As I was contemplating my next blog post, I hesitated
writing yet again about weight loss, specifically my weight loss “issues”,
since it’s clear from my blog I’ve been dealing with all this for quite some
time. I don’t even want to think about what year it was when I started “Operation
Fit; Back Into My Pants”. This gave me the idea and inspiration to start a new blog dedicated to this topic.
I read
a quote the other day that said: “I wish
I was as fat as I was the first time I thought I was fat.” Amen. That reminds me of the time I ran across a
couple of pictures I’d taken of the back of my thighs. This was back in the day
before digital photography and when I ran across the old snapshots in a file
folder I had to wonder for a second why I had them. Then I remembered; I’d
thought my thighs were too big and had cellulite. I was about 21 at the time.
I’d kill to have those thighs today. Okay, maybe not kill, but certainly maim a
little. The point is, things got worse…a
lot worse.
For me, and I suspect a lot of people, weight loss is more
mental than anything else. Sure, you have to have a physical plan for eating and
exercise helps, but overall if you are not mentally prepared to do what you
need to do, you tend to naturally do the opposite. I’ve got the plan; as most of you already know I am a
Lifetime Weight Watchers member going clear back to 2000. I still have some
pounds to lose to get back to where I personally want to be. I’ve been working
on this for more years than I care to admit and jokingly still refer to it as
the “baby weight” even though my baby is in first grade. Food wise, my day goes
great but by evening I tend to lose all resolve and kid myself that “tomorrow
I’ll be better.” Then tomorrow I tend to do the same thing. This is what’s kept
me with the same five or ten pounds I’ve been having a dead-end relationship
with for years now. I want to say good-bye forever to those pounds, then lose the other
ones I haven’t even attempted yet.
The other day I was thinking about things in our lives
that are and are not within our control when an interesting metaphor hit me.
I’ve always thought it would be awesome to win the lottery, but of course as we
all know that’s totally out of our control; all you can do is by the ticket and
it’s sheer luck for it to happen.There is no way to make it happen. Then I realized that weight loss is like the
lottery win that you can make
happen. It is totally within our control as to what food choices we make
and what we do or do not do in terms of exercise. If you have a good dietary
plan and follow it, you will
eventually lose weight. It is something you can make happen. With so many things in our lives that are out of our
control, this is one thing that is not. Of course we have to be mentally
prepared to do it and then actually do
it. But we can make it happen. To me personally, getting this weight off
and getting back to wearing my clothes and feeling good in them would be like a
lottery win.
I invite you to follow along with me on this journey and share
your feelings and insights as well.