21-DAY HABIT FORMATION

Last night my Lighter Life magazine plopped on my doorstep. I had a quick skim and thought about how great those women featured feel and how well they look and how focused they must have all been to achieve so much.

I went to Tesco's this morning feeling rather weak willed and picked up two cheese twists from the bakery. I love cheese twists - they are croissants with sharp cheddar cheese in them. I rationalised the purchase with "I'll have the cheese twists now, it's early in the morning! Then continue the diet later on through the day, I'll still be in ketosis in a few days, just a little longer that’s all - cheese is protein!". Then I started thinking about all the achievers in my Lighter Life magazine and those on minimins again and realised that I'm cheating myself, even if I eat protein, I'm cheating myself. Cheating myself of inner happiness, cheating myself of a freer spirit, cheating myself of the habit* I want to form.

I went to the checkout determined not to eat them. I'd buy them but throw them in the bin, they’re only 59p each after all. However something made me ask the lady to ask if I could not bother with purchasing them (something I'd never have the guts or cheek to do normally). Anyway, she said yes to my happiness since £1.18 is a lot of money to waste. I walked out of Tesco with a toothbrush (what I went in for).

HABITS

So habits ...... I think the key to this Crazy Diet is habit. Those who succeed, in my opinion, are those who are more predisposed to easy habit forming. Unfortunately I'm not one of those people - I think and analyse too much. I believe the reason why the diet gets easier in time is a combination of three factors:

1) ketosis - physical change in the body that stabilises the blood sugar and eliminates hunger

2) weight loss - psychological: you see the difference in your body or on the scale and thus your will-power increases

3) habit - psychological the more and longer your do something the easier it gets.

I think that "habit" or "routine" isn't something that is specifically mentioned. There are lots of lovely encouraging folk that say "don't worry, it will get easier", but no one has specifically broached the subject of "habit-forming" which I think is the most important of the three factors mentioned above (as the other two are residuals of habit-forming).

It takes at least 21 days to form a habit. This means that you have to do something at least 21 times before it begins to become part of your everyday routine. So for me, my goal is to lose weight and in order to do that, I need to make a true commitment to doing so and in turn make a commitment to forming the "CD Habit".

How do I do this?

Setting the goal: My goal is to lose weight.

Planning and scheduling how to do it: Decide exactly how I want to undertake CD i.e. SS/790 etc. and break that down even further. For me, that means halving my shakes and consuming them at exact times, for me that means having them at two hour intervals (8 (4) shakes per day - consumed with psyllium husk) wherever possible.Planning my water consumption is also important, for me that means bringing a 500ml bottle of water up to bed with me at night and consuming it as soon as I wake in morning, then drinking another 500mls in the car on the way to work, so I've drunk 1 litre before 8AM in the morning. I write down ever 500ml I drink, so I know where I am in terms of consumption. I temporarily stop drinking water at 3pm every day, so that I can drive home uninterrupted!

Writing: writing down my goal and reading it every day: I post on here! Even my most inane thoughts and feelings are posted, sorry! If I'm doing well then I post thus enabling me to harness some of my previous positivity when I'm at my weakest.

It takes 21 days to form a habit, and akin to what has been said here so many times, "don't let anything get in the way of your schedule". Those 21 days are the "wagon".

The hardest thing of all is: if you fall off the 21 day wagon, just get back on it, and start again as if nothing happened.

Consistency and dedication is fundamental in habit forming and achieving.

Once I've reached my 21 days on the wagon I'll be pleased, but the habit is only JUST beginning to form (it takes AT LEAST 21 days for a habit to form).

One must continue until I do it, without even thinking about it, like driving!

Thanks for listening ....