Saturday, August 25, 2012

Thoughts about weight loss


Talk to anyone trying to diet and you will hear

"This is hard"


But what is “this?” 


“THIS” is patience.
In my case, I’ve decided that the act of dieting and exercise is actually not that hard. Follow a basic plan for each area and then just execute it.
In. Out. Done.
What’s hard for me is waiting and believing and keeping the faith that I am on the right path and doing the right things. What’s hard is dealing with the crazy thoughts that live up there in my head.

"I've never been thin, who am I to think this will work?"
"I followed my diet perfectly yesterday, why is my weight up today?
"Maybe this plan isn't going to work, maybe I need a new one."
"Is it possible that I'll be the one person who can diet, exercise, and still gain weight?"
Head games - every damn day, over and over.
What I need is a good dose of patience and to adopt a long view. For instance, last August 26, I weighed 221 pounds. One year later, I weigh 165. That's what I need to focus on - not that yesterday I weighed 164 and some how after a good day a pound crept back onto the scale.


No, just no. Don't go there.

Parts of me want to scream, beat my head against a wall, kick something – anything to get my way.
But then the other part, the part that knows stillness, smiles quietly, and mentally places a calm, cool hand on my head and cues the other frantic-running-around-part to just stop. Just stop.
And I breathe.
And breathing is such a healing force.
And the calm takes over for a moment – but a moment is enough sometimes

The days are long; the years are short. 

Last year seems so close by, I can't believe I've changed so much in just 365 days. So if I want to be kind to myself, I need to focus on that, not yesterday, or last week. 


Dwell on the good. Stay in the moment. Abide in the calm. 
Thoughts to take with me today: Believe it can happen and it will. Maybe not today, but soon. And in a way, it’s all soon.

4 comments:

  1. This is so true, losing weight is a mind game, every day the switch in your head is reset and you can decide whether to gain, lose or maintain that day. Of course it always takes longer than you expect or want.

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    1. Somehow, I seemed to be okay with the time it took to gain all that weight :)

      Patience, patience, patience

      awesome mantra I think

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  2. The whole story of my life, I think. Struggling to be in the moment - and to be OK with that moment. Not worrying about what will happen in the future or (conversely)thinking ahead and wishing I were already in the next moment or the next day or the next week/month/year. My problem is when I get to the moment and start second-guessing the plan - and then just throw up my hands and give the whole thing up. Thanks for the good words today - I needed them!

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    1. Why is it the 'moment' we are in just doesn't seem to be good enough? The 'moment' we want never seems to be now, but some vague point in the future or some time in the past (and I'll bet when we were in that past moment, we didn't realize how wonderful it was)

      Maybe what I want is just the ability to love right now, no matter what.

      On the plus side, I'm world's better than I was - progress is a good thing

      ``````````````````

      However, to be honest and fair, the 'moment' I'm in right now includes 38 mosquito bites. It might be okay for me to want to wish this moment away :)

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