Happy chimp, happy life.

People often say that motivation doesn't last. Well, neither does bathing - that's why we recommend it daily.

Zig Ziglar.

Pedro is very happy. Some of you may have met Pedro before in a previous post, but in case you have not, let me introduce him. Pedro is my chimp. He goes everywhere with me, we are inseparable. He comes to work with me, he sleeps with me, we eat together, he comes on holiday with me, we do absolutely everything together. But chimps are high maintenance. Pedro can be really, really difficult to live with and that can lead to problems for me and those around me. Right now, however, Pedro is a very contented chimp indeed.

Let me explain. In his most excellent book, The Chimp Paradox, Prof Steve Peters splits our psychological mind into three areas, the Human, the Chimp and the Computer. This is his mind management model. These three areas work together as a team, but can quite often come into conflict with each other, especially the Human and the Chimp. Let me explain a bit more. Or rather, let me point you in the direction of someone who has done an excellent job of explaining things via this animation.

So, why is Pedro so happy? Well, his human is losing weight and Pedro’s getting lots of positive attention. People have started noticing that the pounds are coming off and all those comments, the positive feedback, appeal to the emotional Pedro. He thrives on it. According to Steve Peters, who suggests that the ‘Banana of Reward’ is an effective means of managing your chimp, 

“Common bananas for most chimps come in the form of praise or approval from other people. Most chimps look for recognition and approval from others; therefore to put this in place, as a reward, can be very powerful.”

Steve Peters, Chimp Paradox

Rewards can work in the short term, but you have to get your chimp on board if you are to avoid pitfalls along the way. Chimps are very good at the emotional hijack. Pedro is always on the

lookout for an opportunity to get his own way. He loves crisps, cake, pastries, beer, pizza. He loves pizza! And he knows the best time to get his own way, the best time to convince his human

Chicken Puttanesca

that he deserves a treat, maybe a take away? Life’s too short to be constantly on a diet, he’ll say, you can’t be expected to cook a meal from scratch tonight, not after the day we’ve had at work. And it is Friday, after all. Oh! and while we’re waiting for the take away we should have a beer and a packet of crisps in the pub next door. That would be nice, we haven’t been out for ages. After all, you’ve worked hard all day, and we’ll start the diet again properly tomorrow. And go to the gym. But will we? When we are tired, when we’ve had one of ‘those’ days at work and we feel the world owes us a break, it is so easy to succumb to our chimp’s charm. And who

Garlic Prawns

regrets it later? Certainly not Pedro!

So how do you avoid succumbing to that emotional hijack? You make a plan. Pedro is enjoying these rewards only because his human has put in place a clear goal and plan, with clear reasons which are important to Pedro as well. If your chimp is worried or concerned, it will make your decisions for you. We all need to manage our Chimps. We can’t fight them, they’re five times stronger than us.

Four weeks in, I’m halfway through. This is from where we set out:

Goal?    To lose fifteen kilos, or thirty three pounds, in eight weeks.

Reason?                    Overweight and running the risk of Covid-19 complications and other health issues.

Options?            Lose weight, 33lbs, eight weeks

What’s to be done?    Reduce calorie intake to 800 per day.

Who?     Me

When?     Now

Grilled Sardines

And the weight loss after four weeks?

24 pounds.

Only nine pounds to go!

So what have I been eating this week?

	Breakfast	Lunch	Dinner
Tuesday	Caramel Biscuit Shake	Banoffee Pie Shake	Turkey Mince Stir Fry
Wednesday	Caramel Biscuit Shake	Double Chocolate bar	Turkey Mince Stir Fry
Thursday	Banoffee Pie Shake	Salted caramel Bar	Courgette, Broccoli and Leek Soup
Friday	Banoffee Pie Shake	Indian Pot Daal	Garlic prawns and Grilled Sardines
Saturday	Butterscotch Delight Mousse	Courgette, Broccoli and Leek Soup	Garlic Prawns, Sicilian style Broccoli
Sunday	Chocolate Delight Mousse	Chicken Fajitas	Chicken Puttanesca Green vegetables
Monday	Caramel Biscuit Shake	Indian Daal Pot	Chicken Puttanesca Green vegetables

I tried out some different Exante products this week. The Chocolate delight and Butterscotch delight mousse were very nice indeed and I’ve ordered more of the latter. I would keep water in the fridge for these as I reckon they’d be nicer colder. The salted caramel bar and the double chocolate bar, also very tasty and convenient, are ideal for lunch. Again I’ve ordered more of these. The chicken fajitas were tasty enough. I added fresh tomatoes and a little tabasco sauce to them and they were enjoyable enough. Not one for lunch at work, though, as there’s some prep involved.

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