When we think about establishing Habits,
most of us focus on the later stage of the process
where things start to become natural,
instead of those difficult early days
where there seem to be more failures than successes.

At the beginning stage, we need to focus
on building the foundations of a new habit 
before expecting a long string of successes.  

It is important to start out with small steps.
Be specific about the exact behavior desired.
A list, or chart, or reward system can help support habit building,
but keep it simple.

In the early days of Habit building,
it's usually easier to stick with it,
when we aren't continually reminded
of our up-and-down progress.

Keep the Focus on individual days,
rather than weeks or months.
Because dealing with long time periods can be very discouraging.
Each day I give myself a fresh start. 

 This morning I decided to...again...work to implement
some habits that would be helpful in my weight maintenance.
I prepared a small chart for myself that dealt with a few of my problem areas
and the Habits that might help eliminate them
...similar to the No S Diet's Habitcal idea,...
Except...my chart covers only one individual day,...today...
and even breaks that day into several different time periods.

Then tomorrow, I'll use another, new duplicate chart,
with a new fresh start.

If, in the future, I want to put that information together,
for detailed analysis, it would be easy to do so,
but for now, this very simple one-day-at-a-time focus
is the only way I can manage to get myself to stick with my efforts.

For those of you who are following my YouTube Ask Grandma videos,
you can see the latest one by clicking  HERE,
which is located at DietHobby under RESOURCES, Videos, Ask Grandma.

We are who we are
because of all the things we have done,
the choices we have made and not made,
and the experiences that we’ve had throughout our lives.

To be upset, to hold a grudge, or harbor a regret
about something that happened in our lives in our past
is a pointless waste of time and energy.

I’ve made some “incorrect” choices, but so what?
Those decisions led me down a different path
than I might have ended up on,
had I not made that choice,
But without it, I would most certainly, not be me.

 Would I be ANYTHING like the person I am today,
without many of those experiences?
I don’t think so.

I made many stupid decisions in my life,
and I made some very good ones as well.
All these decisions, good and bad, have fused together
into making me the unique person that I am today.

I am the sum of every experience that I have ever had in my life,
every decision that I have ever made, every concept I have ever learned,
and every lesson forgotten.

We are who we are, because
we have been who we have been.
This is what makes each of us a unique human being
each with our own set of gifts to offer the world. 

Originally posted by member in a weight-loss forum

"After looking over my data for the past 9 months,
I conclude that I need to be eating about 1200 calories a day
and exercising the equivalent of 200 calories a day.
Otherwise, I am going to stay right where I am.

Now, can accomplish this behavior???
I am not sure.
I know I don't like being stuck where I am.

So, it is my choice.

I realize that due to injuries my daily movement
has been curtailed and conserved.
My "need" for food stays the same, however."

This is an excellent statement about the problem that many of us have in common,
especially older "reduced obese" women.  After carefully recording our food-intake
and weight data in computer software journals, our data reveals a rather unpleasant truth. 

The calorie needs of our older bodies is far, far less than our appetites;
many of our aging bodies simply will not tolerate heavy exercise;
and our true calorie need is a number far, far lower
than what the "expert" charts indicate is correct for us.

We have to ask ourselves:
"Are we willing to trade the food to be a "normal" size?"
and
"Can we get ourselves to eat in that manner?"

There's a lot currently written about what our bodies required in Paleolithic times,
and I've been thinking about elderly women in that time.
First...there weren't very many post-menopausal women around...
and I imagine that those who did survive to become old, 
had to "earn their keep". 

Since the women were past childbearing years;
the ability to do a lot of physically hard work reduces with age;
and age doesn't necessarily come with increased wisdom,
it would be reasonable to assume that they had less value for their "tribe"
so probably it would have been an important asset 
to have a body that required less food to survive.

What does this mean currently?
I don't know, but I find it interesting to consider.

It's Monday morning, mid-July, and I'm finding it hard to Find inspiration for myself, let alone Provide any inspiration for others.

The day-to-day sharing that maintaining this website requires is sometimes Challenging for me. My personal focus is continued, consistent weight-maintenance efforts, together with working to achieve a positive outlook on all aspects of my life. This takes ongoing physical and mental effort, and, although it might appear to be an easy task, it is not.

 I experience the same moods as you, and sometimes the "Monday blues" are difficult. Despite continued effort at positive thinking, positive consistent behavior, and patient waiting, my body is not dropping the 5 lbs or so that have crept on during the past few years and sometimes I feel angry and discouraged about that situation.

I remind myself how far I've come, and how maintaining a 150 lb loss is great, despite that 5 lb creep, and although I'm grateful...I'm still P***ed Off. But, I'm not going to drive my car over a cliff just because it has a scratch on it, and I'm not going to give myself permission to overeat,  simply because...no matter what or how much I eat and/or exercise... the "minus 3500 calories = 1 fat pound lost rule"  no longer seems to be applicable to my body.

