Why I Weigh-in Every Day – Creating Healthy Habits

October 6, 2019 3 Comments

How Weighing-in Every Day Helps Me Create Healthy Habits that Last | ChocolateMusings.com #tracking #habits #weightloss

If you’re working on losing a few {or a lot} pounds, you probably understand the battle with the scale. Should you weigh-in every day or should you designate a day to record your wins and losses?

Why I decided to weigh-in every day doesn’t have to do with continually checking my ups and downs. Instead, it has to do with creating habits.

I’m no expert when it comes to fitness, nutrition or weight loss, and I only have one test subject {which is me}, but I’m sharing my habits & my journey to lose weight and increase my fitness in hopes that I might inspire someone out there. Because I know some people have inspired me. Check out this post – 3 Things to Learn From Your Friend’s Weight Loss Journey.

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I also use this gameboard tracker to record progress in my journey.

Should You Weigh-in Every Day?

There are countless articles and studies on habits & weight loss. Some say that you should weigh-in every day, some disagree. I didn’t follow any given research, I decided how I would track my progress, and it’s worked for me, so far.

It’s essential that you get to know yourself and figure out what motivates you on a personal level to create habits and achieve your goals.

Why I Weigh-in Everyday

I weigh in every morning first thing because it creates a habit. Honestly, it’s not for the number on the scale, it’s because it creates a pattern, a momentum for the rest of the day. Since I chose to create a healthier lifestyle as a focus in my life, it’s my way of aligning my thinking every morning with the way I want to live my life.

Never in my life would I think that I would be an advocate for creating habits. But habits have been the thing to help me make the most improvements in my life. And when it comes to weight loss or a health journey, it’s no different.

What Does Habit Have to Do With It?

Over the past two years, I’ve read a lot of books on habits. If you were to ask to distill them all down into a one-paragraph summary, I would say: “Habits create a framework for your life. Automate processes for the actions you don’t want to consciously think about so you can focus your attention and daily energy on the activities that produce joy and significance in your life.”

In other words, I want to train myself so those healthy decisions (should I eat this, or do I need that?) to become second nature. And I have learned that if you want something to become second nature, you have to focus on it and create a habit so when the practice ‘takes’ you don’t have to think about it anymore.

Habit Books

Here are some books I’ve read on organizing, decluttering, and habits. I’d love a recommendation and add it to my list. Let me know if you have more to add in the comments below.

Many people don’t like to step on the scale every day and instead designate a ‘weigh-in day.’ When I forget on that appointed day, I would feel like a failure, even though it wasn’t a big deal.

If I make a habit of weighing in every morning after I wake up, and it spurs me into making the right choices throughout the day. I’m sure you know this, but if you mess up one day, it doesn’t mean you’ve messed up all of the days.

I know a lot of people and studies state that it is not about weight, it’s about how you feel, it’s about how your clothes fit, etc. Well, I’ve been there, done that and I cheat on it. So I need something tangible to track and action to do each day to focus on my end goal.

We are what we repeatedly do. - Aristotle | ChocolateMusings.com #quote #habit #handlettered

How Weighing-in Every Day Sets the Tone for the Day

Stepping on the scale every day helps me look forward to making healthy choices day-to-day, so I can see the impact it has overall.

I’m not saying that you have to create this habit for you, especially if it hinders your progress instead of helps you. I know it helps me and from what I’ve read and experienced, one person’s practice can impact you more than knowing the statistics from hundreds or thousands of people.

Habits & Weight Loss Tips

First of all, to quote Gretchen Rubin in her book Better Than Before I want to decide not to decide – I want it to become a habit to live well and eat right. Secondly, habit tracking has taught me that we manage what we monitor. I know that it works for me. I’ve been able to make and break habits in my day-to-day life.

We Manage What We Monitor - handlettered quote #change #habits #handletter #quote #handlettered

So tracking every food every single day and weighing and recording every morning helps me monitor and keeps my goal top of mind. But all of these things work ONLY if I make it a priority.

