Some days are harder than others to remain focused and oriented towards optimal health. I find that the last few weeks I have been giving wayward glances to that glass of wine, or that gourmet chocolate, or even the cheese-and-cracker tray and each day that passes it is becoming more painful to say "no".
This is an interesting phenomenon, because I KNOW what giving that type of food ANY attention at all, ANY second thought at all, does to my brain.
When
I begin to take my eyes off where I'm going and instead affix them to
what I am "depriving" myself of in this process of attaining and
maintaining a healthy weight, I begin to FEEL oppressed. I begin to
FEEL like a martyr. I begin to FEEL like the tension is rising.
And I am creating structural tension in the WRONG direction. Structural tension means setting my brain to work on a "problem" or an "issue" that requires a solution, that requires a "working out" of.
Our
brains will continue to work a problem in the back ground of our lives
for a solution, while we continue living the day to day. And by taking my eyes OFF of what I am CREATING with this awesome process of attaining and maintaining a healthy weight, I also took my brain off the task of working a solution to that issue.
And I reminded my brain, in focusing on what I am depriving myself of, that I am in fact NOT able to drink wine, eat cheese (please no one tell me that cheese is allowed on this plan...I am not a vegetarian and I follow the Quick Start Guide for optimal results and cheese stalls me out every time), eat crackers or gourmet chocolates.
And
my brain gets resentful when it feels like it "CAN'T" have something.
My brain gets resentful when it feels like it "SHOULD" do something
else. And my brain begins working out that solution to resolving the
tension of "not having" by increasing the pressure to "just have it already".
Does anyone relate to this phenomenon? We can suddenly feel "overwhelmed" by the urge to eat something off-plan,
so much so that it hurts our head NOT to do it, and we wonder where
that came from? It seems to come out of the blue, but it does not in
fact come out of the blue, it is a result of our brain trying to work the solution to our feelings of deprivation, if we have been focusing on those feelings for a few hours, days, weeks, or months.
This is why people who fight so hard and
stay on plan for months and months and months can have a "bite" of
something off plan and then find it nearly impossible to have another
100% on plan day.
For ME, this occurs
when I have entertained feelings of deprivation or martyrdom, feelings
of "poor me, why did God make me like this?" and feelings that I'm
missing out.
I INTENTIONALLY practice turning those feelings and that focus around to begin dwelling on what I am desiring to CREATE with this process of BECOMING. When
I intentionally do that for a few hours, days, or weeks, it gets
"super-easy" to make decisions that support my primary goals. But it is a discipline of the mind. And it is never too late to start creating this positive "structural tension".
So
what are YOU focusing on today? Are you feeling sorry for yourself
because you are so deprived of the yummies? Or are you focusing on
WHERE YOU ARE HEADED with this amazing process of becoming fully YOU?
I choose to turn my thoughts towards where I am headed, and why.
And that is that.
Monday, January 14, 2013
Friday, January 11, 2013
Does it Ever Get Easier?
The short answer to that is no. But
it DOES get better. And the alternative is that it gets EVEN harder,
which is not a happy alternative at all.
Being content with process is truly a state of mind. Physiologically, this process will never be EASIER. Even in transition and maintenance, physiologically our bodies will always strive against us to store every extra calorie we give it as fat. Having already BEEN overweight or obese, we know this to be true.
I think too many times people lose the weight, and then somehow begin to think their bodies have STOPPED doing that, that all is "normal" now and since they are a normal weight, that their bodies will behave.
Not. So.
So what is there to be done? Is it hopeless? "KB what the heck, you are supposed to be inspiring me today? And instead you are acting like a low-pressure system, taking the wind right out of my sails!!"
OK here is the silver lining. And it is what I keep coming back to time and time again because it is the truth of the matter. This HAS to, and I mean HAS to become a lifestyle choice if ANY of us have a PRAYER of keeping this weight off. Losing weight most people can do. Follow a regimented program for a certain amount of time. Check the box. Great results. Done.
