In this installment of Eating to Live, I’ll tell you, my four faithful readers, how the Purveyors of Pink Slime can help you in your journey to health.

I can tell you’re excited. You think you’re getting to eat french fries again, don’t you?

Actually, the story of McDonald’s is fascinating. Before it became the galactic, planet-eating corporation that it is today, it was just a small burger joint in San Bernardino, California, owned by Dick and Mack McDonald. I read the story recently in Michael Gerber’s book, The E-Myth: Why Most Small Businesses Don’t Work and What to Do About It. And while it’s a book specifically written for the small business owner who is setting up a new business, it has a great deal of application for those of us on the journey to good health.

Gerber tells the story of McDonald’s with the arrival of Ray Kroc, a salesman who visited the restaurant and saw its amazing potential. Why this little burger joint out of all the other restaurants and businesses he’d visited? Efficiency. They served a limited menu, and they focused on quality at every step of the process. As he watched them make burgers and fries, serving them to customers, he imagined how simple it would be to duplicate this process anywhere, with the same amount of quality and efficiency, no matter the personnel. It was then he got the idea for the franchise prototype.

This franchise prototype basically starts with the end in mind. What do I want my business to look like when it’s ultimately successful? How will we outperform our competition? How will we create excellent customer experiences? With that clear vision of success in mind, the business then begins to document everything they do — both the things that work and the things that don’t — in order to achieve that vision of success.

One of the reasons for McDonald’s success, Gerber says, is the system employed to ensure the quality and consistency of each and every item on the menu. There is a system for how to cook the burgers. There’s a system for how long they can stay under the heat lamps before they dry out. There’s a system for how much salt should be on the fries. There’s a system for everything, which reduces the need for a trained and highly-skilled technician behind the counter. This system guarantees that no matter which McDonald’s you visit — anywhere in the world — you’ll get the same menu, prepared the same way, every time.

So, what does this have to do with health and weight loss? Three things:

1. Start with the end in mind

When one begins their journey to good health, they, too, have to start with the end in mind. Why do I want to lose weight? Why do I want to eat healthy? Is it vanity? Is it to avoid a genetic predisposition for diabetes? Heart disease? These questions have to be answered to create a clear vision of success in your mind. Without a clear, concise goal in mind, you won’t stick to a diet or exercise regimen.

2. Systems, systems, systems!

Once your clear vision of success is established, you will begin to craft your unique and proprietary system which gets you to your goal. I’ve often called this “being prepared.” Based on the foods that you like, what will you eat? What will you prepare if your family is in a hurry? What will you do if you’re invited to a restaurant? What will you eat if you and your family go to an amusement park?

This road to health is a journey, and you are creating the rules as you go. These systems, these ways of being prepared, are going to keep you moving closer and closer to your goal.

3. Observe, Evaluate, Adjust

Because this is indeed a journey, you will have to figure out what is working and what isn’t working along the way. Be sure to keep track of what works!

I know that I can’t have Haagen-Dazs Sorbet more than once or twice in a month. If I do, I get on a sugar kick bender that might last for days and pile four or five pounds on me in the process. I know that every evening I have to prepare my lunch for the next day. If I don’t, I’m stuck at work with donuts, fast food joints and lots of other temptations I don’t want to face.

As you go, you will have to observe what you’re doing, evaluate its effectiveness and adjust it when necessary. It’s an everyday process, but you’re writing your success as you do.

The greatest thing about the franchise prototype model is the fact that success is guaranteed. Once a system is in place, all you have to do is follow it. It doesn’t take a specially trained nutritionist. It doesn’t take a highly trained athlete. It just takes someone willing to learn and willing to follow the plan.

Now, drop those french fries! Nobody said you could start eating them again!

What systems have you put in place in your life? How are they working for you?

What would you do to motivate yourself to reach a weight loss goal?

My friend Bryan would write a check to his least favorite politician.

Bryan is a former co-worker and friend I’ve known for awhile now. He’s a computer programmer by trade and, like me, has led a sedentary lifestyle for years. He’s rounding the precarious bend to 40 and has decided it’s time for a change.

As a result, he’s set a goal to lose just over 20 lbs. by November 24. His wife, Amber, a nurse and professor, has told him he can safely lose a pound or two each week, which should give him plenty of time to reach his goal. You can read more about the motivation for his decision here.

I want to dig into Bryan’s process because it’s a great illustration of how to make effective change in your life, and why I think he’s going to succeed — and probably exceed his weight loss goal.