A habit will only successfully form if it is given priority while you are developing it. I found a quote a while ago “wherever you are, be ALL there” and I think that this certainly applies.

Decide on your goal, then focus all your efforts to help you achieve that goal. Track the things that you need to track, make the choices that you need to make, every day. Do the hard things every day. Eventually, these choices will sink in, and they will become a habit. That’s the goal for me. Focus until I create habits.

What’s working for me:

What works for me may not work for you, but feel free to take notes and experiment or try it out. I’m sharing because I hope you might find something to help you on your journey, whether it’s losing weight or not.

Make your health journey a priority.
Make it a project – choose to enjoy it.
Don’t try and get away with something.
Figure out a suitable compromise (have the eggs, sausage & bacon, but forego the tortilla).
Eat the things that give you the most return for your investment.
Eat your favorite breakfast, or drink your favorite breakfast shake to start off the day right.
Decide if it’s worth it before consuming it.
If you overspend for a meal, adjust the rest of your day. Remind yourself: just because one moment is lost doesn’t mean the whole day is shot.
Weigh-in every day.
Record every meal.
Record every snack.
Have an incentive to stick with it! Mine is if I cancel before a particular time, I will be charged a fee.
Plan meals ahead of time.
Get active!
Make it your goal, then work like it’s your goal.

Hiding in Plain Sight?

Many of these insights are hiding in plain sight and are quite obvious, but I tend to ignore the simple and look for something more complicated.

Keep in mind that what works for me does not necessarily work for you. You need to find your own motives and regimens that work for you. But finding inspiration from someone else is a fantastic way to start exploring your motivations.

The Most Significant Thing to Make a Difference (Hint – It’s Not the Scale):

I asked myself if I was really ready to make a drastic change – and my inner self agreed that I finally was willing to make fundamental changes without reservation. I’ve tried to follow the same path in the past, but I was never ‘ready,’ never fully committed, always finding a way to ‘cheat’ or get around the rules.

This time, I wanted it to be permanent. I wanted to create a habit in my life and change the way I carried out my life, so that means I needed to change my day-to-day functions, at the core, I needed to create new habits and break old ones. Part of that is tracking every single day and weighing in every morning.

What permanent change do you want to make (and what habit have you been avoiding)?

3 Things to Learn From Your Friend’s Weight Loss Journey

August 22, 2019 6 Comments

3 Things to Learn From Your Friend’s Weight Loss Journey {& How You Can Apply It to Your Own Goals}

3 Things to Learn From Friend's Weight Loss Journey | ChocolateMusings.com #weightloss #motivation #learnfromothers #habits

Here are 3 ways you can learn from your friend’s weight loss journey. Well, these are ways that I’ve learned from my friend’s experience. I hope by sharing what I’ve learned, you will find some motivation to tackle a big, looming goal in your life, whether it’s weight loss or not. I believe we can all learn from our friends. Here’s what I’ve learned (so far) from my friend’s weight loss journey.

Use a Fresh Start to Make a Fresh Start

Do you find it harder to focus on your health goals in the summer? I do. Usually, I take summertime as an excuse to do what I want without regards to previous set goals. With the dawn of a new schedule due to school back in, I want to refocus my efforts.

To succeed, I need to make fitness & weight loss a habit and learn a few things from my friend’s journeys in the meantime.

Learn From Friend's Weight Loss - share | ChocolateMusings.com #goals #weightloss #sharing

Motivation From Others

Creating a healthy habit takes time and sometimes, a great example. My friend, Ani, over at allthatlifestuff.com didn’t let down her guard over the summer, and her motivation and focus are really inspiring! I signed up for the program she’s on (even though I’ve done it in the past) and used some of her techniques to change my daily eating regimen.

She’s using a point system and tries to find meals or food that cost 0 points. If you get used to eating the foods that are lower points and you’ll have better success.

One of the hardest things for me to do (and I learned to gain confidence because of my friend) is to share. Sharing this very personal part of my life is oh-so difficult. I hope that by me sharing, I am passing on the goodness I’ve learned from my friend’s weight loss journey and give you whatever motivation you need to take on a big goal in your life.

