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, which includes the Habits of Health, the support and guidance of a free health coach, and is fueled by Medifast meal replacements with has a proven track record of over 30 years - everything 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, succumbing 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 :-)

What Does, and Doesn't, Work

A couple of nights ago I watched part of TLC's "My 600 Pound Life - Where Are They Now?," which was a follow-up to the recent series that chronicled four 600+ pound individuals who underwent gastric bypass surgery.  This past Sunday night's program caught viewers up with where these individuals are now.  Although none of them had regained all of their weight, all four had gained quite a bit and were significantly overweight (obese).  It was clear that although they were better off than they were prior to surgery, the surgery didn't fix their issues with food.  Unhealthy eating habits, not retrained through surgery, resulted in significant weight gain.

Coupled with watching this program, I also saw a news article on the internet announcing that singer Carnie Wilson had lap-band surgery, 12 years after having gastric by-pass surgery.  In the past 12 years, she has regained 2/3 of her weight and was concerned about rising blood sugar levels and saw lap-band surgery as the way to bring things back under control.

What both of these situations make clear is that the real work of weight loss happens in the space between our ears.  We HAVE to get our thinking straight on the role that food plays in our lives or nothing will really change long-term for us.  Take Shape for Life/Medifast is a wonderful program and it works, and works fast.  However, if we don't do the hard work of redefining our relationship with food, if we don't choose to incorporate healthy habits on a permanent basis, the weight WILL come back on.

Reaching goal isn't the end . . . it's the beginning of what CAN be the rest of your thin, healthy life.  It's also the start of choosing to make wise choices when all foods once again become options. 

It's so important to begin thinking now about what maintenance will look like for you.  If you are dreaming of once again enjoying all of your old favorite foods, that's a red flag.  I don't mean that you won't ever be able to enjoy a small amount of something you used to eat, but there will be things that won't be a regular part of your life . . . if you want to stay at a healthy weight. 

That's why I'm such a huge fan of "Dr. A's Habits of Health," written by Take Shape for Life co-founder and Medifast's medical director, Dr. Wayne Scott Andersen.  He spends the first part of his book discussing how to have sustainable motivation for permanent change to help us get our minds in the right place.  His book also outlines exactly HOW to eat for the rest of our lives, and it's not how to eat Medifast meal replacements.  His book also teaches simple ways to incorporate movement, reduce stress and inflammation, get restorative sleep - all of the components needed to live a longer, healthier life. 

Weight loss surgery won't fix the way people relate to food, and neither will being on Take Shape for Life/Medifast's 5&1 in and of itself.  The 5&1 program teaches us how to eat six small meals a day, critical to long-term success, but redefining our relationship with food is another important component and cannot be overlooked or ignored if you want to be part of the minority of individuals who successfully maintain their weight loss.

Is this a quick-fix diet for you, or are you committed to long-term, permanent change?  Be honest when you answer this question, then 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 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 :-)

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 since this article was first published, 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 four-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 :-)

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 weigher 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 this program.  Between the diagnosis and the day I started on Take Shape for Life/Medifast, 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 that addresses 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.  I just plain loved to eat!
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.

This quote really puts it into perspective:  "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 :-)

Just Imagine

I read an interesting article posted on CNN.com a while ago entitled, "The Moments That Make Us Fat."  The article started 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 talked 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's co-founder and 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

Welcome to the first day of Spring! With our unseasonably warm temperatures here in West Michigan (today will be in the 80's), things are starting to grow.  I have a little perennial garden planted by the patio of our condo and right now there are some weeds that need my attention.  It's always frustrating to see the weeds growing faster than the plants!  Because I think that weeding has some great applications to our weight loss journey, I decided to re-run a blog today that 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.  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 five 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 :-)

Event Dieting

With most of the country back on Daylight Savings Time and looking forward to the start of spring next week, summer 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 :-)

4-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 efficacy of this program.  When I started on this program, 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, GET HEALTHY and then GET ON with the rest of our lives.  Whether you enjoy technology or not, those are 4-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 HEALTHY . . . GET ON with the rest of your life.  Are those 4-G's something you want?  They are yours for the taking, one day and one choice at a time.  Choose 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 :-)

Five Years Ago . . .

