8th April 2013
“I’m not in this world to live up to your expectations and you’re not in this world to live up to mine.”
― Bruce Lee
― Bruce Lee
So what do
you do when you know you need to lose weight, you know how to lose weight (you
don't lack the intelligence) you actually want to lose weight (you don't lack
the motivation) but you're just not doing it - losing weight that is!
You're generally a happy person and you have a good life however the extra weight is making you feel physically crap so you know it's got to go. You know losing weight is a route to even more happiness because you would enjoy everything that is good in your life more if you weighed less as you'd have more energy to enjoy it. I'm not talking a few pounds here; I'm talking carrying real excess weight that does have an impact on your day today life.
My honest answer is - I don't truly know - that's not much use is it when you consider my job title! There's obviously something stopping someone in that place from actually 'doing it', I believe the 'something' would be different for each and every individual, so it would take some honest thinking about and maybe talking with another to work that out. I can really only talk from my own experience and memories (my memory ain't the best, I have a knack of blocking stuff out that I don't wish to recall) to try and understand. I hit 14 stone back in 2004, my healthy BMi for my height is 8st 1lb - 10st 1lb, which meant I was officially obese - nice to have that confirmed - NOT!
I remember being on my dream holiday which I'd waited 20+ years for and not wanting to have my photo taken, I'd gained over 3st in a year - why - mmm the truth well I think it was mainly down to being overwhelmed in my work, I felt out of my depth. At the time I blamed it on sports injuries, I couldn't go to the gym so I decided that meant I couldn’t keep my weight off and I went into sod it mode. I think I'd got to a place where I'd lost and gained weight so many times, I thought I was wasting my time, looking back though I think that was my cover up story and the truth was I couldn't or didn't feel comfortable in my new work roll even though at the time I didn't realise it was having that much of an impact on me, I thought I was enjoying being promoted and the stress was all part of that and so I comfort ate and ate and ate. Stressful day at work meant a trip to Sainsbury's on the way home for something special, the more stressful my day was the more pleasure I looked for elsewhere!
What changed? What got me back on track? I honestly don't know for sure. I got back from my holiday in the February but it still a month before I did anything about it. I acknowledged my weight was making me unhappy and I joined Weight Watchers AGAIN! Sounds like it was easy doesn’t it – it wasn’t! I turned it into yet another project and stuck to it 100% most of the time, this distracted me from my work. I got to my goal and within a few months started training to became a leader.
My weight went lower as my work pressure got higher, I liked this skinny me I thought I did anyway, meanwhile I'm getting myself worked up, stressed out and proper miserable over my day job, which I eventually quit.
it wasn't until I'd been a leader for a couple of years I reckon that I started to have a better relationship with food, I realised 'the plan' was a tool to help with the numbers side of it all, what I was now doing was improving my relationship with food, my behaviour towards it and how I felt about myself. I had always believed skinny meant attractive, that if I was thin people would find me more likeable. Something clicked in me, initially it was a decision that I liked me and if others didn't I wasn't going to be a certain size to be accepted! Then as time went on I realised that you are not your weight, people seemed to like me whatever I was weighing! I started to trust myself to make the right food decisions and to believe that I wouldn't overeat because I cared about my health.
I have noticed that when things start to go wrong in my life or big problems arise that I still have 'sod it' times but they don't last as long and I don't give myself a hard time over then. My life's not about perfection it's about being content, healthy and happy.
So none of this really helps the person I was talking about at the start of this blog really does it? All I could suggest to them is to be gentle with themselves, take it one day, heck one meal at a time and if you love food as passionately as I do, find ways to enjoy it still that doesn’t mean you have to be gaining weight, you also don’t have to be eating ‘diet’ foods. Get support that’s key to success, everything’s easier with support and any changes you do make ensure that you will be able to do them for the rest of your life otherwise they are pointless, short term fixes that won’t last!