Train your mind and create a weight loss habit, and you’ll succeed over time. I’ve always tried to find a way to cheat in the past. My mindset would revert to “what can I get away with?” Don’t make an exception. Decide if you want it or not. If you do, then do it.

Things to Learn From Friend’s Weight Loss: Don’t Try to Make an Exception Out of Everything.

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Learn From Friend's Weight Loss Journal Prompt | ChocolateMusings.com #journalprompt #journaling

Do you have a goal in your life where your mindset works against your progress? (Not Necessarily Weight Loss)

Learn From Friend's Weight Loss - Focus | ChocolateMusings.com #goals #weightloss #focus

Change of Ideals & Focus

After reading Ani’s blog posts, I didn’t want to get away with anything anymore. 17 days in, and I’ve successfully been below my point allotment every single day. Even the day that my boss made me Key Lime Pie for my birthday and I had a huge slice. I’m down 10+ lbs and excited for more.

On the day that I had the pie, I didn’t want to eat it (it was my 4th day in), but I didn’t want to be rude. So I figured out the points and knew what I had left to spend for the day, and I adjusted. I find that when I’m required to be too rigid, I usually snap.

Things to Learn From Friend’s Weight Loss: Focus

Learn From Friend's Weight Loss- No Excuses | ChocolateMusings.com #goals #weightloss #noexcuses

Past Programs – Past Experience

I couldn’t bring myself to do Whole30 again after I successfully completed 30 days because I felt like I was depriving myself and tried to rationalize the choices I was making.

Any time I start rationalizing, I know it’s not going to last very long. At the end of two weeks for many diets or programs is when most people face their demons – do they want to continue or not? I don’t feel any demons, at least, not yet.

Things to Learn From Friend’s Weight Loss: Don’t Make Excuses!

Learn & Build

But that doesn’t mean that I didn’t learn from that experience. Many of the techniques, recipes, and foods I found work really well for my current project. Do you believe that any single diet or regimen is the answer? I think I’ve finally discovered that isn’t the case. I like to take ‘truths’ from different sources and put them together to make the result that will form a habit. To make something that ‘sticks’ in the end.

What I’ve Learned from My Friend’s Weight Loss Journey (So Far):

Share it with others to push yourself forward & they will motivate you in return
Focus on your goal
Don’t see what you can ‘get away with,’ instead see how you can make the program (or schedule) work for you.

Do something every single day that reminds you of your big goal. Track your progress, create a habit in your life.

Choose someone in your life you can trust, and share your goal. Do not make exceptions for yourself.

You are the one who set this goal, so don’t act like someone else is forcing you to do it. Don’t try and ‘get away with decisions’. As I learned from my experience with Whole30, healthy living is a choice. Make your choice be to succeed with your goal.

This is what I learned from my friend’s weight loss journey. Leave me a comment of something you learned from your friends.

What goal are you working towards? Which family/friends will support you? Choose one (or several) to tell about your big goal. What small step can you take every single day to realize your dreams?

Find someone who motivates you and benefit on that motivation. Write down the things that they do to push forward in their own goals. How can you apply those principles to your life?

Weight Loss Tracker – Update #3 Giving Back Markers & Life Lessons

February 7, 2019 1 Comment

Weight Loss Tracker – Update #3 Life Lessons When you lose at losing.

Here’s an update on my weight loss tracker progress. I honestly never expected to regress in my progress to lose weight. But it just goes to show you that if you’re negligent in your daily practices and momentary decisions, one piece of delicious fudge turns into a pan of fudge. And one M&M turns into a bag. It’s the small-every day steps that affect our overall life versus a wide chasm.

A little summary of the incentive:

Every so often I measure my progress using my tracker in my bullet journal (this planner is an A5 Scribbles That Matter Dot Grid Notebook). As I lose weight or reach a milestone, I get to ‘earn’ Tombow Dual Brush Tipped Markers based on my progress. If I go backward, I have to give the markers back and re-earn them.

