Feed Your Faith

KEEP FEEDING YOUR FAITH AND YOUR DOUBTS WILL STARVE

How would we ever reach our goals if we don't believe it's possible? If you believe you can, you can! If you believe it's impossible, it is. You have all the power you need.

You can't lose 100 pounds overnight but you can take the teeny tiny steps in the right direction and little by little, slow and steady, pound by pound, you can lose it. You can change your habits, you can stop eating so much processed crap, you can drink water instead of soda, you can get your ass off the couch and break a sweat once in a while, you can take the stairs instead of the elevator, you can learn to feel your emotions instead of eating them and you can feel better in your skin if you really want it.

When you have over 100+ pounds to lose it can seem impossible, overwhelming and so out of reach. Even those last 10 pounds can seem just as impossible. No matter how much you have to lose, it's NEVER easy but IT IS possible.

There's allot of talk about "the switch" and "the wagon" and how it's either "on" or "off." I'm learning that it's not that simple. There is no switch and some days we're driving the wagon and other days we're chasing it down. There are hundreds of little decisions to be made each day and each one is an opportunity to get you closer or further away from your ultimate goal. There will be days that you will want to eat cake, have a cocktail or indulge in some decadent treat and that's ok. The problem is when we get into the all or nothing mentality. We think one splurge is a good reason to give up because it's impossible. How can I expect to lose weight if I just ate birthday cake? I might as well have another piece, right? WRONG! A splurge is a splurge and a treat is a treat. That's all it is. Enjoy it and move on.

We always want what we can't have so as soon as you tell yourself you can't have chocolate, ice cream, cake, cookies, chips, dip, whatever...that's all you think about, that's all you crave and as soon as you give in to those cravings, look out, it's a slippery slope back into those fat pants. Regaining weight that took so much effort to lose can be devastating. You can't just go back to your old ways that got you fat in the first place, you have to make permanent changes to keep the weight off permanently.

I'm sure we've all bought into one rapid weight loss plan or another over the years only to be let down by the promise to "lose all the weight you want without exercise and still eat your favorite foods." I call BULLSHIT on every single one of those plans. Don't buy it. Don't waste your money or your time. Sure, most of them will enable you to lose some weight but unless you are willing to follow the plan for the rest of your days the weight will come back. I know, I've been there. I've lost it a few times on one commercial plan or another before and it always came back. I couldn't eat food out of a cardboard box forever and I couldn't live the rest of my life without eating bread. I love bread. I decided life without bread was not worth living. I had to find a plan that worked for me and my life. I needed to break some weight loss rules and create my own rules. We can't always live by someone else's rules. What works for me may not work for you but you can figure out what does work for you and make it happen.

We live in a world of instant gratification. We don't want to have to wait for anything. You know the person behind you will beep the horn if you're not hitting the gas the second the light turns green. We want it and we want it NOW! If I eat right and exercise this week I deserve to see a loss on the scale, right? Well, sometimes that just doesn't happen for any number of reasons. We have to get over being instantly rewarded for doing the right thing. Just doing the right thing is the reward. I exercised allot and ate right all week and still gained 0.9 pounds. It doesn't seem fair but it is what it is. The number is just a number and not an accurate reflection of my efforts. It's not an excuse to slack off and give up.

We all want weight loss to be easy and effortless. It's easy and effortless to gain but it is a stubborn bitch to take off. I hate to break it to you but if you haven't figured it out yet, you have to face the fact that it takes effort, lots of effort, to change your lifestyle. There is no magic pill, it's not all sunshine and rainbows, and it doesn't happen overnight but if you are consistent in your efforts you will see results as long as you never stop believing. It does get easier once you make your new habits part of your routine but it takes a consistent effort.

There is a better way but only YOU can decide what is right for YOU. Is your plan working for you? What can you do right now, today, to get you one step closer to your goal? Take a small step in the right direction and you'll be one step closer to reaching your goal.

Keep feeding your faith and your doubts will starve. I know I will reach my goal and I know you can reach yours. Like Dorothy and her ruby slippers, we've had the power all along, we just need to use it.

Keep the faith!

Out With the Old ...

I've had this picture on my sidebar for years but I think it's about time to take it down. Deleting the picture is my way of taking a hammer to it without the cool metal smashing sounds. I was always too ashamed to display the cold hard numbers so I just used this "too much" scale as a reminder that I wasn't where I wanted to be. I should look for one that says "just right" now. I may not be at goal just yet but I'm at the point where I'll be content as long as I never go above the weight I am right now. I'm determined to never venture into the 150s again, that is going to be my line in the sand.

I think I'm going to replace the above picture with this one:

I wish I had taken progress photos regularly but I had a habit of deleting every bad picture of myself and they were all bad when I was racing my way up the scale to top out at 242 pounds. When I started this blog shortly after my 40th birthday in 2007 I weighed approximately 225 and somehow managed to gain 17 pounds the first two years even though I spent almost every waking moment thinking about how much I wanted to lose weight. I've learned that thinking about it just gets you fatter.

