DAY 24 Echoes in My Mind & Question Three

Hello Journal,

I had a funny experience this week...I lost track of time (there is that time management thing again) and it was almost 7:30 pm, and I hadn't done my exercise yet. Well, I thought...MyGuy is going to get home soon...I can skip today and do it tomorrow....screeeech!! My thoughts are jerked to a halt...and what do I hear?? Echoes in my mind of Sean Anderson's words about decisions: are they iron-clad...or elastic??? (here) I laughed right out loud, loaded the Richard simmons CD, and away we danced! LOL! Thanks, Sean. :-)

So today is on to Question 3 from Bob Greene's 5 Questions (I started here).

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Questions 3:  Why have you been unable to lose wt, or to maintain wt loss in the past?

My Answer:  Didn't make the changes permanent... this time kept off the lost 70 to 80 lbs, but it's been a struggle... haven't made more progress towards goal... haven't been willing to make stricter changes, to give up my “drug”... don't think I really believed it would work or I could sustain a " diet" ... that is what it will take from here on down?

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When I wrote this answer back in Jan of 09 I still hadn't found a way of eating that I enjoyed, that I could see myself doing for life. Now I have, and it's made all the difference, like the missing piece to the puzzle. I just knew I had to get out of the "diet mentality". It had to be for life. I didn't CARE who promoted it, sold it, recommended it, or proclaimed this or that was THE answer. If it wasn't something I could live with for life, forget it.

I hear soooo many people complain that they lost weight, then re-gained it, and just don't know what happened. Well, I can tell you what happened...real simple. The same thing that happened to ME, over and over.

The Diet Mentality. If you stopped doing a nutrition plan and went "back" to old habits (whether slowly or in a blitz) then you were on a diet...something you go ON then later go OFF. And if we didn't CHANGE INSIDE, then of course we will go back to what we have known all our life...either right away...or later, under stress.

In Dr Phil's book, The Ultimate Weight Loss Solution, he has a whole section where he warns about "instinctual drift." We need to remain aware and careful to make healthy choices, especially in times of stress and pressure. We have the tendency to revert to our prior learned behaviors...those second-nature habits that got us into trouble in the first place.

I still remember from years ago hearing a speaker talk about the difference between those that are willing to make the EFFORT necessary to achieve a thing, and those that were not...he painted such a word picture, that it stuck.

He vividly described those that take the path of least resistance as "floating downstream like a dead fish"...making the least effort, just giving in...

Then there were those that decide...CHOOSE to keep trying, never to quit...to have the courage and determination to go against the current, and swim upstream, like the salmon that gives everything within them to swim upstream, in order to reach their place of birth. I am familiar with that image, living here in Oregon. 

I finally stopped listening to all the statistics trying to tell me what percentage of people lose weight, and how many keep it off, etc etc... I don't care anymore. I will not be defined by cold dead statistics...I will create my own future by my choices now.

Now, I AM willing to change inside, and to make this permanent. Some days are easier than others...but I will not stop "swimming upstream."

From Dr Phil's book:  "You must never relax your watchfulness over your thoughts, feelings and actions...failure to self-monitor is one of the top reasons why people allow their weight to creep back on."

My verse for today: "The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and I am helped."

My quote for today: "Success isn't a result of spontaneous combustion. You must set yourself on fire." --Arnold H. Glasow

Enjoy the Journey,

Loretta

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