The motivation is to keep up the progress and not slip back into old habits and choices and make a permanent change. If I permanently change, I permanently get to keep my markers.

Emotions run high in this update. If you listen in my voice, in the video below, I had to gain my composure, not just because I lost markers, but because I had to admit to myself that I wasn’t focused and thoughtful about my weight loss.

Hit Play to Watch the Video Below – Don’t Forget to Click ‘Subscribe’ in the right-hand corner to subscribe to my channel!

Progress Update:

Last time, I earned 16 markers! I was so excited – and it was over Thanksgiving! However, I ignored my intuition and ate way too many sweets and other seasonal foods over the month of December. So I gave back 6 markers.

No, I didn’t put all my effort into eating right and feeling healthy through December and over New Years, but I’m not going to beat myself up. My mom and dad were here past the holidays, and I ate worse than I wanted to. I ate M&Ms like they were going out of style. Are they going out of style?

Weight Loss Tracker Update - What to do when you don't 'lose' | ChocolateMusings.com @ChocolateMusingsCreates #bulletjournal #weightloss #tracker

Lessons Learned

Like I’ve learned from Bullet Journaling – you don’t have to start on January 1 to succeed. You can start any day of the week, any month of the year any year of your life. I’ve also learned that my Bullet journal helps me be accountable, which is necessary to improve. Which means I report regardless of improvement or if I take a step back.

So if you want to try something or start something, don’t worry if the New Year came and went without you boarding the bandwagon. Get your team of horses together and drive your own bandwagon. Do it when you want, but make sure you do it.

I guess that’s why I called this a journey, and not a plane ticket. There’s going to be set-backs and rocks and potholes and flat tires. If you lose at losing, don’t give up. Straighten your hair, brush off the dust and get back on your journey, it’s not a fast track, but the process is worth it.

If you’ve gone through a weight loss journey – what did you do to keep yourself motivated?

~Tricia

Weight Loss Tracker Game Spread- Getting Healthy – Update #2

January 10, 2019 2 Comments

Bullet Journal Weight Loss Tracker AKA My “Jewel-Toned Journey”

Today I have an update on a post I did months ago. I call this my Jewel-Toned Journey weight loss tracker. No, it’s not Candyland (that would be entirely counter-productive for weight loss!) During November, I started Whole30. FYI, I’m not a purist with the program or dieting in general, but I wanted to use it to take control of my cravings and get control of my life. The goal: stop eating so much sugar so I could change my life for the better.

Weight Loss Tracker Game for your Bullet Journal - it's like Candyland without the sugar rush! | ChocolateMusings.com @ChocolateMusingsCreates #weightloss #bulletjournal #bujo #tracker

Printable Tracker Game Board – Turn anything into a game!

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I’m attempting to get healthier and lose some weight in the process – that’s the goal, to take control of my life and not let sugar control it for me.

Months ago, I dubbed my husband ‘evil genius’ because of his idea to help incentivize me to lose weight. Disclaimer, he only contributed ideas when I asked him to and loves me for who I am no matter what. He has never suggested anything without me asking his opinion first. He’s a good guy.

I wanted to track progress and earn a reward – but not a food reward. So the hubby came up with the idea that I could earn Tombow markers (which I wanted) based on success with my weight loss. But the caveat, I must give them back if I regress. This thought terrified me; this is why it took me so long to finally start working towards my goal because I wanted to keep the markers and never give them back.

Once I got started, I felt like I would succeed. Such a great feeling!

How I Fill out My Weight Loss Tracker Game for your Bullet Journal - it's like Candyland without the sugar rush! | ChocolateMusings.com @ChocolateMusingsCreates #weightloss #bulletjournal #bujo #tracker

How I fill out the tracker:

Each time I achieve a milestone or stop to measure, I will mark the tiles on the weight loss tracker board with the colors that I earn. Since each marker displays a handy-dandy number, I color the tile in and then label the color with the marker number.

On the next page, I draw a candy-land like card with the number and the color showing the progress. So not only do I earn markers but I get to play a game. I decided to call it my “Jewel-Toned Journey.” It makes a great Marker Swatch too! I think I probably should have chosen the colors for the best display of colors. Instead, I wanted colors that would blend well with the markers I already have.

