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Monday, January 29, 2007
Learning from past failures
In my age, you can expect me to be a diet guru. I've been dieting for so many years (since I was 12), I went through so many different diets, and yet - here I am, still struggling with my weight, still too heavy and unhealthy to my liking. The amount of pounds I've lost through the years is piling up by the hundreds - a fact that proves I knew how to lose them, but didn't have a clue as to how to keep them off. So, I kept losing weight, gaining it all over again plus some extra, losing it again - like an horror scene within a vicious cycle.
Sounds familiar?
The main problem I identify with this process is the fact I was always going on a diet instead of pursuing a major change in my lifestyle. I perceived the diet as something I needed to do for a little while, showing that I always entertained the option to go back to my old/bed habits as soon as the weight was off. Bang Bang!!! Bad idea, but a very good explanation for the failure that followed.
This time around, while I was thinking about the whole change I want to introduce into my life, I've examined my past experience with weight loss, recognized my failures in the long term, read everything I could put my hands on that is out there, and came to some conclusions:
» I can't be on a diet for ever. Diet is a restricting term, and I don't like to feel restricted and deprived for the rest of my life. There must be something else out there I can adopt for eternity... yeap, changing my lifestyle sounds much better.
» I can't go through the day feeling hungry. Most of the time I break at the end of it, and binge till I'm ready to pass out. Feeling hungry is out of the question.
» I can't give up my favorite bad foods without finding some healthy alternatives that taste as good, can replace the bad stuff and satisfy my urges when they arise, without making a lot of damage.
» Working out a day here and a day there won't be much of help for my blood pressure. In order to get rid of my pills, I have to have a daily workout regime from the present to eternity. Workout should be come an integral part of my life.
» I have to create a friendly environment in the house, where there are no "enemies" (bad foods) to tempt me deviate from my plan.
» I'm an emotional eater. I have to find a way to deal with my emotions, stress and bad moods - which doesn't involve turning to food. Food is not a medicine. Consuming big portions of it doesn't cure mental difficulties - it just makes them numb for a few hours.
OK, so it seemed I've managed to pinpoint what I shouldn't do this time around, and to make a good start I decided to call my new food plan "My nutrition plan". The "diet" word is fired from my vocabulary, and even if I'm actually talking about terms that will bring a similar outcome my way, this time I really mean I'm making a change for the long term. I'm making a plan for eternity, one that will last from now to for ever.
And by coincidence, yesterday I've found this article, The 10 Biggest Weight Loss Mistakes by Nicki Anderson, in my E-mail. It came from the eDiets site. Of course, I could identify with the points made on it. The author suggests that
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Before you have even started your weight-loss effort, you see yourself as a failure. You figure you can try dieting for a couple of weeks just to see what happens. And when you begin to feel like it just isn't gonna work, well, you stop and wait until the next miracle diet presents itself.
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Ok, so I know that at this time, I've planned the whole thing for more than two months, read a lot and tried to figure out what's good for me, and what is nothing but an empty promise that won't bring me closer to my goals. I know now I had a good solid start, and my hope for a brighter future of success and change for the better is quite high.
The author goes on to count the 10 biggest weight loss mistake people make:
1) If I say I want to lose 50 pounds, I will!
2) Diet is deprivation!
3) I will look like a movie star!
4) Once Im finished with the diet, I can go back to what I did before!
5) I need someone to tell me what to eat!
6) If I just exercise a couple of hours a day, I can eat whatever I want!
7) I dont have time to exercise so Ill just cut out more calories!
8) Writing things down doesn't make a difference!
9) Youre bad!
10) New Years Resolutions! |
Most of them seem quite self evident, don't they? All I can say is that to my heart's content, so far I've made only 1 "mistake" from this list... the no. 8 one "Writing things down doesn't make a difference!". It's not that I think it doesn't make a difference, but I'm still too lazy to write down what I eat each day, and how many calories I consume. I already explained before that since I'm not hungry, and I do lose weight, I can't be far off of target, so for now - I'm ok with it. If and when the situation turns... I might lose my laziness and start writing things down.
It's takes time to make major changes... One responsible step at the right direction each day *s*.
Lorien @ 04:30 pm MT
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