Backwards Thinking

Why do we tend to feel deprived when we decide to start eating healthy and cut out the junk?  Shouldn't it be the other way around?  Shouldn't we feel we are depriving ourselves because we AREN'T eating healthy?

We've really gotten our thinking backwards, haven't we?  So often we find ourselves longing for food that may taste good but is nutritionally deficient, high calorie/carbs/fat - food that hasn't served us well.  Other than enjoying the flavor for a moment while it's in our mouth, the food we crave really hasn't done a thing for us except contribute to us being overweight and in an unhealthy state.

I look back to where I was six years ago, just before starting on Take Shape for Life/Medifast.  Sure I was eating all of my favorite foods in whatever quantities I wanted - there was no deprivation going on in the food department at my house!  But I was miserable in my own skin and I was unhealthy and headed down a path of even worse health.

I remember looking in the mirror and hating my reflection.  I remember struggling to find clothes that would fit and even the clothes that fit were often not my style or a good color for me, but I had to settle for what I could find.  I remember wearing pantyhose with skirts in the summer because my thighs rubbing together would chafe - the nylons were hot, but it was more uncomfortable dealing with chafed thighs.  I remember skipping invitations to pool parties because I was too embarrassed to be in public in a swimsuit, and I didn't take my children to a nearby water park for the same reason.  I remember struggling to get the seatbelt fastened on an airplane and being worried that I'd have to ask for an extender.  I remember sitting at a round table in a crowded room and not getting up to use the bathroom because I knew I couldn't squeeze between the tables to leave the room.  I remember checking my blood sugar in the morning and seeing numbers that confirmed I was diabetic.  I remember feeling guilty and out of control with my eating.  I remember feeling hopeless.

Yes, I was eating whatever I wanted in whatever quantity I wanted - no deprivation in the eating department for sure.  But deprivation permeated every other area of my life!

Then I made the decision to try this program for four weeks, a desperate last attempt at weight loss before I pursued weight loss surgery and paid for it out of pocket since it wasn't covered by my insurance. 

There was a lot of food deprivation during the almost-11 months it took me to lose 120 pounds and reach my goal - I won't deny that for a minute!  But as I stayed on plan, the rest of my life became rich and full.  My blood sugar returned to normal, I found energy I didn't know I could have, I began to like what I saw in the mirror, shopping began to be fun, and I regained hope.

This Wednesday will mark my five-year anniversary of reaching my goal weight.  Those few months of temporary deprivation have resulted in me being in a place I couldn't have imagined - truly beyond what I dreamed.  I am healthy and I no longer shrink back from life because of my weight.  I've chosen to not incorporate most of those former "favorite" foods back into my life because I realize that they didn't serve me well before and they certainly won't serve me well now.  I don't feel the least bit deprived because this or that isn't part of my eating plan because I now know the difference between real and perceived deprivation.  Real deprivation is cheating ourselves out of optimal health - being as healthy as we can be for as long as possible.  Real deprivation is being limited, physically and emotionally, by our weight.

So which deprivation are you choosing today?  The choice is yours, so choose wisely :-)