Progress

I earned 16 markers at the end of 30 days of Whole30! I’m excited about my progress and anxious to keep going.

What’s even better, is I feel like I have control over my cravings and control over my eating habits. It’s a beautiful feeling. Very freeing and I feel like I can continue. I want to earn those markers, but what’s more, is I want to keep feeling better about myself.

I never wanted my self-esteem to tie to my weight, through the years of bullet journaling and developing other talents and abilities, I finally have come to love myself for who I am on the inside. Accepting myself no matter what is essential. It’s incredible to see that when I love myself on the inside, I can easily change the things I don’t like as much, and the journey feels easier.

Choosing Colors for my Weight Loss Tracker Game for your Bullet Journal - it's like Candyland without the sugar rush! | ChocolateMusings.com @ChocolateMusingsCreates #weightloss #bulletjournal #bujo #tracker

Color Choices

Choosing the colors is the hardest part! I ended up selecting colors that would blend well with the markers from the bright & primary packs I already own.

933 Chrome Orange
905 Red
873 Coral
772 Blush
673 Orchid
623 Purple Sage
553 Mist Purple
679 Dark Plum
743 Hot Pink
837 Wine Red
847 Crimson
228 Gray Green
177 Dark Jade
N75 Cool Gray 3
026 Yellow Gold

Displaying The Colors

The 96-count pack of dual brush markers comes with a desk-stand, Tombow does have an updated stand that holds 108 markers since they released 12 new colors. I’ve heard that the desk stand pieces don’t like to snap together and assembly is somewhat tricky. I didn’t have any difficulties putting it together.

If you don’t have something to track, the printable makes a great marker swatch.

Tombow Marker 96-Count Desk Stand - Fits together in a snap! | ChocolateMusings.com @ChocolateMusingsCreates

Want your own tracker? It’s available in my shop!

ChocolateMusings.com Shop - Find it in the shop!

I hope to finish this tracker by the end of this year. I’d love to know how you track big goals.
Do you have a tracker or method for tracking something over a year or a couple of months?

About My Weight Loss Journey:

I Did It…Or at Least Started – Getting Healthy and Changing Habits

November 15, 2018 8 Comments

Backstory & Disclaimer

Remember a while back when I said my husband was an evil genius? Well, I’m still scared, and he still is a genius. Not that I didn’t want to lose weight, but the whole idea of permanent change scared me. I’d have to give up sweets, treats, soda, all the things I knew I binge-ate and showed on my hips. If you didn’t read the first post, I would recommend it. This is my journey to get healthy and change habits.

Disclaimer: Here’s the deal, I write this for my benefit and accountability. I also write in the hopes that I may help and inspire someone else. I won’t approve comments that trash or are ‘judgy’ to me or anyone else. Fair warning: if you’re here to cause drama, move on. These are my opinions and my thoughts based on my own body and research. Now, as Forrest Gump says: “That’s all I have to say about that.”

Getting Healthy and Changing Habits

I window-shop for a program to help me change my soda-drinking, junk food eating ways. (I say I window-shop because I wasn’t fully committed and casually acknowledged various options.) But I hadn’t decided on a plan because I wanted to make the change permanent. No yo-yoing back to my original size/weight afterward.

I WANT permanent changes, not just a quick fix where I would balloon up again after falling off the proverbial wagon. Years ago, I tried The South Beach Diet, and that had the most profound effect on my body than anything else I’ve tried.

But it didn’t last. Boredom set in with the food. Sweet treats constantly bombarded my thoughts. I never reached Phase 3. Invariably, I started eating the sweets and treats before I was entirely over the cravings and fell back into the sweet-eating consistent consuming pattern.

What Makes this Time Different?

The desire was always there. But not the will to change it forever. Other than that, nothing is different, other than I have studied habits and understand my habits better. In addition to making a drastic change, I work on changing the triggers and patterns behind the behaviors I want to modify. See the list below for books I’ve read this year on habits.

