I need some help today to understand something. I've heard this over and over again and I'm just a bit confused. Anybody want to help me out?
Here's what has me confused: I've heard from several people lately who were on plan and doing well at one point, but now say that they're too busy to stay on plan right now and will get back to 5&1 when things settle down.
Maybe it's because I found Take Shape for Life/Medifast to be the easiest plan I ever did, but I'm frankly at a loss to understand how it's possible to be too busy to grab a packet (or, more simply, a crunch bar or a bag of pretzels or cheese puffs). I am assuming that regardless of how busy we are, at some point in our day we do eventually put something in our mouths, right? Even though I'm in maintenance, if I have a crazy-busy day, I'll eat Medifast meals throughout the day. I may be too busy to fix something else, but I have bars, pretzels or cheese puffs with me wherever I am, and I always have water.
Here's what I *think* might really be going on, based on my own past experience with food. When I'd get really busy and that busyness resulted in lots of extra stress, it wasn't so much that I didn't have time to diet as it was that I didn't want to. I rationalized that being extra busy and stressed meant I "deserved" to take a break and treat myself - I deserved to eat what I wanted and reward myself because I was working so hard.
I'm not meaning to be at all harsh or difficult here, and I hope that those of you who've read my blogs for a while have gotten a glimpse of my heart and know how much I care about people and how much I want everyone to get to a healthy weight. I struggled with morbid obesity for so many years and I know how hard it is to change entrenched habits. Past attempts at losing weight were always subject to the whims of weather, mood, how busy I was, etc. etc. The reality is that it didn't take much for me to decide that "today isn't a good diet day" - I cut myself slack all the time. The problem was that life continued to be busy, living in Michigan meant that the weather was often not to my liking, and hormones varied my mood some days moment to moment. It all added up to lots of days that weren't "good diet days."
Funny thing happened, however. One day I was ready - really ready - to make a change in my life. I made the fundamental decision to get to a healthy weight. Once I did that, my life didn't slow down, the weather in Michigan didn't improve, and my hormones . . . don't even go there! Only this time none of this mattered when it came to whether or not I was going to stay on plan. That certainly doesn't mean it was easy, because sometimes it was incredibly hard and sometimes the last thing I wanted to do in the morning was face a day filled with 5 Medifast meals and a "boring lean and green." But even being tired of the program didn't alter the fact that I'd made a fundamental choice to get healthy. As a result, as each challenge came (and trust me, they came), I figured out what I needed to do to stay on plan.
In the end, whether or not we choose to stay on plan probably depends less on how busy our schedule is and more on whether or not we've made the decision to just do it. The choice is yours . . . choose wisely :-)
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Tweaking and Out-Smarting - Again!
I had a rather interesting conversation with a dear friend a couple of days ago. She was on Take Shape for Life/Medifast 5&1 a couple of years ago, lost quite a bit of weight, lost focus and ended up gaining it all back. That's the bad news. The good news is that because she remembered how great she felt on the program and knew she lost weight quickly, when she was finally ready to lose weight again, she came back to this program - didn't even consider anything else.
She's been on the program for about three weeks, and what was interesting was her comment that she was a bit disappointed because she wasn't losing weight as fast this time. I tried to be helpful, so I went over with her what she was eating every day. As it turns out, she was eating her five Medifast meals, having an on-program lean and green, and snacking on baby carrots. She admitted that the snack wasn't exactly on plan, but reasoned that this was a much better choice than eating cookies.
Now while I won't disagree for a minute that eating baby carrots is an infinitely better choice than eating cookies, the reality is that the carrots are still off-plan and were keeping her out of the fat-burning state. As a result, her weight loss, while good, was less than it could have been.
I share this only because this is so like ALL of us . . . we want the results but sometimes don't want to follow the process to get those results. We may try to tweak or otherwise do our own thing with this program, but the honest truth is that if we do, we simply won't get the results we want when we want them. We may decide that we're going to stay on plan during the week and take the weekends off, and we're free to do that, as long as we understand that working the program that way isn't really working the program.
When I started on 5&1, one of the things I loved about this program was knowing that I didn't have to think about what I needed to eat. I didn't have to count anything, just open my packets and make sure I had my lean and green. The simplicity was a welcome relief after years of counting carbs, calories, fat grams or points. I was sick of being obese and ready to follow the program exactly if it promised to get me to a healthy weight. I did and it did :-).
You certainly don't have to follow this program as written - you are free to tweak this in any way that you want. Just tweak away with an awareness that you'll not reach your goal as fast. I shared a story a few weeks ago, but I'll share it again in case some of you missed it. A husband and wife started this program at the same time and both followed 5&1, eating five Medifast meals and their lean and green each day. The only difference was that the husband had a glass of wine every evening and his wife didn't. In the same amount of time that his wife lost 50 pounds, he lost 20 (and men usually lose faster than women!). I don't know about you, but no off-plan food would have been worth taking over twice as long to lose the 126 pounds I needed to lose!
The choice is yours - choose wisely :-)
She's been on the program for about three weeks, and what was interesting was her comment that she was a bit disappointed because she wasn't losing weight as fast this time. I tried to be helpful, so I went over with her what she was eating every day. As it turns out, she was eating her five Medifast meals, having an on-program lean and green, and snacking on baby carrots. She admitted that the snack wasn't exactly on plan, but reasoned that this was a much better choice than eating cookies.
Now while I won't disagree for a minute that eating baby carrots is an infinitely better choice than eating cookies, the reality is that the carrots are still off-plan and were keeping her out of the fat-burning state. As a result, her weight loss, while good, was less than it could have been.
I share this only because this is so like ALL of us . . . we want the results but sometimes don't want to follow the process to get those results. We may try to tweak or otherwise do our own thing with this program, but the honest truth is that if we do, we simply won't get the results we want when we want them. We may decide that we're going to stay on plan during the week and take the weekends off, and we're free to do that, as long as we understand that working the program that way isn't really working the program.
When I started on 5&1, one of the things I loved about this program was knowing that I didn't have to think about what I needed to eat. I didn't have to count anything, just open my packets and make sure I had my lean and green. The simplicity was a welcome relief after years of counting carbs, calories, fat grams or points. I was sick of being obese and ready to follow the program exactly if it promised to get me to a healthy weight. I did and it did :-).
You certainly don't have to follow this program as written - you are free to tweak this in any way that you want. Just tweak away with an awareness that you'll not reach your goal as fast. I shared a story a few weeks ago, but I'll share it again in case some of you missed it. A husband and wife started this program at the same time and both followed 5&1, eating five Medifast meals and their lean and green each day. The only difference was that the husband had a glass of wine every evening and his wife didn't. In the same amount of time that his wife lost 50 pounds, he lost 20 (and men usually lose faster than women!). I don't know about you, but no off-plan food would have been worth taking over twice as long to lose the 126 pounds I needed to lose!
The choice is yours - choose wisely :-)
Monday, March 29, 2010
Getting Our Wag Back
A friend recently related a true story to me that he found most ironic, and after hearing the story, I had to agree. He was visiting a friend and as they chatted, they snacked on a variety of typical snack foods, including taco chips. His friend's dog came over to sniff at what they were eating, which prompted his friend to quickly say, "Don't feed this stuff to the dog -it's not good for him." My friend couldn't help but wonder, "If we wouldn't feed this to a dog, why are we eating it ourselves?"
Good question! It's ironic that we are at a point in this country where we are feeding our pets better than many of us are feeding ourselves. The pet food industry is big business and there is a lot of emphasis on feeding our pets nutritious food. People who eat all kinds of junk food themselves are often incredibly particular about what they feed their pets, spending top dollar to purchase healthy, nutrient-rich food for Fido or Fluffy.
Honest, I am a dog lover and adored the dogs we had (we have been pet-less for the past few years, but I enjoy lots of doggie love when I visit my daughters). I'm certainly not advocating feeding our pets table scraps, especially since much of the table scraps today would make them sick. Why wouldn't they make our pets sick? What so many of us have been eating has made us sick, too! I find it ironic that so many people who carefully read pet food labels mindlessly shove unhealthy food into their own bodies (and the bodies of their children . . . )
One of the things that amazes people shortly after starting on Take Shape for Life/Medifast is how good they feel. People pretty quickly start feeling more energetic and have an all-around sense of well-being - I know I did. When I shifted to this nutrient-dense program and eliminated all of the empty calories I had been consuming every day, I realized that even though I was taking in far fewer calories than before, I was getting much better nutrition. As a result, I definitely got the "wag back in my tail" :-)
This isn't a diet - it's a nutritional program that helps us get to a healthy weight in a healthy way, and teaches us how to change our eating habits so that we stay there for the rest of our lives. If we embrace this concept and are willing to make permanent changes in what we eat and how we relate to food, this program will change our lives. Are you ready to make permanent changes in your life and "get the wag" back? Those changes will happen one day and one choice at a time - choose wisely :-)
Good question! It's ironic that we are at a point in this country where we are feeding our pets better than many of us are feeding ourselves. The pet food industry is big business and there is a lot of emphasis on feeding our pets nutritious food. People who eat all kinds of junk food themselves are often incredibly particular about what they feed their pets, spending top dollar to purchase healthy, nutrient-rich food for Fido or Fluffy.
Honest, I am a dog lover and adored the dogs we had (we have been pet-less for the past few years, but I enjoy lots of doggie love when I visit my daughters). I'm certainly not advocating feeding our pets table scraps, especially since much of the table scraps today would make them sick. Why wouldn't they make our pets sick? What so many of us have been eating has made us sick, too! I find it ironic that so many people who carefully read pet food labels mindlessly shove unhealthy food into their own bodies (and the bodies of their children . . . )
One of the things that amazes people shortly after starting on Take Shape for Life/Medifast is how good they feel. People pretty quickly start feeling more energetic and have an all-around sense of well-being - I know I did. When I shifted to this nutrient-dense program and eliminated all of the empty calories I had been consuming every day, I realized that even though I was taking in far fewer calories than before, I was getting much better nutrition. As a result, I definitely got the "wag back in my tail" :-)
This isn't a diet - it's a nutritional program that helps us get to a healthy weight in a healthy way, and teaches us how to change our eating habits so that we stay there for the rest of our lives. If we embrace this concept and are willing to make permanent changes in what we eat and how we relate to food, this program will change our lives. Are you ready to make permanent changes in your life and "get the wag" back? Those changes will happen one day and one choice at a time - choose wisely :-)
Sunday, March 28, 2010
Choosing to Change Our Choices
After being gone last week, I'm happy to be home and also happy to be back blogging :-). We had a wonderful time at the resort in the Dominican Republic, where we soaked up a lot of sun, did a ton of walking, and just relaxed with a group of friends. Because we stayed active and were semi-mindful of what we ate, the scale was pretty gentle to us when we got home - always a welcome relief! My husband and I have both cut back for a few days and picked up some additional Medifast meals to enable us to quickly return to our pre-trip weight. I love how easy this program makes it to lose weight AND maintain our healthy weight!
The challenge we face, whether we're in the weight loss 5&1 phase of this program or well into maintenance, is being willing to make the changes required. I don't know about you, but I still fight the "want my cake and eat it, too" mindset, and I'm not talking about a Medifast "shake cake", either :-). As I've shared in the past, I still have what I call my "fat girl" taste buds - every fattening food I ever enjoyed at 268 pounds still sounds and frankly tastes as good to me as it ever did. I have to choose whether or not I'm going to make healthy choices: to have baked chicken instead of fried (even though, truth be told, I prefer fried . . . ), to skip the loaded baked potato and have steamed vegetables instead, etc. Almost two years into maintenance finds me making the healthier option the vast majority of the time because, honest to goodness, nothing - NOTHING - tastes as good as thin feels :-). That doesn't make it easy all the time, but it DOES make it worth it!
When I was on Take Shape for Life/Medifast 5&1, learning to say "no" to things that weren't on plan helped me change my mindset about food. I'm pretty strong-willed and not a particularly compliant person (honest!), so learning to be compliant on a very structured program was a big deal to me. Getting the results I wanted meant I couldn't tweak things to my liking, and it signaled the end of trying to rationalize and "outsmart" a program, something I did on every other program I'd ever done.
Getting the results we want (reaching our goal) in the time frame we want them (which I assume is "as fast as possible", right?) requires following the program. Period. That doesn't mean that if someone goes off plan, they're destined to fail, because that's not true at all. What I have observed, however, is that the individuals who DO reach goal eventually get to the point where they're ready to follow the program. They may have gone on and off plan at some point, but when they make the decision to get to their goal, the off-plan eating comes to an end. At the point a person is ready to really do it, they figure out what they need to do to make it happen. Funny thing, too - once they make that decision and go for it, they finally get there!
