The Butterfly Effect

Sometimes we wonder if the simple choices we make today really matter.  When faced with temptation, it may be easy to think that going off plan won't hurt "just this once."  We may tend to think of our choices as disjointed, not really having much of an impact on the overall picture.  An article I read about a so-called "Butterfly Effect" made me realize that nothing is truly inconsequential.

In 1960, an MIT meteorologist made an accidental discovery while he was trying to develop a computer program that could simulate and forecast weather conditions.  One day he was in a hurry, and instead of entering .506127, the number he had used in an earlier trial, he rounded to the nearest thousandth, or .506, figuring that rounding the number to the nearest thousandth would be inconsequential, then left his lab.  When he returned, he found a radical change in the weather conditions.  He estimated that the numerical difference between the original number and the rounded number was the equivalent of a puff of wind created by a butterfly's wing, concluding that an event as minor as the flapping of a butterfly's wing could conceivable alter wind currents sufficiently to eventually change weather conditions thousands of miles away.  "Tiny differences in input can quickly become overwhelming differences in output."

After describing the "butterfly effect," the author went on to write that "small changes and small choices become magnified over time, and have major consequences . . . Too often we fail to connect the dots between choices and consequences.  Every choice has a domino effect that can alter our destiny."

It may seem like such a small and inconsequential thing today to choose to stay on plan, and you may have a dozen different really good reasons to step off.  What you decide today matters - it really does - and not just today.  If you choose to stay on plan, you are reinforcing your decision to get healthy, to delay immediate gratification for something far more important.  Your decision to stay on plan today will increase the likelihood that you'll stay on plan tomorrow as well.  For me, every time I successfully faced and conquered a temptation, it strengthened my resolve and my ability to withstand the next.

If you choose to step off plan today, it certainly doesn't mean that you won't ultimately be successful - please know that I'm not implying that at all!  What I am saying, however, is that it will be more challenging to stay the course tomorrow.  Once you take your eyes off of your goal and choose the instant gratification, it can be hard to get refocused.  The next time you face a similar choice to the one you face today, you won't have the successful outcome from today to boost your resolve tomorrow.  Again, you may well get to your goal (and I hope you do!), but you've increased the incline on the treadmill by a degree or two, making the climb from here to goal a bit more challenging. 

As I've shared on numerous occasions in past blogs, I don't take any credit - none - for the fact that I stayed on plan and didn't step off from the time I started until I reached my goal.  I know better than anyone how prone to failure I was and how utterly weak I felt in my own strength.  For me, the only way I was able to do this program successfully was because I admitted my need for help and turned to the Source of my strength, my Heavenly Father.

The "butterfly effect" of the choices I made beginning with that first choice in June of 2007 to begin this program continues to spread.  I had no idea that anything would come of that first choice - I didn't even believe that it would work for me.  However, because I lost 126 pounds and got healthy, I have directly or indirectly helped literally hundreds and hundreds of others lose thousands of pounds over the past six years, and those individuals are inspiring still others to do the same.  It amazes and humbles me every day.

The choices you make today matter far more than you may even realize.  Choose wisely :-)

What's It Worth?

How much money would it take to convince you to go back to your starting weight and remain there for the rest of your life?

I think about where I was seven years ago, just before starting Take Shape for Life and where I am now and how much my life has changed.  I asked myself, would a million dollars be worth going back (and staying at) 260 pounds?  Would two million?  How about a billion dollars?  Would I be willing to regain the weight and never take it off for that kind of money?

As I thought about this (and I didn't have to think very long), I realized that NO amount of money would ever entice me to gain back 126 pounds!  Regaining the weight would be undoubtedly put me back into a diabetic state, I'd be back on meds for cholesterol and GERD (and probably an anti-depressant as well).  My self-esteem would be back in toilet, and my back and knee would hurt all the time.  I would be back to facing the myriad of health risks associated with diabetes and obesity and I would surely have a shorter life span.  Since I'll be 62 in July, I know how fast these years go and that we have no guarantee for the future.  There is NO WAY I'd be willing to spend another minute, let along the rest of my life, morbidly obese!!

