Greetings,
It was under the most unlikely circumstances that I stumbled into the realization that my adopting a few simple habits was far more effective in bringing about a change of behavior than my relying on self control could ever be.
Everybody that knows me knows that I could never manage to show-up to appointments on-time. I was never way too late, but definitely usually much more than fashionably late. The problem was so persistent, that during a family gathering; after being late yet again; I instructed my everybody to deliberately tell me that future events began at least 30 minutes to 1 hour in advance; that way I would have a better chance of making it to the event on time.
Not only did being late piss off friends and family, but it hurt my wallet as well. I have had to pay additional fees to rebook international flights, once I was stranded in Paris overnight (ok that was not the end of the world), and I have even been late to more than one job interview. I believe that I would have been late to my own wedding if it were not for my best man and a six 6''4' father-in-law who tracked wild game for fun on the rugged Ethiopian plains.
Fast forwarding to now.
To make ends meet during graduate school, I landed the perfect nighttime security desk job at my university campus. The job was perfect in every way possible except the minimum wage pay and the absents of any benefits. I didn't complain though, because, all I had to do was not fall asleep while sitting quietly by myself at a front lobby desk from 12 midnight until 9am. Hence I was basically being paid to study.
The only stipulations were that the company had a zero tolerance for tardiness, officers (that is what we industry folk call security guards) also were expected to arrive looking very professional and no one was allowed to leave their post except for a few scheduled bathroom breaks. Given that I have the bladder of a 2 year old; you can guess which rule I managed to routinely break.
With a wife, a young son and the expenses of grad school, I could not afford to lose this job. This was the only job in the world that gave me the opportunity to work full-time and study at the same time. This job was like graduate student manor from heaven.
At that moment I decided that I would NEVER be late; and that I would NEVER show up with an untidy uniform.
Naturally, I knew that having to leave for work at 11am was a "lateness disaster" waiting to happen. My history of being late only made matters worst. If I was going to keep this job, I needed to make what I thought were going to be drastic changes and I needed to make them quickly. In the past, I tried making promises to myself to always wake up a bit early, or pretend that the event started early; I even tried setting my watch forward. None of these things worked.
So finally, I thought to myself; if what I have been doing in the past wasn't working, isn't it time to try something new? With my family's livelihood at stake; I did just that; I tried something new.
The first thing I did was to spend 15 minutes the day before preparing everything that I needed for work. I allocated a special suitcase that only housed the personal items that I needed to bring to work. After packing it, I placed that suitcase in the car so that I didn't forget it the next morning.
I reserved a special hanger, within a special area of my closet to house my uniform, black socks and black shoes. After washing them, I also made sure to iron my uniform immediately and then place it right back onto the same special hanger in the same closet. The night before, I even put my wallet in the uniform pants, placed my belt on the hanger and tucked my keys and socks into my shoes. I basically took 10 to 15 minutes to go into fireman mode.
Having showered and shaved the night before, all I had to do is roll out of bed; throw my uniform on and head out of the door. Till this day, I have NEVER arrived late to my post.
Management has told me on more than one occasion that I am one of the company's most valued security guards I mean officers.
Being stationed at a dormitory lobby with no access to food (except a vending machine) also meant that I either had to brown bag my meals and snacks or order take out from the local fast food restaurants and gorge on overpriced vending machine snacks.
With a wage barely over 8 dollars per hour; it would only take a few deliveries to eat up (pun intended) my entire check! Ironically however, more often than not; I would find mountains of Domino's, McDonald's and other fast food boxes in the garbage as evidence of what the other guards consume during the shifts before mine.
Preparing my meals for the security job was the first time that I routinely began thinking about everything that I was going to eat the next day. At first I just prepared my meals. Four hours in, I would find myself sneaking to the vending machine to get my fix.
But over time, I also began preparing healthy snacks. I guess, mentally after, preparing a wholesome meal, it seems a bit wierd to not plan to eat a few nice snacks. I mean what type of person would willing place themselve in an environment (which they have some control over) where the only snack options are sodas, chips, cookies and candy (DON'T ANSWER THAT!)
Seriously, I began to notice that after a few weeks of eating only leftover dinners and the snacks that I tweaked a bit; I was losing a noticeable amount of weight.
Around the same time, I heard a lady on CNN promoting a portion control diet which instructed dietors to eat whatever they wanted also long as it was no more than "8 ounces every three hours"; This got me to thinking about my portion sizes. Before, the only time I thought about portion sizes was at the Burger King drive thru, "Um should I have the quarter pounder or triple whopper."
This lead to me undergoing a monumental experiment on myself; that changed my life forever.
I decided that because I would normally have two meals at work; and given the fact that I couldn't leave my desk; I would only prepare 16 ounces of food. I bought a food scale and simple place my containors on the scale instead of just the table. Easy enough.
Having failed at so many diets in the past however, I learned that HUNGER WAS UNDEFEATED AGAINST WILL POWER; so I had the good enough sense to pack loads of small snacks (and a few treats). Also I never went to work without my bringing my training wheels either (see previous blog post). I was all set.
I began the initial steps of eating healthy and I was never late again.
So let's think about it for a second. I didn't will myself to not be late. I didn't go to work empty handed and will myself not to order pizza and burgers or hit the vending machine. I didn't undergo any therapy sessions to deal with my tendency to be late.
I simply adopted a PROACTIVE habit which was STRONGER than my current bad habit while MAINTAINING a strong DESIRE to change.
Let me repeat that; I SIMPLY ADOPTED A PROACTIVE HABIT WHICH WAS STRONGER THAN MY CURRENT BAD HABIT WHILE MAINTAINING A STRONG DESIRE TO CHANGE.
My proactive habit coupled with my sincere desire to feed my family made it conducive for me to change.
You can do the same thing. Instead of simply trying to stop doing something; replace that action with a stronger and more positive action.
That is the ESSENCE of the 5 Rules for Healthy Living. I know that at first weighing your food can be a tedious; but you need to spend 60 days getting into the habit of visually matching what you eat with an exactly correct portion size.
Why do I always have to eat two vegetables? And what happens if I put syrup and cheese on my vegetables? That is no good right? Again, you need to get into the habit of buying more produce than anything else in the grocery store.
I know at first it can be painful to prepare a bunch of small snacks; but you need to get in the habit of thinking about what you are going to eat before you are placed in a situation to fail.
The food environment in America has become TOXIC. You can no longer GO THROUGH the motions. You must adopt a basic level of consciousness about what you eat and drink.
You don't have to take up yoga and fill your house with incense; but you need to increase your thinking regarding your eating rituals to about the same level of consciouses that you place on personal hygiene.
Food is not something that you should obsess about, but just like you wouldn't leave the house without at least showering, brushing your teeth and putting on deodorant (I hope); you shouldn't leave your house without at least a piece of fruit and/or other easy to prepare snacks.
Again, NONE of this advice will work if you don't have a SINCERE desire to change.
Happy eating,
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