But then UNLESS you have DONE the WORK (and it IS work, folks, let no one tell you it isn't...it is intentional hard WORK) to develop a fit and healthy mind to go along with your new fit and healthy body? Well, you may become part of the 85% statistic who gain their weight back.
It's like a rubber band, snapping you back to fatville every time. Unless you CHANGE what that rubber band is tethered to. Unless you DEVELOP positive goals to reinforce your REASONS for losing weight and becoming healthy.
The mechanisms of our bodies will not change with this process. We can harness those mechanisms for our own good by utilizing the tools that Take Shape For Life fueled by Medifast provides, and bringing our bodies in to a healthy weight, and in that full process we can learn our limitations so that after Transition we can maintain beautifully.
Or we can bury our heads in the sand, white knuckle through every day hoping some day it will get easier, and it doesn't, lose a few pounds and gain it right back.
Well, I choose to engage the process. I choose to learn how my body operates, how it responds, and live within those limitations IN ORDER THAT my primary goal of "Attaining AND Maintaining a Healthy Weight" will always STAY achievable.
What are you doing today? Take a snapshot of TODAY'S actions and line them up for a week, a month, a year. IF you did that, would you be closer to your goals or would you STAY where you are now? If progress is not being made TODAY, ie if you are choosing not to stay on the Medifast 5&1 Plan, or on your Transition Plan if you are in Transition, or on your Maintenance Plan if you are in Maintenance, if you are not staying ON that plan then where will you be TOMORROW?
As you are, so shall you be. Are you determined? Focused? On plan? Wonderful. Then you are getting where you want to go. Are you saying "I'll be back on again Monday?" I got three words for you:
Why.
Not.
Today.
Today is the tomorrow you spoke about yesterday.
Happy Take Shape For Life-ing! Rinse and Repeat!
Being content with process is truly a state of mind. Physiologically, this process will never be EASIER. Even in transition and maintenance, physiologically our bodies will always strive against us to store every extra calorie we give it as fat. Having already BEEN overweight or obese, we know this to be true.
I think too many times people lose the weight, and then somehow begin to think their bodies have STOPPED doing that, that all is "normal" now and since they are a normal weight, that their bodies will behave.
Not. So.
So what is there to be done? Is it hopeless? "KB what the heck, you are supposed to be inspiring me today? And instead you are acting like a low-pressure system, taking the wind right out of my sails!!"
OK here is the silver lining. And it is what I keep coming back to time and time again because it is the truth of the matter. This HAS to, and I mean HAS to become a lifestyle choice if ANY of us have a PRAYER of keeping this weight off. Losing weight most people can do. Follow a regimented program for a certain amount of time. Check the box. Great results. Done.
But then UNLESS you have DONE the WORK (and it IS work, folks, let no one tell you it isn't...it is intentional hard WORK) to develop a fit and healthy mind to go along with your new fit and healthy body? Well, you may become part of the 85% statistic who gain their weight back.
It's like a rubber band, snapping you back to fatville every time. Unless you CHANGE what that rubber band is tethered to. Unless you DEVELOP positive goals to reinforce your REASONS for losing weight and becoming healthy.
The mechanisms of our bodies will not change with this process. We can harness those mechanisms for our own good by utilizing the tools that Take Shape For Life fueled by Medifast provides, and bringing our bodies in to a healthy weight, and in that full process we can learn our limitations so that after Transition we can maintain beautifully.
Or we can bury our heads in the sand, white knuckle through every day hoping some day it will get easier, and it doesn't, lose a few pounds and gain it right back.
Well, I choose to engage the process. I choose to learn how my body operates, how it responds, and live within those limitations IN ORDER THAT my primary goal of "Attaining AND Maintaining a Healthy Weight" will always STAY achievable.
What are you doing today? Take a snapshot of TODAY'S actions and line them up for a week, a month, a year. IF you did that, would you be closer to your goals or would you STAY where you are now? If progress is not being made TODAY, ie if you are choosing not to stay on the Medifast 5&1 Plan, or on your Transition Plan if you are in Transition, or on your Maintenance Plan if you are in Maintenance, if you are not staying ON that plan then where will you be TOMORROW?