It always comes down to choices, doesn't it? Once we know what we want, the choices we need to make become clear. Do you know what you want today? If so, focus on that and then, of course, choose wisely :-)
The challenge we face, whether we're in the weight loss 5&1 phase of this program or well into maintenance, is being willing to make the changes required. I don't know about you, but I still fight the "want my cake and eat it, too" mindset, and I'm not talking about a Medifast "shake cake", either :-). As I've shared in the past, I still have what I call my "fat girl" taste buds - every fattening food I ever enjoyed at 268 pounds still sounds and frankly tastes as good to me as it ever did. I have to choose whether or not I'm going to make healthy choices: to have baked chicken instead of fried (even though, truth be told, I prefer fried . . . ), to skip the loaded baked potato and have steamed vegetables instead, etc. Almost two years into maintenance finds me making the healthier option the vast majority of the time because, honest to goodness, nothing - NOTHING - tastes as good as thin feels :-). That doesn't make it easy all the time, but it DOES make it worth it!
When I was on Take Shape for Life/Medifast 5&1, learning to say "no" to things that weren't on plan helped me change my mindset about food. I'm pretty strong-willed and not a particularly compliant person (honest!), so learning to be compliant on a very structured program was a big deal to me. Getting the results I wanted meant I couldn't tweak things to my liking, and it signaled the end of trying to rationalize and "outsmart" a program, something I did on every other program I'd ever done.
Getting the results we want (reaching our goal) in the time frame we want them (which I assume is "as fast as possible", right?) requires following the program. Period. That doesn't mean that if someone goes off plan, they're destined to fail, because that's not true at all. What I have observed, however, is that the individuals who DO reach goal eventually get to the point where they're ready to follow the program. They may have gone on and off plan at some point, but when they make the decision to get to their goal, the off-plan eating comes to an end. At the point a person is ready to really do it, they figure out what they need to do to make it happen. Funny thing, too - once they make that decision and go for it, they finally get there!
It always comes down to choices, doesn't it? Once we know what we want, the choices we need to make become clear. Do you know what you want today? If so, focus on that and then, of course, choose wisely :-)
Saturday, March 20, 2010
Are You Ready for the Weekend?
Happy Spring! I don't know about you, but I am SO happy to welcome Spring this morning - what a great way to start a weekend!
Speaking of weekends, are you ready for an on-plan weekend? If you've had a good week on plan and have seen the scale move in the right direction, you are probably (hopefully!) But what if you've stayed on plan all week and the scale hasn't moved? What if it hasn't moved in a couple of weeks? Staying focused when we're not seeing the results we want is an entirely different matter, and I understand how hard it is when the scale is stuck. I know how easy it is to think that we "might as well enjoy" ourselves since we're not losing weight anyway. I've seen people rationalize that "maybe a weekend of eating off plan will jump-start my metabolism and get the scale moving again." You can probably already guess that I strongly caution against slipping into that mindset!
How DO we keep motivated when the scale refuses to budge? How do we keep our focus when progress is painfully slow? Our fast-paced, instant-gratification society sets us up to expect immediate results all the time, so many of us aren’t accustomed to waiting for much of anything. In my past life (before Medifast), I actually left one drive-through line at a fast food restaurant because I decided it was too long and went to another fast food restaurant where I could drive right up and order my food without waiting! Never mind the fact that it was fast food to begin with, or that I didn’t even have to park my car and get out to get it – I wanted the fast food FAST (are you beginning to understand how I got to 268 pounds?) That need for instant gratification kicked in over and over again with past weight loss plans because my desire to lose weight quickly dissipated when faced with the temptation of the day, and I chose the immediate thing over waiting to get what I really wanted – a thin and healthy body.
When I was on 5&1, I finally realized that the weight didn't come on in a day and that it wouldn't come off in a day, either :-). I set up a spreadsheet to track my weight loss week by week, and what I saw was a lot of variation in how much I lost each week, but I also saw that those small weekly losses added up. I knew it was impossible to gain weight on less than 1,000 calories a day, and I knew that as long as I stayed on plan my body would eventually have to give up the pounds (and it tried hard sometimes to hang on to them). Like most of you, I had weeks where I only lost 1 pound, and I had several weeks when I didn't lose anything. Of course it was discouraging to see the scale stuck, but I'd look back at the losses I'd recorded over the previous weeks and realize that the scale would start moving again - it HAD to.
It's really the "reap what we sow" principle. If we are sowing good habits, they WILL eventually give us the return we're wanting - it is inevitable! We don't always see those results right away, but we can be confident that we WILL see them in time, if we're willing to give it time :-).
Now that spring has arrived, it won't be long here in Michigan before farmers are out in their fields planting their crops. A lot of work and sweat goes into the planting, and then all they can do is wait and keep weeding and watering. Those seeds are germinating under ground, but it will be a while before they sprout, and even longer until it's time to harvest what is now being sown. If the farmer decides after a couple of days that nothing is happening because he's not seeing results, and if he stops watering and weeding, guess what? He won't end up with much of a crop. The harvest comes as he continues to do the hard work and as he patiently waits.
You are sowing your own seeds right now that will soon give you a harvest of good health. Your part is to do the hard work, whether you feel like it or not, whether you're seeing results at the moment or not. Even when you aren't seeing results, things ARE happening, both in your body and in your mind. You are leaning to choose the hard thing now, you are choosing to forgo the instant gratification, in order to gain something far better - what you REALLY want!
So who's committed to an on-plan day today, even if you don't feel like it? The choice is yours - choose wisely :-)
NOTE: This is my last blog for the next week, as I'm leaving tomorrow morning for five days in the Dominican Republic. We will be at an all-inclusive resort :-) to enjoy a few days of sun and warm weather. Have a great, on-plan week, and keep choosing wisely!
Speaking of weekends, are you ready for an on-plan weekend? If you've had a good week on plan and have seen the scale move in the right direction, you are probably (hopefully!) But what if you've stayed on plan all week and the scale hasn't moved? What if it hasn't moved in a couple of weeks? Staying focused when we're not seeing the results we want is an entirely different matter, and I understand how hard it is when the scale is stuck. I know how easy it is to think that we "might as well enjoy" ourselves since we're not losing weight anyway. I've seen people rationalize that "maybe a weekend of eating off plan will jump-start my metabolism and get the scale moving again." You can probably already guess that I strongly caution against slipping into that mindset!
How DO we keep motivated when the scale refuses to budge? How do we keep our focus when progress is painfully slow? Our fast-paced, instant-gratification society sets us up to expect immediate results all the time, so many of us aren’t accustomed to waiting for much of anything. In my past life (before Medifast), I actually left one drive-through line at a fast food restaurant because I decided it was too long and went to another fast food restaurant where I could drive right up and order my food without waiting! Never mind the fact that it was fast food to begin with, or that I didn’t even have to park my car and get out to get it – I wanted the fast food FAST (are you beginning to understand how I got to 268 pounds?) That need for instant gratification kicked in over and over again with past weight loss plans because my desire to lose weight quickly dissipated when faced with the temptation of the day, and I chose the immediate thing over waiting to get what I really wanted – a thin and healthy body.
When I was on 5&1, I finally realized that the weight didn't come on in a day and that it wouldn't come off in a day, either :-). I set up a spreadsheet to track my weight loss week by week, and what I saw was a lot of variation in how much I lost each week, but I also saw that those small weekly losses added up. I knew it was impossible to gain weight on less than 1,000 calories a day, and I knew that as long as I stayed on plan my body would eventually have to give up the pounds (and it tried hard sometimes to hang on to them). Like most of you, I had weeks where I only lost 1 pound, and I had several weeks when I didn't lose anything. Of course it was discouraging to see the scale stuck, but I'd look back at the losses I'd recorded over the previous weeks and realize that the scale would start moving again - it HAD to.
It's really the "reap what we sow" principle. If we are sowing good habits, they WILL eventually give us the return we're wanting - it is inevitable! We don't always see those results right away, but we can be confident that we WILL see them in time, if we're willing to give it time :-).
Now that spring has arrived, it won't be long here in Michigan before farmers are out in their fields planting their crops. A lot of work and sweat goes into the planting, and then all they can do is wait and keep weeding and watering. Those seeds are germinating under ground, but it will be a while before they sprout, and even longer until it's time to harvest what is now being sown. If the farmer decides after a couple of days that nothing is happening because he's not seeing results, and if he stops watering and weeding, guess what? He won't end up with much of a crop. The harvest comes as he continues to do the hard work and as he patiently waits.
You are sowing your own seeds right now that will soon give you a harvest of good health. Your part is to do the hard work, whether you feel like it or not, whether you're seeing results at the moment or not. Even when you aren't seeing results, things ARE happening, both in your body and in your mind. You are leaning to choose the hard thing now, you are choosing to forgo the instant gratification, in order to gain something far better - what you REALLY want!
So who's committed to an on-plan day today, even if you don't feel like it? The choice is yours - choose wisely :-)
NOTE: This is my last blog for the next week, as I'm leaving tomorrow morning for five days in the Dominican Republic. We will be at an all-inclusive resort :-) to enjoy a few days of sun and warm weather. Have a great, on-plan week, and keep choosing wisely!
Friday, March 19, 2010
Who Are We Kidding?
I just read an interesting article on Health.com entitled "What You Eat When Nobody's Watching." Over 600 Health readers were surveyed to find out what they eat when nobody’s looking. According to the article, over half wait until no one is home to break into a secret snack stash or head to the grocery store and devour treats on the way home. Amazingly, when the survey asked what was the strangest thing a person had eaten alone, the most common answer was "something they dug out of the trash." Additionally, 86% of those in the survey wait until they’re all alone to eat their favorite indulgent foods, 46% have been caught digging into a secret stash, and 71% reported that they have buried a food wrapper deep in the trash to hide the evidence.
Did I mention that these individuals were readers of a magazine that promotes health? It's amazing to me that we are so inclined to engage in behaviors that we know aren't healthy for us, behaviors that, at some level, embarrass us.
I used to do a lot of secret eating. I was embarrassed to have people see what I ate, or how much I ate, and I got really good at hiding my eating. When there would be goodies in the kitchen at work, I'd "palm" a piece (or two, or three) and take the food into the bathroom so I could eat it in private. Even while I was doing this, I knew there was something really, really wrong about needing to eat in secret. Obviously the results of my eating were evident to everyone, so I'm not sure I know who I thought I was fooling. I know I didn't want people to see me eating and think, "no wonder she's so fat," or risk receiving disapproving looks. What's sad is that I didn't really enjoy the food I ate in secret. I ate it quickly so I wouldn't be caught, inhaling it with a "make it gone" mentality. Sometimes my thinking was so irrational that my purpose in eating the food was to get rid of it so I wouldn't be tempted by it anymore. That makes absolutely no sense, obviously, but when we're in denial about our eating and working hard to keep it a secret from others, our ability to think rationally may well suffer.
Eating food in secret, stashing wrappers deep in the trash container may have kept my eating away from the eyes of others, but my body was keeping track of every calorie. For a long time, I convinced myself that even though I was morbidly obese, I was still healthy. My lab work came back normal and I would think, "Whew, I'm still getting away with this." Honestly, that's what I'd think. I would also give a fleeting thought to maybe trying to do something before my bad habits caught up with me, and that would often be the start of yet another diet, but nothing lasted very long. When the day finally came when all of my lab work came back awful - high cholesterol, high triglycerides, high blood glucose - I knew my years of bad habits had finally caught up with me. To borrow an old expression from my childhood, "the chickens had finally come home to roost."
It took almost two more years before I was ready to finally stop fooling myself or anybody else, and that's when I started on Take Shape for Life/Medifast. In addition to helping me lose 126 pounds, this program has also helped me to finally align what I know I should be doing with the actions that I actually do. I am now focused on creating health in my life, and I try hard to make sure that the vast majority of the time I'm making food choices that support my goal. I'm no longer trying to fool myself, and I no longer need to try and fool others. It's very freeing to no longer be ashamed of what or how I eat!
Being willing to get honest with ourselves is the first step in aligning what we know we should do with what we actually do. We need to be honest in determining what it is that we really want. Do we really want to lose weight and get healthy? If we do (if we REALLY do), then we will begin to make the choices needed to move us in the direction we want to go. So ask yourself, "is this what I really want?" If your answer is "yes", you know what to do: choose wisely :-)
Did I mention that these individuals were readers of a magazine that promotes health? It's amazing to me that we are so inclined to engage in behaviors that we know aren't healthy for us, behaviors that, at some level, embarrass us.
I used to do a lot of secret eating. I was embarrassed to have people see what I ate, or how much I ate, and I got really good at hiding my eating. When there would be goodies in the kitchen at work, I'd "palm" a piece (or two, or three) and take the food into the bathroom so I could eat it in private. Even while I was doing this, I knew there was something really, really wrong about needing to eat in secret. Obviously the results of my eating were evident to everyone, so I'm not sure I know who I thought I was fooling. I know I didn't want people to see me eating and think, "no wonder she's so fat," or risk receiving disapproving looks. What's sad is that I didn't really enjoy the food I ate in secret. I ate it quickly so I wouldn't be caught, inhaling it with a "make it gone" mentality. Sometimes my thinking was so irrational that my purpose in eating the food was to get rid of it so I wouldn't be tempted by it anymore. That makes absolutely no sense, obviously, but when we're in denial about our eating and working hard to keep it a secret from others, our ability to think rationally may well suffer.