Not long ago, I read the book, Switch: How to Change Things When Change is Hard, by Chip and Dan Heath. This is a fantastic read, and not only digs into the way our minds deal with change, but also gives practical advice on how to accomplish and sustain the changes we make.

The mind, they explain, works from both an analytical and emotional level. It’s like a man riding an elephant. The man, or “the rider,” as the authors call him, is our analytical mind, riding and directing the elephant, which represents our emotional mind, and is just as difficult to steer. The rider needs clear direction, a clear and specific goal to reach, and the elephant needs the emotional motivation to follow his lead. If you don’t have a specific, attainable goal with the necessary emotion to see it through, you won’t realize the change you want to achieve.

The process looks like this:

1. Direct the rider — create S.M.A.R.T. (Specific, Measurable, Actionable, Realistic, Time-bound) goals that don’t leave room for ambiguity. Don’t let the rider get lost in vaguery or endless options. Give him a crystal clear destination.

2. Motivate the elephant — find the feeling behind the goals you want to accomplish. Shrink the change and poke holes in the problem so the task doesn’t seem large and impossible to reach. The more accessible you can make the change, the more motivated you will be.

3. Shape the path — tweak your environment and surroundings to make it easier to change. Put your workout clothes next to the bed. Make yourself a smoothie the night before, so you can just pull it out of the fridge. Pave the road so that the ride is much smoother.

Now…about that check.

Bryan has set some very clear goals about his weight loss plan. He will eat vegetarian for breakfast and lunch, and then have a sensible dinner with meat as an option. He will run in the mornings, training to attempt a half marathon within a year. Clear, concise and attainable.

His motivation is two-fold. His positive motivation stems from his foster children, whose energy and attention are demanding he get in better shape. He wants to spend time with them and be around with them for a long time. His family has a history of Type II diabetes, and he doesn’t want to fall victim to his genetics.

Bryan has built in negative consequences to his actions as well. He has written a letter of intent and a check for $50, addressed and stamped, to SarahPAC, a political action committee for Sarah Palin, Bryan’s least favorite politician on the planet. He has given this check to me with instructions to put it in the mail should he fail to reach his goal on November 24. If he should fail, not only will he have donated to one of his least favorite causes, but he’ll automatically put himself on the mailing list of every Tea Party candidate within 500 miles. I’m sure he has nightmares about it.

He has effectively directed the rider with clear goals, he has created both positive and negative emotional consequences to guide his actions, and he’s continually shaping the path to change. I truly believe he’s going to reach his goal. Read more about his process here.

It can truly be difficult to make effective change in our lives, but it’s not impossible!

What change are you attempting to make in your life? 

What would you do to reach your goals?

In my efforts to reach my health goals, there is one opponent I battle more fiercely than all others.

This opponent lurks in every morsel, hiding among the sometimes misleading “serving size vs. grams per serving” conundrum, which foils even the most well-meaning  herbivores. I stumble into his traps more regularly than I’d like to admit, and when he’s beaten me, I deal not only with the ill feeling he creates, but also with the depressing results they show on the scales. He adds two pounds here, five pounds there — sometimes all in the span of a day or two!

His name is sugar, and he is a Ninja Assassin of great skill and cunning. You should run from him.

One of the maxims of the Esselstyn diet is that you should watch how much fruit you eat, mainly to avoid having too much sugar in a given day, packing on pounds. I generally try to limit my fruit intake to three or four pieces of large fruit, such as bananas or oranges, or maybe a bowlful of a small fruit such as grapes, all of which I love!

Fruit, however, isn’t the weapon sugar uses against me, however. It’s always the goodies. I will occasionally allow myself such treats as Blue Bell’s Lime Fruit Bars, or their Mixed Berry Bars. Sometimes, I will allow myself some Haagen-Dazs Fruit Sorbet. On occasion, I like to eat Kashi’s Cinnomon Harvest cereal, or something similar to munch on when I’m watching a movie. All of these items are loaded with sugar (not just fruit sugars, either), and I try to compensate my fruit intake if I know I’m having these desserts.

The problem with sugar, however, is its almost supernatural ability to persuade and coax you into eating more and more. I can never settle for just a bowlful of the cereal, or just half a pint of the sorbet. I eat it — I inhale it, truthfully — but don’t feel satisfied because these snacks aren’t dense foods at all. So I eat more. And then I eat more.

And then I don’t feel good at all, and I’m going to feel worse in the next couple of days when I see the scale.

The ninja has beaten me again.