As I was looking at my infamous "before" picture taken at the Grand Canyon, I realized that the picture was taken just five 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 five 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 five 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 :-)

Prairie Chickens and Eagles

What we believe about ourselves, or what we've learned to believe about ourselves over the years, has a direct impact on what we believe we can and can't do.  There is a Native American fable that illustrates this point beautifully.

According to the fable, a young brave found a nest filled with golden eagle eggs.  As a prank, he decided to see what would happen if he put one of the eggs in the nest of a prairie chicken.  Eventually the egg hatched and the eagle was raised with the family of prairie chickens.  He didn't have any reason to think he wasn't a prairie chicken so he scratched and clucked like all the others.

Years later the eagle saw an eagle soaring overhead and he marveled at the magnificent creature.  His prairie chicken brother assured him that no prairie chicken could ever possibly hunt or fly like the eagle, who the brother proclaimed to be the most majestic of all birds.

The golden eagle went back to his pecking, living and eventually dying as an earthbound prairie chicken, never realizing he was created to soar.

I'm guessing that many of us believe we're earthbound prairie chickens.  Perhaps we've been told this all our lives, or perhaps circumstances over the years have convinced us that dreaming of soaring is a foolish and wasted dream. 

This lovely fable has application to many areas of our lives, and it certainly applies to losing weight.  Believe you can - because you CAN!  Believe you can do more than just lose weight - believe you can maintain your weight loss and live a vibrant, healthy, THIN life - because you CAN!  While this plan works whether we believe it or not, what we believe about our ability to do it can impact the choices we make.  If we don't believe we can lose weight, we may self-sabotage and our cheating will reinforce our prairie chicken concepts.

I'm here to tell you that regardless of what you believe about yourself, you are an eagle.  You can do so much more - you can have so much more.  It doesn't matter if you've been pecking in the dust for a few years or your entire life, you can raise your wings and soar.  Choose to fly!  That won't happen in an instant, but it will happen one day and one choice at a time.  Choose wisely :-)

Cheating

Every now and then, it's fun for me to re-read some of my old blogs, dating back to my earliest days on Take Shape for Life/Medifast.  When I started on this plan on June 24, 2007, I weighed 260 pounds and wore a tight 24W.  I was pretty skeptical that this plan would work, mostly because nothing else ever had.  Still, I was hopeful and decided to chronicle my journey through the blogs.

I thought some of you might enjoy a peek into my brain back on August 17, 2007, about seven weeks into the program, when I posted this blog:

"Most of us are on this program because we have tried and failed on multiple other diets.  I know I have, and I've always "cheated" on every other diet I've ever been on.  Sometimes I would almost smirk to someone that I was on such-and-such a diet, but decided "today" to cheat.  As if I thought it was funny, or smart, or justified.When we cheat on a diet, exactly who do we think we're cheating on?  The diet?  The diet doesn't care what we do!  We're cheating ourselves from the privilege of getting healthy, we're cheating ourselves from being able to fully participate in life, we're cheating our families from having us healthy.  So if we're going to be honest when we blog about cheating, we'd put in bold letters "I CHEATED MYSELF OUT OF BEING HEALTHY TODAY.  I MADE FOOD CHOICES THAT, IF CONTINUED, WILL GREATLY INCREASE THE CHANCES THAT I WILL DIE PREMATURELY."  Pray tell, what food is really worth that?

I made a commitment before I placed my first order that I would stay on it 100% and not cheat for the first 4 weeks to really give myself a chance to see what my body might actually do if allowed to be on a diet consistently.  It was pretty amazing, actually!  I recommitted when I ordered my second order, and again when I placed my third order.  For me, I cannot justify the expense unless I'm doing the program 100%.  So part of my "no cheat" commitment is financial.

