On the Road Again!

This will most likely be my last blog until mid-April as we're leaving tomorrow on a trip and won't get back until late on April 15.  We are flying to New Orleans on Wednesday and had planned to drive to Chicago (we fly Southwest in and out of Chicago Midway) on Tuesday afternoon, but a close friend in South Bend, Indiana passed away at the end of last week, so we are leaving tomorrow for his visitation on Monday and the funeral on Tuesday.  We'll head to Chicago straight from the funeral.

We're meeting up with friends in New Orleans (she lost 127 pounds and her husband lost 90 pounds on Take Shape for Life/Medifast!) and will spend a couple of days exploring New Orleans before the four of us head out in their motor home for a road trip to Phoenix where we will attend a Take Shape for Life health coach training conference.  Along the way we will stop in San Antonio and El Paso. Following our conference, we will travel with them to Sedona and the Grand Canyon for a few days before we fly home from Phoenix on the 15th.

So what's my game plan for this 19-day trip?  Planning . . . careful planning :-).  My husband and I sent an order of Medifast food to our friends in Lousiana and it will be in their motor home waiting for us when we arrive.  We ordered a case of Dutch chocolate ready to drink shakes and lots of crunch bars, pretzels and cheese puffs to make things as easy as possible (I love the "grab and go" convenience of Medifast meal replacements!). It will also help that all four of us have lost a lot of weight ourselves (and all four of us have been maintaining for three years or more), as we will hold each other accountable.  Being with other people who are also committed to living healthy lives is helpful!  Since we're in maintenance, we will most definitely enjoy some of the wonderful food New Orleans and San Antonio are famous for, but we will do so in moderation.  I've already given permission to my friend to do an intervention if necessary and tell me to just walk away from the food :-).  

Speaking of walking, we will be doing a LOT of that on this trip! Because the four of us are at a healthy weight and are focused on living a healthy lifestyle, staying active is part of who we now are.  

So the plan is to stay active, utilize Medifast meal replacements for most of our meals every day (saving us money and time as well as providing great nutrition and helping us manage our calories so we can enjoy other foods), enjoy those other foods in moderation while paying close attention to portion sizes, and keeping each other accountable.

I shared all of this with you for a couple of reasons.  First of all, I want to encourage all of you who will be traveling for spring break and/or planning summer vacations - it IS possible to have a wonderful time and eat healthy.  (I went on vacation and even took a cruise while I was on 5&1 and stayed on plan AND lost weight!)  My second reason for sharing this is to hold myself accountable - I've shared what my plan is and I'll report back on how I did when I get home.

Continue to work your plan, stay accountable, and, of course, choose wisely :-).  I'll do the same and look forward to reconnecting when I return!

Feeling Caged In?

Does the Take Shape for Life/Medifast program feel a bit restrictive to you?  Do you sometimes feel like you've put yourself in a very small cage, with all of your favorite foods just outside your reach (even when you stretch and reach between the bars)?  When we've been on other plans that had us counting calories or carbs or points, most of us had more food options than we have while we're on 5&1.  I've encountered a couple of people who ended up leaving this plan and opting to go back to the "points" program because they wanted more options in their daily menu.

I read a story that made me think about our self-imposed Take Shape for Life/Medifast "cage" and it gave me an entirely new perspective on this.  The story told about an individual who rescues chimpanzees.  These chimps were orphaned by those in the business of bush-meat trade and taken from the jungle; many of the chimps have lived their entire lives confined in a space smaller than a prison cell.  When the man who rescues them arrives to take them to the game reserve he calls "Chimp Eden," he finds that many of the chimps are hostile and untrusting, not understanding that he is trying to help them.  When he tried to put them into a smaller crate for the trip to their new home, the chimps put up quite a fight - they don't realize that the crate is temporary and that its purpose is to bring them to a much better place.

Hmmm . . . anybody see any application here?  :-)

When we start on Take Shape for Life/Medifast, most of us are motivated because we've felt trapped in a body we don't want to be in.  We don't feel well, we don't like what the scale says, we don't like the size label on our clothes.  We're in a prison of obesity from which we're desperate to break free.  

It's almost ironic, isn't it, that the vehicle that will eventually bring us to a freedom that we can't even imagine can, temporarily, feel like a yet another cage.  Like the chimps that are being transported from their prison-like cell to "Chimp Eden", we may find ourselves fighting the very vehicle that is designed to bring us to a much better and happier place.

The Take Shape for Life/Medifast 5&1 program is a tool - this is not the rest of your life!  It is carefully designed to bring you from where you are to where you want to be, and to get you there as quickly and safely as possible.  To do that, it takes all of the guesswork out and, to keep it as simple as possible, removes most of our food choices.  The problem is that sometimes we stop viewing this as a vehicle that's taking us to our goal and we begin to resent the restrictions.  If we don't take a deep breath and get back our perspective, our resentment and feelings of deprivation can ultimately be our undoing.  

If we're feeling frustrated and restricted by the limitations of 5&1, we may be vulnerable to the food temptations that come our way.  However, if we view 5&1 as a secure transport vehicle to get us to our goal, we will be in a much stronger position to stand firm and "just say no."

Cage or safe transport?  How you choose to view this program may well influence other choices you make today.  Choose wisely :-)

Another (and Unexpected) NSV

Since it's been almost 3 years since I reached my goal, I've pretty much settled into being at a healthy weight.  Every now and then I'm still surprised if I catch my reflection in a mirror, but even that is rather rare at this point.  All of the things that were once new and exciting - all of those NSVs (Non-Scale Victories) that once came in bunches as the weight melted off are gone, so it's not too often that I'm surprised.

Yesterday was one of those times when I experienced yet another - and very unexpected NSV.  When I saw my chiropractor last month, he retook x-rays of my spine because it had been four years since he'd done so.  I was really past-due for this, and given the fact that I lost 126 pounds, he said he really needed a new set of x-rays.  Yesterday I had another appointment with him and following my adjustment, we reviewed the x-rays.  He showed me both the x-rays from four years ago and the ones taken last month.  WOW!!!

