We are not two peas in a pod, we are not like-minded, we don’t
even eat at the same restaurants. However, if weight loss & I were to have
a relationship status on Facebook it’d be “It’s complicated.” I’ve always been
the “big” girl in my family and among my friends. I lost weight once, 35 pounds
totally gone I looked awesome but I gained it all back so now I’m on the road
again.
In January of this year, looking in the mirror I would
comment Wow, look at that Buddha belly or Holy moon face, Batman! I also noticed
I was rundown, burned out, tired and a glutton. I ate everything and anything
because “why not?” That is the lamest excuse ever. That’s like saying well, all
my friends jumped off the bridge “why not?” I was fed up with myself, my image,
my lameness. All of it. All of it had to go.
Initially weight loss was the goal, the one and only goal and
apparently there could only be one. As I started changing my diet and
exercising more I kept having these little personal victories pop up like ethereal
text messages. You just ran 3 miles. You have been able to sustain a nutritious
1,200 calorie-day and still be full. None of it was overnight it took me 3
months to watch what I put in my mouth and bring my calories down to 1,200. It
took me the same amount of time to get up to a 3-mile continuous run.
Healthy eating quickly became another goal. Making better
food choices, paying attention to what I put in my mouth were very important. I
wanted this because I figured out my body responds better when it’s got good
food in it. Lean meats, veggies and a truckload of fruit make me smile physically
and mentally way more than Jack-in-the-Box. Then came exercise. I got addicted
to the rush. I love my runners high. I love feeling my strength grow. Now, weight
loss is kind of in the backseat. It’s still trying to be a backseat driver but
I’m more focused on how great eating and exercising makes me feel and I believe
weight loss will come eventually and if it doesn’t hey, that’s okay.
However, that desire, that want to lose weight never fully
goes away. I could be blissfully entertaining “eating healthy” and “exercising
more” in my home when the doorbell rings and who’s there? Weight Loss with a
box, trying to sell me stuff I don’t need. Trying to get me to pay more attention,
to eat more or eat less, to do math equations, eat less carbs, bring in science,
make a spreadsheet, measure things. It’s trying all the schemes. It’s bringing
in all my friends. So-and-so lost weight this way however this person did it
this way. Weight loss comes to your door backed with endorsements. It’s a
pyramid scheme. Once you buy into it you’ll start enlisting your friends to how
THEY should be losing weight. The next thing you know you’re the one with a box,
knocking on your friend’s door, interrupting their healthy dinners telling them
about all the fine things they should be doing to lose weight.
I’ve decided to put a stop to that for myself. I’ve lost 20
pounds. Would I like to lose more? Sure. It wasn’t easy to lose the 20 pounds I
lost but in losing that weight it opened me up to much better things. Exercise
and healthy eating those are things I will maintain for the rest of my life,
not because I want to lose weight but because I WANT to feel good, I want to
feel confident; I want to live a long life. Losing weight is not a forever
mission. You can’t spend your entire life losing weight. What you can do is
spend your life maintaining a healthy and exuberant lifestyle.
What works for you might not work for me and vice versa if
your main mission is to lose weight like mine was, then good luck but know that
once you lose the weight it will come down to maintenance so you don’t gain it
back. Are you going to measure out your foods for the rest of your life? Are
you going to reject your child’s birthday cake in front of their smiling faces
because it’s too many carbs? Are you going to abstain from enjoying in eating? If
yes, then I wish you the best. If you envision a lifetime of limiting yourself or
using math and science as your tools, good for you, go for what makes you happy
and what gives you the results you want.
Personally, I’ve found my tastes have simply changed.
Instead of chips I crave baby carrots, I turned my breads and pasta to whole
grain and they’re so much more filling. My meats are lean, like my muscles. I
understand my change will not be the same change for anyone else who started on
a weight loss mission and found themselves smack dab in the middle of fitness-burbia
or a nutrition wasteland. I will no longer start a sentence with “What I did to
lose weight was …” or “what worked for me was…” instead unless you want my
honest advice, I’ll just LISTEN. That’s what people who are struggling need. Someone
to JUST listen.
There are a lot of paths, a lot of routes and A LOT of unsolicited
advice (knock, knock) from EVERYONE you know. Here’s what you do – put on your
headphones, tune everyone out and do what works best for you in regards to
losing weight, eating better and exercising more. Find your own groove and
revel in the fact that once you find it you’ll never have to worry about getting
your groove back.
