I am killing myself.

No, not suicide.

I have not been taking care of my health, which will eventually kill me early.

I am starting to take my health seriously. I am taking steps to improve my health.

The key to what I’m doing is that I’m taking baby steps. Obviously, I can’t see the future to see the exact results, but I am confident that taking positive steps intentionally will improve my health.

Hack Your Mind

Before I get into the details of how I’m approaching this, I have an interview to share with you that I had with Sir John Hargrave. He is the author of the new book, “Mind Hacking.” In the interview, one thing he shares is a challenge he’s going through to go 21 days without food. He’ll share the things that he’s doing – and that you can do – to create lasting change, especially during this time of year when people are falling away from the resolutions that they have set.

What I’m doing with my health

I have tried many different things in the past, and nothing has really stuck in the past 8 years. I know part of my problem is a slower metabolism. Part of my problem is not enough exercise. Part of my problem is eating too much (this is probably my biggest problem of these).

In the past couple of months, I have seen my highest weight ever. My ultimate goal is to lose 60-70 pounds and get back under 200. But I’m going to try to focus on smaller, specific actions to help me achieve this. I’m also going to be looking at this in monthly and quarterly segments.

Eat less food

Because of my weird, alternating schedule, there are times that I may have 4-5 meals in a day. I need to regulate myself in this.

I also frequently get seconds (or more), even if I’m not really hungry.

My serving sizes are also bigger than they should be.

Sugar – that’s another issue I need to confront since I’ve had an increased craving lately.

Exercise every day

Not a lot. But I want to implement a little bit of exercise every day JUST to establish a habit.

Even as little as one sit up or push up.

After I establish a habit, then I’ll work on increasing the quantity.

Drink less calories

Dr. Pepper is my vise.

If Dr. Pepper isn’t available, I’ll  accept Coke. Or Pepsi. Or Mt. Dew. Or some other caffeine soft drink. I’m not a real fan of coffee or diet drinks, though.

I know that drinking calories is bringing in empty calories. It does bring some caffeine, but the empty calories add up quickly.

Goals

I’m hoping to lose 60 pounds in 12 months, which comes down to 15 pounds per quarter and 5 per month. I know that this is a realistic and attainable goal, especially if I can keep to my previously mentioned mini-goals.

I’m going to start small and slow, but I know that the consistency will help. I do also plan to increase the intensity as I go.

I know another aspect of my health is related to my sleep. With my schedule it is difficult to have regularity in my sleep both with the time of day I sleep and with the amount of sleep. Some times I’ll get 2-3 hours of sleep (i.e. on Sundays) or I’ll get 8-9 hours (i.e. on Fridays). I know I need to work on this, but there is little I can do with my schedule at the moment, so I will be looking at this in the future.