Of Cherry Pie and Late Night Suppers

It's been a while since I've posted something, so here's where I am at these days. Working on moving past the "definition of insanity is to repeat the same actions and expect different results." If you're wondering what I mean, or maybe you already know, let me spell it out a little clearer.

My challenge is that I have a certain mind set when it comes to being a healthier person, and I am very careful not to deviate from it. I get all geared up to go, usually starting on a Monday, and I am ready to exercise 5 miles a day, eat healthy meals, have smaller suppers, no snacks, and no desserts. I will do it for "x number of weeks" and see where I am at.

It's Monday, and I step on the scales so I have a benchmark to start from. If I'm extra ambitious, I might pull out my measuring tape and measure my waist, my elbow, my calf, etc. so I can see how many inches I will lose. After my morning exercise, I carefully prepare my healthy breakfast and march off to work with a full water bottle. At lunch, I am diligent to load my plate with mostly vegetables, at suppertime I eat fruit and some low-calorie things like crackers and hummus. I go to bed reviewing my day with satisfaction. Sure, I was hungry at about 11:00 am and had to wait another two hours till lunch, and sure, I didn't feel full after supper because my stomach was hurting from not having had enough to tide me over from lunch, but all in all, I think I did quite well.

It's Tuesday, and I step on the scales, pleased to see that I've dropped a whole pound (water loss). I march about the loop, getting my miles in, and go home to a nutritious oatmeal with fruit breakfast. The day, and Wednesday and Thursday, follow pretty much the same routine as Monday did. Friday I get a little out of schedule because I wake up too late for breakfast, but I have a granola bar to get me through till lunch. Sabbath, I'm feeling so happy with my progress and that I've lost 2.2 pounds by now that I treat myself to dessert, since it's Sabbath after all. Sunday, I skip breakfast, and grab a slice of pizza at Costco for supper.

Monday I step on the scales. That miserable slice of pizza, with its enormous sodium content, has pushed my weight back up so it looks like I haven't lost a single pound in a whole week. I'm feeling discouraged and only walk half my miles that morning. At work, I am extra busy and extra stressed, and by the time I get off work, later than usual, all I want to do is go home and eat. I rummage about in my freezer and find the chocolate cookies I hid there a week ago. I enjoy a supper that fills me but primarily consists of sugar, fat, and carbs.

Tuesday, I skip my exercise. I have thrown my nutritious meals idea to the wind and am scarfing down sandwiches and crackers, cookies and potato chips, as fast as I can. By Thursday I've given up, it's raining outside so I can't exercise anyhow, and I was hungry all last week and didn't lose a pound, so why even bother?

Sound familiar? I know it does to me, because I've done that, over and over and over again. Yet somehow, each time I expect a different result. I expect that after years of eating the same way and slowly gaining the weight and developing habits that don't contribute to a healthy body, I will overnight, or at the most in a week, be able to step out of my chrysalis and reveal a perfectly healthy vibrant person who has got it all figured out. I will look like Sandra Bullock, cook like Paula Deen, and exercise like Jillian Michaels.

Ahem, I think I'm seeing a bit of a disconnect here! Reality is that becoming a healthier person is not just about the journey to get there, it is a lot of really hard work! I think a lot of the time I give up because I really don't want to put the effort into it! I want to believe that it is 90% inspiration and 10% perspiration, instead of the other way around. I know intellectually what I have to do, but emotionally it is about as easy as giving up chocolate. It's about impossible.

Maybe that's one place I can start. I can change my "It's impossible to change" mindset to a "It is possible, and I am going to do it," attitude. I know it is, and I believe it is, and now I just have to set out to prove to myself that it is possible to become a healthier person. So tonight, well tomorrow because I shan't be eating anymore tonight!, I will return to the place I was two weeks ago, and get back into gear.

My little tips are really quite easy. Exercise an hour a day. Eat a full plate of food at each meal, but only one serving. Don't substitute low-calorie foods and don't count calories. Drink plenty of water. No snacks or added sugar (my major weaknesses). Sit down to eat and, if at all possible, plate your food and enjoy it as a meal, instead of an accompaniment to a TV show, busywork, or reading. Weigh once a week and measure inches once a month. Set a goal for each week that is reasonable (the usual, between half a pound and two pounds, depending on your body type) and write it on an index card and hang it in a prominent place. Keep your goal in mind, and set a deadline to reach your final goal. And finally, accept what life throws at you and learn how to deal with it in more constructive ways than eating.

Here's to success!