But another part of the commitment is that I am sick to death of being overweight, sick to death of having my weight and the dieting cycle define so much of my life.  Sick to death of knowing all of the statistics about the health risks of obesity and secretly worrying that I'll be a statistic, even while stuffing my face with high calorie, high sugar, high carb and high fat food.  Sick to death of thinking that I can continue to be unwise in my food choices and that it will not eventually catch up to me in the form of diabetes or heart disease.

So today I commit to doing the work required to improve my health - staying 100% on plan, drinking my water, exercising my body - no excuses!  And I will thank God that He's given me yet another opportunity to do the right thing.  I will NOT squander this opportunity!

No excuses.  No cheating.  Not this time."

I wrote this blog 7 weeks into a journey that would take a total of 11 months, so 9 more months of 5&1 were still ahead.  I look back at that time and it was NOT easy, but wow, was it ever WORTH IT! The changes I needed to make didn't happen overnight, but they did happen one day and one choice at a time - and that's just how you'll reach your goal! 

Don't cheat yourself . . . choose wisely :-)

Back from Orlando!

After being gone for 12 days, it's so good to be home again!  We spent 2-1/2 days driving to Orlando and 2 days driving home (we live in West Michigan), then enjoyed a 7-day park hopper pass at Disney plus one day at the beach.  Our daughter ran the Disney Princess Half-Marathon (the reason we went to Orlando) and had her best time ever. 

I'm not a runner, but wow, did I ever walk!  I wear a BodyBugg and it recorded 125,253 steps taken while we were at Disney.  Since it takes approximately 2,000 steps to equal a mile, I'm estimating I walked over 62 miles last week!  We averaged 8-10 miles of walking a day, but one day we walked over 11 miles.

If someone would have told me 5 years ago, when I weighed 260+ pounds, that I would walk 62 miles in a week or as much as 11 miles in a day, I wouldn't have believed them because it would have been impossible. 

I saw a lot of people at the parks in wheelchairs or motorized scooters.  Obviously I have no idea what physical conditions led to the need for assistance, but many of the individuals on scooters were quite obese.  I couldn't help but think that, but for the grace of God in leading me to this program, that would have been me.

There was some concern prior to going to Disney on whether or not I'd be able to do all of the walking as my knee has been slow to recover from last August's total knee replacement.  My daughter urged me to get a wheelchair or a motorized scooter, just in case.  I'm pretty stubborn, however, and insisted I wanted to do this on my own and would only acquiesce if I absolutely had to.  What a joy to get to the end of this trip and realize that I didn't need any assistance - I walked the entire time!

Losing weight and getting healthy continues to bring benefits, and being able to walk around at Disney holding the hands of one of my granddaughters was precious.  It was also great posing for all of the pictures at Disney (we had a photo pass so there were lots and lots of pictures taken), knowing that I looked pretty good :-).  On many of the rides, the girls (ages 9 & 7) would take turns riding with my husband and me.  The three of us fit just fine on the seat, but that wouldn't have happened prior to losing weight.  Since my husband also lost over 50 pounds, he and I would have more than filled the seat on the rides, leaving no room for a giggling little girl.

Walking around Disney, having my picture taken over and over again and sharing a seat on a ride might not seem like much to some people, but five years ago Disney would have been a much different and less enjoyable experience.  Even as I enjoyed our time with our daughter and her family, I couldn't help but be filled with gratitude that I COULD thoroughly enjoy it.  Yes, I lost a lot of weight, but I gained so much more as a result - I got my life back!  In fact, I got more than my life back, I got a life I didn't realize I could even have!

Being on 5&1 isn't always fun, and it certainly isn't always easy.  Sometimes it's easy to lose focus and wonder why we even bother.  I know all of those thoughts went through my mind on occasion while I was losing weight.  The reality is that we truly have no idea the difference getting to an maintaining a healthy weight will have on our lives.  Some of the benefits will be evident immediately, but other benefits may not be realized for a while - maybe even 4 or 5 years later!  The objective is to get to a healthy weight as quickly as possible, then use the healthy habits we've learned to stay healthy so we can truly get on with the rest of our lives.  We do that one day, one meal, and one choice at a time.  Choose wisely :-)