So this morning...like every morning...I recorded my weight in my diet software. I'm writing this article, and then I'm going to have one of my normal low-cal breakfasts, which I will record in that diet software.  I will then go about the remainder of my daily tasks, and will continue to work to keep my food-intake calories down,and record every bite I take. This is a habit I've established, and a great deal of the time I find it enjoyable.

 For a variety of reasons, I feel a bit down this morning, so....what to do?..... First, I allow myself to feel it, avoiding frantic attempts at escape. Next, I go about my daily tasks, and just do the next indicated thing.

Feelings are like the tide. They go in and out, come and go,  Both the "good" and the "bad". All feelings are part of us, and none of us escapes them. We just have to ride them out while we struggle to stay afloat.

The chances are good that in a short time I'll feel better, and before the day is over, there will be at least a few times when I'll feel really good.

 Life has given me another day with an assortment of possibilities, and I get to choose personal behaviors that will tend to lead me toward positive results.

I agree with most of this recent news article.
Do you? 

"Calories in, calories out—in theory, losing weight should be that simple. But we're going to venture a guess that the reason two-thirds of Americans are classified as overweight or obese isn't because they can't do basic math. Age, genetics, hormones and the big one—a lack of will power—better explain the disconnect between wanting to lose weight and actually doing it.

In fact, while 84 percent of people claim they're trying to take better care of their health today than just a few years ago, 59 percent of people reported they don't have the will power to change their habits, according to a recent survey by The Futures Co. Lack of will power is the No. 1 barrier preventing Americans from living healthier lifestyles, ranking higher than money, time, desire and a perceived lack of need, according to the survey.
So what's the secret to propelling yourself from an "aha" moment to reaching a healthy weight? It's all about the day-to-day. Focusing on lifestyle changes, heeding the right how-to advice and finding support from a group of like-minded peers will help you stay on track better than focusing on the impetus (a scary obesity poster in the subway) or the end result (fitting into your skinny jeans again).

Here, we sift through motivation research and enlist the help of Andy Core, an exercise physiologist and motivational speaker, to muddle through three motivation misconceptions—and provide the help you need to stay on track.

Myth 1: The end result is what matters.

Reality: Enjoying the path to success is what helps you reach it.

You know the Chinese proverb "The journey is the reward," but you've probably never thought of it in terms of losing weight. The reward typically associated with a diet and exercise plan is watching your goal weight calibrate on the bathroom scale. But according to Core, thinking ahead to that magical day isn't enough to motivate you to get there. "Starting with the end in mind is the fast track to failure in a health-improvement program," he says. "You want to have goals, but your daily focus should be on gaining gratification from checking the box."

"Checking the box" could mean finishing a workout, drinking eight glasses of water in a given day, or dedicating 10 minutes in the evening to laying out your gym clothes and making a healthy lunch for the next day, says Core. The important thing is that it becomes a positive experience that you want to repeat, he says, adding that setting up healthy lifestyle patterns helps you build the momentum necessary to reach a weight loss goal.

Myth 2: I am my own biggest motivator.

Reality: Social support is essential to reaching a weight loss goal.

You could have all the gumption in the world, but it won't get you far if you're going at weight loss alone—or from inside a circle of friends who make unhealthy decisions, says Core.

Research suggests that having obese friends can make you gain weight too—and that your peers can help you lose weight or maintain weight loss. The trick to using social support to your advantage is surrounding yourself with the right company. "Ask yourself, 'Are my family and friends encouragers, or are they part of the problem?'" Core suggests.

And don't forget about your online support structure. In a study published in the International Journal of Medical Informatics, researchers at the University of Texas Medical School at Houston surveyed 193 members of the SparkPeople online weight loss community and found that 88 percent of respondents used the site for encouragement and motivation, while 59 percent used it as a source of information and 43 percent as an outlet for sharing experiences.

Myth 3: Failure is a sign of weakness.

Reality: Failure results from a lack of preparation or poor behavior patterns.

If you hit a weight loss plateau or derail your diet over a holiday weekend, it's not a reflection on your character and you shouldn't beat yourself up over it, says Core, explaining that core values don't drive motivation.

"Most people at some point in their lives have felt motivated to live healthy," says Core. "Those same people have also felt unmotivated," he adds, explaining that the two sometimes happen just days apart. "In a period of days, your core values, your metabolism, the way you were raised, and your life experiences haven't changed."

What did change: your habits. Perhaps you stopped tracking calories or skipped a series of workouts and feel as though you've completely killed your diet. The best way to power past a slip-up: "Think execution versus outcome," suggests Core. "Re-energize and refocus on checking the box. Don't focus on what good things happen if you do, or bad things happen if you don't." And to make weight loss goals—and mistakes—more manageable from a success/failure standpoint, don't get too far ahead of yourself. "You don't have to change your life; you only have to change your day," says Core."

by Hollis Templeton, July 14, 2011 Chicago Tribune.