While most of us wouldn't take money to deliberately regain the weight, the risk is there for all of us to do that IF we don't really, permanently change our thinking about food, our emotional issues with food, and our lifestyle.  We might not take the money to regain the weight, but we could end up doing that very thing for "free" if we aren't diligent.  That is a very sobering thought for me! 

Take Shape for Life has a wonderful plan for not only losing the weight, but helping us to slowly transition back to "regular foods" when we've completed the weight loss portion of this journey, and there is ongoing help for us when we're in maintenance.  Most of us are focused on the weight loss part right now, but that is only the first half of the journey.  The other, and more difficult part, will be to successfully transition and then maintain our weight loss.

As I thought about all of the reasons that I NEVER want to regain the weight, I realized all over again that I will need to be alert and thinking about what I eat and why I eat for the rest of my life.  Almost six years since reaching goal, there are days when being alert and mindful is pretty easy, and other days when it's not.  Maintenance isn't easy, but the alternative is unthinkable to me.

I wouldn't take a billion dollars to regain the weight, so I sure don't want to do it for free, one mindless forkful at a time!  

Getting to a healthy weight and incorporating the healthy habits needed to stay there is a series of daily choices.  Choose wisely :-)

Walking Away

Today I thought I'd share a blog that I wrote back on September 1, 2007,  just a little over two months after starting on plan.  The blog chronicled a real turning point in my thinking.  I hope it will be helpful to you today!

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I read an interesting story not too long ago, and it's been rambling around in my brain until today, when I decided to blog about it.

Have you ever seen an elephant at the circus?  I don't know if they still do this, but years ago circus elephants could be seen standing next to a small wooden stake in the ground with a chain around one ankle. In the story I read, the writer became rather curious as to how one small wooden stake could hold a large elephant captive, so he did some investigating.  As it turns out, the trainer begins using the chain and stake when the elephant is just a baby.  The baby elephant is unable to pull free and, over time, gradually accepts the chain and the restriction it provides.  What the elephant never realizes is that as it grows stronger, it could easily pull the stake out of the ground and be free.  You see, the elephant adapts itself so completely to the chain that it loses sight of the fact that it could free itself in a moment, if it only realized that the chain no longer had any power over it.

This is a powerful illustration for me!  I feel like I have been chained to unhealthy food choices for a long time, a prisoner of stress eating and unending cycles of yo-yo dieting.  I felt like I was trapped and would never be set free.  What I didn't realize, until recently, is that all I have ever had to do was gently but firmly pull and the chain would fall away.  I stood next to a weak wooden stake called "food addiction" and allowed myself to think that it held me captive - I gave it power it never had on its own.

As God continues to work in my life through Take Shape for Life and so many of the people here, I have finally walked away from this chain and it no longer has the power to hold me captive.  I am learning to put food into its proper place and not run to it to deal with stress, smooth a hurt, or celebrate a victory.  This is so freeing!

One of my new favorite songs is called "Finally Free" by Nichole Nordeman. Here are the lyrics:

No chain is strong enough, no choice is wrong enough 
No mountain high enough that He can't climb 
No shadow dark enough, no night is black enough 
No road is lost enough that He can't find 

*chorus*
And if the Son has set us free, then we must be free indeed 
Let the chains fall away, starting today 
Everything has changed...I'm finally free 

v.2
No pain is deep enough, no heart could bleed enough 
Nothing but Jesus' love can make a way 

*chorus*
And if the Son has set us free, then we must be free indeed 
Let the chains fall away, starting today 
Everything has changed...I'm finally free 

http://youtu.be/rzcuYGj3VQI
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That day, almost six and a half years ago, I celebrated a new-found freedom.  Today, over 5-1/2 years since reaching my goal, I'm still celebrating that freedom!  I tell people all the time that when I started on Take Shape for Life, I was just hoping to lose a little bit of weight - I had NO idea that there would be so much emotional and spiritual growth in the process.  

The freedom from my long-standing food addition didn't happen in an instant, but each day as I made the choice to stay on plan and chose to find healthier ways to deal with stress and emotional issues (and for me, that healthier way was turning to my Heavenly Father), I took another step away from my food addiction and another step towards a healthier rest of my life.

