Quick Thoughts

What Works:

• --Planing the day.  Deciding either what I will have for each meal or have a plan on how to approach the day's nourishment.  Could be an actual menu, could be an understanding of what will and will not be acceptable.
• --Exercise.  Feels great when I'm done.  Gives me a sense of accomplishment.  I find it motivating to occasionally tweet or put a status on FB saying I plan to run/bike/walk etc and ask for someone to volunteer to follow up the next day and inquire if I accomplished it.  Need to do that more often.
• --Talking to family and friends.  Not necessarily about health and nutrition.  Just being engaged.  Need to try to stay on the positive, but it's nice to know there are those I can unload on if need be.
• --Meditate.  Or prayer.  Or what have you.  I succeed more when I stay in what I've learned to call Wise Mind, as opposed to Emotional Mind.  It is a hard balance and Emotional Mind is very powerful.  It cannot be ignored nor can Wise Mind solve every problem.  But Wise Mind can give direction to Emotional Mind's potential.

What Doesn't Work:

• --Grazing.  I keep thinking just one more snack will satisfy, but it never does.
• --Eating to settle the stomach.  This one really doesn't make sense, but I often eat because I feel nauseous and think that a little something will settle things down.
• --Broad Accountability.  I find myself to still be a paper tiger.  What I pour out here is shaded and not the complete truth, though I continue to strive to be more honest with myself and, thus, with you.  That said, I have tried to hold myself accountable to groups of friends, but ultimately I am missing being accountable to myself.  Narrow accountability, like I described above in the exercise bullet, works very well.
• --Mind games.  I can justify everything I eat even though I know I am killing myself.
• --Couch Potato.  I don't feel as good as I do when I am regularly exercising.

These are today's thoughts.  Who knows what my list would look like next week, next month or next year.  Anyone else have suggestions of what does or doesn't work for you?