Eating food in secret, stashing wrappers deep in the trash container may have kept my eating away from the eyes of others, but my body was keeping track of every calorie. For a long time, I convinced myself that even though I was morbidly obese, I was still healthy. My lab work came back normal and I would think, "Whew, I'm still getting away with this." Honestly, that's what I'd think. I would also give a fleeting thought to maybe trying to do something before my bad habits caught up with me, and that would often be the start of yet another diet, but nothing lasted very long. When the day finally came when all of my lab work came back awful - high cholesterol, high triglycerides, high blood glucose - I knew my years of bad habits had finally caught up with me. To borrow an old expression from my childhood, "the chickens had finally come home to roost."
It took almost two more years before I was ready to finally stop fooling myself or anybody else, and that's when I started on Take Shape for Life/Medifast. In addition to helping me lose 126 pounds, this program has also helped me to finally align what I know I should be doing with the actions that I actually do. I am now focused on creating health in my life, and I try hard to make sure that the vast majority of the time I'm making food choices that support my goal. I'm no longer trying to fool myself, and I no longer need to try and fool others. It's very freeing to no longer be ashamed of what or how I eat!
Being willing to get honest with ourselves is the first step in aligning what we know we should do with what we actually do. We need to be honest in determining what it is that we really want. Do we really want to lose weight and get healthy? If we do (if we REALLY do), then we will begin to make the choices needed to move us in the direction we want to go. So ask yourself, "is this what I really want?" If your answer is "yes", you know what to do: choose wisely :-)
Thursday, March 18, 2010
Pulling Weeds
Spring is definitely (and finally!) in the air here in West Michigan. The temperature today is supposed to hit 60 and all of the snow is finally gone - yeah!! Now that the snow is gone, I can finally see my little perennial garden planted by the patio of our condo. No surprise, there are some weeds that need attention. Because I think that weeding has some great applications to our weight loss journey, I decided to re-run a blog I originally posted the summer of 2007, shortly after starting on Take Shape for Life/Medifast. I hope it will be encouraging to you!
"I just came inside after spending almost an hour weeding my perennial garden. I haven't weeded in a month; we were on vacation for two weeks, and the last two weeks have either been too hot and humid, or it's rained. So today was my day! As I surveyed the flower bed before starting my work, all I could think was, "where on earth did all of these weeds come from?" We live in a condo association and all of the grounds are very well maintained, with nary a weed to be found. My flowers are planted in the barked area next to our house, just off from our walk-out lower level, so the amount and variety of weeds amazed me.
I know I have NEVER planted a weed, yet they've grown in abundance in every garden I've ever had, vegetable and flower. They take advantage of every open spot of soil, of every inattentive moment. If left to grow unchecked, they will eventually overwhelm my garden, choking out the plants I've so carefully selected and tended.
Kind of like life, and definitely like my life on Take Shape for Life/Medifast. I have carefully selected and am trying to nurture new, good habits, which I so want to see flourish into a beautiful garden in my life. Right now these habits are rather tender and vulnerable, and they can easily be choked out by the weeds in my life if I'm not careful. Weeds like impatience, comparison, frustration, discouragement, unrealistic expectations, busyness, and rationalization keep popping up and must be immediately pulled and thrown into the trash heap. If I don't, I know from past experience (and much gardening) that they will eventually overwhelm the good habits. The good habits will either die off completely, or they will be left in a weakened state and never reach their full potential.
Bad habits and bad thought patterns are not intentionally sown, but they are very opportunistic and can take root before we've even realized it. The challenge is to catch them right away - they are much easier to pull out by their roots when young, and can be almost impossible to eradicate if allowed to mature. Mature weeds have roots that snake deep underground and entangle themselves with the roots of the flowers, making it difficult to pull them out without damaging the flowers.
I know that, in time, the perennials (and the good habits) will grow and fill most of the space, making it more and more difficult for weeds to take root. Until that time, I need to be diligent in checking for weeds, in my garden and in my life. My reward? A lovely garden - eventually!"
As I re-read this blog, first written almost three years ago, I couldn't help but smile as I realized that good habits ARE finally flourishing in my little garden. Weeding certainly continues, but I'm trying to be diligent to pull out the weeds before they take root. Consistency is definitely the key to keeping the weeding easy :-).
Anybody want to join me in doing a little weeding today? The choice is yours - choose wisely :-)
"I just came inside after spending almost an hour weeding my perennial garden. I haven't weeded in a month; we were on vacation for two weeks, and the last two weeks have either been too hot and humid, or it's rained. So today was my day! As I surveyed the flower bed before starting my work, all I could think was, "where on earth did all of these weeds come from?" We live in a condo association and all of the grounds are very well maintained, with nary a weed to be found. My flowers are planted in the barked area next to our house, just off from our walk-out lower level, so the amount and variety of weeds amazed me.
I know I have NEVER planted a weed, yet they've grown in abundance in every garden I've ever had, vegetable and flower. They take advantage of every open spot of soil, of every inattentive moment. If left to grow unchecked, they will eventually overwhelm my garden, choking out the plants I've so carefully selected and tended.
Kind of like life, and definitely like my life on Take Shape for Life/Medifast. I have carefully selected and am trying to nurture new, good habits, which I so want to see flourish into a beautiful garden in my life. Right now these habits are rather tender and vulnerable, and they can easily be choked out by the weeds in my life if I'm not careful. Weeds like impatience, comparison, frustration, discouragement, unrealistic expectations, busyness, and rationalization keep popping up and must be immediately pulled and thrown into the trash heap. If I don't, I know from past experience (and much gardening) that they will eventually overwhelm the good habits. The good habits will either die off completely, or they will be left in a weakened state and never reach their full potential.
Bad habits and bad thought patterns are not intentionally sown, but they are very opportunistic and can take root before we've even realized it. The challenge is to catch them right away - they are much easier to pull out by their roots when young, and can be almost impossible to eradicate if allowed to mature. Mature weeds have roots that snake deep underground and entangle themselves with the roots of the flowers, making it difficult to pull them out without damaging the flowers.
I know that, in time, the perennials (and the good habits) will grow and fill most of the space, making it more and more difficult for weeds to take root. Until that time, I need to be diligent in checking for weeds, in my garden and in my life. My reward? A lovely garden - eventually!"
As I re-read this blog, first written almost three years ago, I couldn't help but smile as I realized that good habits ARE finally flourishing in my little garden. Weeding certainly continues, but I'm trying to be diligent to pull out the weeds before they take root. Consistency is definitely the key to keeping the weeding easy :-).
Anybody want to join me in doing a little weeding today? The choice is yours - choose wisely :-)
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Figuring Out the "Why"
Happy St. Patrick's Day! I have just enough Irish in me to be able to wear green with a touch of pride today. Even though I've been at my goal for almost two years, my St. Paddy's Day celebration doesn't center around food like it used to. Unfortunately, all of the foods that most say "Irish" to me are just too high in calories and fat for me. It also helps that no one else in my family likes those foods, so they are very happy that they no longer are forced to "eat Irish" once a year :-).
Yesterday morning I happened to catch a segment on the "Today" show that featured actress Kirstie Alley, who talked about the weight loss program she's founded. I won't talk about the pros and cons of this program (but you can probably make a good guess about my thoughts . . . ), but there was something else Kirstie said that caught my attention. The interviewer, Meredith Vieira, commented that Kirstie's battle with weight, including famously regaining over 80 pounds, has been the stuff of tabloid news for several years. Kirstie responded that she wasn't focused on the "why" of gaining the weight, just on the "did."
From my humble perspective, I think that if Kirstie doesn't address the "why" of regaining all of her weight, her chances of successfully losing and keeping it off this time aren't very good. That's true for almost all of us. If you're on this program because you've picked up a frustrating ten pounds you can't lose on your own, then you possibly don't have a "why" that you need to address. [Note: I don't fault anybody for using this program to drop 10 pounds and learn new, healthier eating habits - in fact, I applaud it.] However, if you've been dealing with a significant amount of extra weight for a long time, my guess is that there is a "why" that needs to be addressed.
At 268 pounds, I was painfully aware that I hadn't doubled my weight just because I enjoyed a good meal. I'm a great cook and I enjoy a good meal, to be sure, but the amount of eating required to get me to 268 pounds had very little to do with a hearty appetite and well-developed taste buds. I've shared about my journey in the past, so I won't take the time to rehash my story today. However, I know that the reason I reached my goal and am maintaining today is because a lot of healing happened in my heart. God used this program as the catalyst needed to finally address some deep issues in my life. The food part was the easy part of the program - 5&1 couldn't be more simple. Not running to food when stressed, upset, angry, sad, tired - THAT was the hard part, and it required digging deep to discover why I was doing it to begin with.
People see the physical changes in me and many find the changes remarkable. What they can't see are all of the changes that happened inside, and they are far more remarkable than the externals. Of course I'm thankful for the externals - I love being at a healthy weight and wearing size 6 jeans - but I'm even more thankful for all of the emotional and spiritual growth that's occurred in the process.
Addressing the "why" is a choice - you don't have to do it, but I highly recommend spending some time working through the "whys" of your own struggle with weight. By honestly looking at your own "whys", you will take another step towards a healthier rest of your life.
So many choices to make on this journey! Choose wisely :-)
Yesterday morning I happened to catch a segment on the "Today" show that featured actress Kirstie Alley, who talked about the weight loss program she's founded. I won't talk about the pros and cons of this program (but you can probably make a good guess about my thoughts . . . ), but there was something else Kirstie said that caught my attention. The interviewer, Meredith Vieira, commented that Kirstie's battle with weight, including famously regaining over 80 pounds, has been the stuff of tabloid news for several years. Kirstie responded that she wasn't focused on the "why" of gaining the weight, just on the "did."
From my humble perspective, I think that if Kirstie doesn't address the "why" of regaining all of her weight, her chances of successfully losing and keeping it off this time aren't very good. That's true for almost all of us. If you're on this program because you've picked up a frustrating ten pounds you can't lose on your own, then you possibly don't have a "why" that you need to address. [Note: I don't fault anybody for using this program to drop 10 pounds and learn new, healthier eating habits - in fact, I applaud it.] However, if you've been dealing with a significant amount of extra weight for a long time, my guess is that there is a "why" that needs to be addressed.
At 268 pounds, I was painfully aware that I hadn't doubled my weight just because I enjoyed a good meal. I'm a great cook and I enjoy a good meal, to be sure, but the amount of eating required to get me to 268 pounds had very little to do with a hearty appetite and well-developed taste buds. I've shared about my journey in the past, so I won't take the time to rehash my story today. However, I know that the reason I reached my goal and am maintaining today is because a lot of healing happened in my heart. God used this program as the catalyst needed to finally address some deep issues in my life. The food part was the easy part of the program - 5&1 couldn't be more simple. Not running to food when stressed, upset, angry, sad, tired - THAT was the hard part, and it required digging deep to discover why I was doing it to begin with.
People see the physical changes in me and many find the changes remarkable. What they can't see are all of the changes that happened inside, and they are far more remarkable than the externals. Of course I'm thankful for the externals - I love being at a healthy weight and wearing size 6 jeans - but I'm even more thankful for all of the emotional and spiritual growth that's occurred in the process.
Addressing the "why" is a choice - you don't have to do it, but I highly recommend spending some time working through the "whys" of your own struggle with weight. By honestly looking at your own "whys", you will take another step towards a healthier rest of your life.
So many choices to make on this journey! Choose wisely :-)
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Deliberate and Passive Choices
I'm almost 58 years old, and just when I think I've just about heard it all, I learn all over again that things are sadder and more strange than I can even imagine. The latest news story that has me shaking my head all over again was an article I read yesterday. There is a woman in New Jersey who currently weighs 602 pounds and is on a very strict diet to gain weight, as her goal is to weigh 1,000 pounds.
This woman has two small children and a boyfriend and she wants to be the world's heaviest woman. She believes that she has a right to eat what she wants and weigh what she wants. She consumes in excess of 12,000 calories a day and tries to remain as inactive as possible to help her gain as much weight as quickly as she possibly can. Even though she is only 42, she needs a motorized scooter to get around because she can only walk 200 feet at a time. She is also at risk for a multitude of health issues
I don't begin to understand what is going on (or not going on . . . ) inside of her head, but this is someone clearly headed for disaster. Whether or not she ends up getting the record she wants, she is heading towards an early death.
