When you "HOW" is struggling.....

I'm a process person.  I thrive on "how".  I'm a fixer.  A solutions girl.  So it is no small wonder that when I got in a rut regarding the working of the Medifast 5&1 Plan, my first questions to myself were "How do I fix this?  How do I do better?  How do I NOT do the very thing I'm trying NOT to do (eat off plan)?  How do I get this last 20 off?  How do I make myself adhere to the plan 100%?  How do I get past my troublesome time of 4:00 pm - 10:00 pm?  How do I get past my troublesome time of 10:00 am - 10:00 pm (LOL - somehow my "troublesome time" kept expanding to fill the available daylight hours of the day.....).

How?

How?

How?

Process.

Process.

Fixing a problem.

Then it hit me like a ton of bricks.  It gobsmacked me on the forehead, and as answers USUALLY do, laid me flat on the sidewalk for a few minutes rubbing my sore head.

Two things I learned.

Firstly, I learned, FINALLY, that even though I felt great and happy and pretty awesome with maintaining my 130 pound loss for over a year, that I truly WANTED to continue my health journey to optimal health.  I developed a strong "WHY" as to why I wanted to do that.

Secondly, I learned that I did NOT have to wait to be in a place of emotional conflict or pain, or extreme distress, to DECIDE to take that step in to full commitment to the plan and in to full commitment to achieving ALL of my health goals.

Why is this important?  My whole life up until now I have truly been stuck in the oscillating pattern of lose-gain-repent-repeat.  It took my practically hating myself and being so disgusted with where I was at health-wise, and so disgusted with what I looked like in order for me to begin and stick to an eating plan which would change that. 

So the last year I've been feeling great, and I suppose I was sort of waiting to be motivated by the same thing, disgust and self-loathing, emotional distress and conflict.  The thing is, none of that is on the horizon for me thankfully because I have changed my mind using the Habits of Health, so I won't be gaining my weight back any time soon.

Enter a NEW motivation.  One that is fueled by hope, optimism, a love and respect for myself, and wanted to be the best version of myself possible, even though I'm very happy with where I currently am. 

Enter a "why" that isn't born from pain and conflict, but from hope and optimism.

I needed just such a why.

When our "why" is strong enough, our "how" will emerge.  But for me, my "why" could not be based on negative goals, meaning based on something I wanted OUT of my life.  At this point, I have very few, if any, things IN my life that I don't WANT there.  I've spent the last 2 years organizing my life around what matters most to me, so those things I wanted OUT of my life are pretty much gone already. 

No, I needed a "why" that was based on what awesome and beautiful things I can CREATE or bring IN to my life with this process of getting even healthier.  And I finally sat down and drew up my list.  I look at my list every single day, to refocus my brain on the POSITIVE goals that I am working towards.

I am in a creative space, like an artist with her canvass, or a sculptor with her chisel.  Did you know that before a sculptor makes his first cut he already knows every single cut he will make to cause his statue to emerge out of the marble exactly how he wants it to?  He is deliberate with every stroke of the chisel.  I feel like I serve myself well to remind myself daily who it is that I am becoming. 

I have a strong why.

I needed to remind myself of this fact otherwise, as I said in my opening paragraph, I get into "fix-it" mode even with myself.  How how how.  Now it is why why why.  And the how is taking care of itself because I already KNOW how.  Take Shape For Life, fueled by Medifast.  Simple, really.  Don't over complicate it.

Rinse and Repeat!