I come to you today completely aggravated, disgusted, sad, defeated and any number of negative emotions. I am in another stop and start and stop cycle in my efforts to regain that fire in my belly (no pun intended) to get myself back on track to lower weight and better health. It is possible I am over-thinking it, but I set out this time trying to do something different. I am sure we have all heard that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. When I decided to fire up this time, I thought to myself " I put a lot of energy and time and effort into the 100 pound loss. When I hit 196, I just decided I needed a break from all the effort." I also debated the point that maybe losing 100 pounds in 10-11 months was too quick and that made it easier to put it back on.
With all that in mind, my thought process was to put a little less emphasis on number crunching, and to try to take off the weight a little slower than last time. I also decided to not use a scale to track progress, but to pick out clothes and use them as goals to reach. It seemed like was doing a pretty good job for awhile. But I stand here today, having to admit that the lack of structure may not have been the best way to get me going. I have once again began an inner debate about going back to being OCD on calories and exercise. But history tells us that hasn't worked out.
So the ultimate question winds up being, what do I need to do to be successful? Can I make the OCD route work by just being mindful of where I am and how to get either to the next checkpoint, and when the goal is reached, to stay there?
Any thoughts on this ?
So tough Shane. If any of us had the ultimate answer to your question, we'd be rich! I believe the answer is different for different people. Calorie counting didn't do it for me either. Giving up sugar and bad carbs has really helped with my urges to overeat. There are so many programs out there...all promoting "the answer". Have you tried Low Carb, High Fat? It does seem to be the way Science is headed in terms of the latest studies. Worth researching anyways. Keeps you full longer and there are way less urges to overeat. I'd really recommend giving up sugar...it's tough but once it's out of your system, you'll be a changed man. Physically and emotionally!
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, congratualations! The fact that you've done this before means you KNOW you can do this! :-)
ReplyDeleteMy thoughts (since you asked): Find what works for you. not to lose weight, but how do you injtend to live the rest of your life?
Live now the way you want to when you are your goal weight. How much exercise will you do regularly? Will you prep foods in advance for lunches for work (as an example)? Will you track? Every day or just some?
For ME, a combination of 1) visualizing in very specific detail not just how I want to look and feel, but how I want my daily life to look like coupled with 2) finding a good balance between keeping track but not so fanatical that it isn't sustainable has been th ekey.
I am losing weight slowly but consistently. There is no end point - this is how I live my life now.
Good luck!
Super good book - The Diet Fix, by Dr. Yoni Freedoff. He's Canada's leading expert on non surgical, non medicinal weight loss. He helps shape a life plan in terms of thinking about food and life.
ReplyDeleteI hope you're having a blessed Christmas weekend! Happy New Year, too!
ReplyDeleteThe goal for me, is to make sure I have two streams of activity flowing. One is life--and all that entails--with bills, job, family, obligations and responsibilities---
The other stream consists of the elements I make important for my weight loss goals--The blogging, the tweeting accountability, the counting, measuring, the sugar abstinence, the reaching out for support--the offering support, the exercise, etc.
The way this works--and the only way it works--is to always make sure these streams run parallel to one another--and to allow the life stream to run in the foreground--and the elements of my recovery firmly in the background... These two streams must not cross.
I can't allow my life stream to run in the background...and I can't allow my recovery stream to become all consuming by running in the foreground.
To me--it's about putting things in proper perspective--in their proper place, in other words. As long as they stay there, I'm able to maintain a balance.
Think of your commitment to taking extraordinary care as an anti-virus program running in the background of your computer...while in the foreground you're doing all kinds of things...but that program is always running--doing what it does, regardless of what you're doing....and the only time you 'hear' from it is if you come across something of concern--then it pops up, "hey--be careful, buddy."
From reading your blog, I can see where your OCD tendencies make it very difficult to keep your 'streams' separate. But I assure you, if you can capture the essence of this philosophy and put it into practice, it will alleviate a lot of struggle.
It isn't easy, of course...But it's worth the effort.
2015 can be the best year, ever, sir!
I believe in the power of planning. If that is "OCD" then so be it. The content of the plan is up to you.
ReplyDelete