Day #41- Last Day! Make a comprehensive to-do list

1. Eat a healthful diet with limited calories
2. Think about what I'm eating before I put it in my mouth
3. Sit down when I eat
4. Eat slowly and mindfully
5. Eat only to mild fullness
6. Monitor my eating throughout the day
7. Give myself credit
8. Do planned exercise 4+ times a week
9. Do spontaneous exercise
10. Respond to sabotaging thoughts
11. Weight myself once a week
12. Check in with my diet coach
13. Make sure I have the time and energy to devote to dieting
14. Read my Advantage Response Card 2 times a day
15. Use anti-craving techniques
16. Use Seven Question Technique when I'm upset
17. Prepare myself for special-occasion eating
18. Do problem-solving to reduce stress
19. Take steps to enrich my life

Day #40 - Enrich Your Life

1- Get my Ph.D.
2- Hike Hadrian's Wall 80-mile trail, or some other long hike.
3- Run another Marathon.
4- Start a career in the health field.
5- Garden

Hadrian's Wall

1. Lose weight
2. Train to get in shape by making an exercise plan
3. Buy good pair of hiking shoes
4. Save up the money by cutting back on food and eating out

CREDIT: I threw away half a sandwich this morning after I looked up the calories and saw that it was way too high for me to finish.

Day #39 - Keep up with Exercise

• Focus on how I'll feel after I exercise
• Put exercise in the "no choice" category
• Exercise with a friend or trainer
• Give myself credit
• Focus on progress
• End exercise session with something positive

My own ideas that help:

• Look forward to listening to audiobooks
• End with meditation and stretching
• 30 minutes is better than nothing

CREDIT: I'm sticking to my plan today, and not being discouraged by some weekend setbacks.

Day #38- Deal with a Plateau

1. Continue what I am doing and see if you start to lose weight again.
2. Reduce my daily calorie intake by 200 calories (as long as it is safe and reasonable).
3. Increase daily exercise by 15 to 20 minutes.
4. Call this your goal weight and move to maintenance.

I should expect occasional weight gains or plateaus, even if I'm doing everything right.

CREDIT: I exercised today with Sports Active, and went for a short walk too.

Day #36- Reduce Stress

Three steps to reduce stress:

1. Solve the Problem (Use the Seven Question Technique)
2. Relax (Use guided imagery, meditation, do something enjoyable)
3. Change your mindset. Don't think things like...

• I should always do my best
• I should always prevent problems from happening
• I shouldn't rely on others
• I always make other people happy
• I shouldn't show weakness
• I should put other people first
• I shouldn't let anyone else do important things, because they might do them wrong

Relax my self-imposed "rules" that are similar to those above.

• Think of someone with more relaxed standards. What rules do they go by?
• Would I really want the people I love to have to live by my rules for myself?
  
• What are the advantages of changing these rules?
• Take the words always and never out of my rules.
• Insert the word reasonable instead.

Relax rules for other people.

• Other people can't always be perfect.
• Other people can't read my mind.
• Other people can't always be grateful or recognize what I do.
• Other people can't always make me happy, and they might make me sad sometimes.
• Other people can't always treat me fairly.
• Other people can't always understand me.
• Other people can't always see things my way.
• Other people don't always value the same things I do.
  

To relax my rules for other people:

• I don't have control over other people.
• Take the words always and never out of my rules
• Be realistic in my expectations of other people

CREDIT: I ate a healthy breakfast this morning.

Day #36- Believe It.

It's not just a fluke that I'm losing weight. It won't come back overnight. This is because I am now using cognitive therapy tools which work.

Some of the things I've learned:

• I can leave food on my plate and not feel bad
• I can feel hungry and not be stressed about it
• I can say to myself that I don't have a choice if I want the result I want
• Exercise is a priority
• I refrain from spontaneous eating
• I eat slowly
• I eat sitting down
• I recognize and know how to respond to my sabotaging thoughts
• I give myself credit for the things I do right
• I know how to eat out without overdoing it
• I know how to get back on track
• I know the advantages of losing weight are higher than the advantages of eating the wrong things

Once I believe that I've lost weight due to my own efforts, dieting will be easier.

CREDIT: I passed up pizza at work.
Blood Pressure: 163/87

Day #35- Tracking Weight