June 22

Exercised?: No. (intentional pass day)
Calories?: Yes
Tracked?: Yes

Family, Sister, Nephew and Brother in law all out to Japanese for dinner to celebrate my daughters birthday last Tuesday, and my birthday on Monday.

Lazy day at home minding daughter and nephew (while wife went out to craft functions).

Pavlova for dessert after Japanese. One of my favourites.



June 23

Exercised?: Yes. (Drone track set up and flying)
Calories?: Yes
Tracked?: Yes

Coldest day so far this year. Was foggy till almost 1 in the afternoon, then cloud cover stayed in. Track site was damp too.

Good flying. Happy with practice, just cold when I got home and took time to dry out and warm up.

Good dinner, then finished fixing a race drone before packing to leave early in the morning.



June 24

Exercised?: Yes. (10000+ steps)
Calories?: Yes
Tracked?: Yes

Early morning flight to Canberra for work.

Away from family for my 51st Birthday, but need to go where the work is. Called family by Skype after long work day after travel.

Tired and early night.


** Warning - Soap box **

My way of encouraging others is to be an example. "Do what I do" instead of "do as I say".

DO NOT talk about weight management directly. Do not even bring up the topic. Let them find it, then encourage them in what THEY want to do (not in necessarily doing things your way). There are MANY ways to lose and maintain weight, they must find what works for them.

THEY must have the idea. THEY must BELIEVE it is their idea. Nothing is as strong to someone as their own idea.

Advise ONLY if they ask, but do it in a way of "I would do things *this* way", or "I did *this* because of *this* reason and I found it worked for me". Do not try correct what THEY are doing as other see this as finding fault.

Weight is such a personal thing.

It's a little like teaching a dog to come to you. You call it's name and rung in the OPPOSITE direction. This way it plays the chase game. Let it catch you. Reward it, then do it again, till you no longer need to run and the dog runs to you when it's name is called.

Reward behaviour you want, ignore behaviour you don't want.

Reward is as simple as notice, commenting, encouraging, listening and agreeing. People crave being seen and being heard.

Ignoring (not giving approval or acknowledgement), instead of punishing, is a far better and less agressive way of discouraging undesired behaviour. If they seek approval for behaviour you are trying to stop them doing, don't give approval. (You can even be as bold to state objectively WHY do do not approve of the behaviour you are trying to discourage - note: it must be objective, not subjective and definitely not blaming (eg. It's great to see you running, and running is great exercise, but do you think it's suited to you long term as said you had bad knees and running seems high impact)).

My wife started losing weight and managing health AFTER I had already lost 50+lbs and gone into maintenance. She has lost 25+lbs and kept it off (for the first time ever after a lifetime of trying). She is now starting to lose more to try get down to a normal BMI. I desperately want her to use what worked the first time (tracking calories and more moderate exercise), but I need HER to have that idea (I cannot force it - or even suggest it - as if I do it will certainly not occur). What I am doing is letting her see what I do, day by day, to maintain a healthy weight. This is so she may re-discover for herself what worked for her and thereby choose to pursue it with enthusiasm.

You can lead a horse to water, but you cannot make them drink. However, if you park them round the water hole, they are likely to eventually get the idea

** Soap box away **

I agree, having weight loss be "their own idea" while observing a quiet "behind the scenes example" as they formulate an approach to reach a goal (however small that initial step might be) is best. Once the idea and approach to weight loss has been established, then a group such as UAC being introduced into a personal plan might be beneficial for tips, pointers, back-up, validation etc. It's nice to be in good company on the journey!

RangerRickL wrote: »

Earlier this month, I asked for your help with some new discussion starter questions.
@craigo3154 offered a number of great ones.
"What do you recommend doing to encourage a loved one or friend to find success in developing healthy habits?"

I will have to agree with everyone so far. Be the example. Let the journey be theirs. They need to own it for the habit to last. Do not make them feel bad. Be there for them, encourage them. It's like encouraging a child to take steps.

Did I exercise for at least 20 minutes? Yes. 15 strength, 15 yoga, 35 walking.
Did I stay within my calorie budget for the day? Yes!
Did I keep track of everything I ate and drank? Yes!

I endorse all the suggestions so far. I try not to push my ideas, and if I am asked I say what I have done, but point out that everyone is different.

Generally, my friends and family have been very supportive of my new lifestyle choices.

6/24
Exersized-?yes
Caleries?-yes
Logged?-yes

June 24

Exercised: Killer Body Upper + 21K steps
Calories: Yes
Tracked: Yes

I agree with all those who said to lead by example and not soap box other people. I always remind myself in situations like that how I felt when I was overweight but not ready to do something about. Someone else telling me what I should be doing was never helpful to me. Like others, I always try to talk about what works for me as something that works for me, not as a global fix all for everyone. And I pretty much only share when directly asked, never first. Health, weight, and fitness are so personal that it's really easy to step on toes even if you don't mean to. Letting people figure things out for themselves is hard but generally the only way for people to learn and actually stick with things.

On vacation as of tomorrow, so we'll see how eating, fitness, and posting go. I shall do my best!

June 24

Exercise: Yes, 30min yoga
Calories: Yes, really low today tho, like way under my goal. Not feeling so well so kinda lost my appetite.
Tracked: Yes

my advice is to never tell someone what to do, as in "you HAVE to try and do ___", basically don't tell someone they /have/ to do something (besides eating a correct amount of calories and moderate exercise). what works for you might not work out for someone else. and no unsolicited advice, someone venting their struggle with exercise isn't a cue to give them your entire workout routine thinking they'll do it (because i used to do that lmao). but instead try to be a good role model, be open about how you go about with your healthy day to day life and they might pick up on it.

and just be /supportive/ and never condescending or treating them like they're doing something wrong or else it just makes them unmotivated to continue. sometimes every little achievement deserves a little "congrats", even if it's something as simple as not getting that 3rd slice of pizza or doing a full push up.

Exercise? Yes, 30 min strength training and 90 min of golf
Calories? Yes
Tracked? Yes

I’m in agreement with the general consensus here. Motivation has to come from within, it has to be their idea. The best we can do is invite them to participate in fun physical activities and if it’s an option, keep the fridge stocked with healthy pre-prepared food.

2x yes

6 no
18 yes

Another bad month but as long as I do better than last month I will be happy

1. May 9 pass 22 yes

Did I exercise for at least 20 minutes? Yes
Did I stay within my calorie budget for the day? Yes
Did I keep track of everything I ate and drank? Yes

Out of the running for the month but still tracking and reporting!

I agree with everyone and add that I advocate others to be kind to themselves in developing a new healthy habit. It's not going to be easy every day. Set small goals and keep going.

My recommendation would be/ has been to start walking, bit further each day, bit of yoga thrown in
Exercise yes 10 min quigong, 15 min yoga, 20 min leslie sansone, 60 min cleaning, 40 min walk
Tracking yes
Calories yes

6/24
Exercise: no
Calories: no,
Tracking: yes
Pass day #8