It's easy to see the folly of someone at this level of extreme behavior, but before we get too busy shaking our heads in wonder at her, it would be wise to take a look at ourselves. Before starting on Take Shape for Life/Medifast, many of us were heading towards disaster with a fork tightly clenched in our hand. We might not have been as overt in our efforts as this woman, and it might have taken longer for our health to deteriorate, but we were heading there nevertheless. Obesity is directly linked to multiple health issues and whether or not we were dealing with any of these health issues when we started on this program, if we started this program with a BMI over 25, and particularly if our starting BMI was over 30 (my starting BMI was 42.6), our health was at risk.
The choices we make every day determine the direction we're headed. If we aren't choosing to lose weight and improve our health, we are choosing the opposite. It may be a passive choice - certainly not the in-your-face choice this New Jersey woman is making - but it's still a choice with its own set of consequences.
We have in our hands the tools we need to get to a healthy weight and stay there. We have in our hands the tools we need to be as healthy as we can possibly be. All we have to do is choose to use them. Choose wisely :-)
This woman has two small children and a boyfriend and she wants to be the world's heaviest woman. She believes that she has a right to eat what she wants and weigh what she wants. She consumes in excess of 12,000 calories a day and tries to remain as inactive as possible to help her gain as much weight as quickly as she possibly can. Even though she is only 42, she needs a motorized scooter to get around because she can only walk 200 feet at a time. She is also at risk for a multitude of health issues
I don't begin to understand what is going on (or not going on . . . ) inside of her head, but this is someone clearly headed for disaster. Whether or not she ends up getting the record she wants, she is heading towards an early death.
It's easy to see the folly of someone at this level of extreme behavior, but before we get too busy shaking our heads in wonder at her, it would be wise to take a look at ourselves. Before starting on Take Shape for Life/Medifast, many of us were heading towards disaster with a fork tightly clenched in our hand. We might not have been as overt in our efforts as this woman, and it might have taken longer for our health to deteriorate, but we were heading there nevertheless. Obesity is directly linked to multiple health issues and whether or not we were dealing with any of these health issues when we started on this program, if we started this program with a BMI over 25, and particularly if our starting BMI was over 30 (my starting BMI was 42.6), our health was at risk.
The choices we make every day determine the direction we're headed. If we aren't choosing to lose weight and improve our health, we are choosing the opposite. It may be a passive choice - certainly not the in-your-face choice this New Jersey woman is making - but it's still a choice with its own set of consequences.
We have in our hands the tools we need to get to a healthy weight and stay there. We have in our hands the tools we need to be as healthy as we can possibly be. All we have to do is choose to use them. Choose wisely :-)
Monday, March 15, 2010
Moving Beyond Event Dieting
With yesterday the beginning of Daylight Savings Time, spring seems closer than ever. I don't know about you, but I am definitely ready for warmer weather and love seeing the days getting longer. With spring just around the corner and summer not far behind, I'm guessing that many are feeling some added pressure right now to get ready for swimsuit season.
So many of us have focused on what I call "event dieting" much of our lives. We want to lose X amount of pounds before such-and-such an event, and we don't think in terms beyond that. For me, I was never successful in reaching even that short-term goal, so once the event was over, my focus on losing weight was gone. When each of my daughters set their wedding dates, I remember wondering how much weight I could lose before the wedding. I put off buying my dress as long as possible, hoping to be in a smaller size. I never did lose any weight before the weddings, and the photos of me on those days are of an obese woman in a very lovely dress. (I've told both my daughters that we need to redo their weddings, because I'd look a LOT better now :-) They both said they would LOVE to do it over - as long as we picked up the tab!)
Wanting to lose weight before swimsuit season is good motivation, but I'm encouraging you to look far beyond getting into a swimsuit. Don't just envision yourself looking great in a swimsuit or a great pair of shorts - envision yourself healthy ten, twenty, thirty years from now. That's ultimately the goal! Getting there requires, you guessed it, committing to making healthy choices one day at a time.
The first goal in staying healthy for the rest of your life is getting to a healthy weight, and that's where most of you are focused right now. And you WILL get there, one on-plan day at a time. The choice is yours - choose wisely :-)
So many of us have focused on what I call "event dieting" much of our lives. We want to lose X amount of pounds before such-and-such an event, and we don't think in terms beyond that. For me, I was never successful in reaching even that short-term goal, so once the event was over, my focus on losing weight was gone. When each of my daughters set their wedding dates, I remember wondering how much weight I could lose before the wedding. I put off buying my dress as long as possible, hoping to be in a smaller size. I never did lose any weight before the weddings, and the photos of me on those days are of an obese woman in a very lovely dress. (I've told both my daughters that we need to redo their weddings, because I'd look a LOT better now :-) They both said they would LOVE to do it over - as long as we picked up the tab!)
Wanting to lose weight before swimsuit season is good motivation, but I'm encouraging you to look far beyond getting into a swimsuit. Don't just envision yourself looking great in a swimsuit or a great pair of shorts - envision yourself healthy ten, twenty, thirty years from now. That's ultimately the goal! Getting there requires, you guessed it, committing to making healthy choices one day at a time.
The first goal in staying healthy for the rest of your life is getting to a healthy weight, and that's where most of you are focused right now. And you WILL get there, one on-plan day at a time. The choice is yours - choose wisely :-)
Sunday, March 14, 2010
Down the Rabbit Hole
I saw the new "Alice in Wonderland" movie yesterday afternoon and really enjoyed it. The 3-D was fun and certainly added an enjoyable dimension to the experience, and I loved the strength Alice portrayed. One of the things that struck me was the way Alice started every day thinking about six impossible things. In the end, before she emerged from the rabbit hole, the impossible things became reality.
I couldn't help but think that there's a bit of Alice in each of us who are on our own journey towards health. We walk up every day thinking about and choosing to believe some things that may seem impossible. Things like:
Sometimes we may feel like we've fallen down a rabbit hole ourselves, as this plan turns a lot of our concepts upside down. We may have believed that the only way to lose weight was kick the exercise into high gear, then we're told to cut our exercise way back on this program. We may have been taught to never eat after dinner and now we're told to eat six small meals a day, including an evening snack. Perhaps we spent years eating organic (eating way too much organic food, obviously, but organic nevertheless) and now we're eating meals with words we can't pronounce. We may feel that the only thing missing from our experience is the Mad Hatter and a queen running around yelling "Off with their heads!" :-)
Like Alice, we have the ability for the "impossible" things I listed to eventually become reality in our lives. After a while, we really do emerge from the "trapped in a rabbit hole" feeling and find that we've redefined normal in an entirely new way - and it's very, very good.
Keep focusing on all of those impossible things that you want to create in your life and keep believing that they really will come true. Of course, it takes more than just believing - we also have to take action. If we make the right choices today, we'll be one day closer to making those impossible things a reality. Choose wisely :-)
I couldn't help but think that there's a bit of Alice in each of us who are on our own journey towards health. We walk up every day thinking about and choosing to believe some things that may seem impossible. Things like:
- I'm going to be at a healthy weight
- I'm going to be in my goal size
- I'm going to adopt healthy new habits
- I'm going to stay at my goal weight
- I'm going to redefine how I relate with food
Sometimes we may feel like we've fallen down a rabbit hole ourselves, as this plan turns a lot of our concepts upside down. We may have believed that the only way to lose weight was kick the exercise into high gear, then we're told to cut our exercise way back on this program. We may have been taught to never eat after dinner and now we're told to eat six small meals a day, including an evening snack. Perhaps we spent years eating organic (eating way too much organic food, obviously, but organic nevertheless) and now we're eating meals with words we can't pronounce. We may feel that the only thing missing from our experience is the Mad Hatter and a queen running around yelling "Off with their heads!" :-)
Like Alice, we have the ability for the "impossible" things I listed to eventually become reality in our lives. After a while, we really do emerge from the "trapped in a rabbit hole" feeling and find that we've redefined normal in an entirely new way - and it's very, very good.
Keep focusing on all of those impossible things that you want to create in your life and keep believing that they really will come true. Of course, it takes more than just believing - we also have to take action. If we make the right choices today, we'll be one day closer to making those impossible things a reality. Choose wisely :-)
Saturday, March 13, 2010
Doing It "My Way"
I remember seeing an ad in the paper several years ago for a weight loss program and the ad said, "If you could lose weight on your own, you would have already done so." I bristled when I read that because I still believed that I could do it on my own. I knew what to eat, I had a fairly good understanding of nutrition and I had a thick book that listed the calories, fat and carb grams of just about any food you could think of. I rejected the notion that I needed a program - I was smart and I had the tools and the information I needed. The problem was that this smart, equipped woman kept gaining weight, ended up with 268 pounds packed on my 5' 5" frame.
For twenty years, I was either on some kind of a diet or reading about the newest "get thin quick" diet, and I managed to acquire a shelf full of diet books, each promising that this was THE way to lose weight. The problem was, I thought I was smarter than the program. It didn't matter what program I was on, within a few days I'd be back to my old tricks - playing with the program, changing things here and there, substituting one food for another. I figured that as long as I understood the principles, I could mix it up and do it my way.
Obviously, doing things "my way" didn't work for me. By the time I made the decision to order my first four-week Take Shape for Life/Medifast order, I was ready to just follow the program. I finally came to the realization that I couldn't lose weight on my own and, despite the fact that I was intelligent and informed, there was a real disconnect between the knowledge I supposedly had and my actions. Reaching the end of myself was the start of what will be the rest of my healthy life.
I followed the 5&1 program to the letter. I weighed and measured my protein portions, I measured my vegetables, and I just did what I was told. To my amazement, it actually worked :-). I didn't play with the calorie or carb allotment, substituting my own 100 calorie this or that for one of the Medifast meals - I just opened another packet every 2-1/2 or 3 hours and kept losing weight. I also didn't try to outsmart the program by over-exercising, which is something I'd done in the past. I waited three weeks to start exercising (actually, I waited a bit longer than that . . . ), and I kept my exercise to about 45 minutes a day. And it kept on working!
There really is no built-in "wiggle room" on 5&1. It's restrictive by design, and it's designed to help you safely reach a healthy weight as quickly as possible. Have you reached the point where you're ready to just follow the program, or are you still trying to figure out an angle where you can sort-of do the program and sort-of do your own thing? How you honestly answer this question will determine the likelihood of you being successful on this program. Ultimately, the choice of how you do the program is yours to make. Choose wisely :-)
For twenty years, I was either on some kind of a diet or reading about the newest "get thin quick" diet, and I managed to acquire a shelf full of diet books, each promising that this was THE way to lose weight. The problem was, I thought I was smarter than the program. It didn't matter what program I was on, within a few days I'd be back to my old tricks - playing with the program, changing things here and there, substituting one food for another. I figured that as long as I understood the principles, I could mix it up and do it my way.
Obviously, doing things "my way" didn't work for me. By the time I made the decision to order my first four-week Take Shape for Life/Medifast order, I was ready to just follow the program. I finally came to the realization that I couldn't lose weight on my own and, despite the fact that I was intelligent and informed, there was a real disconnect between the knowledge I supposedly had and my actions. Reaching the end of myself was the start of what will be the rest of my healthy life.
I followed the 5&1 program to the letter. I weighed and measured my protein portions, I measured my vegetables, and I just did what I was told. To my amazement, it actually worked :-). I didn't play with the calorie or carb allotment, substituting my own 100 calorie this or that for one of the Medifast meals - I just opened another packet every 2-1/2 or 3 hours and kept losing weight. I also didn't try to outsmart the program by over-exercising, which is something I'd done in the past. I waited three weeks to start exercising (actually, I waited a bit longer than that . . . ), and I kept my exercise to about 45 minutes a day. And it kept on working!
There really is no built-in "wiggle room" on 5&1. It's restrictive by design, and it's designed to help you safely reach a healthy weight as quickly as possible. Have you reached the point where you're ready to just follow the program, or are you still trying to figure out an angle where you can sort-of do the program and sort-of do your own thing? How you honestly answer this question will determine the likelihood of you being successful on this program. Ultimately, the choice of how you do the program is yours to make. Choose wisely :-)
Friday, March 12, 2010
Needed: A Whole New Attitude
I had an incredibly sad conversation yesterday. I'm sharing it with you, not to make you sad, but to hopefully illustrate why I keep emphasizing the need to adopt an entirely new mindset about food and our health.
The conversation was with an individual who had gastric bypass surgery four years ago. At the time of her surgery, she was over 300 pounds; following her surgery she lost some, but not all, of her weight, never getting below 200 pounds. Fast-forward to yesterday, when we talked and she told me that she has gained back most of her weight. Frustrated and discouraged don't even begin to describe how she feels - I can't even imagine. She explained that she never had any complications from her surgery but thought that if she'd had dumping syndrome, it would have probably helped her to keep the weight off. However, since she didn't have dumping syndrome, she was able to eat whatever she wanted and the weight came back.
