Even great football teams have weaknesses. But they know their own weaknesses and take great care to not let those weaknesses bring them down. Think about your weaknesses and be ready to bring in a free safety or an extra blocker.
Food & Drink
When it comes to weight management weaknesses, I know where to look. For me, it’s all about ice cream, beer, and third helpings. If I can stop eating pints of Ben & Jerry’s, limit the number of days when I drink beer, and stop eating when I’m full, I have a fighting chance of at least playing solid defense.
Pay attention to your own habits, and notice which items you tend to overdo. Just noticing this will go a long way when you find yourself at Thursday of an offense week and you’re a little heavier than you were at the start of the week.
Emotional Triggers
Sometimes I eat because I’m hungry. Sometimes I eat because I had a hard day. Sometimes I tell myself I deserve a 3rd beer, a 3rd helping, and an extra scoop of ice cream, even though it’s going to make me feel like crap afterwards. I’m trying to get better at noticing when I tell myself I deserve it and will feel better, because the truth is I also deserve to be healthy, and unhealthy eating doesn’t actually make me feel better.
Situations
Again, notice the situations where you’re more likely to fumble the ball. Come up with strategies to protect the ball in these situations.
There are two situations I’ve learned to watch out for. The first is when I come home from work. I love to walk through the door, open the refridgeerator door, and pop open a beer. What I’ve found is that if I can make it past the first few minutes after coming home, the frantic desire for a beer declines dramatically. If I have a pitcher of ice tea ready in the fridge, and I pour myself a glass of ice tea when I get home, I’m not nearly so tempted by the beer.
The second situation, before which I am almost helpless, is free food. I don’t know why, but it’s very very hard for me to pass up free food. This includes anything where I don’t have to pay extra for more helpings, like at a buffet. To tell the truth, I haven’t figured out how to deal with this one yet. I rely on will power, and my will power is usually no match for free food, even on an offense week. Sigh…
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