Four years ago, tipping the scale at 260+ pounds, you couldn't see the lower part of my spine on the x-ray at all, as my fat - internal and external - completely obscured the view.  Four years ago, the front view of the x-ray was a complete blur from the waist down and you couldn't see my pelvis at all.  I could also see the outline of the external fat extending far beyond my skeletal frame.  When I exclaimed that I couldn't see the lower part of my spine or my pelvis, my chiropractor told me that he had to make his best guess as to what was happening on that portion of my spine, which, by the way, is where I have chronic issues.

As I viewed the most recent x-ray, I could have wept as I saw the difference.  My entire spine is now clearly visible, as is my pelvis.  In fact, it was easy to see my entire skeleton in the x-rays, and what a joy to see only a thin layer of fat and skin outlining my bones!

Because my chiropractor can now clearly see what's going on with my spine, he changed his approach to how he adjusts me and hopes that I will see more improvement in the coming months.

That decision almost four years ago to get started on the Take Shape for Life/Medifast program, and the choice I made to stay on plan even when it was hard and I wasn't having any fun at all, continues to bring unexpected rewards - like yesterday!  Only time will tell what wonderful NSVs you'll enjoy as you continue your own journey, but be looking for them because they will be everywhere!   Just take it one day and one choice at a time . . . and choose wisely :-)

No Wiggle Room

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 over 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 Take Shape for Life 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 :-)

Tomorrow? Or NOW?

One of the things I have to continually fight is my tendency to procrastinate.  If it's something I want to do, I'm all over it from the start, but when the task at hand is something that I'm not excited about, I can find 101 reasons to put it off.  As I've gotten a bit more mature (am resisting saying "older"!), I have gotten better, but I'm far from declaring victory in the procrastination department.

I perfected the art of procrastination (if there is such a thing) when it came to getting healthy.  Like Little Orphan Annie, my theme song was "Tomorrow, tomorrow, I love you, tomorrow . . . you're always a day away!"  Since I have been a daily weighter for years, I'd step on the scale every morning, groan at the number I saw, and solemnly promise myself that I would start on a diet and start to turn things around . . . tomorrow.  "Today" was rarely a good day to start a diet because I was too busy, too tired, too stressed, etc.  While I had a dozen reasons why "today" wasn't good, I'd promise myself over and over again that I would start on a diet "tomorrow."  

I promised and procrastinated myself all the way up to 268 pounds and diabetic.  The day I got back the lab work that revealed diabetes, it felt like someone had thrown ice water on me as I finally faced the consequences of waiting for a tomorrow that never came.  That diagnosis started a journey that would, almost two years later, finally bring me to Take Shape for Life/Medifast.  Between the diagnosis and the day I started on this program, I had a number of failed attempts on yet another program, and I still had too many days of playing the "start tomorrow" game.

For those of you who take the time to read my blogs (thank you!!), you know that I enjoy thought-provoking quotes.  I read one the other day that addressed the whole issue of procrastination:  "Procrastination is the false believe that there is a better time than NOW!"

My "NOW" came in June of 2007 when I came to a point where I felt like I couldn't continue down the path of obesity one more day.  The scale was up again, my blood sugar numbers were up and I knew I had to do something NOW.  Even though June wasn't a particularly convenient time for me to start on this program, especially with fresh fruit coming into season and a two-week vacation just a month away, it truly was my NOW.  As you probably can guess, I have no regrets!

Is today YOUR "NOW?"  Or are you still under the impression that there is a better time than today to focus on getting healthy?  I know there are pressures today . . . work, children, perhaps aging parents, finances, but there are always pressures and once one issue is resolved, don't two more pop up?  

Things will always get in the way because life is rarely without one challenge or another.  If tomorrow still looks like a better day to be on plan for you, are you really willing to wait?  What happens if tomorrow ends up being as crazy - or crazier - than today?

Make today your NOW.  It really doesn't matter what's going on in your world today, because once you make the decision, it's amazing how easy it is to figure out the "how."  What choices will you make today?  Choose wisely :-)

Losing that Loving Feeling

My best guess is that many of us who ended up on Take Shape for Life/Medifast got here because we developed an unhealthy relationship with food at some point in our lives.  I say "unhealthy relationship" because I know that I didn't balloon to 268 pounds just because I had a "good appetite."  My weight skyrocketed to morbid obesity because I had an emotional relationship with food.  I used to talk all the time about how I "loved" chocolate, or "loved" Mexican food, etc.  

A while back I read a story in my devotional, "Our Daily Bread," about the movie, "Fever Pitch."  In the movie, Ben Wrightman is crazy about the Boston Red Sox baseball team.  He rarely misses a game during the spring and summer months.

One winter, Ben falls in love with a young woman named Lindsey and wins her heart.  Then spring rolls around, and she finds out that he's a different person during baseball season.  He has no time for her unless she goes to the games with him.

When Lindsey ends her relationship with Ben because of his fanaticism, he talks with a young friend who says, "You love the Sox.  But tell me, have they ever loved you back?" Those words cause Ben to analyze his priorities and to give more time to the woman he loves, who loves him back.

That story got me thinking about things that I've loved that didn't love me back - like food :-).  One of my good friends (she's lost over 100 pounds on this program) told me that she no longer talks about "loving" food, she now says she "enjoys" food.  I love it!  She reserves the word "loves" to describe her feelings for God, her family and other people, and her example has challenged me to do the same thing.

Another friend of mine, also a 100+ pound loser, reminds herself of the need to view food as fuel, nothing more.  

I think both of these wise women are on to something!  Loving God and loving people . . . enjoying food and viewing it as fuel.  Sounds like a good balance to me!

Part of the really hard work on this program - and I DO mean hard work - is redefining our relationship with food.  If we don't do that, we won't make the permanent changes needed to maintain our weight loss.  How we relate to food will change over time as we consciously choose to change how we think.  Begin today - one thought and one choice at a time . . . and choose wisely :-)

Don't Come Up Short

I spent years not only fooling myself, but trying to fool other people when it came to my weight.  Because I had so much shame and embarrassment about my weight, even getting dressed in the morning was an ordeal. Every outfit had to pass the "does this make me look fat?" question and I required my clothes to do their best to hide the fact that I had packed as much as 268 pounds on my 5'5" frame.  It was a daunting request to make out of every outfit and the fact that I thought some things made me look "thin" probably says more about my state of denial than the outfit itself.

