Monday, February 14, 2011

Food for Belly and Food for Thought

I'm at work, on my lunch break, and enjoying a thoroughly delicious frozen meal. If you haven't tried the Kashi Mayan Harvest Bake...holy cow, it is fabulous! Plantains, sweet potatoes, pumpkin seeds, kale, ancho chile sauce, whole grains - amazing! Highly recommend.





I was reading this article and wanted to share. It really resonated with me and thought maybe it would help someone else too.


From: (c) Linda Spangle, 2011. #0214, Weight Loss for Life, Inc.
Got a minute? That's long enough to do more than TRY

The Wt. Loss Minute By Linda Spangle, RN, MA
Author: 100 Days of Weight Loss
www.WeightLossJoy.com

Becky looked discouraged. As she sank into the chair in my office, she said, 'I don't know what to do. I'm trying so hard to lose weight, but I'm not getting anywhere. I can't figure out what's wrong. Based on how hard I'm trying I should be losing a lot more than I am.'

As I looked at my notes on our conversations over the past few weeks, I decided to take a guess at Becky's problem. 'Let's review a little,' I said. 'How have you been doing with your eating plan?'

Becky thought for a second. 'Some days are OK, but lots of times I get stressed or frustrated during the day, and by evening, I end up having wine or ice cream, or both.'

'So you're not following your plan very well?' I asked. 'I guess not,' she replied. 'This past week I probably was on my program only three days. But I'm trying so hard to lose weight!'

'How's your exercise plan going?'

'Not as consistent as I'd like. I only walked two days this week. By the end of the day, I'm usually so tired that I can't get myself to do it. But I'm trying so hard to lose weight!'

I glanced back at my notes. 'You also planned to work on your abdominal exercises, go to a yoga class, and take time each day for some meditation or reading. How are you doing with those goals?'

'None of them happened. I'm just so busy, and everything gets in the way. The days keep getting away from me, and I end up skipping all of my goals and going to bed.'

But then Becky exclaimed again, 'But, I'm trying so hard to lose weight!'

Are you seeing yourself in this story? I think we all have times when we WANT to lose weight, and we convince ourselves that we're TRYING. But like Becky, we don't follow through with any actions that would move us toward our goals.

It's like saying you want an 'A' in a class at school, but being too busy, too tired or too stressed to open the textbook or work on your research paper. No action equals no outcome.

Interested or committed?

Many of you are familiar with this next concept from Day 2 of the book '100 Days of Weight Loss' but I think it's one we all need to be reminded of now and then.

If you tend to start and stop every time you diet, you may want to look at the difference between being INTERESTED and being COMMITTED.

Interest slips away quickly

When you're just interested in dieting, you tend to stay with your plans only until something better comes along. For example, you may decide that you're interested in losing weight, but when someone brings doughnuts to work, you quickly go off your diet.

You also depend on seeing results to keep you on target. So, as long as the scale keeps moving, you stay motivated. But if you hit a plateau or you don't see much progress for a few weeks, you
may throw your program out the window.

And when you struggle, you blame everyone but yourself. You accuse your friends of ruining your diet because they eat potato chips in front of you.

In addition, you fall into 'if only' thinking, saying things like, 'If only I had more time, more money, a new job, or a supportive spouse, then I'd be able to stay on my plan.

Committed means NO MATTER WHAT!

When you're truly committed to achieving your goals, you have an entirely different outlook. Unlike being interested, where it doesn't take much to detract you from your goals, being committed means you stick with it, no matter what.

Rather than depending on seeing results to help you stay on track, you work on keeping your motivation strong, and trust that results will follow.

And when you struggle, you don't blame circumstances or other people. Instead, you push hard to stay on your diet in spite of not having enough money, time, or supportive friends and family members.

Here's a summary of the differences between interested and committed:

People who are interested in losing weight

* Stick with it until something better comes along
* Take action only if they "feel like" doing it
* Need to see results in order to stay motivated
* Blame people or circumstances for their struggles
* Easily give up when they face challenges

People who are committed to losing weight

* Stick with their plans no matter what
* Take action whether they feel like doing it or not
* Assume that if they stay motivated, results will follow
* Take responsibility for their own actions
* Keep going in spite of challenges and setbacks

Look carefully at your current efforts. If you say that you're 'trying so hard to lose weight' but you aren't making progress, you're probably taking the interested approach. If so, strive for being committed instead. Start adopting a 'no matter what' attitude, then convince yourself you can stay with your goals regardless of your daily challenges.

(c) Linda Spangle, 2011. #0214, Weight Loss for Life, Inc.
5023 W. 120th Ave. #183, Broomfield, CO 80020
Contact: Linda@WeightLossJoy.com
www.weightlossjoy.com
303-452-1545 or 1-800-298-3020

2 comments:

Bonnie said...

Thanks for the Kashi recommendation. Sounds yummy. Very interesting story and really makes sense.

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