So – this was harder than I thought! Not only because I’m doing a challenge that kind of scares me (one of the things that I know works for achieving goals), but also because I’m going so public about it (another thing I know works for achieving goals). I’m putting myself out there in a very vulnerable way. And, I’m not going to be perfect. So it’s time to fess up and tell you about my first 10 days. Let’s get into my results so far.
For those of you who don’t know, I started a 100 Day Challenge about 10 days ago. You’re all invited to join me. It’s a way to achieve your goals by creating new habits and shedding habits that aren’t working for you. You can read more about that in my previous blog.
The 10 Day Update
Well let’s get right to it. In the first 10 days, I lost 5 lbs. That’s a good number, especially in the beginning. Reminder – My ultimate goal is to get to the weight I know I feel my best at in a healthy and sustainable way. That requires me to lose about 46lbs. I realize that I probably won’t get there in 100 days, and that’s okay. My aim is to lose 40lbs and then the rest after. I’m happy with 5 pounds in the first 10 days. If that persists, I’ll lose 40 no problem. I actually expected to lose a bit more in the beginning but I didn’t. And because of my commitment to logging, I know exactly why I lost 5. Exactly! Because I track everything, such as my calorie intake, expenditure, and details, details, details.
The Importance of Tracking
Keeping a journal / tracking is an important part of achieving goals. Everyday I’ve been writing down my weight, but also much more. I set up my plan to lose weight in a healthy way. I want to improve my health and weighing less is a part of that, but the more important aspect is creating better habits to help me take off the weight – and keep it off. My new habits include: Cutting out processed foods, Eating a plant-based, whole food diet, Cutting out alcohol, Working out daily, Meditating, and Doing something toward my goal every day (reading, listening to podcasts, etc). I created a log and I give myself a score for each action. When I complete the action, I give myself a Green Yes. If I don’t complete the action I give myself a Red No. (See the attached Log Sheet). This is key to seeing how my weight and my actions are aligned with each other. I know that lots of green is going to correlate with weight loss. Red is going to correlate with no loss or, worse, gaining weight back. This immediate reward for taking action is central to creating good habits. I am so competitive and I know that being able to reward myself with a Green Yes is the perfect reward for me.
What Happened in My 10 Days.
I mentioned before that this challenge was hard for me. And here’s why – I wasn’t perfect. I have too many red marks. So even though I lost 5lbs, I am not satisfied. I know that the number one block for me is drinking alcohol. Even though I only have 1-2 glasses of wine, that’s enough for me to lower my inhibitions and eat crap. It’s a downward spiral. When I look at my chart for the first 10 days, it’s obvious that the days I had wine were the worst days for logging many of the action items. The days I abstained were the best days all around. I know this already, but seeing it on my log sheet really makes me think about it. I want to see that entire log go green and that is the main challenge for me.
Moving forward
I’m taking an overall assessment of my actions. I have 10 action items that I log daily. At the end of the day, my goal is to have 8-10 green yes marks on the log. Then I reward myself with a green circle on my countdown sheet for the day. If I get 5-7 Green action items, I circle my day with an orange (warning) marker. And if I get less than 5 green action items, I circle with a Red. This system helps me not give up. I can see what I accomplished so far and I know that I have a bunch of opportunities to do better – every day. And that’s my plan – improve a little bit each day.
Habits
To create a new habit you need 3 things: A trigger, a behavior, and a reward. This is proven over and over again in research. For more check out Mel Robbins Podcast. She’s amazing at explaining things, super motivating, and someone I’m following on my journey to help me succeed. She doesn’t know it, but she’s one of my coaches. My trigger is meal time / workout time / etc. My behavior is what I do after the trigger – easy, I eat and I workout. My reward is placing my green mark on my log. It means a lot to me. Doing this as consistently as possible is going to create the good habit and replace the not so good habits.
Results
On day 10 I’m 5lbs down with a bunch of green Yeses on my log. I’m excited about the next 90 days. I hope that if you’re joining me on this challenge, you are making progress too. Remember, you can start anytime you wish. Let’s all move forward, get those Green Yeses and, no matter what, don’t give up.
Today’s Homework
Now that we’re 10 days in, I want you to reevaluate your actions and your goals. After reviewing your log, decide if you are doing enough, or if you need to step up your game.
Please let me know in the comments how you’re doing.
Want more?
Subscribe to my YouTube channel and/or John Garey TV to watch my new video series. Here is Episode 2: John Garey 100 Day Challenge, Episode 2.
Follow me on instagram for daily posts about my journey, behind the scenes peeks, and more extras
Next Blog Post
It’s all about food! What am I eating? What are my top shopping tips for you? What is my progress at 20 days!
Resources
These are resources we’ve created for you and some of my favorite resources on goal setting.
100 Day Challenge Habit Checklist Planner and Questionnaire
100 Day Challenge Action Plan and Log Journal
Goal Setting Toolkit: Why Behavior Change Often Fails & How to Set the Right Goals for You
(I LOVE Mel Robbins, and this podcast is pure gold. Check it out to help you zero in on your goals for our 100 day challenge)
Goal Setting Tutorials on JGTV – I created a number of tutorials to help you better understand goal setting. Dive in.
See you next time. Keep going. We got this!
– John