For several years, I refused to get on the scale at the doctor's office.  A nurse practitioner had once chided me for skipping my yearly well-woman exam and when I told her it was because I didn't want to get on the scale, she told me that I didn't have to be weighed if I didn't want to and urged me to not skip this check-up because of the scale.  For this person in denial, that was my "get out of jail free" card and I pulled it out every time I saw the doctor.

I tried to hide my weight from my friends and even from my doctor, but I wasn't kidding my body - and my body was keeping tally of what I was doing to it.  The bill came due in September of 2005 when routine blood work revealed that I was now diabetic, with very high cholesterol and triglycerides.

I read a quote a couple of days ago that brought all of this back to mind:  "If you don't do what is best for your body, you are the one who comes up on the short end."  ~ Julius Erving

When we choose to not take care of our bodies, we are ultimately the ones who come up short.  When I wasn't eating right, when I wasn't exercising, I was only hurting myself.  Every time I would cheat on a weight loss program (and until I started on Take Shape for Life/Medifast I cheated - repeatedly - on every last program I ever went on), I was really only cheating myself and my body was keeping a running tally.

Turning things around and permanently moving in a new direction begins with being truthful with ourselves about where we are - getting a clear picture of our current reality.  How much do we weight?  What size are we in?  What are the things we can't do, or can't do comfortably, because of our weight?  What medications are we on due to weight-related conditions?  How would we have answered these questions five years ago?  Are we in better or worse shape now than we were then?  If we continue to do in the next five years what we've done over the past five, where will we be five years from now?  Are we OK with that?

Those may be hard questions to ask, but if you ask yourself those questions and answer them honestly, you'll have a clear picture of where you are right now.

Then imagine yourself at your goal weight.  How much will you weigh?  What size will you be?  How will you feel?  What will you be able to do?  Get a clear vision of what that will look and feel like.

What you have just done is created structural tension, which is the gap between where you are and where you want to be.  Tension seeks resolution, so focus your eyes on what you want to create in your life, then begin making the choices to get there.  You will move from where you are to where you want to be one choice at a time.  Choose wisely :-)

Dying for Food

I recently re-read an article that was published a couple of years ago in the medical journal, Lancet.  The study was paid for by Britain's Medical Research Council, the British Heart Foundation, Cancer Research UK and others.  Given the sad fact that the obesity epidemic has only gotten worse over the past two years, there are now even more people at risk of early death due to being overweight and obese.  Here's an excerpt from the article I read.

“Obesity Can Trim 10 Years Off Life”

Being obese can take years off your life and in some cases may be as dangerous as smoking, a new study says. British researchers at the University of Oxford analyzed 57 studies mostly in Europe and North America, following nearly one million people for an average of 10 to 15 years. During that time, about 100,000 of those people died.

The studies used Body Mass Index (BMI), a measurement that divides a person's weight in kilograms by their height squared in meters to determine obesity. Researchers found that death rates were lowest in people who had a BMI of 23 to 24, on the high side of the normal range.

Health officials generally define overweight people as those with a BMI from 25 to 29, and obese people as those with a BMI above 30.

 "If you are heading towards obesity, it may be a good idea to lose weight," said Sir Richard Peto, the study's main statistician and a professor at Oxford University.

Peto and colleagues found that people who were moderately fat, with a BMI from 30 to 35, lost about three years of life. People who were morbidly fat — those with a BMI above 40 — lost about 10 years off their expected lifespan, similar to the effect of lifelong smoking.

Moderately obese people were 50 percent more likely to die prematurely than normal-weight people, said Gary Whitlock, the Oxford University epidemiologist who led the study.

He said that obese people were also two thirds more likely to die of a heart attack or stroke, and up to four times more likely to die of diabetes, kidney or liver problems. They were one sixth more likely to die of cancer.

"This really emphasizes the importance of weight gain," said Dr. Arne Astrup, a professor of nutrition at the University of Copenhagen who was not linked to the Lancet study. "Even a small increase in your BMI is enough to increase your risks for cardiovascular disease and cancer."

I can't help but ask myself, am I willing to die for food?  I’ve seen people standing on street corners holding signs that say, “Will work food,” but I can tell you with assurance that I’m not willing to stand on a corner with a sign that says, “Will die for food.”

I am willing to die for my faith (Jesus died for me, and I would die rather than renounce my Savior); I would die for my husband, my children or my grandchildren.  I would possibly die to save the life of a stranger.

But I refuse to die for food!  As I approach my three-year anniversary of reaching my goal, I am SO happy to know that although I will ultimately die of something, it will NOT be of an obesity-related disease!  I refuse to cut my life short – as many as 10 years short, according to this article – because of food. 

Because obesity can never be cured, only managed, I commit again today to make the choices I need to live a long and healthy life.  I’m too busy living to die for food!  You have a choice to make today, too . . . choose wisely :-)

Just Imagine

I read an interesting article posted on CNN.com a couple of days ago entitled, "The Moments That Make Us Fat."  The article starts out by saying, "If you're trying to lose weight, close your eyes for a minute and imagine the moments that make you fat."  The article made the point that, for most people, there are particular times when we are most vulnerable and most likely to find our willpower weakest or even non-existent.

Our vulnerable moments vary, and what may be challenging for one person may not even faze another, so it's important to identify where our vulnerability is.  You may do well all week and find that your good work falls apart on the weekends when you're in a different routine; you may have no problem staying on plan until you go on vacation, then what happens in Vegas doesn't stay in Vegas - it comes home as extra pounds. Your most vulnerable time may be every evening after a busy day at work and after the kids are in bed when you want to relax in front of the TV and eat.  For those of us who are emotional eaters, our vulnerable moments may be less predictable and may appear whenever we find ourselves in an emotionally stressful situation.

