Saturday, December 23, 2017

December 23rd, 2017 Where It Gets Real

December 23rd, 2017 Where It Gets Real

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

I picked up mom this afternoon for a trip she's been looking forward to taking. We visited our hometown for shopping and dinner out with her brother, sister, and brother-in-law. It was a great visit! Afterwards, we toured the downtown Christmas lights and cruised a couple of neighborhoods known for their all-out Christmas light displays. Truly a fantastic Christmas weekend experience.



















I've been in maintenance mode for quite a while and I'm extremely grateful for the blessings it continues to give each day.

Sometimes I like to visit the archives of this blog to go back in time a year or two, sometimes more, to the day--just to see what things were like back then. It's like time traveling! It's easy because this is a daily diary! I found an interesting post from exactly two years ago--so if you don't mind, I'll share those thoughts in a republish tonight!

From December 23rd, 2015:

I couldn't be more pleased with how maintenance mode is proceeding. That kind of sounds like a removed perspective, as if I'm watching it unfold instead of being in the middle of it all. I'm certainly in the thick of it each day.

More than once I've heard a variation of "maintenance is happening so easily for you." It's meant as a compliment, so I don't launch into describing the structure that keeps me well. I simply say, "thank you, I'm very grateful." And I am, immensely blessed and tremendously grateful.

Without the daily structure found in the fundamental elements of my recovery, this entire maintenance mode would be a very different story. You see, the truth is...

I have the heart, desires, behaviors, reactions, and chemistry of a 500-pound man. My body, without a structured plan, influenced by all I am, will march directly back to over 500 pounds. Is it scary? No.

I have a spiritual peace with it all. I've been down this road, I've been humbled to a place and level I felt was the point of no return and somehow, through the grace of God, made it back to where I am today. My place here isn't guaranteed forever. It is dependent on my willingness to do what is required.

I have fully embraced and accepted what is required of me to continue enjoying this multi-faceted freedom. And it's in this acceptance and embrace where I find the peace and calm affording me the ability to carry on another day and another...and another. 

I don't proceed each day kicking and screaming or whining about how life isn't fair because my normal isn't the normal I wanted.

 They get to eat whatever they want without ever weighing or measuring any of it--they don't log it and they dang sure don't photograph and tweet it---and they eat sugar whenever they fancy. And they never gain a pound!!! That's great for them! That's their normal. I can try to live their normal, but it wouldn't end well. I would completely lose myself along the way.

I accept and embrace my normal and suddenly I discover the truest sense of harmony.

These dynamics get deep, my friend. It's an expedition worth taking. It's also one most of us are not conditioned to entertain in the slightest. Thank you weight loss industry! Prime example this evening...

I ran into an acquaintance in the meat department of the store who shook my hand and was clearly in shock over the physical side of this transformation. He doesn't read this blog. I know he doesn't because he asked if I had purchased a weight loss plan of some kind. "Is it something you bought?"  No, not literally. Figuratively, perhaps.

I fully invested in the idea that it was possible without purchasing a predetermined plan or product.

This "magic plan/product" perspective is a product of decades of weight loss industry marketing that has done a very good job at convincing millions they need this plan or that plan, this product or that pill, or shot or whatever.

And many of these things work. And they work well.

And the (often times very short-term) success stories are used to convince more and more of the same: If you want results, this is what you need. "Look what it did for so and so!!" But here's the deal:

The manufacturers/creators of these products base their formulas and procedures on proven science. And they make millions and some make billions of dollars. Rarely do they consider the most critical element of them all: The human element.  The human element is where it gets real.

And when it gets real, truths are revealed. Ultimately, these truths, rejected, determine how it all goes regardless of the science involved. These truths accepted and embraced, have the ability to change everything for that person--different from any other weight loss or maintenance attempt.

But all of that doesn't matter to the weight loss industry because at the same time it's becoming real for many, many more are reaching the point of desperation...and another sale is made.

It's an industry fortified and nurtured by our ability to believe in a product more than we believe in ourselves.   

And we gotta believe that the spiritual, mental, emotional and the elemental tools needed, exist for each of us. I believe they do. They're not all the same. Our combinations are all slightly different. But they exist for me and they exist for you.

Today's Accountability Tweets:


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

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