My current habits

So now that we have established that I think the way to a healthy BMI is by modifying habits, it's time to get to work on a couple. Remember, a couple at a time was what I am going for, being mindful of a limited amount of willpower and the need to spend it wisely.

Here are the two I've picked. These may seem obvious, but there are reasons for going for these which I will explain as we go.

1. Formal exercise 5 days a week.

Ok, let's get something clear from the outset. If you are going to set out to reduce your body mass - exercising is not the way to do it. I can tell you this from bitter, bitter experience. Over my life, I have always been pretty active and either played sport or been involved in some kind of structured exercise. The catch is, if you aren't careful, exercising is going to make you eat more, and for me, the harder I train, the more I eat and the more the amount of excess fat I carry stays the same.

So why chose this as number 1? First of all, I was already a pretty regular exerciser, I just let the habit atrophy a bit towards the back end of last year. Old habits are much easier to re-instate that new ones are to make, so I wanted some early success. My ban on the use of my smartphone in the morning really helped this one, and today I was in my gym gear and walking down the road before I really thought about it. I am nowhere near 66 days in a row on this one, but it feels like its locked. The test will be a trip to Adelaide this week. If I do it when the environment changes, then it will be truly locked in.

Secondly, going to the gym can help change your mindset, which I will get to in a later post.

2. Food tracking 3 days a week.

This one is absolutely key. I have chosen 3 days a week because this one is hard. It seems easy, but I chose 3 days because I am being conservative on the amount of willpower I have, and I am trying to sneak up on this one.

Here's why this one is so important.

First of all - the program that works is the one you stick to. I chose Weight Watchers, for reasons that will take up another whole post, but I don't actually think this matters.

Secondly, and most importantly, I am trying to solve this problem like an engineer ( I am an engineer).  For this, I am assuming that my body is a largely automated system, and something has gone haywire with the energy intake system. In order to work out what that is, I need to find out where the excess energy is going in, and eliminate it. For this I need data, and until someone invents a device that automatically monitors energy input, I am stuck with tracking.

It's a Plan - Do - Check - Act loop. 

If I can get to the point where I pull out my smart phone and track after eating, as mindlessly as checking facebook, then I am more than halfway there.