Change Something
After my public humiliation of admitting on my blog post that I had gained weight this month, I’ve been trying to think/act in a new way. What is there to learn about weight, dieting, exercise, blah, blah, de-blah, blah, blah, that I don’t already know?
Almost nothing. So sad, but true. I admitted at the onset of this battle that I believe the lion’s share of my struggle is mental. I know what to eat or not eat. I know to exercise. But I fall off the food wagon like a drunken pumpkin when it comes to staying the course for a long ride. BUT I have to just keep trying to beat this. I refuse to throw in the towel and let it beat me again.
Swallowing Pride
So as I worked out this morning I stewed about it. My local Curves owner, Mindy, is someone I admire for lots of reasons. She is upbeat every morning. The way she leads her Zumba class, I think she has some kind of an extra hinge in her mid section or something. Maybe her pelvic bone is double jointed. Is that possible? Her gym shoes and socks always coordinate with her clothes. (I work out in a black man’s t-shirt every day).
Those are all impressive qualities, but they aren’t the BIG reasons I admire her. I heard from someone else (not her) that she has lost 100 pounds. She has two sons in college so she isn’t a twenty-something-lost-weight-once-expert. Even more a mystery to me, she lost this significant weight in stages. She would lose 20 – 30 pounds and then maintain it for quite a while. Then she would decide to tackle another 20. It took her maybe a decade, but she did it a chunk at a time. Maintaining is the big mystery word to me. I can gain. Wow, can I gain. I can lose. Honestly, I can lose. I find it easier to eat nothing than to eat reasonably.
But I am the original yo-yo mama when it comes to the scales.
This morning I waited until she was alone and asked her how in the world she was able to maintain her weight on the way down, as she plateaued several times. I confessed my inability to maintain. We talked for maybe ten minutes. She gave me several nuggets to take away. I needed her encouragement and conversation today. Was it anything earth shatteringly new? Probably not. But each time someone tells us something, we are capable of hearing it in a different way. Here are some of the things she said.
- Each time she determined to lose her next hunk of weight she had to try something new. One time she lost weight with those old Jane Fonda videos.
- She asked if I was drinking lots of water. I admitted I had done that back in January and February, but gradually had stopped doing that routinely.
- She suggested this week my goal would be to start drinking the water again. I’ve started that today.
- She said try to add in one change per week.
- Next week keep drinking the water, and work out on the machines differently. She suggested how to do that.
- Maybe the following week add in a walk each day…even if it is for only 10 minutes.
- She restated, “Just change something.” Every time she dieted and exercised herself down another 20 pounds she did it a little bit differently.
- I’ve fought weight enough to see the truth and sense of this in my own life. It’s like our body becomes immune to our efforts and we have to rethink how to trick it into doing what we want it to do all over again.
I realize none of this is earth shattering. However, it was just what I needed today to get going again. A hook to hang my hope on. It helped me so I thought it might help you too. Who was it that said that the definition of insanity is to keep doing what we’ve always done and expect to get different results? My two words for this week are…
DaunaEasley 