(This is the first of a series of posts on Controlling Diet)
Almost exactly two years ago, I took control of my diet. It happened in stages . . . .
Like many people, I’ve lost a lot of weight and gained it (and more) right back. So I wasn’t happy when those first (almost niggling) thoughts told me that I had to change my ways. After all, I’d done it before — again and again. I was determined that I’d do it differently this time, if I was going to do it at all.
So I spent July 2005 just dreaming of diets and changes. Remembering past successes and how they ultimately failed. As I retraced my steps, it seemed to me that there were two elements to my failures. The first was that I allowed exceptions (I could eat chocolate just once). The second was that I always promised myself that tomorrow I’d get back on track again. And tomorrow never came.
Even then, I was walking every day and I’d think about these things as I walked. Then I’d go out to lunch with friends at work. And eat my after work snack (we were eating dinner at about 10:30pm in those days.) And nibble on something most days from the machine in the break room.
Thinking through the Weightloss Process
I think that month I spent meditating on diet was one of the most important elements to the success I’ve had (and yes, I’m ready now to claim some success.) I faced-up to the inevitable loss of momentum and imagined how I’d handle it. I thought about the changes to my body and decided before I ever started that I wouldn’t keep any “fat clothes.” And I decided to talk about it. Openly. To Everyone.
In my dreams, I pictured myself walking into the kitchen for an evening snack and turning around without getting anything. Sometimes, I’d get a glass of water.
I did thought-experiments on dieting for the whole month of July that year. Knowing that the day would come when a family crisis or a national disaster or an upset at work would distract me from obsessing about a diet, I was determined to find a way to control my weight without having to think about it all the time.
And don’t forget weekends — how many times have you lost momentum on a diet over a weekend filled with exceptions to your rules? I can’t even count the times weekends have thrown me off a successful routine. That couldn’t happen to me again. I couldn’t afford it.
Of course the reality was quite different than I imagined. More on The Reality of Dieting next week.
3 Comments
There is a great advantage to having been through the whole weight-loss scenario more than once– not to say I wish that on anyone, it’s just a fact that most of us have been.
Anyhow, if you’ve paid attention, you do have some idea of what works as far as getting rid of the weight. The question is, what works to keep it off ?
I think the answer to that is realizing that you do have to fundamentally change several things– your attitudes toward food and exercise, for starters.
Educating yourself about how your body and mind work comes first. That’s part of the mental preparation you are talking about. Funny how you have all these years on earth, but in a very real sense you haven’t been living in your body ! Instead, we live inside our heads and ignore the clear messages from the body that come when we treat it badly.
Somewhat related to this– St. Francis of Assisi in his later years apologized to “Brother Ass” (as he referred to his physical body) for all the extremes of discipline he had inflicted on himself– extreme fasting was only one of the things he did http://www.franciscans.org.uk/1996jan-angelossf.html– realizing that the gift of the physical body deserves, in fact requires, respect. Otherwise one ought not to be surprised at early and rapid physical decline. (As it happens, Francis died at the age of 45.)
The best comment I heard about exercise… I might have heard it here. You have to look at it like you would a prescription you need to take for (in my case) blood pressure or cholesterol: something you don’t skip, period.
Hi catdog, I don’t know if I’d call it an advantage. At least not until it started ‘clicking’ as to how I could use the knowledge from that experience. Working past the depression of failure really did take a full month. And I think people are more likely to become discouraged by failure rather than energized. Still, it doesn’t hurt to look on the bright side.
Hi, FARfetched — I was just thinking about that (during my walk) today. That it’s a prescription and I can’t skip it anymore than I can skip my metformin.
And that part of what mister and I have done over the last couple of years was make walking a part of our post-meal routine.
From what I learned last week, walking is critically important for people with enlarged hearts. And that’s a risk for people with high blood pressure.