According to the CNN article, "The key is to accept the fact that your willpower will run out at some point, and plan strategies to get you through fattening situations."

Although CNN's article talks about willpower, the reality is that it takes something far different than willpower to make permanent changes in our habits.  In Chapter 3 of his book, "Dr. A's Habits of Health," Take Shape for Life/Medifast medical director Dr. Wayne Scott Andersen writes about our motivation for change.  That motivation begins with the fundamental decision to get healthy.  If we decide that's what we want, what we REALLY want, then we will begin to make the choices necessary to keep us moving towards our goal.  

Knowing when and where we are most vulnerable will empower us to put strategies in place ahead of time that will keep us on track.  If we head into a vulnerable time or situation without a firm plan, we may or may not emerge unscathed.

So what ARE your most vulnerable situations?  When are you most likely to encounter them?  How are you going to handle them next time? Since weekends are a vulnerable time for many, do you have a plan in place?  

The key to success is to anticipate, plan, and then choose wisely :-)

Pulling Weeds

Spring is definitely (and finally!) in the air here in West Michigan.  The temperature yesterday was almost 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 four 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 :-)

True Confession

There's no denying the truth . . . I really hate to exercise.  If left to my natural inclination, I think I could easily be a slug.  This isn't something I'm proud of, but it IS the truth.  Imagine my surprise (and secret delight) when Take Shape for Life/Medifast medical director, Dr. Wayne Scott Andersen, author of "Dr. A's Habits of Health" admitted that he hates exercise, too.

He noted that every time he gets in the car to head to the gym, he's hoping that the car won't start, or hopes he gets a flat tire along the way.  But he goes to the gym anyway, but not because he loves going or even necessarily enjoys working out once he gets there.  According to Dr. A, he exercises because having a strong body and strong muscles enables him to do something that he really loves:  skiing down majestic mountains with his daughters.  Because he wants to spend a day on the slopes with his family instead of sitting in front of a fire at the lodge, he knows that he needs to hit the gym and work out with a trainer to ensure he's ready when it's time to ski.

Dr. A's admission - and his choices - perfectly illustrate the point that once we know what it is that we really want, we will make secondary choices that support our primary choice.  Those secondary choices are often things that we don't like to do and things that we would probably never do if they didn't help us get something we really wanted.

That principle rang true for me yesterday when I laced up my shoes and headed outside for a long walk.  We are coming out of a long, cold winter, so it's been several months since I've taken a walk.  We have a treadmill on the lower level of our house and I've hit the treadmill on occasion over the winter, but I've honestly been less than consistent.

Two things motivated me yesterday.  First of all, the weather warmed up into the low 50's, and while that might sound chilly for those of you who live in warm-weather states, it felt downright balmy after the near-zero windchills we've had.  With temperatures warming up and the sun shining, I just wanted to get outside for a while and enjoy some fresh air.

Second, we are leaving on a trip in two weeks and we'll be doing a lot of walking and possibly some hiking while we're gone.  I am really looking forward to our trip and want to make sure that I'm truly ready for a full day of being on the go.  

On top of wanting to enjoy nice weather and being ready for an active vacation, I also have a renewed commitment to creating optimal health in my life.  I have the eating part of being healthy pretty well down (not perfect, but I'm doing well), I am fairly consistent about getting adequate rest and managing stress (being self-employed has done a lot to reduce my own stress level!) - all important components of what Dr. A calls "habits of health."  

But those healthy habits, all good, aren't good enough to get me where I want to be, so exercise has to be a regular part of my life whether I feel like it or not.  I say this because I know that I often don't feel like it. Because it's not my favorite activity, exercise is the first thing that falls off my schedule when things get busy.  But other things ARE important to me - short-term things like being able to walk and hike all day on our upcoming vacation and long-term things like being able to dance at my grandchildren's weddings (they are 8,6, and 4, so it's going to be a while!).

So I've put exercise on my schedule for today and will honor that appointment like I honor any other appointment, not because I really want to do it, but because I REALLY want to be healthy and active and optimally healthy for years to come.  I'm going to follow my own advice and choose wisely :-) 

Transforming Pain - Part II

As a follow-up to last Friday's blog, I've done a little more thinking about the process of allowing pain to transform us.   In that blog I wrote about how painful experiences in my life have been transformed into blessings and opportunities to encourage others.

The truth is that pain doesn’t automatically transform into blessing. We all know people (I know I do) who’s pain has turned them hard and bitter. Pain always eventually transforms us, but what it transforms us into is pretty much up to us.  We’ve all heard the saying “It will either make you better or bitter,” and that certainly true when it comes to dealing with the painful issues in our lives.  It doesn’t matter if the pain happened a long time ago and has scarred over, or if the pain is fresh and the wound is still oozing, because eventually we will have to decide what we’re going to do with it.

The good news is that even if we DO go in a direction that is leading to bitterness, things can be turned around!  When dealing with my daughter’s anorexia and the issues that led to her eating disorder, my first reaction was anger turned inward (anger at the issues that led to the anorexia, not anger at my daughter).  Anger turned inward quickly turns into depression and I went straight into a serious clinical depression that, at my worst, led me to plan my own suicide.  What stopped me from taking my life (or, more accurately, what God used to stop me) was my weight!  I realized that if I took my life, there would be an autopsy and then my husband would know how much I weighed.  I know that sounds funny, but it’s the honest truth.  The Lord used my pride and my shame about my weight to keep me from ending it all at a very dark period in my life.  When I think now about what that would have done to my family, and of all the joy I would have missed, I’m so thankful that I was FAT!!!!!

With prayer, good counseling and an effective anti-depressant, the depression finally began to lift and has been completely gone for several years – and I haven’t been on antidepressants in over 7 years.  As I began to heal from that, God began the transformation process.  My part was allowing Him to do that, and being willing for that healing to happen.  To heal, I had to release the anger I had towards those who had hurt my daughter, and I had to release the anger I had towards my Heavenly Father for allowing the pain to begin with.  I will admit that that was easier said than done, but it was an important step.

