A hard truth

In my last post, which admittedly was a while ago, I talked about what, for me, was the last straw. The impetus for finally taking my health into my own hands and doing what it took to lose the weight and get my health back. I know, from first hand experience, that it is a hard decision. It takes a LOT to get to the point that you are ready to really do it.

Most people yo-yo. What do I mean by that? You know, actually. You've probably done it. You go on a new diet, and you lose some weight. You stop dieting, fall off the wagon for whatever reason, and the weight comes right back. And sometimes with some extra to go along with it. Some time goes by, and you try again. Maybe you lose more, maybe not. But once again, something makes you lose your momentum, you get discouraged, give up, and before you know it, you are right back where you started. And this happens again and again. You think that no diet is really going to work for you, and eventually become convinced that you are just stuck being fat, . Or worse, you blame yourself. You think you are not good enough. Or that you don't have enough will power to stick with a diet. So you eventually become convinced that you are stuck being fat.

Does this sound like you? Are you convinced? Do you feel like you are stuck being fat? I was. That was totally me. I had tried so many diets. I would lose a little weight, then gain it back. I was SO SICK of that cycle!! I thought diets wouldn't work for me because I was too busy to prepare healthy food, and too busy to do anything but hit the drive-through for lunch every day. When you are working and raising a family, you want food that's on the table right now, that your kids will eat, regardless of healthy, right??? That was my excuse for being overweight. I didn't have time, But guess what??? I was WRONG. And so are you. You are NOT stuck.

Let me say it again. You are NOT STUCK.

But what I am going to say next is hard. And you are going to disagree with me, and say, no that's not true. But is it really? Ok, deep breath. Here goes.

YOU ARE NOT STUCK. Whatever reason you have in your head that has let you convince yourself you are stuck is JUST AN EXCUSE.

Now, I know there will be some of you that say you have a slow metabolism, or your thyroid is out of whack, or you have a health problem so you can't exercise, etc, etc. I admit that occasionally, that is true. But 9 times out of 10, you are overweight because you are eating fuel than you use, or you are eating too much of the wrong things.

All excuses do is get in your way. If you accept that you are not stuck, that your "reasons" for being overweight are just excuses, you are on your way to fixing the problem. Once you recognize that excuse for what it is, you can work around it. And you can be successful.

One of the things that helped me the most was my health coach. Let me say straight out, I am a health coach for Take Shape For Life, and I help people accomplish the same thing I did. I do this because my health coach was so critical to my success. You know what she did that helped me the most? When I had an excuse for why I wasn't doing what I needed to do, she called me on it. She would be like, "EXCUSE!!!!". I'd get all defensive, and be like, "no it's not, it's my life". Then I'd think about it for a while, and she'd be right. Every time. I was (and still am) really good at excuses. I am good enough at making excuses that I believe my own most of the time. Having someone outside my head to call me on it was invaluable. But, I'm digressing a little.

The point of this post is that one of the things you really, really have to do in order to be successful long term at losing weight is to recognize your excuses for what they are.  If you have to, make a list. Write down all the reasons that you struggle to lose weight. Write down every thing that gets in the way. That's step one.

Step two is to write down a solution, any solution no matter how trivial, a way around each of those reasons.

Part of my list looked like this:

• Problem: work is too hectic so I go through the drive-through at lunch
• Solution: Keep a Medifast bar in my purse, or a Medifast meal that is faster than sitting in line at Taco Bell in my desk. 

• Problem: I like McDonald's breakfast burritos
• Solution:  Eat scrambled eggs with salsa before I leave the house, OR eat a cinnamon roll flavored Medifast bar (cinnamon rolls are breakfast food, right?) or hot cocoa in the car as I'm driving to work, and turn on the road before the McDonald's so I'm not tempted by the simple fact that I'm driving past it)

And yes, those are real examples. Ask my coach.

Once you realize that your reasons are not insurmountable, you can see that all they are are excuses that you are letting hold you back from what you really want. Once you realize that they are only excuses and not actual barriers, you are on your way to success. Good luck!!

• I am an independent health coach with Take Shape For Life. If you would like help losing weight, feel free to contact me at iloseitwithlori@gmail.com