Happy Friday!
I am looking forward to another great sunny weekend in the Valley complete with bike rides, The Big Time Out and the Log Train Trail Half Marathon in Port Alberni on Sunday!
FRIDAY Q&A:
This rant is about having your cake (literally) and eating it too...just not all at once.
The parallels between financial management and weight management never cease to amaze me. I am constantly noticing direct reflections between budgeting calories and budgeting pennies in order to reach one's goals.
Haven't thought of this before? Answer this::
Do you budget your cash to meet your monthly goals and longterm dreams? Do you track your dollars / spending so you don't go into the overdraft by the end of the month? Have you ever recorded all your expenses to find out where you can shave off a few dollars and meet your budget?
Now look at your weight management:
Do you budget your calories to meet your monthly goals and longterm dreams? Do you track your calories so you don't over consume and gain weight by the end of the month? Have you ever recorded your caloric input/output to find out where you can shave off a few calories and meet your weight goals?
Maybe you said yes. Maybe you said no. Either way, the parallels are there and you can draw on them in many ways.
Just recently I was reading one of my favorite blogs from Gail Vazoxlade... She is the host of the show 'Til Debt Do Us Part' and is a great blogger who cuts straight to the point- no B.S.ing with Gail. Anyways, one of her blogs this week made me consider another parallel between weight goals and financial goals ( I see them everywhere). It was titled::"I want it all" and struck a chord with me on a few levels.
Gail writes:
Yeah, I know, you can't always get what you want. Or so say the Rolling
Stones. I've found that it's not true. It's a timing thing. You CAN have it all, you just can't have it all at the same time!
Oooooh this is soooo applicable to calorie control. You can enjoy all of the naughty, deliciously sinful goodies that you crave- just NOT ALL AT ONCE. You must decide how much of yoru caloric budget is going to be blown on empty calories (and I recommend no more than 10% naughty OR 1 FREE meal a week) rather than dumping those calories into the fat pantry day after day at the expense of wholesome nutrition dense foods.
Somewhere along the line we lost the 6th sense- common sense. Seriously. Who ever started this whole self-destructive, self-indulgent, self-satisfying "I can have whatever I want whenever I want" society of ours sure messed us up. If you want to be healthy and live in a lean, healthy, vibrant body that will get up and go when you ask it to you CANT HAVE IT ALL AT ONCE. It is simple math: You must consume fewer calories than you expend in order to create a caloric deficit and dip into your extra fat stores. But, you know that already.
Some people kick and scream and rebel against the idea of setting limits to what they can and can not do. I see this with fitness and especially nutrition/food all the time. Something about 'sticking it to the man' or 'I will not abide by your stuffy rules'. The tragic thing is that these people end up losing in the end. They end up eating themselves into heart disease, diabetes and hip replacements in an effort to 'fight the power'.
The power really is in your own hands. By making healthy choices 90% of the time today, you will get the health, the future and the body that you want tomorrow. It is a gift to yourself to limit your naughty choices NOT a punishment. It is the biggest gift of all and you can give it to yourself. It is your health.
...
And for goodness sake, find some balance between your big goals and your day-to-day living. The pursuit of huge objectives to the detriment of your normal ife is dumb. Most of life is lived in the here-and-now. So a lot of what you'll spend money on will be daily expenses. you also have to have some fun along the way. Fun's okay, as long as your longterm needs are part of the equation.
Ohhhhh this is good too and is the flip side of the situation. Some people swing the other way and go with the 'all or nothing' approach to weight management, suffering and depriving themselves every single step of the way. Fun (when it comes to food) isn't just OK it is an integral component of your life! Food is one of the biggest joys of life! The flavors, the colours, the tastes and textures. The joy of breaking bread with friends and family. The memories that are often created over beautiful meals in any season will be cherished for a lifetime. You have to LIVE TODAY. Just not at the expense of tomorrow:)
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Most importantly, if you ever expect to have all you want you have to get
started. NOW. The longer you wait to set your goals, the more time
you'll have wasted spinning your wheels.
And yet another great point that also works for weight management! The longer you wait to get started, the longer it will take to reach your goals. Every single small step you take TODAY will move you in the right direction tomorrow. You know: the journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step, right? Well, sometimes it is better to just start walking while you are making up your mind on your destination. This is one of those times. Get a few more minutes of exercise TODAY. Eat 1 less cookie TODAY. And you will be moving in the right direction tomorrow.
Thanks to Gail for the inspiration!
Money Money Money...keep your eyes on the prize:)
Cheers,
Sarah.
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