Every time I face a situation that has the potential to grow me or break me, I have to make a choice to trust God and allow Him to work in and through the situation.  The older I get, the easier it is to just trust Him, because I have found Him faithful.  God doesn’t always work things out the way I’d like Him to (and I DO tell Him how I think things should work out!), but I am continuing to learn that He doesn’t make mistakes.

Sometimes I wonder about the timing for me coming to Take Shape for Life/Medifast and I wonder why God didn’t lead me here years ago.  I would have been spared years of pain and humiliation, I wouldn’t have been on the brink of so many health issues, the list of “what if’s” could go on and on.  I sure tried hard on so many other diets, and I wonder why nothing ever “clicked” until now.  I don’t have a good answer for that, other than to say that two decades of obesity sanded down some rough edges in my life as probably nothing else could have done.  I’m not saying that God made me fat, because I know that He didn’t.  What I am saying, and what I believe, is that God used that time to refine and shape me, and when it was “my time, in HIS time, He led me here.  So now even the pain of my obesity is being transformed – that’s the kind of God I love

and serve!

We have so many choices to make today - not just what we're going to eat and whether or not we're going to stay on program.  We also have to choose how we will deal with struggles from our past that continue to shape our responses today, and how we will respond to new situations that may challenge our resolve.  Choose wisely :-)

Choosing Optimal Health

If you could choose optimal health in your life, would you want it?  That seems like such an obvious question at first glance, doesn't it?  I mean, who wouldn't want optimal health?  Given the choice, who wouldn't want to be healthy - or even more than healthy, optimally healthy?

The reality is that we CAN choose optimal health, but some of us won't.  It's not that we can't have it, but that we'll choose to not have it.  We have all we need to create optimal health in our lives right now:  we have the program (Take Shape for Life) and we have the right product (Medifast) which has a proven track record of almost 30 years, and we have the support we need to be successful.  But some of us will choose to get in the way of our own success by allowing our past failures or our own concepts or fears to get in the way.  The only thing standing between us and achieving optimal health is, well, us.

Some of us will choose the path of immediate gratification, sucumbing to numerous triggers along the way.  We have good intentions, but vacations, celebrations, parties, stress, a busy schedule, etc. etc. get us off track and we make choices that won't keep us moving in the direction of optimal health.

One of the things I've learned is that if we want something bad enough, we'll figure out what we need to do to get it.  My question for you today is simple:  What do you really want?  Do you really want optimal health - living as long as you can as healthy as you can?  If so, you have in your hands all of the tools that you need to get it.  There really isn't anything to even figure out, because all of the figuring out has already been done!  All we have to do is commit to eating every 3 hours and we will get to our goal, which is an important milestone on our optimal health journey.  From there, we continue to add other healthy habits that keep us moving in the direction we want to go.  It's pretty simple if we just take it one step at a time.

The good news is that you don't have to commit to doing this for a lifetime - you just have to commit to making healthy choices today.  Can you do that?  If so, maybe you can do that tomorrow, too, and then maybe even the day after that!  You don't have to worry about whether you can do this tomorrow or the day after that, you just have to commit to today - one meal at a time.

Are you committed to pursuing optimal health in your life today?  The choice is yours . . . choose wisely :-)

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 :-)

Another Reason for Wise Choices

The devotional book I'm reading this year, "Worship the King" by Chris Tiegreen, is a wonderful and challenging devotional.  One of the readings from this past week said, in part, "We worship the God who indwells mortal flesh . . . those who carelessly degrade His temple are being careless about their worship.  Praising God with physical mouths and then treating our bodies with little concern for our health or morality is a gross contradiction . . . consider your earthen vessel sacred." 

My first thought when I read this was "ouch!"  The Bible talks about taking care of our bodies and I have long understood, in theory, that everything I say and do should honor God, but for years I didn't really think about whether or not my food choices honored Him or not.  In reality, I know that I didn't want to think about it because I wanted to do - and eat - whatever I wanted without accountability.  

As I head out the door to church in a little while, I realize that my worship doesn't begin when I walk through the door of the church, or when the music starts to play.  My worship begins today, and every day, with the choices I make - what I do, how I spend my time, and even what I eat and how I take care of my body.  To the best of my ability, and with God's help, I want to honor Him with my choices today. Keeping that in mind will help me to choose wisely :-)

3-G Program

I am an admitted techno-geek and love technology.  I am old enough to remember typing on an IBM Selectric typewriter and using a mimeograph and stencils (I realize that many of you have NO idea what I'm even talking about!) and have embraced each advancement in technology over the past 30+ years.  My husband shares my love of technology (which is not necessarily a good thing!) so we have a pretty good collection of gadgets.  In addition to enjoying each new generation of technology, we also like our gadgets to be FAST.  As internet connections continue to get better, we find our patience rather limited for slow loading or downloading of data.  When our internet provider advertises an upgrade to 3-G or 4-G, we're there.

Because I love the science behind things and because I want fast results, Take Shape for Life/Medifast was a perfect fit for me.  The science behind this program is stellar - over 30 years in business, has been utilized at Johns Hopkins for their own weight loss program, a prestigious list of credentialed individuals sit on the board of directors providing oversight of this program, and both Johns Hopkins and the National Institute of Health have published clinical studies that prove the safety and efficiacy of this program.  When I started on Take Shape for Life/Medifast, I knew the science behind it was solid so I made the decision to not try and outsmart the program. Following it as designed worked, and it worked fast!  

This program is designed to help us quickly GET to our GOAL and then GET ON with the rest of our lives.  Whether you enjoy technology or not, those are 3-G's I'm guessing we all want.  The 5&1 phase of this program is designed to be short - just long enough to get us to goal - followed by the rest of our thin, healthy lives.  I am always saddened when I see people who drag the 5&1 phase out far beyond what it should be due to not staying on plan.  I've seen far too many people who spend a year or more working to lose 30 or 40 pounds, something that should take just a few short months.  I certainly understand the struggle, but I so want to encourage them to focus on what they want and just get there so they can get on with the rest of their lives.

