I’ll tell ya, it seems as though Halloween is getting more and more drawn out every year. People LOVE expressing themselves.

And although Halloween can be a lot of fun, it’s also a temptation nightmare.

So let’s talk…

No, I’m not going to encourage you to hand out whole grain crackers or raisins nor am I going to encourage you to give out individually packaged nuts. Why? Well, I don’t want your house to get toilet papered or egged!

By now, I hope you appreciate the practicality of my tips.

What To Do This Weekend

First and foremost, let’s make sure we eat a healthy breakfast shortly after we wake up. And let’s not forget about having some protein with our breakfast. If we fill up on protein, we’ll feel satiated for a lot longer.

Remember: If we’re very hungry, it’s very hard to make good decisions. It’s important that we have lunch and dinner too.

The #1 cause for eating poorly on the weekends is because we’re not eating regularly. When we ask our selves questions like, “Hmm, what am I in the mood for?” when we’re physically hungry AND able to eat whatever we want (because we’re not at work, etc.), good choices usually don’t happen. It’s much easier to rationalize eating poorly.

Reason #2: We don’t have healthy foods available (that’s our cue, if you’re running out of healthy foods –> go get some!).

Temptations will be everywhere today, tomorrow, Sunday and Monday.

It’s important to ask our selves the question, “Is this really and truly worth it?

Because temptations will be everywhere, that means we’re going to be constantly asking our self, “Do I want this? Do I not want this? Do I want this? Do I not want this.” —-> This is going to lead to discomfort.

Often we wind up giving in just to ease this discomfort so we can shut our damn mind up about the candy (or whatever it is) and not even because we want it so badly.

Read that again. Many times, we eat junk just to shut our damn inner voice up. We don’t even REALLY want it!

Being aware of this discomfort is very helpful. Now that we’re going to be aware of it, when we begin to face the discomfort why not laugh at it? Pretend it’s someone tickling your feet.

Just because it’s there, doesn’t mean we have to do anything with it. Let’s acknowledge it and move on.

ANOTHER QUESTION WORTH ASKING OURSELVES…

“Did I want this 5 seconds ago?”

Seeing a commercial for certain foods can instantly trigger a craving and make us feel good – because our brain will release some dopamine.

Two problems:

One. Although sugary, salty and fatty foods can make us feel good…it’s only temporary. Literally, the moment we’re done eating whatever it is, the good feelings it gives us go away. The extremely fleeting nature of junk – makes us want more and more and more.

Two. 5 seconds before the commercial started, we weren’t thinking about xyz junk. It’s important to remember that. Just like 5 seconds before we walked into the kitchen at work, the conference room, the kitchen at home, the party, the refrigerator, the pantry – wherever – we didn’t want whatever is tempting us, either.

Bonus! Don’t have a pity party. “Why is everyone eating candy and I’m not?!” Either we feel deprived in the very short term (like 5 minutes) – or we deprive ourselves of feeling as good as we can.

I’ll be the first one to say, as counter-intuitive as it sounds, eating junk is a lot of fun. Lounging around is too. I love cookies and ice cream as much as anyone. BUT – I have never felt better from eating poorly and lounging around than I have from eating right and exercising. (I know you agree.)

Said another way – it’s more fun to eat healthfully and exercise than the alternative. ALL that being said, if you want the candy so badly, and it’s really worth it to you, have a piece or two. But be sure to eat it slowly.

It’s amazing how some of us dream of certain foods all day long – yet we don’t even think about it when we’re actually eating it because we’re just shoveling it into our mouths.

Think about it. Savor it. Enjoy it. Pretend you’re a NY Times food critic.

However, be sure you pay attention to how you feel afterward.

Sadly, we usually realize, the candy (or whatever it is) isn’t as good as we imagined it would be.

LIFE IS SHORT…

We might as well feel as good as we can right?

So we might as well eat foods that make us feel good, before, during and after we eat them.

Also, having a game plan helps tremendously. If we can mentally rehearse what we’re going to eat before we go to a party, or even at home, it’s a lot easier to listen to our long term, rational mind.

