Ketchup

I remember long ago when I heard about the Atkins diet for the first time, and thought with my own will power and diet prowess that this would be no problem...until that was of course I paid a visit to the local grocery store and began shopping for the usual suspects.  One after the other my wife lovingly pointed out with style and then some "that" was not permitted.  More than half of the items we would normally eat or otherwise purchase were not allowed on this horrid diet.  Most disappointing...was the ketchup!  The ketchup?  Indeed.  How could a man spit in the face of such a God who designed and gave us the blessing of ketchup, and permitted man to bottle it and set it up with other bottles of ketchup to meet and fall in love and produce mini bottles of ketchup and grow up and be sold in the markets for a profit...win-win situation is what that was! 

     I vowed that evenings at one day I would put initials behind my name, create a Ketchup and Bacon Grease diet, sell it to regular meat-eating people and buy stock in America's favorite topping.  That was until I was told that I would have to learn how to read if I wanted to go to college...and who's got time for that, right?

     And...here we are 4 months after January, continuing to write down a few things we will probably, most definitely do, if properly motivated before the time comes when we postpone that goal, because we simply don't have time for it, but we'll get to it eventually.  Topping the list - weight loss.  Might I make a few suggestions?  A goal properly set, is half-way reached.  This means that you need to write out your goal.  Why do you want to lose wait?  If the reason to lose the weight is not more compelling than sitting on the couch for half a year, you will never make onto the treadmill.  Picture yourself losing the weight; having already lost the weight; think about how great you will feel who you hit your goal!  Set a date, firm it up (eg- I WILL be at 200lbs by June 1, 2021.)  Then make a plan - How will you reach that goal?  When will you exercise?  How will you exercise?  How often will you be at the gym?  What time will you be hitting the gym?  Focus on the feeling after the workout...not the pain during.

     Now, put it into action.  Do something everyday that moves you closer to your goal.  Tape the goal to your bedroom door, your bathroom mirror, and the interior of your desk (not everyone has to know that you are aiming to get back into your speedos by the summer)

     Eat less in front of the TV and focus more on your food and it's wonderful flavor as opposed to responses and likes from all your "friends" on  Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram based on the snapshot you just took of your dessert.  As long as you are watching what you eat, exercising towards your goals set in concrete, I doubt that  you really need to cut back on the ketchup, but then again...that's just my humble opinion.