GET to GOAL . . . GET ON with the rest of your life.  Are those 3-G's something you want?  They are yours for the taking, one day and one choice at a time.  Choose wisely :-)

Transforming Pain

I wrote this blog three years ago today, as I was nearing the end of my journey to lose 120 pounds.  I am sharing it again today in the hope that it will encourage some of you who are on your own journey, whether it's to lose 10 pounds or 200.

***

One of the things that amazes me is how some of the greatest personal pain can, in time, become some of our greatest blessings.

I’ve seen this in my own life as we dealt with our daughter’s struggle with anorexia, and again as we entered the world of autism following our son’s diagnosis of Asperger’s Syndrome.  There is no denying the pain that these things brought into my life, and there were days when I felt like all of the hope and joy had been permanently sucked out of my life.  But in time, God’s healing transformed these events into blessings by using them to not only grow me as a person, but to strengthen the bond of my family, and eventually allow me to reach out to others who were where I had once been.

In the midst of these experiences, well-meaning people told me that someday God would use this pain as a springboard for helping others, and that made me angry. I certainly wasn’t looking for that kind of outreach or ministry and I couldn’t imagine ever allowing myself to revisit the pain in order to retell my story to someone else.  But in time, that’s exactly what happened and my life is richer for having done so. 

One area of great pain for me was spending over 20 years living with obesity.  I wouldn’t even say the word “obese” out loud, and would NEVER say “fat.”  I was overweight, heavy, over my ideal weight, or any other euphemism you can think of.   I never allowed myself to refer to my body as obese, even though I was well over 100 pounds overweight.  I was mortified at my size and went to great lengths to keep my weight my “dirty little secret,” going so far as refusing to get on the scale at my doctor’s office.

When I started on Take Shape for Life/Medifast last June, all I wanted to do was lose weight and get back to the thin person buried under all those pounds.  My desire was to try to forget about everything that I’d felt and experienced related to obesity over the past 20 years.  All I wanted to do was get as far away from that pain as quickly as possible.

But a funny thing has happened over the past 8-1/2 months!  My Take Shape for Life/Medifast journey has been very healing - and very liberating - as I have come to understand many of the issues that led to my weight gain.  I have lost almost 100 pounds on Medifast (96 so far!) and over 100 pounds from my all time high and I have truly been set free from the bondage of emotional eating, but I am no longer running away from the 20 years I spent as an obese woman.   My desire to run away from the pain has been replaced by a deep and driving passion to reach out to others who are still struggling.

People are asking me on an almost-daily basis about my weight loss and several have been very open about their own struggle.  I, of course, tell them everything I know about Take Shape for Life/Medifast, but I also share some of the things that led me to placing my own first order.  It’s still not easy to be that transparent about something that has been such a private struggle for so many years, but I hope that as I honestly share my own struggle, it will let them know that there really IS a way out for them. 

A couple of verses from the Bible that pretty much sum it up are 2 Corinthians 1:3-4, “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all of our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God.”  [Emphasis mine]

So today, March 11, 2008, I am able to honestly say that God has used this painful period in my life to transform me in ways I could not have imagined, and I am thankful for this journey – all 20 years of this journey.  I don’t know how God is going to use this experience in my life, but I am willing to tell my story – all of my story – if it will help one person move from where they are now to where they want to be.  I can’t NOT share!

***

When I wrote this three years ago, I certainly didn't realize that God would use my struggles in the way that He has.  I am humbled and amazed at all He has done as I have shared my story and reached out to help others.  The ripple effect of my own weight loss has touched literally hundreds and hundreds of people as my circle of family members and friends began to get healthy, then they reached out to their own circle . . . and on and on it goes.  

The transformation that God has done and continues to do in my life began with the decision to get healthy and the choices I made to support that decision.  Re-reading my blog today and remembering again what an amazing journey this has been re-emphasized the untold value of choosing wisely :-)

Danger!

There are many potential dangers that we may encounter along our journey to a healthy weight, and one danger that's often overlooked is the danger of comparison.  It's easy for us to compare stories and get discouraged if someone else's story is more exciting than our own.  We hear about someone who dropped 50 pounds in three months and we can become discouraged if we've taken five months to lose the same amount of weight.  Or we're happy with our two pound weight loss this week until we hear about someone else who lost four pounds, making our two pounds seem insignificant.

One of the things I learned on my own journey was that I couldn't compare my own progress and my own journey to anyone else's.  I could always find someone who was losing faster than I was, and that's who I would have compared myself to (I never compared myself to anyone who was losing more slowly than I - funny how that works!).  When I would compare myself to someone else and inevitably come up short, it created frustration and dissatisfaction - definitely NOT a good thing!  I had to come to terms with the fact that this was MY journey, and ultimately it didn't matter how long it would take me to reach my goal, the important thing was that I got there.

I heard someone remark recently that it doesn't matter how long it takes to get to the top, because the view is the same once you're there, regardless of how long it takes you to get there.  I think that is a great statement and provides a wonderful perspective for us to embrace.  

We are on a journey towards improving our health and permanently changing our lifestyle so that we stay at a healthy weight for the rest of our lives.  We can't control how fast our bodies choose to release the weight, but we can choose whether or not we're going to stay on plan.  As long as we're doing what we know we need to do, we are going to reach our goal.  Ultimately, that's what really matters.  Don't allow yourself to get discouraged by comparing your progress to someone else's.  This is your journey, and when you reach the top, the view is magnificent!

You'll get to the top one day and one choice at a time . . . choose wisely :-)

Four Years Later . . .

As I was looking at my infamous "before" picture taken at the Grand Canyon, I realized that the picture was taken just four years ago in early March of 2007 (I've attached a picture).

My daughter and I flew to Arizona that March to visit my nephew and spend a few days soaking in some sun and fun.  The flight was fairly miserable for me because I overflowed my airline seat and was crowding my daughter.  I tried to lean into the aisle as much as possible to give her room.  With the seatbelt pulled all the way out, it just barely fastened, but I was relieved that I didn't have to request an extender.  I had to walk side-ways down the aisle of the plane because of my girth, and I pretty much filled up all the space in the plane's restroom.