You're generally a happy person and you have a good life however the extra weight is making you feel physically crap so you know it's got to go. You know losing weight is a route to even more happiness because you would enjoy everything that is good in your life more if you weighed less as you'd have more energy to enjoy it. I'm not talking a few pounds here; I'm talking carrying real excess weight that does have an impact on your day today life.
My honest answer is - I don't truly know - that's not much use is it when you consider my job title! There's obviously something stopping someone in that place from actually 'doing it', I believe the 'something' would be different for each and every individual, so it would take some honest thinking about and maybe talking with another to work that out. I can really only talk from my own experience and memories (my memory ain't the best, I have a knack of blocking stuff out that I don't wish to recall) to try and understand. I hit 14 stone back in 2004, my healthy BMi for my height is 8st 1lb - 10st 1lb, which meant I was officially obese - nice to have that confirmed - NOT!
I remember being on my dream holiday which I'd waited 20+ years for and not wanting to have my photo taken, I'd gained over 3st in a year - why - mmm the truth well I think it was mainly down to being overwhelmed in my work, I felt out of my depth. At the time I blamed it on sports injuries, I couldn't go to the gym so I decided that meant I couldn’t keep my weight off and I went into sod it mode. I think I'd got to a place where I'd lost and gained weight so many times, I thought I was wasting my time, looking back though I think that was my cover up story and the truth was I couldn't or didn't feel comfortable in my new work roll even though at the time I didn't realise it was having that much of an impact on me, I thought I was enjoying being promoted and the stress was all part of that and so I comfort ate and ate and ate. Stressful day at work meant a trip to Sainsbury's on the way home for something special, the more stressful my day was the more pleasure I looked for elsewhere!
What changed? What got me back on track? I honestly don't know for sure. I got back from my holiday in the February but it still a month before I did anything about it. I acknowledged my weight was making me unhappy and I joined Weight Watchers AGAIN! Sounds like it was easy doesn’t it – it wasn’t! I turned it into yet another project and stuck to it 100% most of the time, this distracted me from my work. I got to my goal and within a few months started training to became a leader.
My weight went lower as my work pressure got higher, I liked this skinny me I thought I did anyway, meanwhile I'm getting myself worked up, stressed out and proper miserable over my day job, which I eventually quit.
it wasn't until I'd been a leader for a couple of years I reckon that I started to have a better relationship with food, I realised 'the plan' was a tool to help with the numbers side of it all, what I was now doing was improving my relationship with food, my behaviour towards it and how I felt about myself. I had always believed skinny meant attractive, that if I was thin people would find me more likeable. Something clicked in me, initially it was a decision that I liked me and if others didn't I wasn't going to be a certain size to be accepted! Then as time went on I realised that you are not your weight, people seemed to like me whatever I was weighing! I started to trust myself to make the right food decisions and to believe that I wouldn't overeat because I cared about my health.
I have noticed that when things start to go wrong in my life or big problems arise that I still have 'sod it' times but they don't last as long and I don't give myself a hard time over then. My life's not about perfection it's about being content, healthy and happy.
So none of this really helps the person I was talking about at the start of this blog really does it? All I could suggest to them is to be gentle with themselves, take it one day, heck one meal at a time and if you love food as passionately as I do, find ways to enjoy it still that doesn’t mean you have to be gaining weight, you also don’t have to be eating ‘diet’ foods. Get support that’s key to success, everything’s easier with support and any changes you do make ensure that you will be able to do them for the rest of your life otherwise they are pointless, short term fixes that won’t last!
I don’t eat ‘diet’
food, and I don’t eat the expected food for the suggested meals, I had chips
for breakfast yesterday because I can!
My diet for want of a better word is adapted to suit me, I love eating
and I love preparing food, and I know if I eat that way I can stick to it for
the rest of my life!
Do it for
yourself – start today – take it steady – BeYouTiful and Eat Gorgeous. xx
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