Lastly, if we wind up giving in whether it’s planned, or against our desires, let’s be forgiving of ourselves. Don’t eat MORE crap to change the negative feelings you might get from eating poorly in the first place.

Ultimately, nothing tastes as good as being healthy and fit feels.

And we all know it. Just like we all know saying “No thank you!” is very empowering.

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If you’re ready to be your TRUE self once again why not consider joining MyBodyTutor? It’s 100% guaranteed or your money back.

Whenever a new client joins MBT, I always ask them a bunch of questions so I can learn more about them. One of the questions I ask is, “What have been your biggest obstacles in the past when trying to reach your goals?”

And, by far, the most common response is some sort of variation of: “I’m my own biggest obstacle. I’m constantly sabotaging my own success, and I don’t know why.”

Well, I do.

And it’s why I’ve been able to help 100’s and 100’s of people of all ages, shapes and sizes throughout the US and world get the body they’ve always wanted – and most importantly, keep that body.

It’s also why MBT has been featured on Good Morning America, Conde’ Nast, Shape, Thrillist, Fox, Inc. Magazine, AOL.com, MSNBC.com, Yahoo.com, Mashable, Huffington Post and countless other national media.

MBT doesn’t just focus on the tactical part of losing weight. That’s fairly easy. At MBT we focus on the critically important mental side of losing weight.

So, if you’re interested in knowing why you constantly sabotage your weight loss efforts, and what you can do about it, email me —> adam at mybodytutor dot com with the subject line, “I want to know why I sabotage my weight loss efforts.”

Why am I doing this?

Because what I’m going to share with you is very, very good. And because I’m obsessed with getting my clients results, I want to know that you’re at least willing to take some action and email me.

Here’s the kicker though: If you email me by Sunday at midnight, I’ll also include a free 10 minute phone call with yours truly, and we’ll talk all about you and your goals and challenges.

Why am I doing this? (Well, I just got free long distance. Kidding!) I’m doing this because I really do live for this stuff. And it’s a lot of fun for me to help people.

So, if you’d like to know why 95% of this world is amazing at starting AND stopping diets, and how you can overcome your self-sabotage simply email me at adam [at] mybodytutor [dot] com right now with the subject line “I want to know why I sabotage my weight loss efforts.”

As I said, what I’m going to share with you is very good. It’s helped my clients tremendously!

I look forward to speaking with you!

Anxiety is awful.

And it seems to me that anxiety, or any form of anxiousness, has a huge impact on the likelihood of us emotional eating.

Feelings of anxiousness aren’t fun. And when we emotionally eat – that provides a temporary escape. Of course, 5 minutes later when we’re done eating, those feelings of anxiousness come back plus we feel bad for having eaten junk. (This = a double whammy!)

To me, it seems that a big part of anxious feelings come from not getting things done. THEREFORE, if we could just get things done, we’d feel a lot less anxious!

When we’re not accomplishing our outcomes and tasks, it’s time to reset them.

Let’s take a looksy…

1. You’re shooting to accomplish Task B in two days.

2. Two days come, and you haven’t accomplish tasked B. FAIL!

What goes on?

1. Subconsciously, without any concrete goal set, we start working slower trying to accomplish Task B.

2. A week passes by

3. Two weeks

We finally finish.

What we had hoped to accomplish in one or two days turns into TWO WEEKS!!!

Crazy time wasted = more things to do = more anxiety = wanting to eat crap.

Tremendous opportunities to accomplish more things = down the tubes

Why humans suck with goals…

1. Anne sets a goal.

2. She fails at her goal.

3. She keeps working on that goal.

4. Crazy time wasted!

5. She eventually finishes her task without any rhyme or reason – weeks, months, years later!

Check it…

When we set concrete goals, we subconsciously drive our selves to complete Task B by Date T with maximum effort.

When we have no due date for a task, we aimlessly plow through our days hoping to accomplish something-anything-I’ll-complete-it-sometime.

