What I gave up

Like I wrote in my last post...to lose weight, you reason must be stronger than why you want to keep it..
It's a serious decision that our society lauds, yet undermines continuously.
When I decided to lose weight, I had to give up the notion that what I weighed was harmless..and that it hurt only me.
Looking back on the years I spent tired, in pain, ashamed of how I looked, frustrated and defeated.
You can't live like that and not have it affect everyone and everything around you.

I could honestly cry.
If I believed in doing that.
Which I don't.
The only thing worse than the time I wasted in that particular state..
Would be to spend more time wishing it hadn't happened.
So...
I gave up floating along.
Letting life happen, but not fully participating.

I gave up the comfort of food.
Now I have to feel emotions, past and present...
And learn how to feel, deal and express them.

I gave up the comfort of magical thinking.
I think every fat.person has truly believed at one point or another that someday, they were  going to find the magic pill or the right food combination..they would wake up one day and love exercise...and all that weight would melt away.
It's never going to happen like that..
Weight loss, like everything, is a day in and day out commitment to living a disciplined existence where serious work and effort is rewarded.
I learned that respect is earned..
And it starts with treating yourself with respect...
Self esteem is a natural outgrowth of effort and achievement.
To feel better I had to take steps and do better.
And finally..I gave up the victim card.
I accepted that every aspect of my life from the time I reached adulthood to now was a product of my choices, decisions and efforts...or lack thereof.
It's a truly humbling moment.
But until you reach the point where you accept responsibility for your life...you allow the locus of control to remain outside of you. And you will never change anything if you do not accept that you, and only you, have the power to change your life.
The great thing about realising this, is that for every harmful decision made...for every undrawn boundary, every  time you settled or quit...you can, in the next moment, decide something different.
As surely as you can pick up your finger and touch your nose.
You can open your mouth and say no.
Close your mouth at 8 pm to food.
Use your legs to walk away from a toxic relationship.
It's your decision.
I gave up the fantasy that life was happening to me.
And realised I could float, abdicate and die living half a life.
Or I could swim, rule and live, then die knowing I lived every minute.

It was worth it..it's still worth it..and that decision applies to every thing you do.

Chris out.

The essence of achieving lasting change

The essence of change is knowing yourself where you are, envisioning who you want to become..and then charting a course between these two points.

Weight loss gurus tell you it looks like this..

.--------------"eat less"-----------------------"move more"---------------"goal weight".

Problem solved.

N.....o......t........t.....r......u......e

I've said before that morbid obesity is usually a symptom of a larger problem.

It can be a shield.

An excuse.

A reason.

A validation.

Your reason to lose the weight has to be bigger than your reason to keep it.

The problem is...

You may not know what the reason for your misuse of food IS, until you begin to lose the weight.

Or how BIG the reason is...

So your wanting to lose the weight has got to be bigger than wanting to look good in a pair of jeans..

For many morbidly obese people..

It isn't even something they can imagine...

Your reason for weight loss is ultimately going to be life altering.

And no one prepares you..

No one.

It is exhilarating.

And frightening..

For me..I couldn't see past two hundred pounds..

I got down to 148 and stalled because I didn't have a reason to continue.i also had overwhelming fear...

My real reason I was fat.

I was afraid of attention from men..

Not a little afraid..

Phobic afraid.

Then life intervened.

I got a job blah blah blah...

Whatever. 

Now I have my reason to lose the rest of the weight..and it involved nothing less than finding my life's purpose.

Like a graphic I once saw...your weight loss journey..if it's real change, will not happen in a six month burst of juicing glory..

Or cabbage soup.

Or pills...

It is a long, hard road of learning to use food in its proper context. Learning to cope with emotions...deal with trauma...find your joy and embrace the change.

And that's just the weight loss...

I write this not to discourage anyone..but to encourage someone.

Someone, somewhere...thinks because they've had a setback..it's over.

It's not over...you have learned something essential.

Now move forward.

The essence of change is a continuous process of learning, applying and growing.  

But you have to begin.

So begin.