As you are, so shall you be. Are you determined? Focused? On plan? Wonderful. Then you are getting where you want to go. Are you saying "I'll be back on again Monday?" I got three words for you:
Why.
Not.
Today.
Today is the tomorrow you spoke about yesterday.
Happy Take Shape For Life-ing! Rinse and Repeat!
Changing my username to "GoetheGirl"
No, I'm not, but after stumbling upon the brainyquotes page for Johann Wolfgang von Goethe I feel like I should!
I had heard of Goethe before, but I never knew that SO many of his quotes were, well, HIS! So, without further ado, this blog is dedicated to Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.
*Dream no small dreams for they have the power to move the hearts of men.
*All intelligent thoughts have already been thought; what is necessary is only to try to think them again.
*Every day we should hear at least one little song, read one good poem, see one exquisite picture, and if possible speak a few sensible words.
*Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Willing is not enough; we must do.
*As soon as you trust yourself, you will know how to live.
*Behavior is the mirror in which everyone shows their image.
*Do not give in too much to feelings. An overly sensitive heart is an unhappy possession on this shaky earth.
*This is the highest wisdom that I own; freedom and life are earned by those alone who conquer them each day anew.
*Thinking is easy, acting is difficult, and to put one's thoughts into action is the most difficult thing in the world.
*A person hears only what they understand.
*Being brilliant is no great feat if you respect nothing.
*Common sense is the genius of humanity.
*It is not doing the thing we like to do, but liking the thing we have to do, that makes life blessed.
*In the realm of ideas everything depends on enthusiasm. In the real world all rests on perseverance.
*The way you see people is the way you treat them. The way you treat them is what they become.
*He only earns his freedom and his life who takes them every day by storm.
*Magic is believing in yourself. If you can do that, you can make anything happen.
*A noble person attracts noble people, and knows how to hold on to them.
*Correction does much but encouragement does more.
*If God had wanted me otherwise, He would have created me otherwise.
*Life belongs to the living, and he who lives must be prepared for changes.
*The person born with a talent they were meant to use will find their greatest happiness in using it.
*Everyone wants to be somebody; nobody wants to grow.
*Let everyone sweep in front of his own door and the whole world will be clean.
*Happiness is a ball after which we run wherever it rolls, and we push it with our feet when it stops.
*NOTHING IS WORTH MORE THAN THIS DAY.
So let's go to it! Make it an ON PLAN day! =)
I had heard of Goethe before, but I never knew that SO many of his quotes were, well, HIS! So, without further ado, this blog is dedicated to Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.
*Dream no small dreams for they have the power to move the hearts of men.
*All intelligent thoughts have already been thought; what is necessary is only to try to think them again.
*Every day we should hear at least one little song, read one good poem, see one exquisite picture, and if possible speak a few sensible words.
*Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Willing is not enough; we must do.
*As soon as you trust yourself, you will know how to live.
*Behavior is the mirror in which everyone shows their image.
*Do not give in too much to feelings. An overly sensitive heart is an unhappy possession on this shaky earth.
*This is the highest wisdom that I own; freedom and life are earned by those alone who conquer them each day anew.
*Thinking is easy, acting is difficult, and to put one's thoughts into action is the most difficult thing in the world.
*A person hears only what they understand.
*Being brilliant is no great feat if you respect nothing.
*Common sense is the genius of humanity.
*It is not doing the thing we like to do, but liking the thing we have to do, that makes life blessed.
*In the realm of ideas everything depends on enthusiasm. In the real world all rests on perseverance.
*The way you see people is the way you treat them. The way you treat them is what they become.
*He only earns his freedom and his life who takes them every day by storm.
*Magic is believing in yourself. If you can do that, you can make anything happen.
*A noble person attracts noble people, and knows how to hold on to them.
*Correction does much but encouragement does more.
*If God had wanted me otherwise, He would have created me otherwise.
*Life belongs to the living, and he who lives must be prepared for changes.
*The person born with a talent they were meant to use will find their greatest happiness in using it.
*Everyone wants to be somebody; nobody wants to grow.
*Let everyone sweep in front of his own door and the whole world will be clean.