I'm sure nobody in their right mind would want to follow in my footsteps and take almost 4 years (only a year and a half of real effort) to get close to goal but I am proof that it can happen if you don't give up. You will get there no matter how long it takes if you keep trying things until you find what works for you. What worked for me is the anti-diet diet, the slow and steady mentality and lots of sweat. Oh, and losing my job and having the time to go to the gym everyday certainly helped. I'm not sure it would have ever happened if I didn't get laid off which is why I believe everything happens for a reason. It ended up being such a blessing. I think this may be my reward for putting up with all that b.s. for so long.

If what you're doing now isn't working, try something different. Nothing is off limits in my diet because I know as soon as you tell me I can't have something it's the only thing I want. Here's an example: DO NOT THINK ABOUT ELEPHANTS! So, what are you thinking about right now? Elephants? right? See?

If I give myself permission to have absolutely anything I want in moderation it loses its hold on me. It's no longer a temptation. I can have if I really want it. It's just food and most of the time I've tasted whatever it is before. Do I really want it? or do I want to make a better choice? You'd be surprised how often you'll make the better choice if you just give yourself permission to have what you really want (in moderation).

If you hate the elliptical, try the bike. If you hate the gym, take a walk around the block. If you want to feel strong, take a kickboxing class (I LOVE IT!!!). If you want to relax, try yoga. If you want to dance, try zumba. If you want to feel pain in every single muscle of your body, try tabata. If you can't get out of the house do some sit ups or squats throughout the day, throw some punches, do a few jumping jacks, anything to get you moving. Whatever it takes to make it work for you is what you need to find. Keep looking and don't stop until you find it.

It's time to get rid of old habits that aren't working for you and replace them with new and better ones. What small change can you make today to get you one small step closer to where you want to be? Out with the old and in with the new and improved version of you.

Everyday Resolutions ...

I've stopped making New Year Resolutions. Over the years I've vowed to do better, do more of this, do less of that, or give up those vices that are holding me down but I've learned that whatever resolutions I put on the list on January 1st were just as important last June. Nothing has changed except the date, nothing magical happened when the clock struck midnight and the big shiny ball dropped in Times Square; I'm just a little bit older now. Life is right NOW. I'm younger today than I will be for the rest of my life. What am I waiting for?

Goals don't know what the date is so a random Tuesday is the right time to make the decision to have salad instead of pizza, to eat an orange instead of chocolate cake, take the stairs instead of the elevator, use that treadmill instead of hanging clothes on it, or workout while watching the Biggest Loser instead of sitting on my *ss wishing I could shrink as quickly as the contestants.

Successful dieters have learned that they're not perfect, there will be indulgences and lazy days but they don't use that as an excuse to throw their hands in the air and give up, falling face first into a bowl of ice cream. We have to take those small steps every single day to eat healthy foods the majority of the time, really enjoy those special indulgences, stop the emotional eating and binging, put down the fork when we're full, eat when we're hungry, stop the mindless emotional eating and stay active enough to keep the blood flowing, the heart strong and the body and mind healthy.

People love to start diets on Mondays, the first of the month or, the mother of all firsts, the first of the year. In my case this year, the first Monday of the first month of the first of the year. I was still on vacation on New Year so the parties continued, there was overeating, over drinking and lazy inactive holiday sugar haze days but I never forgot about my goals.

I understand the allure of making those New Year Resolutions. There's something about a brand new calendar that makes us hopeful and giddy imagining the possibilities. Imagining what we accomplish over these clean pages. It is a clean slate to start fresh. We tell ourselves this will be the year to do things better, give things up that are bad, get away from people that make us unhappy, get closer to the people we love, go to the gym or workout regularly, lift more, run faster, work harder, eat right and become this perfect version of ourselves.

There is so much hope and optimism when we longingly look at those empty spaces on the pages of the months ahead and know if we are determined we can change completely, make substantial progress or reach those elusive goals before buying the next calendar. We've seen it happen to others, we read about their success, we may have done it before, we know it is possible. I can be that success story (again), I can learn how to maintain a healthy weight. Unfortunately, by the third week of January most people have burnt out, realize they are not perfect and revert back to their old ways. They'll just do what they've always done, wait for next Monday, next month or next January to start over. Don't wait - start right now.

I've decided to work on my daily goals, take those baby steps, make each decision the best I can at the time and forgive myself when I don't make the best choices because that is really all I can ever do. I'll never be perfect. I know I'll give into the bread basket on occasion and I'll make mistakes but I have to accept that and move on.

I have goals to reach but I'm not counting the days, weeks, or months where I'll be if I lose "x" pounds a week, for "x" weeks, by this time next ______, I'll be able to fit into "x" size pants or see "x" number on the scale. My goal today is to do the best I can and remember I really want to lose weight so I need to do all those things TODAY that will make that happen, not wait until next Monday.

I'm going to make my resolutions every day. I'm not perfect, I will make mistakes but if I do the things I know will give me the results I want, I can make it happen.

I hope you are enjoying filling in the new calendar, keeping those resolutions and remembering your ultimate goal(s). Don't ever give up and you'll get there.

Happy 2009.