The Wisdom from 8lbs

Three months, and about 8lbs lost so far.

What's been noteworthy for me is that its been consistent, and it didn't seem too difficult. As I sat back to think on what it was that precisely changed over these three months compared with my previous weight loss attempts, I noticed something different.

I wasn't thinking about it all the time. Yes, that's right. Earlier, I would "begin" the weight-loss program on a set date. I would settle on some "bad-foods" and resolve to stop eating them. I would set up alarms to prompt myself to go to the gym at a set hour. I had all sorts of rules (Never skip exercise 2-days in a row. Never workout less than an hour. Alternate strength-training with cardio 5 days a week. And about a dozen more.) I posted notes around the house reminding me of my goals. In short, everything in my day would be set up remind me of it, and boy, did it fail miserably in the past.

What worked a lot better instead was, while being vigilant, I now give myself some time to make that change. I give myself some space to fail, and not beat myself up about it if I slip up. I've given myself some time to make a habit of some of the things that work instead of strict rules about the intended changes.

Gone are the alarms and strict guidelines for myself about those workouts. I simply aim to stay relatively more active every day. I now put on a pedometer every morning as I step out of my house, and put in anywhere between 7000-8000 steps on it. Its not near the recommended 10,000 steps a day yet, but its a start and roughly translates (for me) to about an hour's worth of walking. Every little bit counts now rather than my all-or-none way of counting exercise earlier. This makes it far less likely for me to slip into the inertia of not doing anything at all. It works for me as its not beset with strict expectations and I have the entire day to get it done.

Gone are the lists of good-foods and bad-foods. I instead just eat anything I want, but I aim to have only about 60% of the serving I usually have if its something that is calorie-dense. A second helping at lunch or more often, at dinner is replaced by soup, or a fruit salad or such. To be honest, I hated green salads, so instead of forcing myself to try and make-them-interesting or eat them because they are low-calorie-diet-foods, I've switched to eating other things I like - salads with pulses, or soups instead.

I realized I would never really morph into the salad-loving-woman I wanted to, and stopped kidding myself that I could sustain on salads or foods I hated for weeks and months. Or that I would suddenly morph into this workout-loving-woman who would make it to the gym every single day for tough workouts and keep it up every day. Yes, I sure wish I could be like that, but its tough for me to sustain those habits consistently. All my previous attempts at weight loss were a sad testimony to that.

I've instead learnt to work with what I am, and have finally learnt to strike a balance. Maybe I won't shed a lot of weight this way, but so far, I've been happy with the changes I'm seeing, and more importantly, I'm in that sweet spot where it doesn't seem very tough to sustain these changes, and yet, the changes are bringing me closer to what I seek.

 

Thanks dear Ridha, I missed all of you on the weight-loss thread as well, and it was a while that I logged in. But its good to be back.

Yeah, realizing that I need to stop fighting my innate tendencies and make the most of what I have or can do in reality has been important so far. If for nothing else, it just makes the day-to-day weight-loss program easier because I'm not constantly trying to mold myself into something I'm not. That makes the battle a LOT easier.

I wish you the best as well! Thanks for stopping by my blog, I missed all of you guys too!

 

Hello dearie, thanks for your kind words and stopping by! Yes, I missed the weight-loss thread as well, but I've managed to stick to my goals so far with the collective wisdom on that thread. How have you been?

 

Dear Monsi, Thanks for stopping by with your kind words.

I'd been oscillating between losing-weight and gaining it back up for a number of years to be honest. And then, the one thing that seemed to make a difference happened when I allowed myself some time to find out what works for me rather than forcing myself to do things a certain "right" way.

I could stick to my weight-loss goals a lot better the very day I stopped forcing myself to follow stuff I didn't like wrt food/exercise, and started working with what I could realistically do, or enjoyed. It helps a great deal with the consistency and motivation part of the weight-loss journey, and doesn't seem tough. Enjoy the journey as much as your goal!

Good luck Gal!