*Happiness is a ball after which we run wherever it rolls, and we push it with our feet when it stops.
*NOTHING IS WORTH MORE THAN THIS DAY.
So let's go to it! Make it an ON PLAN day! =)
Wednesday, January 9, 2013
True Freedom?
"None are more hopelessly enslaved than those who falsely believe they are free." -Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Yes, that was me 2 1/2 years ago. Falsely believing I was "free".
I could eat whatever I wanted, I argued. I wasn't constrained by the bounds of any "diet".
I was fooling myself. I was killing myself. My freedom to "eat whatever I wanted" had become, quite literally, my prison walls. My dungeon. Sure. I was free to "eat" what I wanted, as if this THIS freedom alone was the highest thing I could aspire to. As if my "freedom" to eat what I wanted was the noblest freedom I owned.
Then I awoke from that nightmare of broken dreams.
And I began to DO the work and SUBMIT to the plan and DROP the weight and....guess what? I realized that I had been in a prison of my own making.
I realized that the ULTIMATE freedom for MY situation was actually the freedom to choose restraint. The freedom to choose to adopt the Medifast 5&1 and the Take Shape For Life System in order to truly achieve that which had thus far eluded me my entire life.
To attain and maintain a healthy weight. To feel "normal" and alive. To NOT have every thought and every desire be food-focused.
To start living a life of MY choosing.
Yes, that German philosopher Goethe, he was surely on to something.
And I want to shout it to the world.
Happy Take-Shape-For-Life-ing! Rinse and Repeat!
Yes, that was me 2 1/2 years ago. Falsely believing I was "free".
I could eat whatever I wanted, I argued. I wasn't constrained by the bounds of any "diet".
I was fooling myself. I was killing myself. My freedom to "eat whatever I wanted" had become, quite literally, my prison walls. My dungeon. Sure. I was free to "eat" what I wanted, as if this THIS freedom alone was the highest thing I could aspire to. As if my "freedom" to eat what I wanted was the noblest freedom I owned.
Then I awoke from that nightmare of broken dreams.
And I began to DO the work and SUBMIT to the plan and DROP the weight and....guess what? I realized that I had been in a prison of my own making.
I realized that the ULTIMATE freedom for MY situation was actually the freedom to choose restraint. The freedom to choose to adopt the Medifast 5&1 and the Take Shape For Life System in order to truly achieve that which had thus far eluded me my entire life.
To attain and maintain a healthy weight. To feel "normal" and alive. To NOT have every thought and every desire be food-focused.
To start living a life of MY choosing.
Yes, that German philosopher Goethe, he was surely on to something.
And I want to shout it to the world.
Happy Take-Shape-For-Life-ing! Rinse and Repeat!
Sunday, January 6, 2013
Which Moment Was THE Moment?
"When did you just KNOW that you had made this a lifestyle and not just another diet? What was the TRIGGER that caused that?"
While on my walk this morning, I was pondering this question that a good friend asked me the other day. And it perplexed me a bit. Because this second time around, I can't point to an "epipha-ME" that set the stage for me just KNOWING that this time I WILL maintain my weight.
And while I DO just KNOW, I can't point to a single causal event which was "the magic bullet" which caused the change in my head.
But I had some thoughts that I'll share anyway about the subject because I think it is a good one to consider.
I can point to THE EVENT which caused me to decide back on 06/07 that I WAS going to DO THIS OR DIE TRYING so to speak, and that was when I stumbled in a parking lot with my 1-year-old son in my arms, we both went down slow motion and he hit his head on the pavement. THAT was a deep place of emotional pain and conflict for me, knowing that my morbid class IV obesity was not only threatening MY life but HIS as well, that I could actually cause him harm because I was so large and cumbersome that I couldn't catch myself when I slightly turned my ankle in a pothole. Yes, that was a painful life-altering event for me, very much so.
And yes, I did lose 140 pounds in 14 months after that. But I didn't keep it off. That one perspective-changing "trigger" wasn't "enough" in and of itself to maintain my weight and make it a permanent change.
