Is it “Who Me?” or “Yeah, it was me….”

OK, let’s talk a little caveman today.  This blog is about Primal/Paleo after all right?  And while the term “caveman” is probably used more than “cavemen,” no man/woman is an island unto themselves.  Hunting wild game back in the day, as well as today, often involves coordination amongst the tribe.  And once the game had been and killed, can’t you see the tribe dancing around the fire, drinking some prehistoric, fermented Wooly Mammoth pee and loving life?  Man is a social creature after all.

Sadly, there are those who think they don’t need anyone or they hide from others, but at the end of the day, the result is the same for these individuals.  No support.  And for those with no support, it kinda sucks, huh?

SUPPORT AND ACCOUNTABILITY

Who Me?

Support and accountability is a key component as you begin your Caveman Resurrection.  Once you’ve identified your WHY and your HOW, logged it in your journal and you’re progressing, seek out a friend who will support you and create a process to check in and report how well you are doing.  In this day and age of social networking, you can have several accountability partners instead of just one.  I recommend finding at least one who you can interact with face to face and then find another mechanism online to trade stories or support others.  Start a blog of your own, tweet your workout, update your Facebook status and confess your sins – whatever it takes.  Above all, admit your faults, identify them, journal them, but NEVER deny them.  You’ll only be hurting yourself.

One nice way to hold yourself accountable is through the use of Google Docs.  Construct a spreadsheet where you log your meals and workouts each day.  Include a notes section.  Then share that spreadsheet with an accountability partner so they can see what you are eating and how you are doing.  Give them permission to call you out and highlight in red the areas you strayed but to highlight the areas in green you did great.  It’s easy, it’s real-time and it is one more way you can journal your progress.

An accountability partner is a close friend but one you give full permission to remind you and steer you back on the path when things go off track.  Sign a contract or agreement that you both sign as a formal way that this change/journey you are going down is something you take serious.

No snowflake in an avalanche ever feels responsible.

When those moments of weakness hit, and they will, remember this quote from George Burns.  None of us got fat overnight, right?  And your weight loss won’t be resolved overnight.  Remind yourself that all of those little steps you used to take created the avalanche you are now cleaning up.  Stop snowing and start melting that fat.  You can do it.  One step at a time.

SPOUSES ARE NOT ACCOUNTABILITY PARTNERS

Spouses do not count as accountability partners.  While they may support your efforts, when push comes to shove they may have a hard time holding you accountable.  Marriage is tough enough; then when you give them the right to pound you down when you have a moment of weakness and they act on it – NOT A GOOD THING.  That stressful day at work that “forced you” to eat that chocolate just got a lot more stressful when your spouse thought they were gently reminding you of your goals.  Before you know it, you not only went back on your word, but you put your spouse in a difficult spot where they came out the loser instead of you.  So, let’s be clear – accountability partners can’t be your significant other UNLESS you can seriously face the critiques you asked them to give you.

How does being accountable feel to you?  Do you see that as a hindrance or a help?  If you see it as a hindrance, why?  Add your thoughts in the comment section!

It’s the Most Overlooked Piece of Equipment in the Gym

On any given night, set your DVR or VCR (do they even make those anymore?) to tape a few hours on any random channel between the hours of 1 a.m. and 3 a.m.  and you’ll no doubt learn of the latest ab device that will melt the fat with less effort.  Oh wait, you own that, don’t you?  Let’s be honest, we’ve all been suckered and probably own more than one device to shed the pounds.

At the end of the day, there are several pieces of equipment that are the “go to” pieces that never fail: barbells loaded with weight, squat racks, kettlebells, and a host of many others.  But the most overlooked piece of equipment in the gym isn’t usually found in the gym – unless you bring it with you.  It’s low-tech, pretty cheap, very portable and extremely powerful.  It’s called The Journal.

You can’t manage what you don’t measure.

Perhaps you’ve heard the quote above.  Regardless, it rings a sincere note of truth.   In the area of transformation and resurrection, there are many ways you can measure and track in your journal, right?

• Bodyweight
• Body fat percentage
• Inches (hips, legs, waist, biceps, stomach, chest, etc.)
• Strength (how many lbs. you can lift or how many reps you did)
• Endurance (how far or how fast)
• Blood pressure

The journal is an amazing tool – and something I personally use almost everyday.  I log my workouts, my nutrition, my highs/lows and areas of opportunity or challenge.  It allows me to go back and see how far I’ve come or how far I have to go.  I can see my progress, good or bad.  I highly encourage everyone to track progress, but before beginning, be sure you’ve discovered your Why? and write that on the initial pages, as we discussed yesterday.  And now there is one more thing you can add to your initial pages.  What is your HOW?

Your HOW? is something you won’t usually find in weight loss or transformational journeys.  To me it is one of the most important.  We’re not talking about how you are going to lose the weight.  Oh we’ll get to that, trust me!  🙂  At this early point in time, let’s go deeper, just as I promised we would.

Your HOW? focuses on this question: how did you get into the place you are in today?  Whether you are overweight, lacking self-esteem or simply making poor choices – how did you arrive in that space?  Sheila, a past client of mine, was overweight, divorced and wanting a new life.  Through a series of questions and introspection, we identified Sheila’s HOW.  During her childhood, Sheila was advancing, branching out, and becoming independent.  Her mother interfered with Sheila’s progress and took various steps to stall Sheila’s independence.  Buried deep inside after many years, those months of sabotage were still showing up in Sheila’s subconscious.  Her mom’s voice telling her she wasn’t good enough continued to echo thirty years later.  Our parents aren’t perfect, just as we will never be.  The exercise about HOW we arrive at our own places of inadequacy isn’t so much about blame but one of forgiveness.

Whether a parent issue, divorce, abuse or something else, dig deep to determine where in your  life did things start to go wrong.  Write that down in your journal.  Then start the next sentence with “I forgive…”  The person you forgive for mostly contributing to your state of inadequacy may be your parent, spouse or perhaps even yourself.  Forgive that person.  There is no magic time machine we can jump in to take away the hurt that may have led to your weight gain.  So forgive.  With that written down, it’s now logged as a reminder that you know the HOW and it is forgiven.  If forgiveness is hard to arrive at, seek the help of a professional counselor or therapist in your area.

Is your HOW a new step in determining how you will change for the better?  Does writing in a journal seem like a good idea or something you’ve seen that helps you progress?  If so, tell me about it in the comments section.