Be fixable, not unbreakable
🧠 Plus: 6 solutions to avoid, weight loss lessons from The Savanah Bananas, and the power of thinking out loud.
Hey — It’s Dean.
Welcome to the 128th consecutive edition of the PWL newsletter.
It’s also day 1311 of my weight loss journey.
Here are some awesome things I uncovered this week to help you on your weight loss journey.
3 new ways of thinking…
1/ Six things to avoid.
“You can’t fix lifetime problems with one-time solutions.”
Examples of one-time solutions to avoid are…
boot camps
detoxes
extreme fasts and exercise programs
calorie deprivation
surgeries (unless they are life saving)
anything that promises “X” pounds in “Y” days (ie. Lose 20lbs in 30 days.)
— Your takeaway —
The only way to fix lifetime problems is to invest in solutions (think daily habits) you will do for the rest of your life. Ignore everything else.
2/ A more reasonable goal to strive for.
The goal is not to be unbreakable. The goal is to fix yourself when you break - only better.
The Japanese have a practice called Kintsugi, which is the art of repairing broken pottery.
When a piece of pottery breaks, a gold lacquer is used to reattach the pieces and highlight the breakage.
This is a wonderful metaphor to use with ourselves on our weight loss journey.
We are going to break on this journey — many times!!
— Your takeaway —
How cool would it be if we began applying the art of Kintsugi to ourselves by learning how to put ourselves back together in a way that embraces and highlights our breakage.
3/ Thinking out loud.
“What we say to ourselves is 10X more powerful than if we think it.” ~ Trevor Moawad
I talk to myself all the time because I learn more when I can hear my words.
I call this thinking out loud. I do it in two ways.
I talk out loud to myself.
But my best method is to record myself thinking out loud on a voice recording app like Voxer or Voice Memos (iPhone)
— Your takeaway —
You can influence your own behaviour and progress by a factor of 10 by talking out loud to yourself.
2 videos worth watching…
1/ David Goggins on creating a personal mission statement.
I recently watched an interview with David Goggins.
If you are unaware of David, he is a retired United States Navy SEAL, ultramarathon runner, triathlete, public speaker and an author.
In the one minute clip below, he talks about why he created a personal mission statement for himself and how that has allowed him to overcome obesity, trauma and hard things.
— Your takeaway —
The personal mission statement is profound. It’s a document that dictates how you will show up in the world everyday.
Consider creating one for your weight loss journey.
2/ Weight loss lessons from the Savanah Bananas
Joseph Pompliano writes about the business of sports over at Huddle Up.
Last week, he produced a short documentary on the most interesting baseball team on the planet — the Savanah Bananas.
You might be wondering why I’m sharing a baseball video in a weight loss newsletter.
Because this entire video is about breaking rules if they don’t work for you so you can ultimately create something remarkable.
And the Savanah Bananas are remarkable.
— Your takeaway —
If the rules of weight loss aren’t working for you, then make up your own. That’s what I have done and it has allowed me to create something remarkable.
1 simple tip…
Take photos of every meal.
I have about 3000 photos that I have taken over the past 1311 days.
Here are 5 reasons why I do it and why you should do it too.
It acts as a historical document so I can see every meal I have eaten on this journey
I use it as a planning tool when deciding what I want and how I want to prepare it
I teaches me that how I plate my food matters — the better it looks the better it tastes
It keeps me present to the meals I am eating — it trains me to be a mindful eater vs a mindless eater
It helps make the logging of my foods easier if I forget what I ate
— Your takeaway —
What gets captured will ultimately get mastered.
That is all for today.
See you next Sunday my friend.
And hey — keep being awesome.
Dean 🇨🇦
If you are looking for more, here’s how I can help.
I do premium one-on-one coaching for those looking to lose at least 10% of unwanted body weight.
I have lost 23% of unwanted Dean and it has transformed my entire life.
Imagine how your life would change if you could lose 5%, 10% or more of unwanted you.
To learn more start here.
To book a time to chat click here. It’s free.
PS. I’m also the proof that my approach works. And I have done this at an age (57) when people think such transformation is not possible.