After I gained it all back and marinated for a couple of years, I decided, made the decision, to "do it again" but this time I committed to going in to the Take Shape For Life process, complete with getting a Health Coach, and reading Dr. A's Habits of Health. So I did. And I'm down 130 pounds and maintaining.
I don't "wait" for some emotional pain or conflict to come in and be the "reason" I can stick to this day in and day out. I wake up in the morning, and I choose health. I do this daily. It's not a "once and for all" kind of decision. I guess that is what makes it a lifestyle is that I do it every morning.
My conversation with myself goes something like this in the mornings:
Me:"So, you're up. Go get your coffee and first meal"
Me:"Ok."
Me:"Now go for your walk."
Me:"OK."
It DOESN'T go like this:
"Oh man I'm so tired of this struggle! What I wouldn't give for a Starbucks Coffee Cake and Venti Caramel Frappuchino with whip!"
NEITHER do I take my emotional temperature to consult my feelings about whether or not I desire to be on plan today, like this:
Me:"I don't feel like having a Medifast Meal"
Me:"Ok then don't. You can always start tomorrow."
There is one fact about myself that I know will be true today, tomorrow, and in 10 years time. That fact is that if I give myself extra calories over and above my daily needs, I WILL gain weight. THIS doesn't EVER change. And it never will. And I will never allow myself to get into the place where my weight CAUSES me emotional stress or pain, so I don't use THAT as my motivation. Because waiting for emotional pain and stress to come and be my motivation necessitates that I GAIN weight and then have to RELOSE it.
I don't make my decision to stay on my eating plan based upon how I am feeling at any given moment. For me, I have set "attaining AND MAINTAINING a healthy weight" as my primary goal. So all of my decisions revolve around what will further my primary goal. And that is it.
My primary goal is not "To Lose Weight". It is "To Attain and Maintain a Healthy Weight" which, guess what, is a lifetime pursuit. It doesn't have a deadline. It doesn't expire. The need for it never diminishes. And it keeps me in a place of peace in that area of my life, so that I CAN GO AND LIVE THE REST OF MY LIFE. Yes, it gives me the freedom to be truly me. All of me. All the time.
So people do still ask "What was THE moment" and I guess my answer would be "This one. Whatever moment I am CURRENTLY in is THE moment I choose to act in a manner in accordance with obtaining my primary goal."
Happy Take Shape For Life-ing! Rinse and Repeat!
While on my walk this morning, I was pondering this question that a good friend asked me the other day. And it perplexed me a bit. Because this second time around, I can't point to an "epipha-ME" that set the stage for me just KNOWING that this time I WILL maintain my weight.
And while I DO just KNOW, I can't point to a single causal event which was "the magic bullet" which caused the change in my head.
But I had some thoughts that I'll share anyway about the subject because I think it is a good one to consider.
I can point to THE EVENT which caused me to decide back on 06/07 that I WAS going to DO THIS OR DIE TRYING so to speak, and that was when I stumbled in a parking lot with my 1-year-old son in my arms, we both went down slow motion and he hit his head on the pavement. THAT was a deep place of emotional pain and conflict for me, knowing that my morbid class IV obesity was not only threatening MY life but HIS as well, that I could actually cause him harm because I was so large and cumbersome that I couldn't catch myself when I slightly turned my ankle in a pothole. Yes, that was a painful life-altering event for me, very much so.
And yes, I did lose 140 pounds in 14 months after that. But I didn't keep it off. That one perspective-changing "trigger" wasn't "enough" in and of itself to maintain my weight and make it a permanent change.
After I gained it all back and marinated for a couple of years, I decided, made the decision, to "do it again" but this time I committed to going in to the Take Shape For Life process, complete with getting a Health Coach, and reading Dr. A's Habits of Health. So I did. And I'm down 130 pounds and maintaining.
I don't "wait" for some emotional pain or conflict to come in and be the "reason" I can stick to this day in and day out. I wake up in the morning, and I choose health. I do this daily. It's not a "once and for all" kind of decision. I guess that is what makes it a lifestyle is that I do it every morning.
