The Challenge of Change and Dieting

Does this seem like torture to you?

So while you're still enjoying the last of the leftovers I hope you're thinking about whether or not you really want to lose weight. What it boils down to is a struggle between instant versus delayed gratification.  For years I could opt for delayed gratification for a couple of weeks but then an occasion would come up, I'd have a stressful day at work or my kids would send me over the edge and I'd find myself standing in the pantry eating cookies like raisins and my diet would be BLOWN! It would feel great to eat with freedom again for the five minutes of fevered face stuffing but regret came swiftly followed by lack of resolve and the descent into denial because who among us likes to admit they failed at anything? 

But maybe comfort eating isn't your problem.  Maybe you're like me in a prior phase of life.  3 kids, husband and the challenges of cooking meals and cleaning up the table.  My peers likely recall being members of the "clean plate club" in childhood, the state you had to achieve to get a desired dessert at the end of the meal when suppertime usually happened at the family table nearly every night.  Or maybe your parents treated you to the "eat your food - there are starving children in Africa" guilt trip.  This was before food in a bag or a box was anywhere near normal and there I was - cooking, starving, in a hurry and some of that chunk of cheddar I was shredding found it's way into my mouth or I "tested" everything I was serving which became a bad habit.  Pretty soon I'd eaten a full pre-meal before I'd served a thing.  Or maybe like me that "clean plate club" guilt makes you unable to scrape anything left into the disposal so you just finish it off so it's not wasted.

Whatever your motivation for overeating is, that you love to cook and eat food, that your weight hides some emotional trauma of your past  or that you just crave snacks at a particular time of day and can't get past that consistently, I'm guessing if you thought you could be successful you'd trade that temporary satisfaction in a minute for the ability to walk up the stairs without being short of breath or the joy of twirling in front of a mirror in the "perfect" dress or your skinny jeans and knowing you look fabulous! So while you're contemplating whether you want to lose weight or not why don't you ask yourself what your food triggers are and why you keep them?  What have they done for you lately?

As you're eating your way through the Holidays and thinking about this weight loss thing I imagine if you're reading this you're also thinking you need something more than an analysis of why you eat to get you going.  You probably really want to begin doing something about this or you wouldn't have been searching for diets.  So I'll give you a tip today to start you on your way.

Tip #1 - Move.  Something or anything more today than you did yesterday.  You don't have to go to a gym, buy a spandex outfit or add weights to your garage.  If you're lucky you have a pair of feet and probably a pair of shoes.  So today stand up and move.  Walk around your kitchen island or alongside your counter and back.  Walk up and down your stairs one more time than you would have ordinarily for no reason.  Walk in and out of each room of your house.  If the weather's nice go outside and walk around the whole outside of your house.  If you're feeling ambitious walk down the block, around the block or across the street and back.  You don't have to use that treadmill pictured in the corner of this post.  Moving is key to changing what you're doing and you're going to need to move something every day so start small.  You aren't officially dieting yet anyway but make a conscious effort to move something today and then plan to move something again tomorrow and the next day.  If it doesn't hurt you, move a little longer or a little further.  While you're moving you can think about why you eat what you eat.

What have you got to lose?
HV13