High five-ables

How focusing on “High five-ables” can help you eat 80% less junk food

What if I told you that your personal trainer is not helping you lose weight? Neither is your doctor. Or your nutritionist.

Nope, they’re not helping you get a lean body.

Yes, their healthy eating tips are probably accurate.

And, the foods they recommend are probably great for weight loss.

But here’s the problem:

Despite all that, those experts are STILL giving you bad advice.

Let me explain:

Flaw focusers: Why heathy eating experts aren’t helping you

If you detail your eating habits to a weight loss expert, what will they do?

Most of them will find your flaws.

You’ll hear something like:

“You aren’t getting 30 grams of protein within 30 minutes of waking up.”

Or…

“You are eating too many carbs too late.”

Or…

“You need to eat more good fats.”

Blah blah blah.

And it’s not just the experts. You’re a flaw-finder, too.

But, here’s the problem…

finding flaws doesn’t inspire change for a few reasons:

1. Analysis paralysis.

What happens when you spend energy trying to find a solution to a big problem?

You get exhausted.

If, for example, you’re 50 lbs over weight, the hundreds of potential weight loss solutions will leave you exhausted from the research alone.

By focusing on the flaws, the problem keeps getting bigger.

Then…

2. Where do you begin?

Arming yourself with answers can be good. But, a laundry list of recommendations is not.

It becomes too challenging to try just one.

Why?

3. The problem has grown out of control

For example, at first, you thought you simply needed to focus on portion control.

Now, you’re being told you should be buying organic, gluten-free and cooking four meals per day?

Screw that!

So if focusing on flaws doesn’t help with weight loss, why does that mentality still exist?

One word: Money.

Many weight loss experts actually want you to fail.

Why?

The more weight loss foods and tips they provide, the less likely you are to meet your goals and more likely you are to return for more advice / products / services.

Bottom line: Weight loss experts do not want weight loss to be easy.

If they did, here’s what they would do…

High five-ables: Eating healthier with ease

A school kid named Bobby knows about high five-able spots.

Well, sort of…

Bobby was a troubled kid. At 15, he had poor grades, was rarely on-time, and was sent to the principals office on most days.

Sure, there was a lot going against Boddy. Tough home life. Born with a learning disability. And, he was already known as a trouble maker.

Counselor after counselor tried to point out what was NOT working.

But did flaw-finding help Bobby?

Never.

Finding the high five-ables did!

And it made changing his behavior easy.

No, Bobby didn’t become the model student overnight. Nor did he ever become the model student, per se.

But there was an 80% drop in how often Bobby was sent to the principals office and he made it to class on-time.

So what does this have to do with eating junk food?

The principle is the same!

Focus on the high five-ables and you’ll have 80% less episodes of uncontrollable behavior.

How’s it done?

Let’s look at how Bobby and his high five-ables counselor did it.

How to find the high five-ables that jump-start weight loss

There are three steps in finding the high five-ables.

1. ID the small positive sign.
2. Determine last time observed.
3. Duplicate it.

How did Bobby’s counselor do it?

For Bobby, it was important to identify the situation when he behaved well (step 1). He cited a particular teacher and how she spoke to him kindly (step 2).

From that point forward, teachers were instructed to replicate the successful teacher’s methods (step 3). Be kind, provide crystal-clear assignments, and check in often to see how he’s doing.

So how do we identify the high five-ables when trying to lose weight by eating healthier?

1. ID the small sign.

“If you wake up tomorrow, what’s a sign the problem would be gone.”

The key is to identify a SMALL sign.

Answers like “I’m a size 4” or “I have a six pack” are BAD answers to this exercise.

Good answers sound like “I am energized after lunch” or “I ate a healthy breakfast.”

2. Determine the last time seen.

“When’s the last time you saw or experienced a taste of the small sign? What were the exact conditions?”

The key is to identify a high five-able that has already happened, leads to success, and can be duplicated.

A good answer sounds like “Yesterday, I made an omelet for breakfast before work.”

Even “I had a bowl of cereal for breakfast” is okay.

Why?

Even though a bowl of cereal is NOT a healthy breakfast, it’s still breakfast. And THAT’s a high five-able, in and of itself. And that should be applauded.

Rather, it deserves a high five!

Finally, and most importantly…

3. Duplicate it.

What were the conditions the morning you made breakfast? Did you decide the night before? Did you set your alarm five minutes earlier? Did you shower a little more diligently? Did you eat with your spouse?

Whatever it was, duplicate it.

Bottom line

Focusing on the high five-ables are the ONLY way to make a big change to the way you eat. If you want to lose weight by eating healthier, following the three steps. By identifying the small positive sign, determining the last time observed, and duplicating it, you’ll find yourself:

• Eating healthier without struggle.
• Feeling motivated by the things you’re already doing.
• Being inspired by your own progress (a compounding, powerful effect).

And if you don’t know where to start, start with breakfast. It’s the easiest bright spot to identify, find and duplicate. Then, once you’ve mastered one high five-able, do it all over again.

High five!

References:

Switch: Discussing bright spots and Bobby