Glenbrooke News

The Wt. Loss Minute By Linda Spangle, RN, MA  uthor: 100 Days of Weight Loss
 www.WeightLossJoy.com   Great idea: Work on actions instead of excuses.

Are you having trouble making progress with your goals? Maybe
you keep saying you want to lose weight or learn how to do
yoga. If you say you want to accomplish something but never do
it, take a look at the holes in your system.

Start with evaluating your goal. Is it really something you
want to do? How important is it to you? Do you need more time
or money to make it happen? Would it help to simplify your
goal or state it a different way?

Maybe you need to alter your plan to make it more palatable.
Doing a 30-minute run might seem like a wonderful goal, but if
you haven’t been exercising for several years, you may need
to initially set a goal of walking to the third cross street
or jogging as far as the church.

Here is a simple way to make it easier to achieve your goals.

Step 1: Set your intentions

Make your intentions specific and measurable. If you say you
want to ‘lose some weight,’ how will you know when
you’ve reached your goal? Instead, you might state your
intention as reaching a certain number on the scale or fitting
into a specific clothing size.

When you make your goals measurable, you can easily tell
whether or not you did them. For example, if you set an
intention of taking a walk today, by evening you can report
whether you took the walk or not.

Step 2: What will it take?

Once you’ve defined what you want to accomplish, write down
your intention, then ask, ‘What will it take to make this
happen?’ Come up with a specific action that will help you
follow through with your intention.

Label your answer ‘What will it take?’ As a shortcut, you
can use WWT to abbreviate the phrase. Each time you define
another action step, that statement becomes your new
intention. Then you have to decide on an action step for this
new goal.

Step 3: Keep asking WWT until you are forced to take action

As you set your intentions, keep asking, ‘What will it
take?’ over and over, each time moving closer toward an
action you can’t escape, no matter what. Label your final
action step as a NOW goal. Then get up from your chair and DO
it.

Here’s an example of how to set an intention you can’t
escape. Remember that each WWT answer becomes your next
intention.

Intention: Lose 40 pounds
       WWT? Go back to the physician-based program I used before.
       WWT? Call the doctor’s office for current information on
       program times.
       WWT? Find the phone number and call during lunch.
       WWT? Get out the phone book and write the number down.
       WWT? Get up from my desk and get the phone book off the
       shelf.

Working your plan

If you set a reasonable intention but still don’t follow
through with it, you may have left too many gaps in your
action plan. Don’t allow yourself to get out of the job.
Keep digging deeper into the question ‘What will it take?’
until you find an action you can’t escape. Designate this
final one as a NOW goal, then complete the task immediately.

Setting intentions work for everything from tiny goals like
taking a walk to big plans such as losing 100 pounds or
participating in a race. Here are a couple more examples of
how to use this approach.

Intention: Get back on an exercise program
       WWT? Renew my membership at the health club; work with a
       personal trainer.
       WWT? Stop at the club and sign up for a meeting with a
       trainer.
       WWT? Plan it into my schedule for sometime this week.
       WWT? Pull out my schedule book and write it into a day that
       works.
       WWT? Do it now!

When your intentions center around changing your emotional
eating patterns, you can still focus on NOW goals. Simply
match them to what you need and feel, setting up actions that
prevent you from reaching for food

Intention: Manage emotional eating patterns
       WWT? Figure out a way to stop using food to manage my
       stress.
       WWT? Come up with a better way to relax after work.
       WWT? Use a journal to write out my feelings and thoughts
       related to the day.
       WWT? Go to the bookstore on Saturday to buy a new journal.
       WWT? Tell the kids they can go with me and listen to
       ‘story hour.’

Remember, action leads to action. Build momentum by stepping
from one NOW goal to the next one on your list. Then work
through your new action plan until you’ve accomplished that
goal. Over time, this method can help you make phenomenal
progress in many areas of your life.

Reprinted with permission from Linda Spangle

© Linda Spangle, 2010. #0118, Weight Loss for Life, Inc.
5023 W. 120th Ave. #183, Broomfield, CO 80020
Contact: Linda@WeightLossJoy.com
www.weightlossjoy.com
303-452-1545 or 1-800-298-3020