Action Hero

Have you ever noticed the way that people talk about motivation? It’s this elusive thing that we speak of with yearning, like the way I yearn to be effortlessly thin or for the return of Pushing Daisies, aka it’s-never-gonna-happen-get-over-it-already. We get stuck in the cycle of being down on ourselves and thinking that motivation is something for other people, rich people, bubbly people. Which of course is a lot easier that getting up and actually doing something. And I think the reason motivation feels so elusive is in the way that we seek it. Neil DeGrasse Tyson, famous physicist and all-around cool guy has this to say on the matter, 

The problem, often not discovered until late in life, is that when you look for things like love, meaning, motivation, it implies they are sitting behind a tree or under a rock. The most successful people recognize, that in life they create their own love, they manufacture their own meaning, they generate their own motivation.

For me, I am driven by two main philosophies, know more today about the world than I knew yesterday. And along the way, lessen the suffering of others. You'd be surprised how far that gets you.

The second part of the quote has nothing to do with anything I’m talking about but I liked it so I left it in. Back to motivation. Have you ever noticed that when you’re on top of things and doing great it’s easier to keep on being a rock star? And when you’re in a slump you can’t remember how you ever managed to be so gloriously motivated? We get into cycles. In a bad cycle, frustration causes us to give up and therefore we get even more disappointed and frustrated. In a good cycle, motivation leads to action which makes us feel successful and more motivated. So how do you make the jump? The key is in recognizing that our happy little cycle doesn’t start with being motivated. Gasp! The actual beginning of that positive feedback loop is in the action. Action leeds to feeling successful which makes us more motivated to keep going. Boom. 

So pick one small achievable goal for the week. Don’t overwhelm yourself and try to save the world in a day. Choose one thing you know you can do, that you have 100% control over. Make sure it’s a good fit for your life, and don’t underestimate the value of preparation goals. If your goal is to cook a healthy meal, you’ve got to get the kitchen cleaned up first. And you can feel proud of completing just that one step. Always give yourself permission to celebrate small successes! That’s how we fuel our self-esteem and psych ourselves up to keep going. It doesn’t matter how many times I’ve been to the grocery store, leaving without ice cream will always be a success worth celebrating.

Maybe your goal is tracking just one meal of the day (your most challenging mealtime), or doing 20 minutes of activity, or focusing on vegetables, or being kind to yourself, or meal planning, or portions, or whatever as long as it requires some attention but you know you can do it. 

Motivation comes from action, not the other way around. Get up and do something, anything! You can’t control what you did but you can control what you’re doing right now. 

Still feeling underwhelmed? We have these two parts of our brain: the logical side and the emotional side. The logical side has always known, and will always know that we want to be healthy. But it’s the emotional side that really loooves brownies. Studies have shown that when it comes to making most of our decisions, the emotional side trumps all. So long term motivation has to come from our emotional attachment to health. Take some time to write about your goals and your emotional attachment to them. What will be different about your life if you meet your goals? What will happen if you don’t? What excites you about living a long, healthy life? What will you do with the extra time? Be as specific with your answers as possible. 

You have accomplished things in your life that were difficult! You should be proud! What makes this any different? You have super hero qualities that helped you then and can help you now. You can do it one tiny action at a time. Alright, I’m off to do some dishes!

Pumpkin everything! Okay not everything...

Those of you who are familiar with my previous post on how much I want to marry pumpkins and murder coffee will understand my incredible dissapointment on reading the fine print on this t-shirt. Maybe they can do a special printing just for me...

Vegetable Garden Porn

 

Oh picture perfect and delicious vegetable garden, how do I love thee? If you want to know just how delicious this vegetable garden is, you can mosey on down to the Boonville Hotel and order up some very locally grown and freshly prepared delights. This veggie garden is so beautiful that one of my best friends got married in the gazebo that looks out over the garden. Congratulations Kaitlin and Casandra!

Sweet Little Lies

You know those days when you feel absolutely completely totally 100% confident that you can make cookies without eating half the recipe yourself? Well I do. And I’m an idiot. And I tend to forget I’m an idiot. A lot. There has been the rare occasion where I have made it through without gorging myself on cake batter or cookie dough, but I’d say it’s about 10% of the time. 5%? One half of 1%? I’m pretty sure it’s happened at least once.

But I’m a baker! I’ve always loved to bake, and there’s something really intense about giving up things you used to love to do in the name of a new healthy lifestyle. There’s a place deep down in my gut that says I shouldn’t have to sacrifice who I am as a person. I am a baker, and I shouldn’t have to give that up, dammit. So I delude myself into thinking I have gobs of willpower that will somehow allow me to bake alone and not turn into Agustus Gloop. Do you know how this story ends? Hint: it’s yummy.

Okay, rewind. Let’s start the story again to focus on the few times I’ve actually conquered the shoulder devil that calls to me to have another cookie because I’ve already had 20 so what does it matter. I can think of two instances. The first one is a fluke, I was super motivated to resist because I had to wear a bridesmaid dress just a few days after the cake making. That was enough to keep me focused on the giant bowl of vegetables I had made up for myself to snack on throughout the process. And voila, a lovely cake with beautiful, uneaten layers.

And now the story of how I tricked myself into baking for others and not myself: coffee. See, coffee is my food nemesis. If you’re that person at the airport who sat down next to me with your lovely piping-hot Starbucks mochalattachinowhatever, I got up and moved because of your coffee, you yourself don’t smell bad. Hating coffee makes me somewhat of a social outcast, it’s kinda like if every time someone wanted to meet up with you out in the world they suggested getting together for a cigarette. Gross, right?

So my delectable little cookies had a secret ingredient: espresso powder. I made my favorite almond cookie recipe, added some powdered disgusting, and enlisted the help of my hubby to make sure that the cookies tasted yummy to a coffee drinker. Perfect! I headed off to my friend Kaitlin’s bachelorette weekend with a bag full of lovely treats that didn’t temp me for three days.

  

Confession! I also made some almond flour walnut cookies with very little sugar so that I could enjoy some sweet treats too. But these cookies are much less addictive and I was able to easily limit myself to one per day. Here’s the healthy cookie recipe I followed from Tina at Carrot’s ‘N’ Cake. Yummy and they have walnuts for omega-3s!

Second confession! There may have been some alcohol consumed on the bachelorette weekend. My food tracker for those days is not perfect but I made damned sure it was honest. One day under lunch I wrote down just vodka and cranberry juice. Good times. My small-victory finder says that we did a lot of dancing and I managed to keep the calories under control. In crazy situations, I have to take all the wins I can get!

Change your mind

"Thinking, eating, exercise. In that order." This is one of my favorite quotes from Biggest Loser trainer Bob Harper. When I'm in a slump I find that focusing on one tiny aspect of my healthy lifestyle (like my inner monologue) is often more helpful than trying to do everything right all at one.

Looking to fix your thinking? It takes concious effort just like anything else, but in the long run positive but realistic thinking is a huge indicator of success. Here's a great place to start: 5 Signs You'll Reach Your Weight Loss Goal by Diane Petrella