My size 24W jeans were skin-tight and uncomfortable, but I was desperately trying to avoid having to purchase an even bigger size.  We rented a mid-size SUV in Phoenix and my jeans were so tight I could hardly lift my leg to get in the vehicle, so I hoisted myself up every time.

When we got to the Grand Canyon, we had to climb a pretty steep stone staircase to get to the rim of the canyon.  Between my jeans being skin-tight, being 260 pounds and incredibly sedentary, and the higher altitude, I had to stop a couple of times on the stairs before I could continue.  I was miserable and beyond angry at myself.  I remember thinking that my husband and I wanted to start traveling and realizing that there would be things I wouldn't be able to do and places I wouldn't be able to see because I couldn't stop eating.  I loved seeing the Grand Canyon again, but my enjoyment was definitely dampened because of how miserable I felt.

My daughter and I are both avid amateur photographers and enjoyed taking lots and lots of pictures, so I shouldn't have been surprised when she told me that she wanted to take a picture of me.  I really, REALLY didn't want a picture taken, but realized that I needed to have a record of the fact that I was there, so I agreed.  I remember wryly thinking that since I had the Grand Canyon in the background, there would be something bigger than I in the picture :-).

That day four years ago at the Grand Canyon was really the beginning of the end of my long struggle with obesity.  I came home determined to get my weight off and reclaim my life.  I spent the next three months trying unsuccessfully to lose weight on my own, and my repeated failure finally culminated in my decision to try Take Shape for Life/Medifast for a month.  The rest, as they say, is history - and I am SO thankful to God for leading me to this program!

When I think about where I was four years ago and where I am today, I realize that it all began to change with a single choice.  I had no idea that one single choice would cascade into so many other choices, and that the result of those choices would be a completely different - and wonderful - life.  You never know where your choices will lead . . . choose wisely :-)

Keep Looking Ahead

I wrote this blog a year ago, but since it addresses challenges we all face, I thought I'd repost it today.  I hope it will be an encouragement to you!

***

It happened again.  Even though I've seen it happen before, I'm always saddened when it happens, and this morning was no exception. 

I picked up an e-mail from a friend of mine who lives out of state.  It's been a while since we'd talked or e-mailed, so I was really happy to hear from her again.  What made me sad was reading that she had gained almost all of her weight back.  She'd lost about 30 pounds on the program and was less than 10 pounds from her goal the last time I saw her and she looked and felt great.  I didn't have to wonder what happened, because she told me that "when you lose all the weight & look good, you tend to cheat, never thinking you will gain it all back."  She's back to a place she never thought she'd be, and I could almost hear the sadness and frustration in her voice.

Why does this happen?  Everyone on plan today wants to reach their goal, and I imagine that the vast majority of you are vowing that you will never, EVER gain the weight back.  Have I guessed right? 

The challenge is to keep looking ahead to what we want to create in our lives.  In Dr. A's Habits of Health, he addresses the issue in Chapter 3, "Motivation for Change."  In this chapter, he described in detail the sequence of events that my friend has experienced.  When we approach weight loss from a problem-solving perspective (which is honestly how most of us approach it, and that was my perspective as well), Dr. Andersen says that this type of motivation almost never leads to lasting change.  He says that when we feel emotional conflict:

1. We're motivated to act. 
2. Once we've taken action, we begin to feel better, even if the situation hasn't changed much. 
3. When we feel better, we feel less pressure to change, which lessens the emotional conflict.
4.  When we feel less emotional conflict, there's less reason to continue making the changes.
5.  When we feel better, we don't feel the pressing need to follow through with our actions.
6.  We return to our old habits.

This is the miserable yo-yo pattern that many of us have been stuck in for years. 

Not ever gaining the weight back was both my vow and my fear.  I had never successfully lost all of the weight I needed to lose before, and any weight that I lost quickly came back.  I hadn't had any success whatsoever is losing weight and keeping it off, so my vow was filled with faith and hope and my fear was well-justified.

What made the difference for me this time is what Dr. Andersen spends most of his book discussing:  shifting from solving a problem (obesity) to creating health in our lives.  Changing our focus from what we're against (obesity) to what we're for (health and vitality) is the key.  When we shift our focus to creating health in our lives, reaching our goal weight isn't the end of the journey.  Instead, it's the first important step on what will be a life-long journey towards optimal health.

I don't have the time or space to fully explain all of this, and since Dr. Andersen has already done it much better than I ever could, I really encourage you to get a copy of his book and read it for yourself.  I'm not saying this because I'll make any money from this, because I won't.  I just know that if you want to successfully lose your weight and keep it off, and if you want reaching your goal to be the first step of the rest of your healthy life, you owe it to yourself to get a tool that will help you create the life you want.

In the meantime, I really encourage you to stay focused on taking the steps that you need to take today.  If you're just starting your weight loss journey, keep up the great work!  Don't allow the length of the journey ahead to discourage you because you WILL get there, one day and one Medifast meal at a time.  If you're nearing your goal, stay focused on reaching your goal and moving beyond it.  Don't settle for anything less than the healthiest you that you can be.

Today will come down, once again, to the choices that we make.  Choose wisely :-)

***

Thanks for your concern and prayers for my mom.  The echocardiogram she had yesterday showed that her heart is healthy - no sign of disease, so they aren't sure what has been causing the chest pressure and shortness of breath.  She was released from the hospital late yesterday afternoon and will follow up with her physician, but she's doing well and very happy to be home!

Quick Update

This is a quick update on my mom, who is still in the hospital.  The test they ran yesterday was inconclusive so they are running more tests this morning.  We spent a fair amount of time at the hospital yesterday with her and my dad and I will probably be there much of today as well.  I have Medifast meals and water packed for the day, so I'm am prepared :-)

Thanks for the comments, well wishes and most of all for the prayers!  

Have a great (and on-plan) day and remember to choose wisely :-)

Reordered Day

Yesterday's plans flew right out the window when I received a call from my dad late morning telling me that my mom was having chest pain and was short of breath and wondering what he should do.  He was unsure if he should take her to an urgent care center or to the emergency room (she was insistent that she didn't need an ambulance).  I of course told him to head to the ER and I would meet them there.

