My experience is that weight loss is not easy--- but it is simple. Why not keep it that way? Hey- I wish I could make it easy but hey-hey, few positive long-term activities are.
Changing myself was a process of conditioning; pounding a square peg into a round hole until it either fit or got really good at taking a pounding. It didn't happen on the first whack/day, it's been more than a year now and I'm still whacking.
The thing is, for ME, it is easier to adjust (even dramatically) something I'm already doing than to start an altogether new activity and stick with it long-term. That's one of the reasons I never bought into any of the programs that my friends were trying. I would hear about so-and-so trying xyx and a-friend-of-a-friend trying abc and think, what this "trying" business, because it seemed to me that if anything was worthwhile, it was worth sticking to forever. Not just trying. Trying one diet or another would most likely provide shot-term results at best. Joining an exercise class would most likely end prematurely as would any other activity I wasn't already doing.
So I didn't try anything, instead I decided to modify something I was already doing, something I should/could change and should/could stick to for the rest of my life. So what was that one thing?
Eating. I was already doing it, I just needed (desperately) to start doing it right.
Good stuff:
(Day 427 / -153 lbs.) Simple Is As Simple Does- Now Run, Forrest! Run!
7/23/2008 10:31:00 AM | eat less | 4 comments »
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Great post! I agree totally. There are too many plans out there that just miss the mark. You just.gotta.do.it...and do it every day for the rest of your life! Avoid the extremes and it's easy!
Modifying your eating patterns is something I have done as well and I think over the long run it will help me. I no longer even consider eating two breakfast sandwiches at McDonald's now, although I will occasionally slip and have one. Still, that's better than where I was. Just continually tweak what your normally eat and you will find you were probably eating too much and can be satisifed with less.
That's a royal "you" by the way, you've have already figured that all out!
I think all of us are too different to for a "one size fit all" program. It is like trying to buy shoes, you need to keep trying things until you find a pair that fits. But there are a few fundamentals - such as heels will not be as comfortable as flats just like eating HFCS and refined carbs is not as healthy as veggies and fruits. The key is to find that right balance for your unique genetic makeup.
Since my car accident, I need to workout regularly or my back would start aching since I have a desk job. I accepted that as a necessity now, hence I find it easier to stop resenting it. Can I stick with it for life? I think I am going to have to (or at least that is what I conditioned myself to think and tell people). And because I have been saying that for the last few years, I am starting to "feel" that it is a fact.
I think the only "program" that works is the one that we design for ourself. That's what I did too. Very wise post.