I’m a Failure for Christmas!

Photo by booleansplit

I’ve eaten more cookies than I care to admit this last week, and I’ve still kept my weight off.  Have you finished any of your goals?  I finished my challenges and failed at a few of them.  Where are you?

1) Lose 20 lbs by Christmas Day
I did not actually lose the full 20 lbs.  I lost 7 lbs on the scale.  I’m down to my lowest weight of 178 lbs.  and I feel great.  I lost a belt size, and all my pants are looser, and on top of that, I have gained a significant amount of muscle.  So I am not displeased with the results.

What did I do differently?  I ate much more fat, cheated way more often.  It turns out I ended up at McDonald’s more than a few times during the 20 day trial, and I mean that I was there on days when I really shouldn’t have been.   But I enjoyed myself, and my body is noticeably different.  So I am still happy that I did this test.  I will measure, and do the test again, starting today.  I am doing another trial that will end on January 15th when I’m going on a small vacation, and I am going to eat like it’s going out of style.  We shall see what this next test brings about.  I’m excited to watch my body change even more before this diet is launched to the world.  For more information, sign up for the newsletter Here.

2) Meditate 15 minutes per Day
Simple.  This one I will continue, my life has been coming together very nicely, and I have to admit that I feel much better much more of the time than when I started this.  Things in my life have changed for the better as well.

3) 4 minute Ultra Efficient workout Every Day Until January 15th
This one I dropped.  The reason?  I’m trying to build muscles, so I also perform the ultra efficient workouts in The 20/20/20 Diet for 20 minutes twice a week, and to be honest, I’d rather perform the workouts from the 20/20/20 Diet and be healed by the next workout than continue for another 20 days without getting the full effect of the workout.  This is just a what’s more important question.  I want to build lean muscle mass to burn more fat, and by doing these 4 minute cardio sessions along with my regular exercise, I don’t think I’m going to build as much muscle as I could otherwise.  I’ll try this again soon and of course do the 4 minute cardio sporadically, but not every day no matter what.

4) Write One Page of Appreciation per day Until Christmas.  See my Gratitude Challenge
This one has been great, and I can certainly tell when I’ve done it or not.  It sure does pump me up to look for things to appreciate, I can feel my energy surging and my mood soaring.  I was quite skeptical that this little exercise could even improve my mood in any way, let alone my life, but I have to say, my life has gotten way better in ways I didn’t ever expect.  My relationships have improved, my love life is much more joyful and anything that may have bothered me before seems insignificant and distant now.  My level of happiness has improved, and I have a much better focus on what I want in my life and what steps I can take to get there.  I just feel better in almost every way.

5) Finally, Give up Coffee for 30 days.
This one I broke.    I had no problem doing it.  The first 3 days were tough and filled with anxiety, mostly because I was moody and I have my 3 children at home with me during the day, but after the initial withdrawal period, I felt fine and actually went off of caffeine completely for 2 weeks, but on Christmas day, something happened.  I was given a very nice pound of fresh Starbucks coffee.  So I had a choice to make, continue my challenge, or let my Christmas present go to waste and taste stale.  I opted for enjoying my present.  I can’t say I’m super proud that I did, because I’d love to have completed this one, but it is what it is.  I made the choice, and now I have to live with it.  perhaps after my vacation in January, I will quit caffeine again.  It may seem small to some, but it feels good to know I’m not “addicted to caffeine” and that I can just quit anytime.

I have to say, even though the two “bigger” challenges failed a bit, I’m really happy I did this, it reminded me that I have complete control of my life, and that playing the victim is just that, playing.  I can lose weight easily, I don’t “need” coffee, and anything I want to change, I can change, I just have to decide to do it and do it.

What kinds of things are you “playing victim” to?  Is there something you could change in your life that you’ve always viewed as “too hard?”  Could you change a habit for just a week, two weeks, 30 days or more.  That little change may make a huge difference in the way you feel about yourself, and you’d be surprised at how much that little boost can change your results in other areas of life.  So set a challenge for yourself, call it a new years resolution if you must, but set a challenge, write it down where you will see it each day and complete it.  You can do it if you just start it.  Starting is the hardest part, finishing will be easy.

What have you been waiting for?  Write it down and leave me a comment with your goal.

What can you start today?

I hope this finds you well,

Ryan

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