I write this knowing that some of you are dealing with a lot of emotional eating issues.  I've been there, I've walked a similar path, and I understand probably more than you could ever know.  I also know that we can be set free, completely free, starting today.  Those chains will begin to fall, one choice at a time.  Choose wisely :-)

A Penny for Your Choice

I write a lot about making wise choices, so here's an interesting choice to contemplate:  I'll write you a check today for a million dollars or I'll give you a penny today and double it every day for thirty-one days.  Two choices - a million dollars today or the sum of a penny doubled for one month.

Would it surprise you to know that if you chose to receive a penny a day for 31 days, you would end up with $10,737,418?  (This example is from page 17 of "Dr. A's Habits of Health".)

If we didn't pull out a calculator and figure out the difference, I think most of us would be inclined to take the million dollar check and run.  Waiting for something, even if it will be a lot better in the long run, isn't something we like to do.  Instant gratification is almost hard-wired into us.  I remember as a kid hearing my dad say "a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush," and I took that saying to heart.  The problem with that saying (and my dad is a wise person who didn't really live by that saying) is that we end up settling for the immediate gratification, and that often means we settle for less than the best.

Dr. Andersen uses this example in his book to illustrate the art of compounding.  One penny on day one doesn't seem like a big deal after all - how many of us will even stoop down to pick up a penny on the sidewalk?  But one penny doubled day after day eventually becomes something that's valuable indeed.

Those new, healthy habits that we're working to incorporate into our lives take time.  One day of eating right or exercising doesn't really make any difference one way or the other, like a lone penny lying on the sidewalk.  But when those healthy choices are repeated day after day, the compounded effect is profound - and it's life changing.  The challenge is to not expect instant results, because when it comes to making permanent changes, the results don't show up overnight.  But they will show up, I promise you, as you make one wise choice at a time.  Choose wisely :-)

Just a Little Cheating, Part 2

Last week I blogged about how just a little cheating could result in a much longer journey to goal.  While taking a little - or a lot - longer to reach goal may be reason enough to not cheat, there is an even more important reason to stay on plan.

My friend, Freida, is a nurse and also a health coach and told me that  "making "wiggle room" on this plan can actually be very harmful. Eating 'off plan' foods, such as wine, can keep your body out of fat burning. This means your body will not burn the fat needed for energy to get through the day. Without fat burning, we ask our bodies to function on 800 to 1000 calories we ingest each day. This could mean no weight loss and may lead to metabolism slow down or worse yet, muscle wasting as the body begins to starve. Choosing to just cheat "a little," can actually cause you great harm!"  

In addition to being a nurse and a health coach, Freida is also one of the nurses who hosts the weekly Take Shape for Life nurses's call - she knows what she's talking about!  

Her comment really puts "a little cheating" on an entirely new level.  I've known individuals who insist that they will follow 5&1 plus have a glass of wine or a piece of fruit every day, reasoning that their calories are still low and they're still losing weight, even if the weight loss is slower.  But fat burning protects our bodies, including our muscles.  This isn't an extremely low-calorie diet, as some reason.  5&1 is carefully designed to provide all of the nutrition we need while we safely drop our calories, and we can safely drop our calories to under 1,000 because our bodies are in fat burning.

Thanks, Freida, for providing another - and critically important - perspective on this issue!  Staying on plan is not only the fastest way to reach goal, it is also the safest and healthiest way to get there.  As always, the choice is yours . . . choose wisely :-)

Just a Little Cheating

The 5&1 weight loss phase of Take Shape for Life's program is a very rigid and restrictive plan, and for a lot of people, the restrictions are challenging to live with.  Having been on other plans that allow for "wiggle room", some individuals keep looking for a way to somehow incorporate some of their favorite foods into this program and still make it work.  They want to be have the kind of success they see others have, in the same amount of time, while being able to cheat on the weekends.

