2007-01-02
have water, will diet
|I really don't like the idea of resolutions. That word has such a negative connotation to me. I feel as soon as you refer to a change you'd like to make as a resolution you assure your own failure. Don't most resolutions go unfulfilled?
Most gyms across the nation will be filled from now until roughly the end of February with people who want to lose weight. Come March, if they last that long, they will fall out of the habit and stop exercising.
So I find it annoying that I'm getting ready, mentally speaking, for a new way of eating and living and that it happens to coincide with the beginning of January. Grr.
My sister just told me it takes approximately three weeks to break a habit. Armed with this knowledge, I am going to renew one of my old healthy habits. I seem to snack like a rabid weasel that has three minutes to raid a fully stocked kitchen from 3 pm until 5:30 pm and again around 7:30 pm. Back when I was fit and trim, I used to drink water during those times.
So now I know I just have to consciously think about drinking water at those times until January 23 or so, and then my inner weasel will hopefully drown. I also added a weight banner to this site, for my own motivation. I want to see that bee shimmy his ass at lightning speed across that bar.
I understand that these are just mental games that I am playing with myself, but by golly they worked for me in the past and I know I can make them work for me again.
I've run across some journals here at Diaryland that discuss weight loss or rather the author's struggle with weight loss, and I have to say I find it fascinating. Weight is such a mental struggle. From the outside looking in, it seems like it's simply about the food you put in your mouth and the amount of exercise you do.
But anyone who has struggled with it knows there are so many more psychological reasons involved. In my life, I have gone up and down the scale confronting the same 25 pounds. To someone who has much more to lose, that might seem like nothing. However, I find there are such a range of feelings and emotions attached to those extra pounds.
When I was successful, I found it had everything to do with my state of mind. And that's what I am attempting to recreate: that state of mind that is ready to systematically do the work to yield the results. No earth shattering advice here, just the idea of taking one meal at a time.
That, in itself, changed things for me. I used to feel if I blew breakfast, I blew the day for dieting. But once I realized that each meal is an opportunity to start over again, that really helped me stay on track. Also, with that thought in mind, when I wanted to eat something that wasn't "healthy" I ate it and, surprisingly, I felt no guilt about it. And the reason I did not feel any guilt was that I knew I was going to get back on track the next time I sat down to eat.
That discovery, for me, was huge. It really helped me along and made me feel like I was on a lifestyle change, rather than a diet.
Anyway, I'm going to tackle today with a new attitude and my trusty water bottle in hand.
2007-01-02 at 9:30 a.m.
