Stop treating weight loss like a fling.
🧠Plus: Be careful what you say - your brain is listening, become your own documentarian, and focusing on your daily wins.
Hey — It’s Dean.
Welcome to the 127th consecutive edition of the PWL newsletter.
It’s also day 1304 of my weight loss journey.
Here are some awesome things I uncovered this week.
3 ideas I have been noodling on…
🥇You can’t learn from your history if there is no history to learn from.
History is a great teacher because someone took the time to document it, whether that was via writing, photographs, audio or video.
If you aren’t documenting your weight loss journey, how are you learning from your history?
The false belief many people fall prey to is that they will remember.
But memory is horribly unreliable.
Most can’t remember what they ate for lunch yesterday.
There is no way you will recall the specifics of how you felt or what you were doing a month ago, a year ago, 5 years ago.
So if you aren’t documenting your weight loss journey you are losing out on wonderful opportunities to reshape your future by learning from your past.
— Example —
For the past 1300 days I have been tracking key metrics that I feel are essential to building a successful body and life.
Look what my history reveals.
I forgot I taught myself how to become an early riser.
I’m now getting up 2.5 hours earlier than I was at this point last year.
I’m also 11 pounds lighter than I was last year at this time, even though I am now consuming 200 more calories/day.
This is all valuable information that I never would have been able to learn from, and continue to learn from had I not been accurately documenting my journey.
— Suggestion —
Think and act like a documentarian.
take before photos/videos and update them every month
take progress videos of new skills you are looking to learn and store them in a folder
take pictures/videos of your meals
keep a daily journal tracking your wins, improvements and discoveries
create a spreadsheet tracking key data you believe is important to your success
create a daily or weekly vlog where you capture your wins, challenges and game-changing discoveries
The more you commit to capturing your journey, the greater the learning and the faster you achieve your weight loss goals.
🥈Spend 80% of your efforts focusing on your wins.
Our brain is hardwired to obsess on the negative.
But it can be trained to focus on the positive — think small wins.
saying no to something that was not in your eating plan is a win
getting up when your alarm went off is a win
getting out for a 5-minute walk is a win
checking out a restaurant’s menu online so you can eat successfully when you arrive is a win
Small wins seem insignificant in the moment, but are the essential building blocks of what ultimately morph into our big wins.
— Your takeaway —
What you appreciate appreciates.
🥉Use intentional language that reinforces more of what you want — and less of what you don’t want.
— Your takeaway —
Your brain believes what you tell it. So clearly communicate your intentions so it is working with you rather than against you.
2 videos to watch…
🥇This video inspired new thinking and new ways of behaving. (5 minutes)
I have mentioned before that I do something I call 10-minute body.
I only do 10-minutes of exercise a day.
But after watching this video I came up with a new name for my training.
I now call it Squeeze Training.
It’s still only 10 minutes a day, but it better captures what I do because I literally squeeze it in during my day.
— For example —
When I wake up in the morning I plug in my kettle to make coffee in my French press. While I am waiting for that to boil, I squeeze in…
10 to 15 pull ups
30 to 40 push ups
10 core reps
10 body weight squats
The great thing about squeeze training is…
I do it wearing the clothes on my back
I do it wherever my feet are with whatever equipment I have access to
I squeeze it between the big important rocks in my life
In other words, squeeze training allows me have the best of both worlds.
I do enough training to look and feel great
And I can do it without subtracting from the things that are most important to living my best life
— Your takeaway —
How could you fit squeeze training into your life?
🥈Weight loss advice from actor Bryan Cranston. (35 seconds)
Bryan is actually giving acting advice.
But when you substitute acting for weight loss, the advice is just as relevant.
— Your takeaway —
Successful weight loss is a relationship, not a fling.
The hard work comes from finding ways to fall in love with the process so the relationship lasts a lifetime.
—> You can watch the entire interview here.
1 article worth reading
🥇Skip the long run: Unconventional advice from a world class runner.
Don’t NOT read this because you are not a runner.
I’m not a runner, nor do I ever plan to be one. But Camille Herron, who this article is about, is an anomaly in how she trains and I shamelessly steal the principles of anomalies whenever possible.
So here’s the lowdown.
Camille’s training defies conventional wisdom.
And yet she is dominating her sport and setting world records.
In a nutshell she is doing less and winning more.
— Your takeaway —
Weight loss is steeped with myths. But it is possible to do less and achieve more.
Just look at me.
I do 10 minutes of training a day. I squeeze it in over the course of my day.
And I…
don’t restrict calories
don’t take supplements
don’t go to a gym
never change into workout clothes
and I love what I eat.
When you realize a little bit done everyday for weeks, then months and then years can compound into something amazing.
I’m your proof of that.
That is all for today.
See you next Sunday my friend.
And hey — keep being awesome.
Dean 🇨🇦
Tired of struggling with your weight? Here’s how I can help.
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