My conversation with myself goes something like this in the mornings:
Me:"So, you're up. Go get your coffee and first meal"
Me:"Ok."
Me:"Now go for your walk."
Me:"OK."
It DOESN'T go like this:
"Oh man I'm so tired of this struggle! What I wouldn't give for a Starbucks Coffee Cake and Venti Caramel Frappuchino with whip!"
NEITHER do I take my emotional temperature to consult my feelings about whether or not I desire to be on plan today, like this:
Me:"I don't feel like having a Medifast Meal"
Me:"Ok then don't. You can always start tomorrow."
There is one fact about myself that I know will be true today, tomorrow, and in 10 years time. That fact is that if I give myself extra calories over and above my daily needs, I WILL gain weight. THIS doesn't EVER change. And it never will. And I will never allow myself to get into the place where my weight CAUSES me emotional stress or pain, so I don't use THAT as my motivation. Because waiting for emotional pain and stress to come and be my motivation necessitates that I GAIN weight and then have to RELOSE it.
I don't make my decision to stay on my eating plan based upon how I am feeling at any given moment. For me, I have set "attaining AND MAINTAINING a healthy weight" as my primary goal. So all of my decisions revolve around what will further my primary goal. And that is it.
My primary goal is not "To Lose Weight". It is "To Attain and Maintain a Healthy Weight" which, guess what, is a lifetime pursuit. It doesn't have a deadline. It doesn't expire. The need for it never diminishes. And it keeps me in a place of peace in that area of my life, so that I CAN GO AND LIVE THE REST OF MY LIFE. Yes, it gives me the freedom to be truly me. All of me. All the time.
So people do still ask "What was THE moment" and I guess my answer would be "This one. Whatever moment I am CURRENTLY in is THE moment I choose to act in a manner in accordance with obtaining my primary goal."
Happy Take Shape For Life-ing! Rinse and Repeat!
Saturday, January 5, 2013
Too Many Choices!
As I sit here reminiscing on another year gone by, I am floored by the sheer amount of choices I get to make each day!
I get to decide whether I'd like to go for a bike ride, a run, a swim, a walk.
I get to choose whether I'd like to wear my size 4 jeans or my size 6 dress for my next outing.
I get to choose whether I'll wear my knee-high leather boots with that, or my 3-inch heels.
I get to choose to work towards my habits of health today, or my habits of disease.
I choose health.
Because 2 years ago my only choices were XXXL ratty old sweatpants with holes in the thighs, and 4XL men's t-shirts. Oh and yes, my old worn out "sensible" shoes.
Two years ago I could either choose to sit on the couch and use the remote to switch the channels, or heave myself up to get a snack from the kitchen before watching "The Biggest Loser" and wondering if I should apply. I did qualify, after all.
No, I'll take my current choices over my options 2 years ago any day and twice on Sundays.
Thank you TSFL! Thank you Susan (my health coach) and most of all, thank you ME for making the choices and choosing health even though there were days that I faltered. I am oriented towards health, and health is where I will stay.
I get to decide whether I'd like to go for a bike ride, a run, a swim, a walk.
I get to choose whether I'd like to wear my size 4 jeans or my size 6 dress for my next outing.
I get to choose whether I'll wear my knee-high leather boots with that, or my 3-inch heels.
I get to choose to work towards my habits of health today, or my habits of disease.
I choose health.
Because 2 years ago my only choices were XXXL ratty old sweatpants with holes in the thighs, and 4XL men's t-shirts. Oh and yes, my old worn out "sensible" shoes.
Two years ago I could either choose to sit on the couch and use the remote to switch the channels, or heave myself up to get a snack from the kitchen before watching "The Biggest Loser" and wondering if I should apply. I did qualify, after all.
No, I'll take my current choices over my options 2 years ago any day and twice on Sundays.
Thank you TSFL! Thank you Susan (my health coach) and most of all, thank you ME for making the choices and choosing health even though there were days that I faltered. I am oriented towards health, and health is where I will stay.
When The Bloom is Off The Rose.....
Do you remember when we were kids, and we'd get a new toy, and it would be THE COOLEST THING.... for about 3 days.