Setting no concrete due date to accomplish that task makes us expend way more time than necessary. (A task that takes two days turns into two weeks because we didn’t set a deadline for it.)

TRY THIS INSTEAD:

1. Pick a task. (I will accomplish X task by Y date)

2. When the date comes, set a new goal with a new due date (with the original goal included if you haven’t finished it.)

3. Repeat

You’ll start accomplishing a lot more things, quicker, as you become more effective with your time.

BONUS! For tasks that take three minutes or less: do them as soon as you get them. Do not put them off.

Double BONUS! For tasks that take 3 minutes or more (but no more than say, two hours): Set a deadline. Say it’s 3:30pm and you’re about to start something that’ll take ten minutes. Tell yourself you can’t do anything BUT finish this task because you ONLY have until 3:40pm.

It’s one of the best games you’ll ever play.

You = getting lots of things done = on time = less anxiety = you not wanting to eat crap to cover up anxious feelings = you looking and feeling awesome = everyone wins!

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What good is ANY diet or exercise plan, even if it’s “the perfect one,” if you can’t stick with it? MBT has helped 100’s of people through the US and world get the body they want by helping them actually stick with it once and for all.

And because we offer a money back gaurantee, it’s risk free for you to try it out. What are you waiting for? Join now!

Who likes doing laundry?

WELL…I hate it!

The ‘Laundry Monster’ is something my mom came up with after I complained about doing laundry to her repeatedly.

No matter how many times I promise myself I won’t let it build up, I manage to do just that. And I let it build up until I’ve used every sheet for my bed possible, and every pair of random underwear and socks I can find.

It becomes a ‘Laundry Monster’ because I become so terrified of doing it.

There is just SO much!

And the best part? The laundry is in the basement of my building. So I can lug all of my clothes downstairs and machines might not even be available!

Ughhh.

HOWEVER, each and every time I do it – I’m always reminded that it isn’t so bad. In fact, the satisfaction of having my laundry all folded up, and my socks in little balls, and knowing my clothes are all clean is priceless.

I mean who doesn’t love looking at a drawer filled with socks in little balls?!

It’s really not that bad…

I just let it build up ’til it becomes this (what seems like a) daunting task.

But if I take the clothes from the hamper and then get on the elevator and then put them into a washing machine and add detergent and then put those clothes into a dryer – one step a time – it’s very doable, and dare I say – almost enjoyable!

The laundry monster isn’t the only monster I face though.

We all face the exercise, and diet monster too.

But, like with any monster – when we attack it, it always feels incredible. The trick is to not let the monster build up. Which means obeying the two day rule of exercise. We can skip one day, but we can’t skip 2 days in a row. (The exercise monster builds up quickly!)

With our diet, sometimes, we feel like we can’t make it through the day unless we indulge. But of course we make it through. And the monster is never as scary as it seems.

We have other monsters as well.

Whether it’s work related, house related, relationship related, you name it. And not attacking them adds a level of stress and anxiety to our lives. We think about it, and we put a band-aid on it. We start to take action and we figure out a temporary solution.

My Wednesday challenge for you is to attack full force any “Monsters” that you may have lingering. They can be as simple as a closet that needs to be cleaned that you keep putting off to a big project for work.

Whatever you know that needs to get done – that you keep putting off – why not do it this week? (And if you need help, get it. That’s part of attacking monsters.)

If not now, then when?

Just start with one step today! Attack it for 10 minutes. You’ll be glad you did and you’ll realize it’s not nearly as bad as you thought it was going to be.

The less ‘Monsters’ we have, the less anxious we’ll be. And the less anxious we are, the less likely we’ll be to eat emotionally, mindlessly or habitually.

Attack those monsters! Let’s go!

I got your back!

P.S. If you asked me to pass on one mantra – and ONE mantra only – to a loved one, mine, without question would be, “The monster is never as scary as it seems.” I’ve believed this for a long time. So much so, that when #1 New Times Bestselling author, Gretchen Rubin, interviewed me for her blog, I wrote all about monsters! You can read the interview here.