Well, we're 9 days into the New Year already! How are those resolutions working out for you? Are you hanging in there and making some changes that will last for the long haul, or are you beginning to lose that initial excitement you had just 9 days ago? I need to take a trip to motivation station - I don't know about you. If you feel your resolve taking a bit of a nose dive - follow me! Let's make an attempt to regain some of our zeal.
Do not call your new lifestyle a DIET! That is the worst way to describe what you desire. Look at the first 3 letters... I mean - really??? The sum total of negative thought pattern is found right there! You are doomed before you even leave the gate if you insist on referring to your endeavor as a diet. The word invokes bad, negative vibes. Quit it! Permanent changes are referred to as lifestyle choices! The word "lifestyle" indicates that this is for the duration, and the word "choice" puts the power in your hands! You are in control and this will not kill you, but make you stronger! This is not a sprint - it's a marathon! You will run up some hills and you will coast down the other side. Every day will not be perfect, because there is no such thing as perfection - in anybody! Once you embrace that truth and realize that you can get back on the horse if you happen to fall off - this is not a difficult journey. It's actually quite fun!
Do not call the intentional movement you incorporate every day EXERCISE! The "E" word makes me think of sweaty bodies who spend most of their day at the gym. I do not possess the discipline for that kind of torture - and never will. I do, however, believe that I have to do some type of physical activity for a half hour at least 5 days a week. The phrase physical activity is not as negative in my mind - and can mean anything - from walking to jumping rope to bowling! Those are fun activities and things I actually look forward to taking part in. I'll let you in on a little secret: If I'm having fun and being active - I forget to look at my watch and time myself! Yeah - I can bowl for a couple of hours and barely notice the passing of time!
Don't make portion control so rigid in your mind. For years I spent time measuring every morsel I ate and writing it down. The trouble with that mentality is that you lose the joy in life. You are so bound by the "rules" that by the time you get around to eating what you so carefully measured and recorded, the food is cold and there's just no joy left in eating. I'm not suggesting you throw portion control aside - quite the contrary! I'm suggesting that rather than using measuring utensils to make sure everything this just so, you begin to visualize your portions. A 6 oz. piece of meat or fish should look like a deck of cards, or the palm of your hand. A 1 cup serving is approximately the size of your fist. Visualization is faster - your food stays warm and the joy is not lost in the process. I've stopped writing everything down because I'm now eating 5 small meals a day instead of 3 large ones. Give visualization portion control a try!
Don't ever quit. I used to have such a different mindset than I have now. In my mind, once I messed up - ate too much or moved too little - it was over and I was destined to be the big girl for the rest of my life. It was a real victim mentality and very harmful to me. I can't tell you when things finally clicked in my head and in my heart, but now I know that the war with weight will always be a part of my life - I can't change that - but my attitude toward it sure does not have to be doom and gloom! Now, if I mess up - hey, I messed up. Begin again and do better. I still tend to beat myself up more than I should, but baby steps - I'm getting there. It's a process.
Wake up from the dream and take action. I have the rest of my life to reach my ideal weight. If I die before I get there, then you know what? I died trying! I'd rather die trying than live in a fat body and be uncomfortable and miserable and know I'm losing my health every day. When I faced the fact that I had nearly 100 pounds to lose, that was a lot to digest (no pun intended). To process that information in my mind was quite overwhelming. Add in the knowledge that I have Type 2 Diabetes and my options narrowed to lose the weight or let my disease take my life - um... I was emotional and felt very hopeless. I could have sat and dreamed of losing the weight - but it would not have been of any real consequence and I'd still be stuck in a victim mentality. Poor me - I ate myself into poor health - poor me. Now that I'm a mere 30 pounds from my goal weight, I'm certainly glad I chose to take action and regain my health! I feel more optimistic than ever now. I need to finish this quest - lose this last 30 pounds - for myself!
Remember where you came from - and where you want to be. I had lost my health and my self-esteem for the most part. I'm not sure I really cared to keep living, to be honest. At the beginning of my journey, my A1c was a whopping 9.6! I was cruising with so many complications - from gum disease to nerve damage to kidney infections to retinopathy. There was a very bleak outlook in the beginning. I had to change - had to begin to eat a high alkaline diet and give up my Diet Dr. Pepper habit. I chose tea over coffee, drink water with lemon and have absolutely no pop now. Fruits, vegetables, legumes, lean protein replace the old greasy hamburgers and french fries (or more likely, onion rings) and soft drink. Because of these lifestyle changes, my A1c is a very nice 6.6! I'm still on Metformin and Glipizide every day, but I'm no longer on Levemir - because I made a decision to add activity to my daily routine. The weight is very slowly coming off - but it's my belief that if I just keep doing the right thing - I'll get the right results! I'm a simple person and this seems like simple, common sense thinking to me.
Ability is what you’re capable of doing, motivation determines what you do, and attitude determines how well you do it.
How important are these trips to Motivation Station? They are vital for me. There are some folks who would disagree with me and say we should never look back to our humble beginnings - but I need to remember where I used to be in order to gain strength to press on. One sure fact about it - if I decided to go back to my old ways, I'd most certainly begin to have the old problems with Type 2 Diabetes. My A1c would shoot back up and I would begin to have the old complications again. It's a very humbling and scary thought, really. It keeps me on the straight and narrow. I do not want to go back there - ever!
You see, this is not just about weight loss for me - it's about living the most healthy and wonderful life I possibly can. Type 2 Diabetes will not defeat me! I made that decision a very long time ago. I will take control and be happy and at peace inside. I'm not a victim - I'm a survivor! I have the tools and I know how to use them. I'm motivated to keep going. I won't turn back now.
Watch this video about Diabetes.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tk3-3f8cwXM&feature=share&list=PLE93105F0B591E660
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