The last few weeks, I’ve really been working on keeping these sugary snacks out of my stomach. The best way to beat them is to avoid them as much as possible, filling them instead with something else. I really like fruit, and the more I eat it, the less I need the super sweet stuff.

There are also a ton of quick and easy recipes online to make frozen desserts with fruit, or healthy alternatives to things like ice cream.

And finally, as G.I. Joe used to say, “Learning is half the battle.” So I leave you, my four faithful readers, with this great article, entitled, “9 Surprising Foods With More Sugar Than A Krispy Kreme Doughnut.” Number three was a COMPLETE surprise, by the way! The article comes complete with a chart of how many doughnuts you would have to eat to equal each surprising food.

Sugar is a ninja…everywhere and nowhere. Tread carefully!

As I’ve mentioned before, quitting my soda habit was one of the most difficult things I’ve done in this year-long process. I drank a couple of 20 oz. diet sodas everyday (and then some, on occasion).

I know there is at least one of you four faithful readers who is struggling with this addiction, too, and because I’m committed to helping you, my mission today is to pretty much gross you out!

Aren’t you happy you stopped by?

The embedded video, created by “The Crazy Russian,” shows the remaining “gunk” you’re left with after boiling a bottle of Coke. It isn’t pretty. And that’s kind of the point.

I’m a water drinker only these days, with the occasional 100% Fruit Juice not from concentrate, but only when I’m sick for the most part and very rarely.

Not only is soda of any stripe bad for your stomach and teeth, it contains a TON of high fructose corn syrup, aspertame or other sweeteners, all of which are scientifically proven to make you gain weight (yes, even the diet sodas).

I tried to do soda in moderation, but seemed to fail every time. I finally went cold turkey and haven’t looked back.

I hope this video will at least make you think about what’s in the drink you’re ingesting, and if you kick the Coke habit as a result, all the better!

Happy Friday! Enjoy!

A goal, if it’s a worthy one, is the ultimate test of perseverance and all-out tenacity. It’s often a perilous road, rife with potholes, pointless detours, inaccurate signage, walls, cliffs, chasms and all other sorts of calamities.

It can also be fraught with comfortable couches, warm and soft beds, really good television shows, and sinfully delicious food!

In either case, you can end up getting turned around, sidetracked, and miles away from where you need to go.

I’ve lamented this fact in previous posts, but here I will share something with you that has helped me navigate these obstacles, stay the course and shed 137 lbs. (and slowly counting) in the process. It’s actually very simple.

I find something to feel positive about. Everyday. Every meal. Every store visit. It’s my mental armor.

Aren’t you amazed? It’s confounding that I haven’t written a book, right? I should trademark that phrase before anyone else discovers it, right? Truly, all four of you faithful readers are too kind!

And yes, it is stupidly simple, but I’ve found it gets me through the lean times, the hard times — the times when I’m wandering down the cookie aisle, thinking, “Man! Vegetarians can eat some of this stuff! Vegetarians can eat OREOS! Why can’t I?!”

It gets me through the times when I’ve lost a pound in a month, or gained a pound this week. It gets me through the scary times when I have a little chest pain, or feel fatigued, wondering if it’s going to eventually mean another trip to the hospital. It gets me through the times when I want to eat at an unaccomodating restaurant with my friends.

It works like this for me: if I’m stuck on the fact that I haven’t lost any weight for the past week, instead of getting depressed and freaked out, I’ll sit down and take stock. How did it feel before I started this journey? What good things have I gained? Where are the positives?

Well, I can review my chart on loseit.com and see that steadily declining graph, detailing my weight from two years ago to today. Mine is over 100 lbs. Yours might only be five. So what?! It’s progress! You can celebrate that!

I can look at my bloodwork results and see how I’ve progressed, from a 220 total cholesterol two years ago down to a total of 99 today. I can focus on the fact that my doctor reduced my dosage on a prescription because I don’t need as much anymore. I can focus on the fact that I had to buy new clothes because my old ones fit me like garbage bags.

Maybe you just need to celebrate having a good breakfast this morning, when you avoided the cinnamon rolls and decided on cinnamon-flavored oatmeal! Find your positive!

There is ALWAYS something to be positive about when you’re moving towards a goal, and when you find that something, it will change your perspective in a tangible way. After all, why would you want to wreck a good thing?

The road to health is a journey. It’s not an edited, half-hour special where you experience a backstory, a commitment, a montage of exercise and eating right, and lose 100 pounds before a rerun of The Simpsons.  It’s everyday, decision by decision, meal by meal, and thought by thought.

Make sure you stay focused on the positive ones.

What are some positive things you can focus on today?