It has been a while since I first told you all about my journey into Pn1. I’m still working on that certification. And while I haven’t yet lost any weight, there are good things that are happening on the journey.
I’m getting my chronic binge eating disorder under control. It’s been almost two weeks since my last hardcore binge on anything. I’ve also changed some medication which may be an establishing operation, but I think studying Precision Nutrition had made a huge impact.
What do I think made things different this time? Well, first of all, my approach has changed. As a behavior analyst, we often say that behavior flows where the contingencies go. Small changes add up to big effects. Well, in my case, I did not follow my own advice. It was all or nothing. As soon as all was off the table, the nothing kicked in. I didn’t allow myself to have the psychological flexibility to do what I know to be the right things.
The turning point was really getting that the most important thing with nutrition, exercise, and general life is balance. Too much of anything and you get sick. Too little and you deteriorate slowly. There was a statement in the Pn manual that really stood out for me: Food is not a moral issue. There are no sins in eating. If I have a peanut butter cookie (or 30), I haven’t been “bad.” That’s just fusion, or a faulty rule. As we know, fusion doesn’t just disappear – this is something I’ll be working on for the rest of my life. But now that I’ve identified the real issue isn’t my committed action as much as my fusion, I have a way to proceed. More on that in later blogs.
This blog is a nice summary of why there are no good or bad foods. There is an advertisement for Pn products, but I do not profit off of them and should not be considered an endorsement of any one plan.
Getting a coach myself has also been helpful. I do need external accountability and having a coach who helps me clarify my goals is really huge. She also keeps me from trying to do too much too fast. Right now, we’re working on me getting enough protein during the day and strength training twice a week. This is another example of “I know what to do, but I just don’t do it.” My schedule is jam-packed with work, clients and such. I love my job. I love being a part of peoples’ transformations. However, I still need to work on filling my cup. I often put myself and my needs last, and am working on balancing the two. Trying to do all that things I supposedly should be doing is getting me nowhere.
I’ve also found that task analyzing each of the things I need to do and putting due dates on them really helps me see where I’ve been over-extending. Rather than putting something like “review article” in my list, I actually put the component steps in there.
- Print article.
- Read article 1x
- Re-read and take notes
- Review notes
- Write review
- Proof review
- Submit in editorial manager
See how this presents itself as more than a 5-minute task? You also have the plus of checking lots of fun things off the to-do list. I like that my task manager allows for several levels of sub-tasks, which makes things much more easy to plan. Again, more on that in later blogs.
So basically, while I’m still a little overwhelmed and overweight, I’m making small steps in the right direction to center myself.
And now for the exciting news.
I am honored to be working with some fantastic people at TeamABA. They provide a number of health, wellness, and sports performance services, all from a behavior analytic lens. We are introducing Precision Acceptance and Commitment Training, or PACT, an approach to health and performance using ACT as well as other behavior analytic techniques. The idea is to identify those rules and pesky thoughts that keep us from performing at our best. Much of what I have talked about in these blogs is addressed through PACT. Please feel free to contact me via this blog or email for more information.
Thanks for reading, and see you next time!
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