A system for staying consistent with you diet and exercise

[Clint]

For those of you that always start a new diet or exercise schedule only to quit not long after, here is a system that works really well to keep motivated. It actually comes from a story about a young comedian who met Jerry Seinfeld and asked him what tips he had for making a name in the business. Jerry explained that the way to make a name is to write funny jokes and the only way to write funnier is to write every day. So here is what Jerry did. He bought a big calendar (one of those ones where you can see 6 months or a year) and put it up somewhere conspicuous. Every day when he did his 10 minutes of writing he would put a big red X on that day. Well after a week or two there was a nice long chain of Red X's going across the calendar so then his only job was to not fuck it up and break the chain.

This same concept works great for exercise as well, each day that your worked out or did your active recovery/stretching/whatever you do on rest days put an X on the calendar and use it as motivation to keep going.

[Severn]

Originally Posted by Clint

For those of you that always start a new diet or exercise schedule only to quit not long after, here is a system that works really well to keep motivated. It actually comes from a story about a young comedian who met Jerry Seinfeld and asked him what tips he had for making a name in the business. Jerry explained that the way to make a name is to write funny jokes and the only way to write funnier is to write every day. So here is what Jerry did. He bought a big calendar (one of those ones where you can see 6 months or a year) and put it up somewhere conspicuous. Every day when he did his 10 minutes of writing he would put a big red X on that day. Well after a week or two there was a nice long chain of Red X's going across the calendar so then his only job was to not fuck it up and break the chain.

This same concept works great for exercise as well, each day that your worked out or did your active recovery/stretching/whatever you do on rest days put an X on the calendar and use it as motivation to keep going.

My problem is that while I start on a diet-and I can stay on it for a while and work out, my problem is when I treat myself I completly fall off the wagon. I can be "good" for two-three months but one cupcake and I turn into a fat girl at a sleep over.

[Clint]

Occasional cheating is actualy good for you according to some things I've been reading but the key is to pick yourself up the next day and get right back into the diet/training.

[Metalhead]

To not cheat sucks. I'm sorry but ther's no way I'd ever completely cut out chips or cookies or chocolate. You can't over indulge but you can't go your whole life without cheating a little.

[Clint]

I was reading some infor about the cheat to lose diet and it explains that after about a week your body starts doing things to resist the dieting so it has a diet plan that looks like this:
Mon & Tues-Low carb (protein, fat, green veggies only)
Wed & Thurs- Mod carb (add in veggies)
Fri & Sat- High carb (veggies, fruit, pasta)
Sun- free for all

That way your body doesn't adapt to the weight loss and start to resist. I actually will probably order the book, just for the 75 berardi recipes in it.