Then it would become uninteresting and we'd discard it under the bed going in search for newer and more exciting things?
Well, for the January starters, I don't think it is too early to say "BEWARE" of this phenomenon as regards your program.
I started a new exercise program on December 31st. I was psyched. January 1st came and I joyously got my walking shoes on and out the door I went. Again, excited. I could FEEL the change in the air.
January 2nd came and I was happy I was doing it, making a real difference, I felt a little lighter and stronger, and that feeling carried me through my program.
January 3rd came and I found my mind wandering during the program.
January 4th came and I got half-way through and wanted to stop. I was bored.
I did NOT stop, however, because I recognized that perseverance BEGINS where enthusiasm STOPS.
And the results I desire take TIME, so in order to get there I need to persevere even when I don't feel like doing it. When I'd rather be drinking coffee and reading the paper. When I'd rather be surfing Facebook and catching up with all my friends.
The same with Medifast and Take Shape For Life. Right about now, for all of the January 1st starters, it is getting a bit TEDIOUS. A bit BORING. I'll bet some of you are already searching other programs because perhaps this one hasn't lived up to all of your expectations. Maybe the food is a little bland. Maybe you are bored.
And I say to YOU:
So you are bored. What does that have to do with anything?
We were emotional eaters, let's not be emotional dieters. Heck, let's not be dieters at ALL, let's make this a lifestyle change which, when repeated accurately and truthfully on a daily basis, will get us to optimal health.
It's the "repeat accurately and truthfully on a daily basis" wherein lies the rub. This is the difficult part to ACT on. But I will tell you this, if you execute this plan as written faithfully over the next several months, just one day at a time, you will experience STUNNING results.
So do the work. So what if it is boring. Filling your car is boring too, but you do it. Paying your bills is boring too. You want exciting? Go see a movie. Jump out of an airplane. Learn how to surf. Don't try to gain a purpose of "fun and entertaining" out of your eating plan. That is what got us here, remember?
Keep on keeping on! Happy Take Shape For Life-ing! Rinse and Repeat!
Then it would become uninteresting and we'd discard it under the bed going in search for newer and more exciting things?
Well, for the January starters, I don't think it is too early to say "BEWARE" of this phenomenon as regards your program.
I started a new exercise program on December 31st. I was psyched. January 1st came and I joyously got my walking shoes on and out the door I went. Again, excited. I could FEEL the change in the air.
January 2nd came and I was happy I was doing it, making a real difference, I felt a little lighter and stronger, and that feeling carried me through my program.
January 3rd came and I found my mind wandering during the program.
January 4th came and I got half-way through and wanted to stop. I was bored.
I did NOT stop, however, because I recognized that perseverance BEGINS where enthusiasm STOPS.
And the results I desire take TIME, so in order to get there I need to persevere even when I don't feel like doing it. When I'd rather be drinking coffee and reading the paper. When I'd rather be surfing Facebook and catching up with all my friends.
The same with Medifast and Take Shape For Life. Right about now, for all of the January 1st starters, it is getting a bit TEDIOUS. A bit BORING. I'll bet some of you are already searching other programs because perhaps this one hasn't lived up to all of your expectations. Maybe the food is a little bland. Maybe you are bored.
And I say to YOU:
So you are bored. What does that have to do with anything?
We were emotional eaters, let's not be emotional dieters. Heck, let's not be dieters at ALL, let's make this a lifestyle change which, when repeated accurately and truthfully on a daily basis, will get us to optimal health.
It's the "repeat accurately and truthfully on a daily basis" wherein lies the rub. This is the difficult part to ACT on. But I will tell you this, if you execute this plan as written faithfully over the next several months, just one day at a time, you will experience STUNNING results.
So do the work. So what if it is boring. Filling your car is boring too, but you do it. Paying your bills is boring too. You want exciting? Go see a movie. Jump out of an airplane. Learn how to surf. Don't try to gain a purpose of "fun and entertaining" out of your eating plan. That is what got us here, remember?
Keep on keeping on! Happy Take Shape For Life-ing! Rinse and Repeat!
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