I have spent some time reading my
blogs from 2007. These were the blogs from my first time on plan. The
time I lost 140 pounds in 14 months and felt GREAT, but I hadn't adopted
healthy habits as my own. I was in "diet" mode. I was totally pumped,
and maintaining my self-discipline through sheer will and motivation in
order "to lose weight".
Reading those blogs now made it sound
like a complete stranger wrote them. My life is so different now, my
mentality is so different now.
You see, I learned (by gaining it
all back) that if my focus was ONLY on LOSING THE WEIGHT then once that
task was done, I couldn't sustain my "motivation" in order to KEEP it
off. Sheer white-knuckle will-power will only get us so far, and then
we have to come up for air. We can only hold our breath for so long.
But
this last journey, the one I began 4 years ago in 2010 with a coach and
learning the habits of health, THIS is the journey where I actually
CHANGED my oxygen, I CHANGED who I was, and I FOCUSED on attaining and
maintaining OPTIMAL HEALTH.
So, so so so SO different. SUCH a different process. SUCH a different result. "Did you lose the weight?" people ask....
No. I BECAME OPTIMALLY HEALTHY and I am moving in to ULTRA HEALTH. Big big difference.
"Oh, so you DIDN'T lose the weight?"
Again,
I say NO. I didn't LOSE anything. I CREATED health in my life. I
GAINED optimal health. I'm absolutely DONE with talking about weight
loss. It is a negative goal. It is something people want OUT of their
lives. I'm in to talking about what I want IN my life. What I want to
CREATE with this process of getting healthy.
"Well then what's the point of 'dieting'?"
I
don't diet. This last journey was NOT a diet. It was an eating plan
that I used to attain a healthy weight. Because when you are after
Optimal Health, and you are overweight or obese, the very FIRST STEP is
getting to a healthy weight. Unless you smoke, and then quitting
smoking is actually the first step, THEN attaining a healthy weight.
But
getting to a healthy BMI is the FIRST STEP in the process of attaining
and maintaining optimal health! So it isn't a "weight loss diet" and
THIS is the key difference. It may sound like tricky words and a fancy
way of saying the same thing, but it truly at its CORE isn't. And I am
more than confident that I will MAINTAIN OPTIMAL HEALTH.
Do you
see what I said? I didn't say I would "keep it off". I said I would
"maintain optimal health". Again, saying I'll "keep it off" puts the
focus BACK on the weight I wanted to LOSE, and the fact that I wanted it
GONE FOR GOOD. Again, NEGATIVE GOAL. Non-sustainable.
I am ALL
about what AWESOME things I am bringing IN to my life as a result of
getting healthy. I'm NOT about what I want to KEEP OUT of my life or
ESCAPE from.
See the difference?
It makes all the difference in the world to me. One is fear based. One is hope based.
"Keeping it off" is fear based. It implies that I might gain back what I worked so hard to get out of my life.
"Maintaining
optimal health" is hope based. It speaks of potential and promise and
health. All the things I want to keep IN my life.
People ask me
what the difference is this time as opposed to last time. The
difference is my mindset. So far I used the "same" eating plan.
Because it worked to achieve my goal. But my goals were very
different. First time = lose weight
Second time = gain health
Thank you TSFL for giving me ALL the tools I needed to Gain Health. I am living proof that anyone CAN do this.
My
life has changed in very practical ways, some of which I list below.
All because I chose to attain and maintain optimal health.
FROM: Size 26 Women's Stretch Jeans
TO: Size 2 Tommy Hilfigger, Levi's, and Polo Jeans
FROM: Size 24W Dresses from Dress Barn, Catherine's, and Lane Bryant
TO: Size 2 Dresses from Nordstrom's
FROM: Walking with a cane because my knees hurt so bad
TO: Running a Marathon
FROM: Getting stuck in the turnstiles at Disneyland
TO: Slipping through the turnstiles sideways without even engaging the metal bar
FROM: Salespeople avoiding my gaze
TO: Salespeople greeting me right when I walk through the door
FROM: Having 13 sizes of clothing in my closet ranging from 2-26
TO: Having everything in my closet fit, and only having 2-4's hanging in my closet.
Life is good in health. Get here as fast as you can! =)
Rinse and Repeat!
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