Cravings Critical for Weight Loss

Dear Reader-

Have you ever had an “A-Ha!” moment and you had to stop right then and there and tell someone?

Well here I am telling you right now, because the only one here is the dog and he just doesn’t get how profound this moment is to me…

Ya see I have been devouring books lately… and no, I am not talking about THAT book 😉

Power of Books

As many of you know, I am trying to lose the weight and I am a firm believer in the power of thoughts… so, I have been reading books that reinforce my efforts.

This quote by Charles Jones has always been a favorite of mine…

I just never knew who said it until I saw it on Facebook the other day and then AGAIN in the sermon notes this past Sunday!

Science of Habits

Anyhoo, after reading the fascinating read of Mindless Eating: Why We Eat More Than We Think that really helped me re-think several things that have helped me tackle my portion sizes, I have been searching for something to feed my knowledge craving further and  The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business has totally rocked my world.

I am seriously only a few chapters in, but this book is helping me understand why certain things help me stay on track and other things drive me off course.

It helps me understand WHY meal planning is so important to my success and why routine helps me more in some areas even though I cherish flexibility so much.

Source: everydaypeoplecartoons.com

Knowing Why

Knowing why helps me so much…

I mean I notice certain things that help me here and there, but knowing why makes it easier for me to stop any crazy ideas I get that maybe it isn’t so important to meal plan this week or maybe I don’t have to exercise on Wednesday…

The why knowledge now helps me see how taking away those cornerstones to my success leave me susceptible to crumbling.

My El Habit

I had a total “A-Ha!” moment tonight in figuring out why I have been able to make El a habit in the past, but not a habit other times… as I saw directly how the cue, routine, reward system  that the book dives into plays out in my life…

So, the cue for me to get on El is when the clock turns 9 pm on a MWF.

Those are our date nights.

Miss Add is in bed and the dog is pretty calm and I can grab my Thrive and read while cranking out the miles on El.

The routine is to grab a glass of water, give the dog a kong treat to bribe good behavior, set the timer and turn on my Thrive.

The reward is logging it into my LoseIt account and being able to say to myself that today I wanted to lose weight bad enough to do something about it.

Cravings Critical

Holy Cow Batman!

Ya mean cravings… something I have been fighting my entire life can actually work to my benefit?!?

Dude.

The book explains (in much better detail than I) that in order for a habit to stick, a craving must develop for the reward following the cue.

This could work… I mean I am uber-good at craving.

I can crave the heck out of things like diet coke, vacation, sweets and Italian food…

I have got to ponder this further (and read the rest of the book 😉 ) but I also had to stop and share because it totally shifted my thinking tonight…

 Have you had any “A-Ha!” moments lately?

Note: Affiliate links are used is in this post, mama’s gotta pay for doggie treats- yo!