Many individuals want to lose weight. That can be difficult, and keeping the weight off can be difficult. I have pursued an easier goal for many years — preventing myself from gaining weight. Did you know that adults tend to gain about a pound a year? That adds up over the decades of life. I have seen individuals gain 20-30 pounds in a year — enough that their clothes no longer fit. I set a maximum weight (169 pounds or 77.25 kgs) many years ago, and I have been successful in keeping to that. I have found it more difficult in recent years to do so, and I just read an article today about research showing that animals that live near humans, e.g., pets and research animals, have gained weight as a group over recent decades just as humans have. The researcher interpreted the findings as evidence that some environmental force (an organism?) is causing weight gain in humans and animals. However, at the moment, the only sure causes of weight gain are the number of calories going in and the number being burned up. I have usually found it easier and more fun to increase exercise than to restrict calorie consumption. For whatever reason I now need to do both, as I am about a pound over the maximum and have not been able to get “down to weight” by exercise alone. I need to reduce calories daily — I will try eliminating one fruit for lunch, leaving me with two rather than the usual three fruits. I will keep a daily chart of my fruit eating at lunch. I will also aim for 1.5 hours of exercise a day on average, and keep a daily record of that. I will weigh myself on the same scale once or twice a week. There — I have important elements of a self-control project: A measurable goal, a daily plan, self-monitoring of key behaviours and outcomes, and public announcement of the plan.
John Malouff
Associate Professor of Psychology
I achieved my goal of getting back under my maximum weight. The key was carrying out the plan and adjusting the plan as needed, e.g., by doing indoor exercise on rainy days. The exercise was much more fun than cutting out the apple a day at lunch!
John
Well Done John, I know this is an old post but still deserves a comment.
“preventing from gaining weight” is such a great simple positive way to look at weight control (and one I am going to share with my boyfriend who generally puts on a kg or two then decides its time to loose it). For me weight has never really been an issue but exercise and healthy eating is an ongoing issue and more recently since I left Aust to go on an overseas trip for 3 months last December and 10 days into the trip I broke both my wrists, One was rather bad and even ofter 8 weeks and having the cast off a simple 20min jog made my wrist (generally) un-usable for the rest of the day as the nerves and muscles settled again. I am now just getting back into regular exercise and finding it harder then ever to stick to it. My goal is to do the Bridge is Brisbane in under 60min held in about 5months. I am facing one challenge this week in regards to healthy eating and another next week when I am at intensive school will be, will I continue to get up at 6.30am to go for a jog every day? I know I can, but time will tell if I do.
Thanks for sharing,
Cherie
Hi CK. In increasing my physical activity I found it helpful to set a challenging goal, like yours of running the bridge. It also helped me to tell others about my goal and my achievement of subgoals. During my 5 km runs I have often thought of why I am enduring the discomfort of the effort (for me the discomfort is mostly from heat buildup). The why is very important to motivation. I tell myself I am extending my life, preventing Alzheimer’s Disease, strengthening my heart, building toughness, demonstrating character, etc. I also sometimes think of inspirational individuals, including some of my current and former students, who pushed themselves to the limit for a good reason.
Hi John,
I recently found out that my goal of the Bridge to Brisbane is unachievable, at least in 2011 as the date has been announced and clashes with the Psych intensive schools in September. I was devastated as I had been pushing myself more and more to make sure I achieved my goal. Since finding this out self control has become even harder and i have only completed 1 run (and a short one if that) since finding out nearly 1 week ago.
I have been looking at other fun runs similar that I can focus on but I have to say self control got 3 times harder when that goal was taken away.
Cherie
I can understand your disappointment, CK. You are doing the right thing by altering your running goal as needed. If you look at why that specific bridge run as part of that specific event is so important to you, you may find clues about what a good substitute goal would be. I run (1) to maintain my health and stay alive longer, (2) to keep myself fit and help me avoid injuries from falls and such, (3) help me play better in sports, (4) to prevent Alzheimer’s Disease, and (5) for fun, including the sense of achievement associated with meeting a challenge. My latest goal is to run a total of 12 kms a week, in four runs of 3 kms ea, at the rate of 12 kms an hour. I met the goal this past week. We shall see this week…