Since my mom is almost 82, once she got to the hospital they did a quick triage assessment and got her right back to an ER room where a host of medical personnel descended to care for her.  Thankfully the EKG showed she wasn't having a heart attack and preliminary blood work indicated her heart enzymes were normal (a heart attack would show an enzyme change).  Some nitroglycerin (tablet and then a patch) alleviated the pressure she was feeling and she was then admitted to the telemetry unit for overnight monitoring, with a chemical stress test scheduled for some time this morning (she's unable to do a treadmill stress test).

So it was a long and tiring day with a nice rush of stress-induced adrenaline to add to my overall state.  Obviously I'm incredibly thankful that my mom is stable and we are awaiting a meeting with the doctor early this afternoon to get the results of the stress test.  Because my mom had a heart catherization three years ago that showed her arteries were in relatively good shape for someone her age, and someone who has been diabetic for over two decades, the attending physician now is fairly certain that what she is experiencing is the result of damage to the small vessels around her heart due to diabetes.  My mom has already experienced small vessel damage to her eyes (she's lost part of the vision in one eye) and to her kidneys, and she also has some mild neuropathy in her feet due to her diabetes.

Had my mom not gone on Take Shape for Life/Medifast three years ago and not only lost 40 pounds but also better managed her blood sugar (she is no longer taking insulin during the day), I know she would be in much worst condition now, or perhaps not be here at all, so we have much to be thankful for. 

Interestingly, because my mom uses a lot of Medifast meals to help her manage her blood sugar, she had her second meal of the day (a crunch bar) on the way to the ER.  About 3 hours later I talked to a nurse and told him that she managed her blood sugar with small, low-glycemic meals throughout the day and that she needed to eat again.  He asked me if I was her dietician and I told him no, that I was her daughter AND her health coach :-).  He then asked me what kind of food she needed to eat and I told him balanced protein and low-glycemic and gave him a couple of ideas (they brought her some light yogurt).  He ended up telling me that he needed to lose weight and asked for information about our program (I also showed him a couple of my "before" photos).

Once I received the call from my dad this morning, I threw some Medifast meals in my purse, grabbed my 32-oz. bottle of water and tossed some additional bottles of water into my car and headed to the hospital.  I was SO glad I had what I needed with me as there was certainly nothing in the vending machine I'd want to eat and the hospital cafeteria (like all hospital cafeterias) is woefully short of healthy meal options. 

Realizing that today's episode was most likely another manifestation of the insidious damage of diabetes also reinforced (again!) my need to be diligent in not only maintaining my own 126 pound weight loss, but also my need to continue to managing my own blood sugar through eating six small, low-glycemic meals on a daily basis (which is easy thanks in part to Medifast meals!).  Having been diabetic prior to starting on Take Shape for Life/Medifast, I know what my medical future holds if I'm not mindful. 

It's not always easy, and it's not always what I want to do, but I am committed to continuing to choose wisely . . . I hope you are, too!

Not Good Enough

One of the temptations that individuals often face after several months on the Take Shape for Life/Medifast program is the temptation to settle.  For those of you who've been on plan for some time, you've lost weight, dropped inches and sizes and you feel better than you have in a long time. 

This is both a very exciting time and a very dangerous time, because you may also be feeling rather bored with being on 5&1.  While the food tastes good, it certainly isn't gourmet, and it's not my home cooking, either!  Several months into this program, you may have hit a point where it's just not fun any more.  When the inevitable program fatigue coincides with someone feeling and looking better, it can be really tempting to think, "good enough."

I had those same thoughts three years ago, right as I was finally in a size 12.  Here's what I blogged then:

When I started Take Shape for Life/Medifast last June 24, I weighed 260 pounds and wore size 24W/3X pants and size 22W/2X tops.  I set my goal weight at 130 because that's what I weighed until I was in my early 30's.  When I set my goal weight, I told myself that I wasn't sure that I'd actually sure I'd need to get that low (I'm 5' 5").  I figured that if I could get back into size 12 pants and size 10 tops (the sizes I wore the last time I weighed 130), that would be a great place to stop.

Last June, I wasn't really sure I'd ever see those sizes again.  They seemed so small to me and were so far from my present reality that I knew I'd be thrilled to reach those sizes, and that those sizes would be plenty small enough.  After all, I'm 55 and have four grandchildren!

Guess what?  I am now WEARING size 12 pants and size 10 tops and you know what?  As great as this is (and trust me, it IS great), it's NOT good enough.

I have settled for less than what I've really wanted many times over the past twenty years as I've battled obesity.  I'm not settling now!  These are pretty "normal" sizes, but my BMI tells me that I'm still overweight, and so does the mirror when I step out of the shower. 

I have my eyes on a goal about 40 pounds away, and after losing almost 90 pounds so far, 40 pounds definitely feels like the home stretch.  Yes, I get a bit tired of all of this sometimes and I very much look forward to putting this dieting season behind me.  However, I don't want to settle for "good enough" now and look back later with regret that I didn't keep on keeping on.

I really want the deep satisfaction of seeing this all the way through to completion.  It's not about reaching for a particular size, because I have NO idea what size I'll wear 40 pounds from now.  It's about setting a goal (which my doctor thinks is a good goal weight for my height and build) and not settling for less than that.  It's about reaching a truly healthy weight for ME and not being dissuaded by a size label.  It's about not listening to the growing number of people in my life who care about me who are telling me that I look great and need to think about stopping my weight loss (I'm 173 pounds, for goodness sake - hardly approaching anorexic numbers!).  [NOTE:  my husband is not one of those voices, as he continues to be my #1 encourager and supporter.]

So tonight I've reached a point I could only dream of 7 months ago, and I've realized that the dream is not yet fully realized.  I'm going for it - no settling!

I'm so glad I didn't settle . . . I really think if I'd stopped then, I probably would have started regaining weight in short order and would possibly be up near my starting weight again (that is a terrifying thought to me!).  I'm so glad I made the choice to not chase a size but stayed focused on getting to a healthy weight.

Don't settle for less than being as healthy as you can possibly be!  The choice, of course, is yours . . . choose wisely :-)