So I’ve been thinking about 2007.
To be more specific about what it will really take to do actually compete and perhaps place in a race in 2007.
For me the answer is painfully obvious….I have to lose weight.
To be even that much more specific, I have to lose 20 pounds.
Why 20?
Because that gets me to an even 200 pounds at which point I’m still racing as a Clydesdale, but as the lightest possible athlete in that category.
I am of course putting this in writing ( here and now) to add a bit of public pressure to my otherwise unspoken goal.
Which immediately creates a small problem.
A long time ago I figured out that I can’t diet. Of course there is no physical reason that I can’t diet. It is just that my body is weaker then my mind when it comes to resisting that extra cookie, cake or burger.
I suspect you know what I mean. The mind says no, but the hand and mouth work in lighting fast combination to get the cookie in the mouth and belly before the mind can come up with a sufficient defense.
“That cookie has over 200 calories….” The mind will say as the hands and mouth work quickly together. “Mmmmm cookie,” the mind can only add as the cookie is on the fast track to the belly.
Which leaves me to once again ponder and dare I say embrace my ten step weight lose program. In the past I have lost weight by following 10 simple rules. These are, for lack of a better term, the Everyman 10 step guide to Everyman who cannot diet, diet.
Please note that I am not a dietitian nor do I play one on television so if you follow my Everyman 10 step guide to Everyman who cannot diet, diet you most certainly may end up gaining weight.
However I do think that they are common sense steps that have worked for me in the past… at least 50 percent of the time and hopefully they will work for both me and perhaps even you in 2007.
At least we’ll both have a 50 percent chance of losing weight.
More importantly, I suspect that this is as good of odds as any South Beach, Jenny Craig, Weight Watchers and Atkins diet will ever give you if they were completely truthful.
So here is the Everyman 10 step guide to Everyman who cannot diet, diet:
10) Brush your teeth after dinner.
This is 3 minutes well spent. Not only is brushing your teeth after dinner great for your teeth, but just as importantly it makes your mouth feel nice and clean. The thinking being that you will be less likely to snack if you know that you’ll be spoiling that spearmint fresh taste with a Megaboxmart bag-o-chips.
9) No snacking after dinner.
No late night snacks what-so-ever! When you get hungry after the late night news just think of breakfast and how good it will taste.
8) Eat a big and healthy breakfast
I believe that most doctors would agree that a big and healthy breakfast is key the starting your day on the right foot (or so they told us in grade school). It seems to me that too often I’ll just gobble up some sort of Power bar or miscellaneous refrigerator feed on my way out the door. More often than not, this just sets me up for a day of snacking and overeating.
7) Eat less as the day progresses.
In other words, eat a big breakfast, medium lunch, and a small dinner. I tend to do the exact opposite which I suspect is the reason I still have that washtub and not washboard belly.
6) Avoid trigger foods like the Plague
My buddy Bolder taught me this one. I’ll keep it simple and define all trigger foods as fast foods. Have you ever noticed that once you have one Big Mac or Taco Bell burrito you’ll start to crave another one the next day? So in 2007 they’ll be no fast food only fast race times.
Next Time: The Everyman Top 5 steps to the Everyman 10 step guide to Everyman who cannot diet, diet.
