PHYSICAL TRANSFORMATION

Over the past two weeks I have lost 6 pounds.  It's not a landmark or even a celebration.  It's simply a data point.  Nothing spectacular about that.  Yet, a little bit of math tells us that is 3 pounds per week.  At that rate, by May of next year I will have lost over 75 pounds.  That certainly would be spectacular.  Sure I will have weeks with less progress and weeks with more, but keeping the average at around 3 pounds per week is a healthy and focused goal.  However, here is the most important part of my physical journey, I feel better.  I have more energy.  I sleep better.  I work better.  And that's only after losing 6 pounds!  As I mentioned at the beginning, my initial focus is on changing daily habits. I can't get stuck thinking about the end goal, I have to take it one day at a time, one moment at a time.  Here are the three physical goals that will set me up on the right path:

Physical Goal the First - drink as much water as possible.  All day long.  Everyday.  Constantly.  The first thing I do in the morning is drink a glass of water.  The last think I do before I go to bed is drink a glass of water.  Throughout my day and at every meal I drink a glass of water.  I will forgo any musings about how often I have to go the bathroom because of this, but I can certainly tell you, I am NOT dehydrated.  The benefits of this don't need to be spelled out, and I have every confidence that drinking this quantity of water, while difficult, is a strong contributing factor to the progress I have made so far.

Physical Goal the Second - increase my physical activity.  Walk the dog.  Play with my kids.  Take the stairs.  Run a 5k every weekend.  Well, maybe the 5k's can wait a few months.  But the point is, I need to move around a lot more than I have been, more than I want to, more than I think I can.  I am determined not to equate this habit with: join a gym.  I need to form a solid habit of getting my body out of the recliner and staying off my tushy. Last week, my wife and I started a fitness video series together, so Monday through Friday we spend about 30 minutes trying not to pass out in our living room.  So much sweat.  But again, that is just bonus sweat, the focus is on not sitting down every chance I get.

Physical Goal the Third - log my food intake.  For the rest of November, I want to enter everything I eat into the app on my phone.  It keeps track of calories and nutrients with a nice pie graph to compare fat/carbs/protein.  At this point, I am not jumping feet first into any certain diet or meal plan, but I do want to be aware of how much I eat and what my nutrition is like over the week.  I have noticed that just the act of logging the food in after I eat it helps me keep my portion sizes down, makes me reconsider my choices, and gets me looking at labels before I purchase something I consider "healthy."  Soon I plan to look at any trends the app shows me, make some adjustments and actually put a meal plan down on paper.  I will reduce my calorie intake gradually, and focus on natural, nutrient dense foods for the vast majority of what I consume.  Changing habits, not dieting.

So here we are, 15 days into my RADICAL LIFE TRANSFORMATION and I have a reasonable plan to add some good spiritual and physical habits into my daily routine.  If you have stuck with me through the boring goal-setting stage, I want to say thank you and I would love to hear some of your goals and/or accomplishments.  But, the journey isn't over.  If you made it this far, then hang on to your crumpets because it's about to get interesting!