Weight loss is a lot more than a diet. And many people will tell you, diets don't work. I agree. Really the formula is simple and many of us have heard it many ways over and over. Move more, eat less. Simple. But why don't we do it? Why can't we succeed? I say "we" because I am on this journey too and I am not done yet. I have truly come a long way. I have learned so much and am even a different person in many aspects in regards to the way I see and think of food. Six years ago, I wouldn't have even had this conversation with anyone. My issues with food were somewhat of a secret and they tournmented me. I would have been open about wanting to lose weight or about whatever my current diet was, but the secret was my body image and the deep issues I had with food which included compulsive eating or binging. I felt alone and I felt like a failure because every time I started a diet with enthusiasm, it was only a matter of time before I had given up.
What I want to do in this blog is to discuss what I have learned. With you and with myself. I want to help someone else with food and body image issues and I also want to finish my own journey. I see this journey like a puzzle and I feel like through prayer, reading, discussing, and hard work I have completed about 80% of my puzzle. But I am not done. As I tell you about the 80% I have gone through hopefully you will be able to identify with it and allow it to help you, and hopefully it will also help me figure out the last 20%.
What I am talking about here is a lot more than my weight. I believe being overweight is a result of more than overeating and lack of exercise. It is a symptom of other issues we may or may not even know we need to deal with. As I have slowly lost weight, I feel my lowered weight is a direct reflection of the process and healing I have gone through.
I have heard it said that any diet you could follow would work or produce results. And that must be true if in essence the diet is causing you to consume less calories than you need to maintain your weight. There are thousands of diets out there and really any of them could produce results, but the issue is sticking with it. Finishing it. Getting to your goal weight. So the real issue is, WHY do we abandon the diet? If you are like me, your weight might even be the thing you think about the most. You might even obsess about it. Then why do we over-eat when this is the cause of our problems?
Why are there so many diets out there and why do we keep trying new ones if they don't work? Depriving yourself of certain foods or only eating other foods will not ultimately get you to your goal weight and allow you to maintain it in most cases. It is true that if you stick to any diet you will lose some weight. But what will happen when you mess up? What happens when you walk by the bakery and smell that fresh bread? Do you fight in your mind about blowing your diet until suddenly instead of deciding to enjoy one small muffin you have eaten an entire cake! And then the diet is over right. Forget it, you have failed! Or maybe it's the piece of pizza or scoop of ice cream? After eating them, mentally you have blown it so you give up. Right? You might as well eat the whole pizza or whole pint of ice cream. Obviously this is not true but this is what happens in our minds. I mean you can't live carrots, celery and cabbage soup forever.
There are so many fad diets out there the cabbage soup diet is one example and low-carb or Atkins is another. I have been told by so many people that low carb is a lifestyle diet. I am sorry but I refuse to live life without occasionally enjoying a delicious pasta dinner. Or dessert made with real sugar. Or fresh warm bread. Or.. Ok, I don't want to make anyone hungry here. The deal is this; wouldn't it be great if you could eat those things and truly enjoy them? If you could eat them and savor the flavor, taste and texture without guilt? If you could have enough control to eat one cookie, or brownie or one scoop of ice cream without thinking about the next one?
The truth is I love food. I love cooking. I love baking. I love baking with my kids. I love entertaining and bringing my friends and neighbors food I have baked. I do not want to give this up. Food is not evil. Do you think of food as evil? Food is not evil the same way money isn't evil. It is what we do with it that can be good or bad.
Did you notice that the title "Finding Freedom in Eating under Control"? It seems like a contradiction to have freedom when you are under control. That is the reason we abandon diets, because we want freedom, right? When I say freedom here I mean freedom from the bondage that food has had you in. We will break free together of the hold food has had on us. I feel amazing when I can eat food I enjoy and do it within the calories I have allotted for the day. I have felt this freedom only to give it up again. I want to be completely free, not of eating or food, but free of the unnecessary hold food has on me.
I hope you will come on this journey with me. No matter where you are at, if you have issues with food, please join me. I promise I will be open and honest when I struggle and if I mess up. All you need to join me in this journey is a journal and a willingness to be honest with yourself. And if you would like to join my 40 day challenge, check out day 7 where I go into detail about it.
Here are the questions for you to answer today:
What kind of successes and failures have you had with food and weight loss?
How long has your weight been a struggle? When did it start?
In what ways do you feel in bondage to food?
What way would your life be different if you were at your goal weight?
Why is it important for you to do the work of figuring out why you struggle with your eating?
There may be a long road ahead for you - and you might be a tortoise like me. Let me give you some hope; you may not see the finish line now, but I promise it's there and I promise as long as you take it step by step, day by day, you will know that you are making progress and are better than when you started.
