Four Plus One

When I was in High School, I took Drivers Ed just like most everybody. Surprisingly enough I learned a lot from that class. I’ll leave the fun stuff out and get right to the point. We discussed the four principles of save driving:



1. Aim High In Steering

2. Leave Yourself and Out

3. Get the Big Picture

4. Watch Out for the Other Guy

5. Don’t be Your Own Worst Enemy.





I am going to apply these principles to other aspects of life as well. I added number five because I think that it’s important when applied to everyday problems that we as a society face.



Most of us are looking to solve some issue or problem that confronts us with our everyday lives. So, many people are on the weight gain weight loss Yo-Yo. Let’s apply these four principles plus one and see if we can’t build a structure to cope with the weight issue.



Get the Big Picture





Ok so why is this a problem. IMHO, I think most people worry about the way they look to other members of society. We can thank T.V. for reinforcing this thought path in our brains. Can you even guess the number of imprints of the beautiful people that T.V. has left in our brains? Not only the programs but the commercials as well, constantly remind us about our imperfections.



It is important to realize that you can buy products to help you achieve results, but it’s up to you to prepare yourself mentally to succeed. There are a lot of forces out there working against you. Let’s explore the twisted signals that society has to offer us. What I mean is that society can rule the way we think.



Let’s compare the beautiful people image that has been constantly reinforced against the food choices that society has to offer. I really think that there is an important lesson here.

Count the number of fast food places in your town. Now, take away all of the ones that don’t jive with the beautiful people image. How many do you have left?



I’m not saying that it affects everybody in the same way. I’m going to venture the point that it is the cause of a lot of confusion and fuss. I present my argument in this way because I want you to give it some serious thought.

Let’s face it. The foods these places offer aren’t foods that are natural for our bodies to eat in such quantities. (Food of convenience is also fat of convenience.) –Just saying

Seriously, these foods are designed to appeal to our taste buds and not our health. I’m trying to touch on the point within reason. Unfortunately, these foods have become a big part of our lives. A book could be written on this topic but I have more ground to cover.







Leave Yourself an Out





Prepare yourself mentally to succeed. I don’t mean that you get up every morning and do 100 sit ups (although that’s not a bad idea) or that you have to be so regimented that it takes all the fun out of life. Learn to understand yourself. What makes you behave the way you do. What behaviors provide positive reinforcements and which ones provide negative reinforcements.

If you like banana splits, you’ll probably want one sooner or later. That’s ok. Just remember that there are trade offs. You need to leave yourself an out. An out in this case would be exercise, eat something light for dinner, read an article on nutrition and apply what you have learned. It is not about beating yourself up or depriving yourself. It’s about understanding your body and thoughts.

To put it simply, society has changed the game. (and it tends to slam dunk right into your face). Our food is so ready available and convenient. Not so long ago a person had to work so much harder for the food that they consumed. Not to say that most of us don’t work hard, but it’s different in caloric use versus intake. It took so long to hunt, gather, fix, preserve, and prepare, that the process would take most of the day.

There were no fridges, no baggies, no Tupperware and no electric ovens.

Have you ever use a wood burning stove? They use to burn wood to cook the food. I turned a knob off and on last time I used my stove.

Give and take- Give and take. You own those calories that you put into your body. You can either spend them or store them. Every time you eat something that mainly appeals to your taste buds, think of cranking up that wood burning stove to cook your morning biscuits.

Understand and empower yourself to deal with modern day life in a positive way. Own those calories don’t let them own you. Look them straight in the eye and kick their can. Know that you aren’t alone so many of us face issues everyday. Don’t blame yourself while at the same time understanding what is happening.

Leave yourself an out. Create a lifestyle that appeals to your health both mentally and physically. Eat foods that are healthy and natural. Get the most bang for your efforts.

















Watch Out for the Other Guy







Decide for yourself the value in a given proposal. For instance, there’s the no carb diet, the low carb diet, the good carb diet, the high protein diet, the no meat diet, and eat the cookie diet. For a lot of us, after the goals of our diet are reached (if you achieve them) we tend to go off the diet and end up where we began or worse. What is the new diet offering you? Is it offering sustainable results or just a few months of hope? The same thing could be said about the new workout machine or the new work out video.



Quite frankly the diet industry is a big booming business. The more people that you can keep on the merry-go-round the more money that you’ll make. Maybe, not in all cases but the fact of the matter is fairly simple. If you bring in more calories than your body uses, then you are likely to gain weight. So, I say kick that diet into the can and change your lifestyle.



Don’t let that T.V. screen get the better of you. A lot of the times it never looks like the picture. Have you ever gone into a restaurant and looked at all the pictures? That looks so good I think that I’ll try that one. Then after you look at it and hold it up to the picture, you wonder what happened to it. Did they beat it with an ugly stick before the crammed it into the wrapper and bagged it?



Again I’ll mention the beautiful people that society keeps pounding into our heads, do you think they stay that way be eating triple cheeseburgers? Not hardly! So, start convincing yourself that the choices we make as a society aren’t always best for you. Why do I say society? Good Question. If we didn’t make these decisions collectively there wouldn’t be as many fast food places as there are. Hide from them, I dare you.





Aim High In Steering



You are the captain of your own ship. Why would you steer that ship into the rocks or over the cliff? Would you take your brand new corvette and steer it into a wall? Why would you steer your body into a triple cheeseburger?



You are responsible for the choices that you make. Does that pizza look better in the box or on you? My grandma used to say a lot of things – “Pleasure is for the moment but guilt can last a lifetime”. It is hard not to live for the moment and it might be hard to change the old ways and behaviors.



Years ago I was drinking 4 or 5 sodas a day. I was worried about the additional pounds and the fact that my body was dealing with so much sugar. So, I evaluated the alternatives. The only one that I thought might have a chance of working was to switch to diet soda. I wasn’t crazy about the taste but I knew that I had to try. So, I found one that I could reasonable stand and went from there. It wasn’t the greatest at first but after awhile I came around. I started too really like it. Now, when I drink a regular soda, I can’t believe how much sugar is in those things. It is so much more noticeable now. WOW!



The one draw back is that I’m not sure how good diet soda is for me either. My point- it might be hard to change behavior but if you prepare yourself and stick with it, the new behavior will become second nature.





Don’t be Your Own Worst Enemy



It is so important to build yourself up and to have a positive mental outlook. Make a plan of action and stick with it. Realize that there are going to be ups and downs. You should feel a little guilty if you take a step backward but don’t dwell on it. Deal with it. Do something that gives positive feedback to offset it. Don’t let negative behavior win.



The diet issue becomes complicated because I think that people feel that they are being punished or depriving themselves of what they want. This builds resentment. An added problem is the fact that we love comfort food. While we’re eating it takes us to our happy place, but we pay the price later. I hope that I’m expressing my point in an understandable way.



Don’t let society make your choices for you. Plan to make yourself healthy and happier with a solid plan. The opposite impulse of the beautiful people and the fast food that our society promotes leads us to confusion. Then throw in a diet or two to really make things interesting.