Friday, April 14, 2017

April 14th, 2017 Things I Didn't Do

April 14th, 2017 Things I Didn't Do

"You've designed such a wonderful plan for yourself!"-Anonymous reader

First of all, thank you, A, but I can't take all the credit. 

I'm not a weight loss genius. It doesn't come naturally to/for me. I don't have all the answers. And I certainly don't know it all. Had I designed the plan, like so many times in my past, I would still be a 500-pound man. 

What I did during what I refer to as my "turnaround from relapse/regain" and what I do in maintenance mode, are a collection of practices and perspectives proven to work by countless others before me. When I started studying people with long-term weight maintenance, I quickly discovered several common practices and perspectives. People who have long-term track records of healthy body weight maintenance have what I want. The question shifted from, "what do I need to do?" and into "Am I willing to do what they do?"  Could I somehow suspend my desire and need to be right? Could I suspend my need to control? 

 Could I let go, open my mind, shift my perspective away from diet mentality and into something sustainable--even if it meant doing things I'd never done before and looking at things in ways I hadn't?

The weighing and measuring my food, the logging everything, the support connections I maintain, the willingness to be aware, the willingness to reach for support--the determination to defend this precious reprieve each day, the abstinence from my drug of choice, refined sugar--and the willingness to abstain from my other known trigger foods---Most of these things, with a couple of exceptions, are things I didn't do before my turnaround from relapse/regain.

What kept me at 500 pounds for nearly 20 years was the thought that I had all the answers already--I just had to wait for the right time to happen, and it would all fall into place.

I've learned that, number one--I don't have all the answers and that's okay, and number two--there's no such thing as the right time. It's a myth. Because even if everything had lined up in a certain way, my brain would have created wonderful sounding reasons why it wasn't the right time.

The right time is always now. Because if my plan can't ride the ups and downs of life--if it needs a clear and smooth path in order to work, it's not very stable and certainly not sustainable.

Today: I maintained the integrity of my maintenance calorie budget, I remained refined sugar-free, I met my daily water goal, and I stayed well connected with wonderful support.

Today's Accountability Tweets:
































Thank you for reading and your continued support,
Strength,
Sean
at

2 comments:

  1. VickieApril 15, 2017 at 9:58 AM

    Extremely well written. I refer to this as "leaving the ego at the door". In other words, entering willing to learn.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. KarenApril 15, 2017 at 11:29 AM

      I ditto Vickie here. Entering the willing to learn.

      The right time is while you are still alive. The optimum time is before there is massive damage to your mind, body, and soul.

      Onward Sean!

      Delete

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