Tea Time with Berta
Keeping It Off Why is it that so many people work so very hard to reach a goal, only to enjoy a fleeting glimpse of the prize before working their way back up? You have been there yourself, or perhaps watched it play out with family or friends. Certainly, you have followed celebrities like Kirstie Alley and Oprah and their struggle to lose and maintain their weight loss. Why is regaining the weight such a common occurrence? Perhaps it is because the person was so fixated on losing the weight that they didn't realize reaching goal was not the end of the journey. In fact, reaching goal is like moving across the country to start a new job. Arriving at your destination is only the start of your new life; you will work for the next few years honing the skills that will enable you to keep the job. As I have said before, there is no such thing as the just- lose-it-and-forget-it diet for which Kirstie and Oprah are fruitlessly searching. In fact, our celebrities' very public battles with weight create a problem for all of you taking notes. While you love to see their dramatic losses because they motivate and encourage you, what happens when the scales start tipping back up? Unfortunately, the trip up is usually is a very quick one, and it is almost as excruciating for the onlookers to watch as it is for the celebs to endure. Why are we not surprised when the yo-yo effect plays out? Well, because it is so common, of course. But must it be the natural end of a diet? Actually, yes, because diets never work! You see, when you are in the process of losing weight and changing your lifestyle, you must really think about how you will keep the weight off and continue living your new reality; thus, maintenance is just as important as the weight loss process. What generally happens when my clients finally get to their goal weight or close to it, they feel better than they have in years. Then they experience a sense of entitlement that tells them it's okay to loosen the reigns a bit. I mean, why not? They've arrived! Doesn't that mean that they can begin enjoying some of the favorite foods they have denied themselves for the past year? This kind of thinking is dangerous. If all along you are thinking that once you make your goal weight you can go back to the Friday night pizza or the Sunday morning donut, you are setting yourself up for disaster. You will not, as you might rationalize, just pull it back together on Monday, going for an extra walk to bring it all back to normal. As I have said in the past, "If weight loss were easy, we would all be thin," and the same goes for maintaining. If maintaining were easy, we would never go back up to our starting weight-or higher-as is usually the case. No part of this is easy, but if you think about eating to lose weight as a "diet," without really changing some bad habits for good, then you will probably find yourself moving back up that scale. And the pounds will be accompanied by a whole new set of lies that will creep into your consciousness to rationalize your behavior. The lies will sound something like, "I've already lost 45 pounds, for goodness' sake; I think I can manage the two pounds I put on last month;" or "No big deal; I'll get it together on Monday, and by Friday I'll be fine." Hmm? Where have I heard that one before? You need to accept that losing weight is hard, and if you are doing it the wrong way, keeping it off will definitely be impossible. So, if you get there by eating diet pills, or frozen processed "lean" meals, or by starving yourself, or exercising around the clock, you won't maintain the weight loss because you won't be able to sustain the behavior. What should you do? Well, first, select foods that you like; next, stop eating foods that trigger both emotional and physical responses; and finally, listen to your body! When you are losing, you need to feel a bit hungry when you go to sleep for the night, and while you are maintaining, you need to feel satisfied without feeling full or bloated at bedtime. Now, let's take a closer look at what happens to some of us when we reach our goal weight. As I said earlier, most go through a the kind of celebratory period. In and of itself, this is great, so long as you're not celebrating with a nice hunk of double suicide chocolate cake. If you go that route, you will end up triggering your sugar addiction. The single serving of cake will not harm you on it's own; however, when you wake up the next morning, you might be greeted by a familiar craving. Yes, the chocolate monster will be rearing his ugly head, just waiting for you to have a weak moment when it can pounce and pull you back in. I have seen it before, far too many times. As I mentioned in last week's newsletter (The "Thing" is...), sugar addictions are powerful, and rewarding your success with sugar is like an alcoholic celebrating a year of sobriety with champagne! Does this mean you can never again have sugar? No, but you must be very aware of what it can do to you and your psyche; it can mess with your head, and, eventually, your body. Another issue I often have to deal with arises when clients reach goal and revert right back to their previous methods of eating and losing weight, mistakenly thinking they have hit on a fantastic maintenance plan. After the initial shock that they have actually "done it," people do eventually settle into their new lives, enjoying their new body and new level of vitality. All is well until the family vacation rolls around, or the first holiday season arrives. Before they know it, a few pounds have come back on; but they're not worried, mistakenly believing that they have this weight thing licked! Being overconfident in a brand new state of being can lead to a very undesirable outcome. In all probability, the client has not been at this weight in many years, if ever. Therefore, what they think of as their natural state is actually virgin territory, and they have to be very gentle, yet vigilant about maintaining the whole thing. Vigilance means remembering that the rules of weight loss apply for maintenance, as well as weight loss. You still have to eat in moderation. The majority of your nutrition must come from whole foods that support your weight and health and provide you with energy. And...when you gain a few pound, as we all do, you cannot revert to your old form of weight loss. If you find yourself thinking, "Hmm, I ate too much yesterday, so I'll just skip a few meals today, and that will even it all out," stop and recall how successfully you did that in the past. Right! It never worked before, and it won't work now. Face it, if any of those diet fads had ever really worked, you wouldn't be reading this. What works every time is what I have been telling you for over a year: the journey to weight loss and improved health has no end. You will not attain your goal and find that the circumstances of your life are magically transformed. Attaining your goal weight does not mean you will live happily ever after! It is merely a step on the educational journey wherein you learn how to enjoy new and delicious foods (foods low in sodium and fat, and high in fiber) that will sustain and maintain your healthy body. You will continue to learn how to deal with those emotional responses that once caused you to binge, and you will continue to learn how to curb those addictions that once controlled your life. True, once you have "arrived" you can loosen the reigns just a bit, but you cannot remove them completely, especially not that first year! All in all, this is a journey back to the authentic you. It might just start here today (get started), and if it does, it will continue after you reach your goal weight, into the world of maintenance. All of this is possible. Yes, for you! And remember that once you decide to start on this journey, you have already reached your goal weight; the rest is just a matter of time. Chose Life and Just Lose It!
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