Why I Ditched the "Lose-Gain-Repent-Repeat" Cycle....And Something Someone Said to Me Today!

So those two topics of my title are actually related, because the one (what someone said to me today) made me think about the other (why I decided to stop the Lose-Gain-Repent-Repeat Cycle).

I was at Queen Creek Olive Mill today, buying their fabulous "Bacon Olive Oil" which I love to use for a little flavor on my salads sometimes.  I was approached by an employee who asked if I was finding everything alright, and we struck up a conversation.  We were near to Wine section, so naturally she asked me if I was looking for any Wine in particular.  I told her "Actually, if you had asked me that a few weeks ago (when I was maintaining) I would have taken you up on the offer of suggesting something for me, but I'm in training now (which is true!) so right now I choose not to have red wine."

And that is true, as I began with a personal trainer last week and also lowered my goal AFTER MORE THAN A  YEAR of maintaining at a slightly higher weight than where I ultimately want to be....I lost 130 pounds, but I want to lose a total of 150 by the end of this process, so I'm back on the 5&1 (lost 6 pounds my first week....YAY!).

Anyway, she asked me what I was training for so I told her all of the above and showed her my before picture after she told me "Wow, you don't look like someone who has ever been heavy before!"  EXACTLY why I keep my before picture with me, by the way, because often times people have to see it to believe it.

And we began discussing healthy lifestyles, and choices, and she asked me why I was able to make the lifestyle shift necessary to keep the weight off.  I told her that part of it was I was tired of feeling ashamed.

I had been a yo-yo dieter all of my life UNTIL I found Take Shape For Life.    Yup!  I had.  And I was always in some part of the LOSE-GAIN-REPENT-REPEAT cycle until I decided I didn't want to feel horrible about myself anymore.  "But didn't you feel great about yourself when you were in the LOSING phase?"

The answer is NO!  I felt an adrenaline-high on days that I lost weight.  I felt devastated on days that I stayed the same while being 100% on plan.  I felt devastated AND ashamed on days that I had to reap the consequences of an off-plan episode.  It was an absolute emotional roller coaster of which I still didn't feel very in control of, and I ABSOLUTELY didn't trust myself that "once I got off this thing" I'd be able to keep the weight off.

Shame.
Disappointment.
Heartache.

Again, and again, and again.

One day I made a command decision that I wanted a healthy life, a healthy me, INCLUDING healthy emotions.  Any hope of that kind of life could ONLY be attained if I, in essence, DIED TO SELF (my acting out on my urges to eat off plan, yummy chocolate and yummy wine, or whatever else looked yummy at the time) and WORKED A PLAN that WORKED.  Every day.  All day.  No exceptions.  No "hey you've got to live a little!".....EXACTLY.  Not only do I want to live a LITTLE, I want to live ALOT! 

But the eating of fattening sugar-laden foods doesn't equate "living a little" to me like it did when I was in my "diet mentality".  Well, I should take that back.  Food DID equate to living a little.  A little.  Living just a little bit.  Being numb and ashamed and sad about myself the rest of the time.  That is not living a life I envisioned for myself.

And how do I feel now?  I feel amazing!  I don't let guilt or shame even be in my vocabulary because I don't live that way anymore.  I have made health a priority and I can't wait to see those of you who are striving for the same thing to absolutely transform your lives, starting with opening up that next Medifast Meal on time and on schedule.  Really, the transformation ACTION is the 5&1 Plan.  It is the PLAN that does all the physical work for us, the heavy lifting if you will.  It is OUR challenge to adhere to the plan.  And if we stay with a "diet" mentality, it will be like white-knuckling it all the way "to goal" just to be left with no actual life changes having happened.

So choose wisely everyone!  With Mother's Day on Sunday, please be good to yourselves.  Have a plan to stay ON PLAN and don't buy the line that an all-you-can-eat brunch equals love.

Get on the path of 100% adherence.
Stay on that path.
Incrementally add the Habits of Health (as discussed in the book Dr. A's Habits of Health) in to your life incrementally, and MASTER them.
Do the work.Reap the rewards.

If you are willing to be honest with yourself, change your focus to HEALTH instead of "just to lose weight!" then my kind of success can be yours.  Then do the work.

And a last note on the "not looking like I'd ever been heavy" statement, that is a true testament to the Medifast 5&1 Plan and it's protein sparing qualities, it is the BEST thing out there and I know because I lost a combined 270 pounds using it -anyone who knows my story knows that I lost 140 pounds in 06-07 and gained it all back in 08.....and I posted a picture below (EDIT NOTE*The attachment feature is giving me an error message, I will get it up as soon as I can) as an attachment of what I look like TODAY....emphasis on the arms...this is the shirt the lady I was talking to saw me in today and I just have to say THANK YOU MEDIFAST and THANK YOU TAKE SHAPE FOR LIFE.  And ultimately, thank you ME for deciding to do the work, stay the course, and change my life instead of waiting for someone else to change it for me.

Rinse and Repeat!