In case you don't know what dumping syndrome is, here's a brief description:
This doesn't sound like anything I would ever want to deal with, but this dear person sounded disappointed that she didn't have it, as she thought it would have helped her keep her weight off. She went on to tell me of a friend who had had stomach stapling surgery years ago, then had that reversed and had gastric bypass surgery. This friend has severe dumping syndrome and is maintaining her weight loss because of her condition.
Does anyone else find this incredibly sad? The thought that someone evenly remotely wishes for something like dumping syndrome as an enforced way to lose or maintain weight is beyond tragic. It also speaks to a mindset that is looking for an "easy" or "automatic" way to lose weight. I put "easy" in quotes because I know that there is nothing easy about dealing with dumping syndrome, and it's hard for me to grasp that anyone would apparently welcome this as a weight management aid.
What I do know, and what becomes more clear every day, is that the hardest part of this plan - or any weight loss plan - is the head and heart part. Take Shape for Life/Medifast makes the food part of the plan a breeze - nothing to think about, no points/calories/grams to count. The head and heart part is a whole 'nother thing, and whether or not we fully engage in the process will ultimately determine our success, both short-term and long-term.
The truth is that there is no easy fix, never has been and never will be. A pill won't do it and even drastic surgery won't do it. I've met several individuals over the past couple of years who underwent gastric bypass or lap band surgery and not only never got to a healthy weight, but who have regained a good percentage of their weight. When we rely on anything other than a fundamental change in the way we think and emotionally relate to food, this program, like every other program, will ultimately fail. If we don't change our thinking, we will eventually return to our old habits and the weight will pile back on.
We have to be willing to change our habits. We have to embrace a different and healthier lifestyle - permanently. Making these changes isn't easy, but the more we make healthy choices, the more they will become new, healthy habits. The alternative is to return to our starting weight, and for me, that is unthinkable. I hope it's unthinkable for you, too.
No quick fix, but one choice at a time, we can make permanent changes that will serve us well for the rest of our lives. Choose wisely :-)
The conversation was with an individual who had gastric bypass surgery four years ago. At the time of her surgery, she was over 300 pounds; following her surgery she lost some, but not all, of her weight, never getting below 200 pounds. Fast-forward to yesterday, when we talked and she told me that she has gained back most of her weight. Frustrated and discouraged don't even begin to describe how she feels - I can't even imagine. She explained that she never had any complications from her surgery but thought that if she'd had dumping syndrome, it would have probably helped her to keep the weight off. However, since she didn't have dumping syndrome, she was able to eat whatever she wanted and the weight came back.
In case you don't know what dumping syndrome is, here's a brief description:
Also called rapid gastric emptying, dumping syndrome occurs when the undigested contents of your stomach are transported or "dumped" into your small intestine too rapidly. Common symptoms include abdominal cramps and nausea.
When symptoms of dumping syndrome occur during a meal or within 15 to 30 minutes following a meal, they may include:
When signs and symptoms develop later, they may include:
- Nausea
- Vomiting
- Abdominal pain, cramps
- Diarrhea
- Dizziness, lightheadedness
- Bloating, belching
- Fatigue
- Heart palpitations, rapid heart rate
Some people experience both early and late signs and symptoms. Conditions such as dizziness and heart palpitations can occur either early or late — or both. No matter when problems develop, however, they may be worse in the aftermath of a high-sugar meal, especially one that's rich in sucrose (table sugar) or fructose (fruit sugar).
- Sweating
- Weakness, fatigue
- Dizziness, lightheadedness
- Shakiness
- Feelings of anxiety, nervousness
- Heart palpitations, rapid heart rate
- Fainting
- Mental confusion
- Diarrhea
Some people also experience low blood sugar (hypoglycemia), related to excessive levels of insulin delivered to the bloodstream as part of the syndrome. Hypoglycemia is more often related to late signs and symptoms. Insulin influences your tissues to take up the sugar present in your bloodstream.
©1998-2010 Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research (MFMER).
This doesn't sound like anything I would ever want to deal with, but this dear person sounded disappointed that she didn't have it, as she thought it would have helped her keep her weight off. She went on to tell me of a friend who had had stomach stapling surgery years ago, then had that reversed and had gastric bypass surgery. This friend has severe dumping syndrome and is maintaining her weight loss because of her condition.
Does anyone else find this incredibly sad? The thought that someone evenly remotely wishes for something like dumping syndrome as an enforced way to lose or maintain weight is beyond tragic. It also speaks to a mindset that is looking for an "easy" or "automatic" way to lose weight. I put "easy" in quotes because I know that there is nothing easy about dealing with dumping syndrome, and it's hard for me to grasp that anyone would apparently welcome this as a weight management aid.
What I do know, and what becomes more clear every day, is that the hardest part of this plan - or any weight loss plan - is the head and heart part. Take Shape for Life/Medifast makes the food part of the plan a breeze - nothing to think about, no points/calories/grams to count. The head and heart part is a whole 'nother thing, and whether or not we fully engage in the process will ultimately determine our success, both short-term and long-term.
The truth is that there is no easy fix, never has been and never will be. A pill won't do it and even drastic surgery won't do it. I've met several individuals over the past couple of years who underwent gastric bypass or lap band surgery and not only never got to a healthy weight, but who have regained a good percentage of their weight. When we rely on anything other than a fundamental change in the way we think and emotionally relate to food, this program, like every other program, will ultimately fail. If we don't change our thinking, we will eventually return to our old habits and the weight will pile back on.
We have to be willing to change our habits. We have to embrace a different and healthier lifestyle - permanently. Making these changes isn't easy, but the more we make healthy choices, the more they will become new, healthy habits. The alternative is to return to our starting weight, and for me, that is unthinkable. I hope it's unthinkable for you, too.
No quick fix, but one choice at a time, we can make permanent changes that will serve us well for the rest of our lives. Choose wisely :-)
Thursday, March 11, 2010
Now What?
After spending the last two days talking about some of the reasons some people go off plan, the question is, now what?
Regardless of the reason is for going off plan, hopefully there comes a time (and I hope it's today!) when you're ready to get moving in the right direction again and then keep going. How do you refocus?
It starts with taking an honest assessment of where you are right now. What is your current reality? What is your current weight, what size are you in, are you on any medications? How do you feel about where you are? What limitations do you have (physically or emotionally) because of your weight? (If you want to do a comprehensive assessment of your current health status, I encourage you to get a copy of Dr. A's Habits of Health and work through Chapter 5. The health assessment is very sobering, but the first step to permanent change is understanding how our daily choices have affected the reality of our health and our lives.)
Once you have a clear understanding of where you are today, the next step is to get a clear vision of where you want to go. Don't rush past this - let your imagination run with this. If you could be at your ideal weight and in your ideal size, what would that look like? Write it down! What would you be able to do? How would you feel? Where would you go? In Dr. Andersen's book, he urges us to imagine how our lives will look once we've created optimal health for ourselves. He defines "optimal" as "the most desirable or favorable possible, the highest possibility there is." For each of us, optimal health will be defined a little differently. What does optimal health look like for you?
Once we have a clear picture of where we're at and we know where want to go, we are in a much better position to structure our environment for success. Knowing where we're vulnerable enables us to develop strategies for those areas; once those strategies are in place, we'll be better positioned to make the choices that will keep us moving in the direction we want to go.
Be honest about where you are now, envision where you want to be and focus on what you want, then choose wisely :-)
Regardless of the reason is for going off plan, hopefully there comes a time (and I hope it's today!) when you're ready to get moving in the right direction again and then keep going. How do you refocus?
It starts with taking an honest assessment of where you are right now. What is your current reality? What is your current weight, what size are you in, are you on any medications? How do you feel about where you are? What limitations do you have (physically or emotionally) because of your weight? (If you want to do a comprehensive assessment of your current health status, I encourage you to get a copy of Dr. A's Habits of Health and work through Chapter 5. The health assessment is very sobering, but the first step to permanent change is understanding how our daily choices have affected the reality of our health and our lives.)
Once you have a clear understanding of where you are today, the next step is to get a clear vision of where you want to go. Don't rush past this - let your imagination run with this. If you could be at your ideal weight and in your ideal size, what would that look like? Write it down! What would you be able to do? How would you feel? Where would you go? In Dr. Andersen's book, he urges us to imagine how our lives will look once we've created optimal health for ourselves. He defines "optimal" as "the most desirable or favorable possible, the highest possibility there is." For each of us, optimal health will be defined a little differently. What does optimal health look like for you?
Once we have a clear picture of where we're at and we know where want to go, we are in a much better position to structure our environment for success. Knowing where we're vulnerable enables us to develop strategies for those areas; once those strategies are in place, we'll be better positioned to make the choices that will keep us moving in the direction we want to go.
Be honest about where you are now, envision where you want to be and focus on what you want, then choose wisely :-)
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Off-Plan Eating, Part II
Today's blog is a continuation of what I started yesterday - an exploration (from my perspective) of why people choose to go off plan. Ready?
Yesterday I wrote about what I believe is probably the number one reason people choose to go off: focusing on where we've been instead of focusing on where we're going. If we're focused on where we've been, once the acute pain is lessened, we start to feel like we can give ourselves a bit of slack and off-plan eating usually follows.
However, I think there are other reasons we choose to go off plan, and some of these reasons are a bit more complicated.
For many of us, being heavy (dare I say obese?) has been a part of our identity for a long time, perhaps for our entire life. We may hate the fact that this has been part of our identity, but our weight has nevertheless helped to define who we are. When we start losing weight, especially if we lose a significant amount of weight, we may feel like we are losing ourselves. In time, we will embrace a new and much healthier us, but in the meantime it can be pretty scary. People start to comment about how we look and we realize we aren't invisible any more - that's not always comfortable. It takes time for our heads and our emotions to catch up with our bodies. However, I've seen individuals return to the "safety" of their former obese self because they found themselves in a body that didn't fit their self-perception. If this is something you struggle with, it might be helpful for you to work through this issue with a trained professional.
Others of us have spent our entire lives trying to please everybody else and we are constantly at the bottom of our own list. We feel selfish needing to eat or not eat certain things, and if we get any push-back from someone close to us, that can be the end of staying on plan. We may have good intentions and really want to lose weight, but if someone near and dear to us doesn't think a weekend can pass without pizza and beer, we aren't comfortable suggesting doing something else. If I just described your dilemma, please listen carefully: it's OK to be selfish when it comes to your health! This is your life and you have a right to be healthy - nobody has a right to stand in the way. I've heard people who need to lose over 100 pounds tell me that they can't do this program because their spouse or family "won't eat vegetables." If your family is used to fattening casseroles and complains about having to eat baked or broiled meat and vegetables, they'll adjust (and be healthier!). I repeat: it's OK to be selfish if that's what you need to do to take charge of your health and your life.
There are probably lots of other reasons why people choose to go off plan, but I've briefly touched on the three reasons I see over and over again. If you recognize yourself in something I've described, hopefully you've been encouraged to take another look at what you're doing and why you're doing it. Staying on plan is the surest and most direct way to get to your goal, so it's worth the time and effort to identify any potential roadblocks and set up strategies to help you avoid them.
Nobody said it would be easy, but I promise you - it's worth it. YOU are worth it! It doesn't matter what's happened up until now, today is a new day and you can choose to start on a new path. The choice is yours - choose wisely :-)
Yesterday I wrote about what I believe is probably the number one reason people choose to go off: focusing on where we've been instead of focusing on where we're going. If we're focused on where we've been, once the acute pain is lessened, we start to feel like we can give ourselves a bit of slack and off-plan eating usually follows.
However, I think there are other reasons we choose to go off plan, and some of these reasons are a bit more complicated.
For many of us, being heavy (dare I say obese?) has been a part of our identity for a long time, perhaps for our entire life. We may hate the fact that this has been part of our identity, but our weight has nevertheless helped to define who we are. When we start losing weight, especially if we lose a significant amount of weight, we may feel like we are losing ourselves. In time, we will embrace a new and much healthier us, but in the meantime it can be pretty scary. People start to comment about how we look and we realize we aren't invisible any more - that's not always comfortable. It takes time for our heads and our emotions to catch up with our bodies. However, I've seen individuals return to the "safety" of their former obese self because they found themselves in a body that didn't fit their self-perception. If this is something you struggle with, it might be helpful for you to work through this issue with a trained professional.
Others of us have spent our entire lives trying to please everybody else and we are constantly at the bottom of our own list. We feel selfish needing to eat or not eat certain things, and if we get any push-back from someone close to us, that can be the end of staying on plan. We may have good intentions and really want to lose weight, but if someone near and dear to us doesn't think a weekend can pass without pizza and beer, we aren't comfortable suggesting doing something else. If I just described your dilemma, please listen carefully: it's OK to be selfish when it comes to your health! This is your life and you have a right to be healthy - nobody has a right to stand in the way. I've heard people who need to lose over 100 pounds tell me that they can't do this program because their spouse or family "won't eat vegetables." If your family is used to fattening casseroles and complains about having to eat baked or broiled meat and vegetables, they'll adjust (and be healthier!). I repeat: it's OK to be selfish if that's what you need to do to take charge of your health and your life.