The truth is that you CAN cheat if you choose to do so, and you can do this and still reach your goal . . . it will just take you a lot longer.  Here's a real-life example from a couple who both went on the program at the same time.  The wife made the decision to stay on plan 100% of the time and she lost 50 pounds.  Her husband also made the decision to follow the program, with one exception:  he did the 5&1 plan plus had a glass of wine every evening with dinner.  In the same amount of time that his wife lost 50 pounds, he lost 20.  Yep - his wife lost over twice as much weight in the same amount of time!

So often we may think that it's OK to modify the plan just a little . . . after all, we reason, it's only a LITTLE bit off plan, so how much could it hurt?  I guess the question each person has to ask is, "how quickly do I want to reach my goal?"  If you aren't in a hurry, then perhaps having a glass of wine or eating something off plan might be OK for you. 

When I started on Take Shape for Life and began to realize that I had finally found a program that actually worked, something that really WOULD help me to reach my goal, I wanted to get there as quickly as I possibly could.  I fought obesity for over twenty years and I didn't want to be obese for one day longer than I had to.  I knew I didn't have any control over how fast my body released the weight, but I COULD control whether or not I stayed on plan.  I knew that staying on plan would get me to my goal the fastest.  It's not that I didn't miss a lot of things while I was on plan, but I figured that nothing was worth keeping me obese a day longer than necessary.  As I approach the six-year anniversary of reaching my goal, I certainly don't regret the decision I made to stay on plan :-).

Almost every day presents a challenge to stay on plan.  If it's not stress, it's an occasion of one kind or another (Super Bowl last weekend, Valentine's Day next week, for instance).  If it's not an occasion, perhaps it's a friend or loved one who's less than supportive.  Regardless of the challenge, the choice is ultimately ours.  As we consider the choices we face, it might help to ask ourselves how fast we want to reach our goal.  After we honestly ask - and answer - that question, we'll make the choices that support what we want.  Think carefully about what you really want, then choose wisely :-)

Wrestling With a Grizzly Bear

Like much of the country, we have been hammered with snow over the past few weeks. Our snowfall for the season - so far - is 8 feet . . . and counting.  I joke that those of us who experience this type of weather (I resisted the urge to write "endure"!) have a deeper appreciation for spring, summer and fall than those who are surrounded by green grass and flowers twelve months of the year, but the truth is that this kind of weather has a tendency to drag me down.  Because we live very near Lake Michigan, we typically get a lot of cloud cover most of the winter and going for days without sunshine probably contributes to that dragged-down feeling.

Truth is, this time of year brings out the grizzly bear in me - all I want to do is put on a nice layer of fat via lots of carbs and sugar and then sleep until spring :-).  For years, that's pretty much how I coped with our Michigan winters.  Even in my 20's and early 30's when I was at a healthy weight, I'd pick up around 10 pounds every winter then take it off in the spring and summer and just accepted the fact that my winter slacks were a size larger than my summer ones.  I didn't understand at that time that I was really yo-yo dieting and that each gain/lose/gain cycle was actually increasing my percentage of body fat, so I succumbed to the inclination to carb load and curl up under a blanket with a book.

To be honest, that is STILL my inclination . . . but that's not what I do anymore.  As tempting as it is to reach for those carbs and vegetate under a blanket, I'm making different choices these days.  That grizzly bear tendency is still there and it still growls at me, but I'm growling back :-).  I know that what I really want is to be thin and healthy, and grizzly bear living is NOT the way to have what I really want.  So, whether I feel like it or not, I make healthy choices and I move my body.

I think that my seasonal battle with the grizzly bear can most likely be attributed to my self-diagnosed Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD), but I've found that eating right and staying active actually helps to calm the grizzly bear.  I also take extra Vitamin D to make up for the sunshine that we miss - the extra D helps minimize some of the winter blahs, too, and I have a light therapy box that I can use as well.

Sometimes it's just plain hard to make the choices we know we should be making when we frankly feel like doing something else.  If we are taking a short view of life, we'll go for the immediate gratification and follow our instincts almost every time.  The challenge is to shift our focus and look at where we want to be in 3 months, 6 months, or 12 months from now.  If we stay focused on where we want to be, and if that's what we REALLY want, we will then be able to make choices that will support what we want.

So it really doesn't matter how we feel today - what matters is what we want tomorrow and the day after that.  Focus on what you want, then choose wisely :-