the cabinet or ice cream is in the freezer. So I don't bring those kinds of foods home.

This goes back to my weight loss tip about short changing yourself around vending machines. The basic concept is the same: if it requires too much effort to get the food you want, your laziness will overpower your craving.

I just finished reading The Plug-In Drug yesterday and a passage toward the end of the book reminded me to write this post. The author, Marie Winn, compares television to junk food and affirms my opinion on the matter.

"Parents who use television to buy free time from child care are giving in to temptation that is nearly irresistible. It's not unlike the problems people have trying not to eat some delicious but fattening morsel sitting in their refrigerator. They resist and resist, and then succumb. And then they feel terrible, as if they were weak-willed and self-destructive. Yet most people give in to such temptation. To be sure, if the fattening morsel weren't there, they wouldn't find it hard at all not to eat unhealthy food. The problem arises when it's there." (p. 265)

Put a cigarette on the table in front of a chain smoker and he'll smoke it. Put a skin magazine in front of a porn addict and he'll look at it. Put a Coors in front of an alcoholic and he'll drink it. Put a slice of chocolate cake in front of a compulsive eater and he'll eat it.

It's all very simple when you think about it. If you want to conquer your weight problem, then don't feed your weakness. Starve it.

Free Weight Loss Tip

Here's a free weight loss tip that might come in handy if you work near a vending machine... Don't carry cash and don't store change in your desk.

Two summers ago, I somehow started drinking soda once a week. At first it started out as a way to treat myself on sleepy Friday afternoons.

But it quickly progressed to where I was drinking two or three cans of soda a week. That was a lot for me, considering I almost never drink soda (maybe four cans a year).

My solution: go to work without cash. Then I'd have to ask for money to get a soda. And I never wanted a soda so bad that I would go ask for money. When I was short-changed, laziness triumphed over my desire for something sweet!

Think of it this way. The vending machine is a highway bandit. Every time you walk by, it puts a gun to your head and demands that you give it money in exchange for something (unhealthy) you want.

If you don't have any money, what can the bandit do but put his gun away?

Now you have one of my simplest and most effective weight loss tips. You'll be amazed at how quickly the pounds melt away once you stop eating from vending machines. So get rid of your cash and be free from the power of vending machines forever.

A Simple Way to Stop Snacking

One of the biggest obstacles to losing weight is snacking. Maybe you're feeling depressed and you eat for comfort. Or maybe you're bored and you eat for something to do.

Whatever the cause is, you get the "munchies" and end up eating way more than you should. And, unfortunately, our English language helps us to justify our behavior. "It was just a snack," you say.

Snack. The word is so short and clean and crisp. It sounds like a word for "just a little bit." Yet it can mean "a whole, whole lot."

I believe you can lose weight much more quickly if you can stop some of your snacking. Some people will tell you to eat throughout the day. And I think that's good advice as long as you can control how much you eat.

But if you lack control, you first need to gain control. And if you can stop snacking, you will have taken a huge leap forward in your ability to control yourself.

So here's my simple technique to help you stop snacking: Brush your teeth immediately following a meal.

I find that doing this prevents me from snacking between meals for three reasons. One, whatever I eat after brushing my teeth will most likely taste bad. Two, I don't want to go to the trouble of brushing my teeth again. And three, I don't want to mess up that fresh feeling in my mouth by eating junk food.

If you can't (or won't) brush your teeth after a meal, then try chewing a stick of gum instead. I find this works almost as well. When you have the opportunity to eat something you shouldn't, just say, "No, I can't eat that. I'm chewing gum."

These ideas are deceptively simple, but exceedingly powerful. When you get the chance, let me know if either of them works for you.

Fat Thinking

Robert Ringer has written a great article just published in Early to Rise, Message #1372. In it, he offers his three top rules for making money (they're not what you expect), and then provides some insight into what he calls "fat thinking" and how to overcome it. First, his top rules for making money:

In a radio interview some years ago, the host started out by asking me, "In order of importance, what would you say are the three most essential rules when it comes to making money?" Without hesitation, I blurted out: "Rule No. 1: Stay alive. Rule No. 2: Stay healthy. Rule No. 3: Stop losing money."

The first two rules are so basic, yet so often overlooked. Money without health is practically meaningless.

Some people persevere despite their lack of health. For instance, Laura Hillenbrand, the author of Seabiscuit. But ask her whether she'd choose the money she now has or the opportunity to get her health back. I'm willing to bet she'd want her health back. (Laura says, "Chronic fatigue syndrome is far, far worse than most people can even imagine.")

Another way to look at it: good health enables you to work harder and achieve success faster. Who has the advantage? The guy with poor eating habits who can't seem to wake up in the morning, or the guy with good eating habits who has enough energy to wake up every morning at 5 AM and work a few extra hours?

After introducing his subject matter through the three top rules for making money, Robert begins to talk about obesity... because it kills so many people every year and because Robert suffered from obesity for many years. He says:

I thought like a fat person. Meaning that even if I wasn't hungry, I would eat, because that's what a fat person is supposed to do. It was a self-image thing.

The reason I wanted to share this with you is that in the event you are one of the millions of people in this country who are overweight, I suggest you attack the problem with your mind. A responsible-behavior mindset is a hundred times more effective than the greatest diet book ever written.

This advice is priceless. In my struggles with other issues (not weight), I've discovered it all comes down to how I think. If I can change the way I think, I can change the way I act. And if I can change the way I act, I can achieve the results I desire.

It's the same for you. You're fat because you think fat. Think thin instead.

Weight Loss Blog

I like to repay kindness with kindness. And so I'm going to tell you about Mark Askey's weight loss blog that he's titled "Weightless."

Mark was one of the first guy's to link to my site without me asking him to do so. And I really appreciate that.

Mark's blog is unique among health blogs. It focuses on his personal journey to lose 42 pounds before summer arrives. And he's making good progress!

While I tend to blog about a variety of health topics, you'll find Mark is very focused on weight loss and recipes that help him do it. (By the way, Mark is following the Weight Watchers plan.)

One of the best parts about Mark's blog is that his sense of humor comes through in his posts. He gives helpful information in a way that's enjoyable to read.

PS - If you're interested in the retail sales business, you'll also enjoy Mark's primary blog, "Just Looking."