There are probably lots of other reasons why people choose to go off plan, but I've briefly touched on the three reasons I see over and over again. If you recognize yourself in something I've described, hopefully you've been encouraged to take another look at what you're doing and why you're doing it. Staying on plan is the surest and most direct way to get to your goal, so it's worth the time and effort to identify any potential roadblocks and set up strategies to help you avoid them.
Nobody said it would be easy, but I promise you - it's worth it. YOU are worth it! It doesn't matter what's happened up until now, today is a new day and you can choose to start on a new path. The choice is yours - choose wisely :-)
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
Off-Plan Eating, Part I
It's about as predictable as puddles after a rain storm. Mondays find individuals who, for one reason or another, went off plan over the weekend. These individuals are invariably filled with regret and frustration that they somehow slipped - people are rarely happy that they made the choice to step off plan. I encountered several individuals yesterday who were dealing with Monday morning regret, and it got me to thinking.
Before starting on Take Shape for Life/Medifast, I never stayed on any plan for very long. I always started each weight loss plan, however sound or crazy the plan was, with the best of intention and the highest of hopes. The problem was that I was always trying to fix a problem - my weight and my size - and I wanted to fix it as fast as possible. Never mind that it had taken time to get into the mess I was in, I wanted it fixed overnight (well, almost overnight . . . ). Of course, the fix was never fast enough for me and I quickly lost interest in the program I was on. It didn't help that the weight loss was slow and that I usually felt pretty iffy - hungry, low energy, cranky and deprived.
That's generally not the case on Take Shape for Life/Medifast, however. Individuals on this program lose weight fast - there is no safer way to lose weight as quickly as we lose it. Once we get into the fat-burning stage (3-4 days), we also generally feel pretty good with low hunger and lots of energy.
So what gives? Why do we do this to ourselves? Why are we so prone to sabotage ourselves? I'm not a trained counselor, so I'm not offering professional advice here, just my opinion :-).
Assuming that weight loss is steady and that hunger isn't really an issue, I'm guessing that something else causes a person to make the decision to go off plan. And it is a decision, whether we want to acknowledge it or not. Nobody accidentally goes off plan and eats off-plan foods unless you aren't aware that the food is truly off plan (an example would be someone who eats carrots because they don't realize that this vegetable isn't part of the weight loss portion of this plan). Eating nachos and cheese doesn't count as "accidentally" eating off plan - it's a choice, period. But the question is, why do so many make those choices over and over again, especially when the choice is followed by almost universal regret?
If we keep our focus on what we're trying to move away from, the further away we get from the problem that prompted us to start on plan, the less motivated we are to continue. Once the acute pain is lessened, we start to feel like we can give ourselves a bit of slack. I've seen this over and over again - someone loses some weight, feels happy about their weight loss and decides they deserve to take a break and have a "treat." They may be far from a healthy weight, but they decide to prematurely celebrate their progress, and the celebration includes off-plan food.
Unfortunately, this is often a slippery slope. Once someone goes off plan, then gets back on (getting back on is a good thing, of course!), they may then tell themselves that going off plan is no big deal - that they can take the weekend off and get right back on. That may work once or twice, perhaps three or four times, but the more often a person makes the decision to go off plan and "take a break," the less likely it is that they will reach their goal. For those who do eventually reach their goal, it's almost always because they finally decide to get serious and commit to staying on plan until goal and stop taking "breaks."
Changing this oscillating pattern requires a focus shift from what we're trying to move away from to what we're moving towards. When our eyes are focused on what we want, when we have a clear vision of what it is, we are more likely to be single-minded in our pursuit of getting to goal.
I think there are other reasons why people choose to go off plan, too, but I'll talk about those tomorrow :-). In the meantime, today is a new day with the opportunity to make choices that will either move us towards or away from our goal. Choose wisely :-)
Before starting on Take Shape for Life/Medifast, I never stayed on any plan for very long. I always started each weight loss plan, however sound or crazy the plan was, with the best of intention and the highest of hopes. The problem was that I was always trying to fix a problem - my weight and my size - and I wanted to fix it as fast as possible. Never mind that it had taken time to get into the mess I was in, I wanted it fixed overnight (well, almost overnight . . . ). Of course, the fix was never fast enough for me and I quickly lost interest in the program I was on. It didn't help that the weight loss was slow and that I usually felt pretty iffy - hungry, low energy, cranky and deprived.
That's generally not the case on Take Shape for Life/Medifast, however. Individuals on this program lose weight fast - there is no safer way to lose weight as quickly as we lose it. Once we get into the fat-burning stage (3-4 days), we also generally feel pretty good with low hunger and lots of energy.
So what gives? Why do we do this to ourselves? Why are we so prone to sabotage ourselves? I'm not a trained counselor, so I'm not offering professional advice here, just my opinion :-).
Assuming that weight loss is steady and that hunger isn't really an issue, I'm guessing that something else causes a person to make the decision to go off plan. And it is a decision, whether we want to acknowledge it or not. Nobody accidentally goes off plan and eats off-plan foods unless you aren't aware that the food is truly off plan (an example would be someone who eats carrots because they don't realize that this vegetable isn't part of the weight loss portion of this plan). Eating nachos and cheese doesn't count as "accidentally" eating off plan - it's a choice, period. But the question is, why do so many make those choices over and over again, especially when the choice is followed by almost universal regret?
If we keep our focus on what we're trying to move away from, the further away we get from the problem that prompted us to start on plan, the less motivated we are to continue. Once the acute pain is lessened, we start to feel like we can give ourselves a bit of slack. I've seen this over and over again - someone loses some weight, feels happy about their weight loss and decides they deserve to take a break and have a "treat." They may be far from a healthy weight, but they decide to prematurely celebrate their progress, and the celebration includes off-plan food.
Unfortunately, this is often a slippery slope. Once someone goes off plan, then gets back on (getting back on is a good thing, of course!), they may then tell themselves that going off plan is no big deal - that they can take the weekend off and get right back on. That may work once or twice, perhaps three or four times, but the more often a person makes the decision to go off plan and "take a break," the less likely it is that they will reach their goal. For those who do eventually reach their goal, it's almost always because they finally decide to get serious and commit to staying on plan until goal and stop taking "breaks."
Changing this oscillating pattern requires a focus shift from what we're trying to move away from to what we're moving towards. When our eyes are focused on what we want, when we have a clear vision of what it is, we are more likely to be single-minded in our pursuit of getting to goal.
I think there are other reasons why people choose to go off plan, too, but I'll talk about those tomorrow :-). In the meantime, today is a new day with the opportunity to make choices that will either move us towards or away from our goal. Choose wisely :-)
Monday, March 8, 2010
Why I Do What I Do
I've been writing an almost-daily blog for over a year now. Sometimes I sit down in front of my computer and I know exactly what I want to share, while other times I don't have a clue what I'm going to write, but as I begin to type, the words come. Still other times I think I know what I'm going to write, but as the words begin to form on the page, they go in an entirely different direction. Somehow, however, I always hope and pray that something I write will encourage someone else to keep going and not quit.
I know how challenging it is to face the prospect of needing to lose weight. Most of you don't have to lose as much as I had to lose - 126 pounds - but I've learned that losing weight is a challenge regardless of how much we need to lose. I couldn't fathom committing to staying on plan for almost a year, the time it took me to lose the weight, but I COULD commit to staying on plan one day at a time (and sometimes it was a meal-by-meal commitment!). Every day I had to refocus, so I hope something I write each day will help you to refocus for the day, too.
I also know how fabulous it is to reach goal, and I want each of you to have the same experience. I want you to have the joy and the satisfaction of seeing your goal weight on the scale; I want you to have the fun of shopping in your goal size, of feeling really good about yourself - perhaps for the first time in your life. I write a daily blog from the vantage point of being on this side of goal and calling out "Come on over - life is good here!"
If you've read my blogs for any length of time, you probably know by now that my faith is an integral part of my life (at least I hope you've picked that up!). There is a Bible verse that really sums up why I do what I do every day - encouraging and supporting others on their own weight loss journey - and why I write a daily blog. The verse is 2 Corinthians 1:4, "God comes alongside us when we go through hard times, and before you know it, He brings us alongside someone else who is going through hard times so that we can be there for that person just as God was there for us." [The Message] Because of all that God has done in my life through this wonderful program, it is my privilege and my joy to pay it forward and hopefully help someone else. I can only hope and pray that in time you will also pay it forward as you encourage someone else :-).
As you begin a new day and a new week, I hope you are encouraged to stay on plan one more day. You will face a lot of choices today, and I hope and pray that you will choose wisely :-). Have a great Monday!
I know how challenging it is to face the prospect of needing to lose weight. Most of you don't have to lose as much as I had to lose - 126 pounds - but I've learned that losing weight is a challenge regardless of how much we need to lose. I couldn't fathom committing to staying on plan for almost a year, the time it took me to lose the weight, but I COULD commit to staying on plan one day at a time (and sometimes it was a meal-by-meal commitment!). Every day I had to refocus, so I hope something I write each day will help you to refocus for the day, too.
I also know how fabulous it is to reach goal, and I want each of you to have the same experience. I want you to have the joy and the satisfaction of seeing your goal weight on the scale; I want you to have the fun of shopping in your goal size, of feeling really good about yourself - perhaps for the first time in your life. I write a daily blog from the vantage point of being on this side of goal and calling out "Come on over - life is good here!"
If you've read my blogs for any length of time, you probably know by now that my faith is an integral part of my life (at least I hope you've picked that up!). There is a Bible verse that really sums up why I do what I do every day - encouraging and supporting others on their own weight loss journey - and why I write a daily blog. The verse is 2 Corinthians 1:4, "God comes alongside us when we go through hard times, and before you know it, He brings us alongside someone else who is going through hard times so that we can be there for that person just as God was there for us." [The Message] Because of all that God has done in my life through this wonderful program, it is my privilege and my joy to pay it forward and hopefully help someone else. I can only hope and pray that in time you will also pay it forward as you encourage someone else :-).
As you begin a new day and a new week, I hope you are encouraged to stay on plan one more day. You will face a lot of choices today, and I hope and pray that you will choose wisely :-). Have a great Monday!
Sunday, March 7, 2010
The Butterfly Effect
I am slowly making my way through an amazing and challenging book entitled, "In a Pit With a Lion On a Snowy Day." Yesterday in the chapter I read, the author talked about the "Butterfly Effect." It's really fascinating!
In 1960, an MIT meteorologist made an accidental discovery while he was trying to develop a computer program that could simulate and forecast weather conditions. One day he was in a hurry, and instead of entering .506127, the number he had used in an earlier trial, he rounded to the nearest thousandth, or .506, figuring that rounding the number to the nearest thousandth would be inconsequential, then left his lab. When he returned, he found a radical change in the weather conditions. He estimated that the numerical difference between the original number and the rounded number was the equivalent of a puff of wind created by a butterfly's wing, concluding that an event as minor as the flapping of a butterfly's wing could conceivable alter wind currents sufficiently to eventually change weather conditions thousands of miles away. "Tiny differences in input can quickly become overwhelming differences in output."
After describing the "butterfly effect," the author went on to write that "small changes and small choices become magnified over time, and have major consequences . . . Too often we fail to connect the dots between choices and consequences. Every choice has a domino effect that can alter our destiny."
It may seem like such a small and inconsequential thing today to choose to stay on plan, and you may have a dozen different really good reasons to step off. What you decide today matters - it really does - and not just today. If you choose to stay on plan, you are reinforcing your decision to get healthy, to delay immediate gratification for something far more important. Your decision to stay on plan today will increase the likelihood that you'll stay on plan tomorrow as well. For me, every time I successfully faced and conquered a temptation, it strengthened my resolve and my ability to withstand the next.
If you choose to step off plan today, it certainly doesn't mean that you won't ultimately be successful - please know that I'm not implying that at all! What I am saying, however, is that it will be more challenging to stay the course tomorrow. Once you take your eyes off of your goal and choose the instant gratification, it can be hard to get refocused. The next time you face a similar choice to the one you face today, you won't have the successful outcome from today to boost your resolve tomorrow. Again, you may well get to your goal (and I hope you do!), but you've increased the incline on the treadmill by a degree or two, making the climb from here to goal a bit more challenging.
As I've shared on numerous occasions in past blogs, I don't take any credit - none - for the fact that I stayed on plan and didn't step off from the time I started until I reached my goal. I know better than anyone how prone to failure I was and how utterly weak I felt in my own strength. For me, the only way I was able to do this program successfully was because I admitted my need for help and turned to the Source of my strength, my Heavenly Father.
