I’ve also taken Nichols’ 10-step formula to another level and turned it into a helpful series of articles for you to use right now.

So let’s get started.

1. Reset Your Default Mode

Nichols begins by saying that many of you like to reside in “familiar discomfort.” That’s when you are so used to being stressed out about your lack of motivation to both get started and follow through on your weight loss plan that it feels normal. This is the part that you have to reset.

You must get out of this “normal” feeling and make a pact with yourself to do something about it. And not only do something by make a specific “something” plan, which includes when you will start, how much time you will devote to this plan and who will be on your support team to help you when the going gets tough.

Sometimes it’s more than just dealing with your situation, Nichols says that the first step is to admit that you are overwhelmed and acknowledge exactly where you are in this process. You have to start somewhere and this is a good a place as any. Your starting point is where you throw down the gauntlet and make a promise to yourself that this is where it all starts. You’ve admitted that you are lost in this process and you need help. Now you need to take the next step and put one foot in front of the other and get going.

Give yourself some time to really go through all the moving parts along with the people who have held you back and stopped you from achieving your weight loss goals.

Your assignment:

For this week, reflect on what has held you back and create some alternative strategies that will help you to avoid going through those situations all over again.

For example: If you couldn’t afford the gym before, can you this time? If not, what else will you do? You can clear out a place in your home to workout and get started there.

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It really isn’t important what percentage of energy during exercise comes from fat or carbohydrate. What matters at the end of the day is how many total calories were expended.

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On the last show, I talked about my diagnosis of breast cancer and how it has changed alot of things in my life. Today, I am talking about my experience with chemo. I promise its not gloom and doom, it’s just my story.

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month so Feel Your Boobies and SAVE your life!

On the last show, I talked about my diagnosis of breast cancer and how it has changed alot of things in my life. Today, I am talking about my experience with chemo. I promise its not gloom and doom, it’s just my story.

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month so Feel Your Boobies and SAVE your life!

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by Carol Dunlop

It was a day like any other day in January of this year (2011). My husband and I went our separate ways to work, completed the work day and drove towards home. We had to make a stop by the tire shop, so I decided to accompany him. We were there roughly thirty minutes when Alvin, my husband, decided that I should go on home because he would be a while longer. So I headed home. I had been home about ten minutes when the phone rang. It was Alvin. He sounded panicked and unsure, and oddly, he was slurring his words. He told me that his whole right side was numb and he didn’t know what was happening. I froze in my steps and could feel a cold chill creeping up my spine. I knew immediately, that he was most likely having a stroke.

Read the rest of Alvin’s Stroke Story>>

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But that’s what makes The Biggest Loser so interesting. The catch for this season is that “if they choose Bob and Jillian, they may be eliminated in just a week. With the new trainers, they have four weeks immunity! But the new trainers are still untested so it will be a gamble.”

I can’t wait to see what’s going to happen and how its all going to pan out. Set your DVRs to start taping January 4, 2011. It is sure to be a season to remember.

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This brings me to my point about the Biggest Loser not being your answer to your weight loss success. Does it work? Of course it does, look at the millions of followers and conversations that happen about the show everyday. However, the kicker is it doesn’t work for everyone. One of the contestants even said now that she’s on the show, all her problems are solved. WHAT!!? How can appearing on a reality show immediately solve all your problems? Obviously, she doesn’t realize ALL the hard, continuous work that she’s going to have to put in before her prayers are magically answered.

The disconnect happens here. I love the Biggest Loser show and all the truly awe-inspiring stories that come out of it, but come on, you can’t expect to get all the glory without realizing the real work you’re going to have to do to get there.

This particular contestant isn’t alone, a lot of people feel the same way, “if only I could get on the show… all my problems would be solved.” Wake up! It takes so much work to get from being on the show to being an “after,” and enjoying all the glory. You have to be ready to change.

The feelings that are expressed about the show, aren’t unlike what you might go through in the real world. In the beginning, there is a euphoria about starting your new program and beginning your weight loss plan. But then, it becomes boring, hard, too much, time consuming, too difficult or any number of adjectives that I can list. It’s all the same whether you get on the show or you do it in the real world. Weight loss takes work and perseverance and lots of it.

Are you ready to begin your journey?

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