Mid Summer and Still…

I did not realize how much time elapsed since my last post; it’s July 19th and we are (hopefully) nearing the end of a record heat-wave.  Since my last post I’ve learned two interesting things about  myself:

(1)  When I am in pain, sleep-deprived or both,  my food choice restraints go right out the window.  I thought I could easily control food no matter what my mood; alas, I was mistaken.  I don’t know, perhaps the loss of focus is due to past patterns of “on for 6 months and off for however long it takes until I am disgusted with the status quo.  Now I have found another negative pattern I need to break!   Why do I never recognize a positive and uplifting pattern?  I’m certain I have them, what I need to do is focus on them and celebrate.  In the meantime, I will choose to follow my food plan more faithfully than I have in the past few months.  I will choose to not allow chronic pain and lack of sleep control my eating habits.

(2)  I learned that I have a tendency to focus on the “problem” and not the “solution”.  Once you take away the excuse (in this case a faulty focus), you can move forward.  I don’t care to itemize the times I held myself back due to a faulty focus, but I’m quite pleased to have discovered the ability to recognize when I am guilty of a faulty focus.  Removing roadblocks such as these clarify the steps you need to take to reach your goals.  I do wish I had become aware of “faulty focus” years ago; could have saved myself some time.

I recently read that a life is lived forward before it is later examined.  The point is to live your life in the moment and be aware of what you feel and what is around you.  Life is a mystery, but the only way to solve your own life mystery is to live it step-by-step in curiosity, and thrill to the discovery of your path as you travel along.  Too often we lose our innate curiosity about life as we age. Spending a few days with my grandchildren and looking at life through their observances awakened my curiosity.  I love being a grandparent because when I spend time with my grandchildren, I’m really “with” them.  I believe I was a good parent, but I certainly could have been more “in” my life as I lived it while I was helping to raise them.

It is never too late to fully live your life no matter at what stage you are living it.  Each spring we plant some vegetables; this year as well as a lovely herb garden we are growing several varieties of tomatoes and peppers, zucchini, yellow squash, onions, potatoes, eggplant, and yellow wax beans.  The plants grow, we harvest the produce, the plant eventually passes through its own life-cycle and dies.  That’s all the plants do, they live in the moment.  If we weed the plots, give the plants plenty of water, if they receive enough sunlight and we fertilize as necessary, rotating the various crops to nurture the soil, the crops give up their bounty.  If we neglect the plants they dry out , burn up and die, all as a result of living in the moment.  People are like that too.  People have more choices, but ultimately they live and die in the moment.

I think it is better to really enjoy the moment.  My past is gone, the future is not guaranteed; all I have are moments, cobbled together one second at a time to form my future.  Imagine!  All of us are living our futures, one second at a time!  I want to hold on to that, and make each moment something worthwhile.

Welcome to Week #6

Six weeks! It is difficult to believe that I am living Week #6 in Weight Watchers. Never before have I not obsessed about foods while “dieting”. Oops, stop right there! Weight Watchers is not a diet no matter how you’ve seen it advertised. Weight Watchers is a lifestyle change, but how many people do you know who would willingly pay to change their lifestyle?

In fact, what springs to mind when you hear or see those words? I borrowed this from the Live Strong site:

The “Collins English Dictionary” defines “lifestyle” as a set of attitudes, habits or possessions associated with a particular person or group. Your lifestyle is healthy or unhealthy based on your food choices, activity level and behavior. A positive lifestyle can bring you happiness, while a negative lifestyle can lead to sadness, illness and depression.

Read more: http://www.livestrong.com/article/290197-what-is-the-meaning-of-lifestyle/#ixzz2KEaro72z

Changing your lifestyle can be difficult and lengthy, depending on the changes you desire. For instance, if you want more free time in your life, you need to determine what you have to change to create more free time. Does that involve finding another job or scaling back on overtime? If you need to stop drinking it would be in your best interest to find a therapist and/or a support group such as AA to help you navigate your way back to sobriety. If you want to stop smoking, will you quit “cold turkey” or will you seek out a nicotine patch or a professional specializing in that particular addiction? You just have to choose a program that will best meet your physical and emotional needs as well as your budget.

There is no existing “fits all” program for changing your lifestyle. Were that the case, publishers would soon suffer for lack of publishable material, and the Internet would be less interesting. Would you truly want a fits-all program? No? Why not? Wouldn’t it be easier? Easier!?! Are you kidding? Why not? Why not, indeed! You know the answer, we all know the answer. The answer is, “Because I’m not like everyone else”. So then, why do we need to go to absurd lengths to prove to ourselves that we are unique? Just because you want to lose weight, and your best friend swears by the super-new monkey glad shots given to her by her manicurist, it doesn’t mean you should blindly sign up for the bi-weekly shots. It doesn’t matter how your best friend, mother, sister, cousin or stylist accomplished their goals. What matters is how you will reach yours.

How do you find the best program? It doesn’t hurt to ask others what they are doing, you’re not obligated to take their advice. Research, be it online, at your local library or in your doctor’s office is always good. So is asking for help from a non-affiliated professional. By non-affiliated I mean a trained professional without a financial stake in any particular program. Make a list of things you like and dislike about your situation and be specific about what you want to change. A diabetic will have different criteria than someone with IBS, for instance. No two people are alike, and though there are many programs that are identical in appearance, a closer look will unearth the differences.

Celebrate the choices you have to help you make the changes that will improve your life. Once you have chosen the program, commit to following it to the letter. Unless you follow a program to the letter, you won’t know if it’s right for you. In fact, if you immediately begin to tweak a program to suit your individuality, then that program is definitely not for you. Don’t be discouraged if you need to try more than one plan. You may not know yourself as well as you think you do, and trying various plans or programs will help you find self-discoveries you need to succeed. And don’t become discouraged with your plan if it’s a great fit but the changes don’t occur as soon as you’d like. You need to remember that changes happen within their own time frames. Not every oak drops its leaves at the same rate as the other oaks in the forest, there are variances within each oak.

What is all this leading to? Well, this blog is about my weight loss journey and this post describes the beginning. I’ve wanted to release my excess weight for some time. I tried on lots of different diets to see what would fit. I talked with other people, I researched various products and plans and I finally became specific about what I wanted. I wanted to feel better, be more active, and become more healthy. I disliked being tired, and I disliked making excuses about why I didn’t feel better, fit or healthy. There was but one truth: Obesity. In the cold light of reality I acknowledged the truth and determined the next step was to find a program. Three crystal clear facts emerged: (1) I need accountability, (2) I am not willing to deprive myself of any food or beverage and (3) I don’t care how long the journey takes so long as I stay 100% committed to the program.

Along with those top three facts I added (4) practicality and availability of ingredients, (5) ease of meal preparation, (6) affordability and (7) sustainability (I dislike boredom). I found only one program that fulfilled all seven of my criteria. I committed to the program and began immediately. My number one goal is to stay On Program for as long as I am able. I know I’m not perfect, and there is a chance that some day I will find myself in an overwhelming situation, causing a program breach. But the longer I continue to follow the program, and reinforce the desired behaviors, the better the chance to reach my weight loss goal and my ultimate maintenance goal.

My weight release program fits me perfectly now and will for as long as my criteria remain the same; plus it has proven scientific facts and results behind it. Each person must find their own perfect fit. The good news is that many people have the same or very similar criteria; and with the variety of programs available the perfect fit is within everyone’s reach.