The "butterfly effect" of the choices I made beginning with that first choice in June of 2007 to order Take Shape for Life/Medifast continues to spread. I had no idea that anything would come of that first choice - I didn't even believe that it would work for me. However, because I lost 126 pounds and got healthy, I have directly or indirectly helped literally hundreds of others lose thousands of pounds over the past two years in my work as a TSFL health coach, and those individuals are inspiring still others to do the same. It amazes and humbles me every day.
The choices you make today matter far more than you may even realize. Choose wisely :-)
In 1960, an MIT meteorologist made an accidental discovery while he was trying to develop a computer program that could simulate and forecast weather conditions. One day he was in a hurry, and instead of entering .506127, the number he had used in an earlier trial, he rounded to the nearest thousandth, or .506, figuring that rounding the number to the nearest thousandth would be inconsequential, then left his lab. When he returned, he found a radical change in the weather conditions. He estimated that the numerical difference between the original number and the rounded number was the equivalent of a puff of wind created by a butterfly's wing, concluding that an event as minor as the flapping of a butterfly's wing could conceivable alter wind currents sufficiently to eventually change weather conditions thousands of miles away. "Tiny differences in input can quickly become overwhelming differences in output."
After describing the "butterfly effect," the author went on to write that "small changes and small choices become magnified over time, and have major consequences . . . Too often we fail to connect the dots between choices and consequences. Every choice has a domino effect that can alter our destiny."
It may seem like such a small and inconsequential thing today to choose to stay on plan, and you may have a dozen different really good reasons to step off. What you decide today matters - it really does - and not just today. If you choose to stay on plan, you are reinforcing your decision to get healthy, to delay immediate gratification for something far more important. Your decision to stay on plan today will increase the likelihood that you'll stay on plan tomorrow as well. For me, every time I successfully faced and conquered a temptation, it strengthened my resolve and my ability to withstand the next.
If you choose to step off plan today, it certainly doesn't mean that you won't ultimately be successful - please know that I'm not implying that at all! What I am saying, however, is that it will be more challenging to stay the course tomorrow. Once you take your eyes off of your goal and choose the instant gratification, it can be hard to get refocused. The next time you face a similar choice to the one you face today, you won't have the successful outcome from today to boost your resolve tomorrow. Again, you may well get to your goal (and I hope you do!), but you've increased the incline on the treadmill by a degree or two, making the climb from here to goal a bit more challenging.
As I've shared on numerous occasions in past blogs, I don't take any credit - none - for the fact that I stayed on plan and didn't step off from the time I started until I reached my goal. I know better than anyone how prone to failure I was and how utterly weak I felt in my own strength. For me, the only way I was able to do this program successfully was because I admitted my need for help and turned to the Source of my strength, my Heavenly Father.
The "butterfly effect" of the choices I made beginning with that first choice in June of 2007 to order Take Shape for Life/Medifast continues to spread. I had no idea that anything would come of that first choice - I didn't even believe that it would work for me. However, because I lost 126 pounds and got healthy, I have directly or indirectly helped literally hundreds of others lose thousands of pounds over the past two years in my work as a TSFL health coach, and those individuals are inspiring still others to do the same. It amazes and humbles me every day.
The choices you make today matter far more than you may even realize. Choose wisely :-)
Saturday, March 6, 2010
Mindless Eating
My husband sent me a link to a pretty funny video clip, the kind of skit you'd see on Saturday Night Live. The clip was for an infomercial for a product to deliver food to our mouths more effectively. It touted that it was the answer to those who found it to be too much effort or too tiring to lift a fork to their mouth. With the push of a button, food placed on a tray would be mashed and moved up a chute directly to the mouth, so all a person would need to do was swallow. Since the food was mashed, no chewing was required - for those who found it too exhausting to chew. As a bonus, those who called in the next 10 minutes would also get a giant bib. It was pretty funny, and also slightly disgusting as the video showed the food being poured into one mouth after another.
The video also made me think about all of the mindless eating I'd done in my life. I can't count the number of times I hardly tasted what I was eating and just shoved it in as fast as I could. This was especially true when I was eating for emotional reasons; I remember numerous times when I'd stand in front of my refrigerator with the freezer door open, shoving handfuls of frozen chocolate chips into my mouth as fast as I could (because I "needed chocolate"). There was a time in my life, and not that long ago, when a contraption like the one in the video might have seemed like a good idea and an efficient way to get the food in just a little bit faster and with the least amount of effort.
One of the things we learn on this program is how to eat slowly and mindfully. I don't know about you, but I tried to make every small meal last as long as possible (I still do!). I take a small bite of a crunch bar, chew it thoroughly, drink some water, take another bite . . . Doing this fills me up and gives my brain time to get the message that I've eaten and am satisfied, making me aware of my "full signal." Staying on plan means that we're planning out our menu for the day, carefully choosing our lean & green, and perhaps enjoying eating now more than we have in a long time. That was true for me, and part of the "enjoying eating" came from knowing that I could eat without feeling guilty all the time about what I was eating.
Obviously, Medifast meals are NOT gourmet and they certainly don't taste like my own home cooking, but as my tastebuds adjusted once I got off all of the high fat & white sugar, I found most of the foods to be pretty good. I still eat many of the products (and we love the new brownies!) because they not only provide great nutrition in grab and go convenience, but they taste good, too. I savor what I eat - mindless "shoving it in as fast as I can" eating is part of my obese past, not my healthy present and future.
Changing how we eat and changing how we think about food takes time. The changes we want to make are reinforced every day by the choices we make. Choose wisely :-)
The video also made me think about all of the mindless eating I'd done in my life. I can't count the number of times I hardly tasted what I was eating and just shoved it in as fast as I could. This was especially true when I was eating for emotional reasons; I remember numerous times when I'd stand in front of my refrigerator with the freezer door open, shoving handfuls of frozen chocolate chips into my mouth as fast as I could (because I "needed chocolate"). There was a time in my life, and not that long ago, when a contraption like the one in the video might have seemed like a good idea and an efficient way to get the food in just a little bit faster and with the least amount of effort.
One of the things we learn on this program is how to eat slowly and mindfully. I don't know about you, but I tried to make every small meal last as long as possible (I still do!). I take a small bite of a crunch bar, chew it thoroughly, drink some water, take another bite . . . Doing this fills me up and gives my brain time to get the message that I've eaten and am satisfied, making me aware of my "full signal." Staying on plan means that we're planning out our menu for the day, carefully choosing our lean & green, and perhaps enjoying eating now more than we have in a long time. That was true for me, and part of the "enjoying eating" came from knowing that I could eat without feeling guilty all the time about what I was eating.
Obviously, Medifast meals are NOT gourmet and they certainly don't taste like my own home cooking, but as my tastebuds adjusted once I got off all of the high fat & white sugar, I found most of the foods to be pretty good. I still eat many of the products (and we love the new brownies!) because they not only provide great nutrition in grab and go convenience, but they taste good, too. I savor what I eat - mindless "shoving it in as fast as I can" eating is part of my obese past, not my healthy present and future.
Changing how we eat and changing how we think about food takes time. The changes we want to make are reinforced every day by the choices we make. Choose wisely :-)
Friday, March 5, 2010
What's It Worth?
How much money would it take to convince you to go back to your starting weight and remain there for the rest of your life?
I think about where I was three years ago, just before starting Take Shape for Life/Medifast and where I am now and how much my life has changed. I asked myself, would a million dollars be worth going back (and staying at) 260 pounds? Would two million? How about a billion dollars? Would I be willing to regain the weight and never take it off for that kind of money?
As I thought about this (and I didn't have to think very long), I realized that NO amount of money would ever entice me to gain back 126 pounds! Regaining the weight would be undoubtedly put me back into a diabetic state, I'd be back on meds for cholesterol and GERD (and probably an anti-depressant as well). My self-esteem would be back in toilet, and my back and knee would hurt all the time. I would be back to facing the myriad of health risks associated with diabetes and obesity and I would surely have a shorter life span. Since I'll be 58 in July, I know how fast these years go and that we have no guarantee for the future. There is NO WAY I'd be willing to spend another minute, let along the rest of my life, morbidly obese!!
While most of us wouldn't take money to deliberately regain the weight, the risk is there for all of us to do that IF we don't really, permanently change our thinking about food, our emotional issues with food, and our lifestyle. We might not take the money to regain the weight, but we could end up doing that very thing for "free" if we aren't diligent. That is a very sobering thought for me!
Take Shape for Life/Medifast has a wonderful plan for not only losing the weight, but helping us to slowly transition back to "regular foods" when we've completed the weight loss portion of this journey, and there is ongoing help for us when we're in maintenance. Most of us are focused on the weight loss part right now, but that is only the first half of the journey. The other, and more difficult part, will be to successfully transition and then maintain our weight loss.
As I thought about all of the reasons that I NEVER want to regain the weight, I realized all over again that I will need to be alert and thinking about what I eat and why I eat for the rest of my life. Almost two years since reaching goal, there are days when being alert and mindful is pretty easy, and other days when it's not. Maintenance isn't easy, but the alternative is unthinkable to me.
I wouldn't take a billion dollars to regain the weight, so I sure don't want to do it for free, one mindless forkful at a time!
Getting to a healthy weight and incorporating the healthy habits needed to stay there is a series of daily choices. Choose wisely :-)
I think about where I was three years ago, just before starting Take Shape for Life/Medifast and where I am now and how much my life has changed. I asked myself, would a million dollars be worth going back (and staying at) 260 pounds? Would two million? How about a billion dollars? Would I be willing to regain the weight and never take it off for that kind of money?
As I thought about this (and I didn't have to think very long), I realized that NO amount of money would ever entice me to gain back 126 pounds! Regaining the weight would be undoubtedly put me back into a diabetic state, I'd be back on meds for cholesterol and GERD (and probably an anti-depressant as well). My self-esteem would be back in toilet, and my back and knee would hurt all the time. I would be back to facing the myriad of health risks associated with diabetes and obesity and I would surely have a shorter life span. Since I'll be 58 in July, I know how fast these years go and that we have no guarantee for the future. There is NO WAY I'd be willing to spend another minute, let along the rest of my life, morbidly obese!!
While most of us wouldn't take money to deliberately regain the weight, the risk is there for all of us to do that IF we don't really, permanently change our thinking about food, our emotional issues with food, and our lifestyle. We might not take the money to regain the weight, but we could end up doing that very thing for "free" if we aren't diligent. That is a very sobering thought for me!
Take Shape for Life/Medifast has a wonderful plan for not only losing the weight, but helping us to slowly transition back to "regular foods" when we've completed the weight loss portion of this journey, and there is ongoing help for us when we're in maintenance. Most of us are focused on the weight loss part right now, but that is only the first half of the journey. The other, and more difficult part, will be to successfully transition and then maintain our weight loss.
As I thought about all of the reasons that I NEVER want to regain the weight, I realized all over again that I will need to be alert and thinking about what I eat and why I eat for the rest of my life. Almost two years since reaching goal, there are days when being alert and mindful is pretty easy, and other days when it's not. Maintenance isn't easy, but the alternative is unthinkable to me.
I wouldn't take a billion dollars to regain the weight, so I sure don't want to do it for free, one mindless forkful at a time!
Getting to a healthy weight and incorporating the healthy habits needed to stay there is a series of daily choices. Choose wisely :-)
Thursday, March 4, 2010
Doing the Math
When I was in school, math was not particularly my strong suit (though I did get an "A" in algebra :-) ). Although numbers and formulas hold only limited interest for me, I did come across an equation a couple of days that resonated with me, so I thought I'd share it with you. Ready?
Intentions
- action
= squat
Ouch! That's one math equation that doesn't require a calculator to figure out. Regardless of how lofty or well-intentioned, intentions that aren't followed up with action will ultimately result in nothing. As much as we'd like it to be different, just wishing won't make it so.
For years I wished - like crazy - that I'd lose weight. I had the best of intentions as I started innumerable diets, always hoping that the latest and greatest would finally be "it" and bring me to my goal. I bemoaned more than once that my weight problem (I avoided EVER saying "obesity") wasn't due to lack of effort on my part to lose weight, and I also wondered aloud how much I'd weigh if I hadn't kept trying to lose weight. Ironically, I now understand that my years of yo-yo dieting directly contributed to me ending up at 268 pounds, as I'd lose fat AND muscle on those diets, then gain back fat, further lowering my already sluggish metabolism. My good intentions to lose weight were followed by sporadic action. I'd start strong and quickly fold, especially once the hassle factor of the diet collided with constant hunger and slow weight loss.
So what made the difference this time? I had good intentions when I ordered Take Shape for Life/Medifast, but this time I actually followed those good intentions with action. I knew that the expense of the program would only be cost-neutral if I was actually following the program and replacing my other food with Medifast products; I couldn't justify the cost of the program if I was playing around with it and still eating other things. I committed to staying on plan for four weeks, planning to decide near the end of that period whether or not to order another four weeks. Because I saw such amazing results right away, and because it was easy and I felt great, I decided to place a second order and committed to staying on plan four more weeks. I honestly thought the initial month's weight loss was a fluke and didn't expect to see much happen the second month, but I was wrong (thankfully!). My intentions plus consistent action over almost 11 months brought me - finally - to my goal.