But is the Time Right?

What in the world was I thinking to start a program heading into the holiday season? I was tired of looking/feeling the way I felt. Waiting for the end of the holidays and the start of a new year made me feel sad. I didn’t want to wait. I wanted to have control over the holidays and not be controlled by them.

My friend, Elizabeth, told me about Whole30 and what a difference it made in her mood, her ability to think clearly, and her body. I know it’s not a new program, but I got the book from the library and read it. It made sense to me. And I love that there is a way to reintroduce foods once you’ve broken the cycle after 30 days.

(To read about Whole30 visit their website: whole30.com). This post is not sponsored in any way, but it is simply my journey to a healthier, happier me. My hopes are that you will research and acknowledge your own habit cycle and make a change according to what you want and feel. If change is what you’re seeking.

Elizabeth was itching for an excuse to jump on the wagon again, so we jumped feet first, together. So with the support of my best friend since junior high (yep, I can say we’ve been friends for most of our lives). I started what I fully intend to be a life-changing endeavor.

A Phrase in the Whole30 Book Impressed Me

While reading the Whole30 book, I came across this paragraph. These words are how I knew it was time for me to make a significant change in my life. It was time to get healthy, make changes, and modify long-standing habits.

“Don’t even consider the possibility of a ‘slip’. Unless you physically trip and your face lands in a box of donuts, there is no ‘slip’. You make a choice to eat something unhealthy. It’s always a choice, so do not phrase it as if you had an accident… Don’t give yourself an excuse to fail before you’ve even started.”

Its always a choice quote | ChocolateMusings.com #quote #weightloss #bulletjournal #handwriting

That paragraph empowered me. I have a choice. After reading Gretchen Rubin’s Better Than Before and discovering that I am a Questioner tendency, the need for having choices and making choices is a very clear need for me.

For the longest time, I was afraid of losing the markers (again – see original story of why my husband is an evil genius) and worried I would revert to old ways and lose those coveted beauties. (If you’ve ever used the markers, you’ll understand.)

The package is 96 markers plus the desk-stand. Can you imagine earning those lovely markers in 96 shades and then having to give them back because of a poor choice? The thought terrified me. That’s not 50 shades of gray, that’s 96 shades of sad.

Bullet Journal Tracker

I made a tracker in my Bullet Journal to help me visually track my progress. 110 squares for success! I’d figure out what to do with the extra squares later. Maybe a check in every 10 days? It’s kind of like a candy-land game. I sent one to my sister, and she used it in her elementary classroom at school as a reading tracker. I’m very excited to select some shades and fill it in. Find it in my shop!

Gameboard Tracker for Bullet Journals, Planners, & Teachers | ChocolateMusings.com #printable #tracker #game #candyland

Printable Tracker Game Board – Turn anything into a game!

$6.00

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It’s a Choice – My Choice

Preparing for dinner today for the kiddos, I licked my finger, and it had something on the ‘no-no’ list. I actually spit it out in the sink and not letting it go any further. Here’s a secret: I’m proud of myself. I took the advice seriously that it was a choice. I told my husband that hypothetically I’d just fallen face-first into a box of donuts and didn’t lick my face.

Do you know what else? Since I’ve taken it to heart that I have a choice, the Halloween candy hasn’t really tempted me. It has a little, but not much. I hope this is life changing for me, just like the woman in the introduction from The Power of Habit (see below) who completely changed every aspect of her life because she modified her habits and rewired her brain.

The biggest thing is, after a week, I haven’t opened the box of markers and picked out the first colors as rewards. Oh, I will…don’t you worry. But the prize has now changed to the accomplishment of setting a goal and altering a habit for the better. The markers are now just a bonus. Fingers crossed I feel like this next week, and the cravings continue to subside.

My Advice?

My recommendation for anyone wanting to make a huge change in their lives? Figure out what your habits are, then study ways to change them. That’s how I did it. It may not work for you, but it’s made all the difference in the world to me. For those of you wondering: I still do the dishes every day.