When good intentions are followed by action, the math changes:
Intentions
+ action
= RESULTS!! - perhaps beyond your wildest dreams :-)
If you're ready for some new math in your life, it begins with going beyond good intentions to action. It's a choice we can make beginning today - choose wisely :-)
Intentions
- action
= squat
Ouch! That's one math equation that doesn't require a calculator to figure out. Regardless of how lofty or well-intentioned, intentions that aren't followed up with action will ultimately result in nothing. As much as we'd like it to be different, just wishing won't make it so.
For years I wished - like crazy - that I'd lose weight. I had the best of intentions as I started innumerable diets, always hoping that the latest and greatest would finally be "it" and bring me to my goal. I bemoaned more than once that my weight problem (I avoided EVER saying "obesity") wasn't due to lack of effort on my part to lose weight, and I also wondered aloud how much I'd weigh if I hadn't kept trying to lose weight. Ironically, I now understand that my years of yo-yo dieting directly contributed to me ending up at 268 pounds, as I'd lose fat AND muscle on those diets, then gain back fat, further lowering my already sluggish metabolism. My good intentions to lose weight were followed by sporadic action. I'd start strong and quickly fold, especially once the hassle factor of the diet collided with constant hunger and slow weight loss.
So what made the difference this time? I had good intentions when I ordered Take Shape for Life/Medifast, but this time I actually followed those good intentions with action. I knew that the expense of the program would only be cost-neutral if I was actually following the program and replacing my other food with Medifast products; I couldn't justify the cost of the program if I was playing around with it and still eating other things. I committed to staying on plan for four weeks, planning to decide near the end of that period whether or not to order another four weeks. Because I saw such amazing results right away, and because it was easy and I felt great, I decided to place a second order and committed to staying on plan four more weeks. I honestly thought the initial month's weight loss was a fluke and didn't expect to see much happen the second month, but I was wrong (thankfully!). My intentions plus consistent action over almost 11 months brought me - finally - to my goal.
When good intentions are followed by action, the math changes:
Intentions
+ action
= RESULTS!! - perhaps beyond your wildest dreams :-)
If you're ready for some new math in your life, it begins with going beyond good intentions to action. It's a choice we can make beginning today - choose wisely :-)
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
The Disconnect
It's always a challenge to do the things we know we need to do, and there is often a real disconnect between the two. It doesn't matter who we are or what we do - the challenge is there. I read an article on the internet yesterday that brought this truth home once again, only this time the person with the disconnect was our President.
Yep, even the President struggles to eat the way he knows he should! I thought it was interesting that his concern, albeit it joking, was that nobody told his wife. Apparently he was more concerned with her reaction than with the fact that he was making choices that were contrary to the advice of his physician, choices that, if continued, would not move him in the direction he needs to go.
So why do we do this? Why do we do exactly the opposite of what we know we need to do? I think it's because what we do today really doesn't matter today. If we make healthy choices today, those choices won't necessarily be reflected on the scale tomorrow. If we make less-than-healthy choices today, the consequences may not show up for months or even years. We are wired to expect immediate results and when we don't, when the results (or consequences) take time, it's easy to revert to following our impulses.
Because the consequences don't happen immediately, it's easy to think "I'll do better tomorrow." I think that's why we eat mashed potatoes and fried chicken when we've been warned to change our diet - we figure that "just once" won't hurt.
The problem, of course, is that one day leads to another and before we know it months and years of unhealthy eating finally catch up with us. Some of you made the decision to start on this program because of a health crisis in your own life, or because you are fearful that you are teetering on the edge of a health crisis. Others are on the program because you are determined to turn things around before your health suffers.
The choices we make today matter, and every day that we make the choices we need to make is another day closer to getting what we really want - a healthier us.
Choose wisely :-)
"Just two days after his doctor warned him about watching his diet due to borderline cholesterol levels, President Obama chowed down at a local restaurant in Savannah, Georgia where he piled his plate with fried chicken and mashed potatoes. He jokingly warned the reporters, "Don't tell Michelle."
Yep, even the President struggles to eat the way he knows he should! I thought it was interesting that his concern, albeit it joking, was that nobody told his wife. Apparently he was more concerned with her reaction than with the fact that he was making choices that were contrary to the advice of his physician, choices that, if continued, would not move him in the direction he needs to go.
So why do we do this? Why do we do exactly the opposite of what we know we need to do? I think it's because what we do today really doesn't matter today. If we make healthy choices today, those choices won't necessarily be reflected on the scale tomorrow. If we make less-than-healthy choices today, the consequences may not show up for months or even years. We are wired to expect immediate results and when we don't, when the results (or consequences) take time, it's easy to revert to following our impulses.
Because the consequences don't happen immediately, it's easy to think "I'll do better tomorrow." I think that's why we eat mashed potatoes and fried chicken when we've been warned to change our diet - we figure that "just once" won't hurt.
The problem, of course, is that one day leads to another and before we know it months and years of unhealthy eating finally catch up with us. Some of you made the decision to start on this program because of a health crisis in your own life, or because you are fearful that you are teetering on the edge of a health crisis. Others are on the program because you are determined to turn things around before your health suffers.
The choices we make today matter, and every day that we make the choices we need to make is another day closer to getting what we really want - a healthier us.
Choose wisely :-)
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Another Life Being Changed!
Yesterday I had a phone call that absolutely made my day. The call was with a friend who went on Take Shape for Life/Medifast just six months ago and it was a joy to hear what has happened to her in this short period of time.
First of all, she's lost over 80 pounds and is on the verge of getting under 200 pounds for the first time in over 30 years - she can't believe it, but it's about to happen. Secondly, she told me that she is going to participate in her first 5K race this weekend! She's not sure how much of the race she'll walk and how much she'll run, but the fact that she's doing something this weekend that would have been unimaginable only six months ago is amazing! I hung up the phone after talking with her and tears filled my eyes - another life is being transformed because of this program.
When I first talked to my friend about Take Shape for Life/Medifast, she was pretty skeptical, just as I was when I started on plan. She had had nothing in her past to even remotely suggest that she'd be successful, and her history of past failures made her hesitant to try one more time. She'd had a friend who'd been successful and that friend knew me, so the two of us encouraged her to give it a try.
What's wonderful about Take Shape for Life/Medifast is that you don't have to believe it will work - all you have to do is follow the program :-). It doesn't matter what your past dieting history is, because this is an entirely different program. My friend now knows that this is the last weight loss program she'll ever need and she is as focused as anyone I've ever seen on getting to her goal - there's no doubt in my mind that she'll reach it. It doesn't even matter if you're at an age where conventional wisdom says you can't lose weight. My friend is of a "certain age," and, like me, she's blown conventional wisdom out of the water - women of our "certain age" can most certainly lose weight, and lose it FAST :-).
My formerly morbidly obese, middle-aged friend is now over 80 pounds lighter, closing in on her goal, and about to participate in her first 5K. This transformation didn't take years, it took just six short months! I know there are a lot of things that she hasn't eaten over these past six months, and she even went on a cruise (!!!!), but she's stayed focused on what she wants and she's getting there, one day and one choice at a time.
Perhaps you don't need to lose as much as my friend, or perhaps you need to lose even more. It doesn't matter what's happened in the past with your attempts to lose weight (even past attempts on this program!), and you don't have to believe it's going to work this time. All you have to do is choose to follow the plan today - 5 Medifast meals, one lean & green, lots of water - and the results will come, guaranteed. The choice is yours - choose wisely :-)
First of all, she's lost over 80 pounds and is on the verge of getting under 200 pounds for the first time in over 30 years - she can't believe it, but it's about to happen. Secondly, she told me that she is going to participate in her first 5K race this weekend! She's not sure how much of the race she'll walk and how much she'll run, but the fact that she's doing something this weekend that would have been unimaginable only six months ago is amazing! I hung up the phone after talking with her and tears filled my eyes - another life is being transformed because of this program.
When I first talked to my friend about Take Shape for Life/Medifast, she was pretty skeptical, just as I was when I started on plan. She had had nothing in her past to even remotely suggest that she'd be successful, and her history of past failures made her hesitant to try one more time. She'd had a friend who'd been successful and that friend knew me, so the two of us encouraged her to give it a try.
What's wonderful about Take Shape for Life/Medifast is that you don't have to believe it will work - all you have to do is follow the program :-). It doesn't matter what your past dieting history is, because this is an entirely different program. My friend now knows that this is the last weight loss program she'll ever need and she is as focused as anyone I've ever seen on getting to her goal - there's no doubt in my mind that she'll reach it. It doesn't even matter if you're at an age where conventional wisdom says you can't lose weight. My friend is of a "certain age," and, like me, she's blown conventional wisdom out of the water - women of our "certain age" can most certainly lose weight, and lose it FAST :-).
My formerly morbidly obese, middle-aged friend is now over 80 pounds lighter, closing in on her goal, and about to participate in her first 5K. This transformation didn't take years, it took just six short months! I know there are a lot of things that she hasn't eaten over these past six months, and she even went on a cruise (!!!!), but she's stayed focused on what she wants and she's getting there, one day and one choice at a time.
Perhaps you don't need to lose as much as my friend, or perhaps you need to lose even more. It doesn't matter what's happened in the past with your attempts to lose weight (even past attempts on this program!), and you don't have to believe it's going to work this time. All you have to do is choose to follow the plan today - 5 Medifast meals, one lean & green, lots of water - and the results will come, guaranteed. The choice is yours - choose wisely :-)
Monday, March 1, 2010
The Dreaded Plateau
Welcome to March! Perhaps it's because I live in snowy West Michigan, but I'm always happy to welcome March because it means that spring will soon be on its way. The weather may still be cold and snow may still cover the ground, but I know that winter is finally on its way out.
Sometimes this time of year in Michigan can feel a lot like being on a dreaded 5&1 plateau - bleak and endless. Two years ago, I was on one of those dreaded plateaus when, despite staying 100% on plan, the scale decided to stall. Here's what I blogged then (I hope this will be an encouragement to those who are currently stuck on a plateau, or who may someday be on a plateau):
***
Sometimes this time of year in Michigan can feel a lot like being on a dreaded 5&1 plateau - bleak and endless. Two years ago, I was on one of those dreaded plateaus when, despite staying 100% on plan, the scale decided to stall. Here's what I blogged then (I hope this will be an encouragement to those who are currently stuck on a plateau, or who may someday be on a plateau):
***
The dreaded plateau is here . . . ugh! Two weeks ago I lost 4 pounds, but that was mostly due (I’m sure) to being sick and running a temp (fevers raise our BMR). Last week I fully expected a small loss and I got it – one pound. Since I’m finally feeling 100% after having the flu and really hit exercise pretty hard last week, as well as staying on plan and drinking a lot of water, I expected to see a nice loss this week.
It was not to be. The scale didn’t budge.
Time for the same pep talk to myself that I’ve given to others: this is a marathon, not a sprint; as long as I’m doing everything I can do to lose the weight, I know it will come off and I have no control over how fast my body chooses to release the weight, etc. etc. blah blah blah. It’s a lot easier to GIVE the pep talk to others than it is to apply it when the plateau is happening to ME!
But God gave me a great object lesson yesterday, knowing that I’d need it today ![Smile [:)]](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_uCxA_g8eNDh93CALFwlgrD3t697kcpM9_adztBR1ZK0iF1cFYFBf1i1RQB7g6aopgI2o-4A8gD8m_VMPerBfpB0NMMmp3jNrPuzDschXHcc0VfRAH_13iQSw=s0-d)
.
.God’s timing is perfect and He’s never late – whether it’s the blooming of the first spring bulb or in allowing me to lose the weight that remains. I may not see the number go down on the scale and I may feel like I will NEVER reach my goal, or at least not reach it in MY time frame, but I’m on dangerous ground if I think that what I see and what I feel are the ONLY reality. Things are continuing to change in my body and in my thinking, and eventually those changes that may be hidden for the moment will reveal themselves, just as those crocuses will eventually bloom.
There is no hurrying up of this process, as much as I’d love to hurry it up! I want spring here NOW and I want to be at my goal NOW, but all of the wanting and wishing won’t make either happen a moment earlier than they are supposed to happen.
And in the waiting there is hope!
***
Of course, the plateau did eventually end and I reached my goal. Hanging in there and continuing to do what I needed to do, even when I wasn't seeing progress, was a valuable lesson in delayed gratification. I'm glad I made that choice, and there are certainly no regrets :-).
Have a great, on-plan day today! If you're seeing steady progress right now, congratulations! If the scale is stuck, hang in there! Either way, choose wisely :-)
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