I think I have always both loved and hated this saying. I'm not sure when the first time I heard it said was, but it came up in many different scenarios. Mostly pertaining to financial success. This is a generalized example and shouldn't be thought too deeply about, but it's like if you fake looking like you have a lot of money, people will assume you are rich and treat you a certain way. Since I enjoy using good mantras to live by such as "Get busy living or get busy dying." from the movie Shawshank Redemption, which I use to motivate me into trying new things that I normally would not be interested in. It needs to be something easy to remember to be repeated when needed. No path to success of any goal is a linear journey.
I love this image (I collect many inspiring images and quotes on Pinterest, so if anyone would like to follow that board click on this) for two main reasons. One, that the picture on the left was totally the way I was approaching a healthier lifestyle. If it didn't work the first time, I'll just sit here at this FAIL sign in front of my face and cry as everyone else seems to figure it out. That kind of thinking was not helpful to me. I failed and then gave up. Then got inspired by a new trick or fad diet to finally work the magic for me, and I'd fail and give up. I yoyo'd a considerable amount of times over the past 15-20 years with my attempts at dieting. It did not occur to me to make permanent changes that will have a positive affect in the long run. I couldn't POSSIBLY give up ice cream. I couldn't LIVE without my Diet Coke. I would just DIE if I had to give up ruffle chips and Top the Tater. No way. I want to lose 100lbs without having to sacrifice eating whatever I want, whenever I want. Imagine if it could just be that easy...
I held onto that mentality for a long time. It's still sort of a struggle and I slip sometimes into old habits. Thus why mantras work so effectively for me. Small reminder of the bigger picture. Secondly, I love this picture because of the way the artist depicted the end goal. Look a the one on the left - it's like yay, here's the finish line and a little starburst of light waiting at the end, like it literally IS a light at the end of a tunnel. But then look at the one on the right. To me, it says there is no finish line. To stop looking for the instant cure so that I won't have to invest the rest of life and brainpower into it. It's like when I hear people say things along the lines of "When do I get to retire and stop having to do a job I don't like?", I am instantly triggered to respond by suggesting instead to focus on acquiring a job you enjoy so that, with any luck, you will get to spend the rest of your life doing it. That's how I'm doing it, anyway, and I like it a great deal. I don't have goals that once I reach I will then revert back to my old eating habits. They clearly weren't working for me, as I felt considerably worse on a daily basis and I hated my body. People that knew me would say I was gorgeous regardless of my size, but I didn't like it on myself. I saw other fat women who looked sexy to me, so I did believe them when they paid those compliments to me, but I definitely didn't agree. I didn't hate every aspect of my appearance, but the large contributing factor was the weight. It was like every pimple or bad hair day just made it infinitely worse on my mental state. Like I didn't look bad enough already being obese, now I don't even have cute hair to rely on.
I don't have that level of self-loathing these days. I think being a size 10-12 really excites me. That size still sounds tiny to me, but to know that my 9/10 jeans fit comfortably brings me a huge sense of pride and accomplishment. Comparing the current me to the past me has been such a satisfying experience overall. For example, I'm not upset with my old self anymore. I made peace with the fact that my mind has been changed and that rather than dwell on my past mistakes I am going to move forward with more purpose and intention. More confidence in my abilities and judgement. More control over the impulses that inhabited my brain for the majority of my life. Reminder that these revelations have been coming to me only for the past 3 months. I started this new lifestyle on April 24th, 2015. I jumped in fully aware of my strategy and I haven't even considered throwing in the towel.
I found another mantra.
While I did incorporate several mantras in order to be able to logically argue with myself if I was trying to default into making bad choices, I had an overarching mantra to keep me on track: "If the food isn't in it's natural state, I don't want to eat it". For me, this is the simplified way to remind myself to stay away from things I have trouble identifying or have been highly processed in order to get to that state. My food doesn't need preservatives. I'm okay with the fact that living things die and eventually the window to eat it passes. I want to eat foods that haven't had a lot of time pass since they were picked (and hopefully as close to being ripe as possible - like avocados mmmmm). I'm on the fence about eating meat. I mean, I love it and it's definitely a staple in my daily diet, but I have some issues with eating excessive amounts of meat. I feel like my next goal is to cut back considerably on my intake of meat. But this mantra sort of applied for me here because I would argue that butchers who run small, manageable farms and use good practices for raising cattle that is safe to eat is worth investing my money into. Because that's what it is. When I used to buy meat, I wanted the cheapest ground chuck available because I didn't want to spend $8-$12 on ground beef. But that's when you get the cows that lived in their own filth, eating the lowest quality diet and causing hoards of people to get sick. I'll spare myself the risk and pay the money. Also, if I do end up liking a reduced meat diet then I'd be spending even less on beef because I would then consider it more as a treat than a staple. Much like sugar!
By the way, this is a recent picture of me experiencing a euphoric effect from eating a very sugary dessert after months on my very sugar-restricted lifestyle. Haha!
I held onto that mentality for a long time. It's still sort of a struggle and I slip sometimes into old habits. Thus why mantras work so effectively for me. Small reminder of the bigger picture. Secondly, I love this picture because of the way the artist depicted the end goal. Look a the one on the left - it's like yay, here's the finish line and a little starburst of light waiting at the end, like it literally IS a light at the end of a tunnel. But then look at the one on the right. To me, it says there is no finish line. To stop looking for the instant cure so that I won't have to invest the rest of life and brainpower into it. It's like when I hear people say things along the lines of "When do I get to retire and stop having to do a job I don't like?", I am instantly triggered to respond by suggesting instead to focus on acquiring a job you enjoy so that, with any luck, you will get to spend the rest of your life doing it. That's how I'm doing it, anyway, and I like it a great deal. I don't have goals that once I reach I will then revert back to my old eating habits. They clearly weren't working for me, as I felt considerably worse on a daily basis and I hated my body. People that knew me would say I was gorgeous regardless of my size, but I didn't like it on myself. I saw other fat women who looked sexy to me, so I did believe them when they paid those compliments to me, but I definitely didn't agree. I didn't hate every aspect of my appearance, but the large contributing factor was the weight. It was like every pimple or bad hair day just made it infinitely worse on my mental state. Like I didn't look bad enough already being obese, now I don't even have cute hair to rely on.
I don't have that level of self-loathing these days. I think being a size 10-12 really excites me. That size still sounds tiny to me, but to know that my 9/10 jeans fit comfortably brings me a huge sense of pride and accomplishment. Comparing the current me to the past me has been such a satisfying experience overall. For example, I'm not upset with my old self anymore. I made peace with the fact that my mind has been changed and that rather than dwell on my past mistakes I am going to move forward with more purpose and intention. More confidence in my abilities and judgement. More control over the impulses that inhabited my brain for the majority of my life. Reminder that these revelations have been coming to me only for the past 3 months. I started this new lifestyle on April 24th, 2015. I jumped in fully aware of my strategy and I haven't even considered throwing in the towel.
I found another mantra.
While I did incorporate several mantras in order to be able to logically argue with myself if I was trying to default into making bad choices, I had an overarching mantra to keep me on track: "If the food isn't in it's natural state, I don't want to eat it". For me, this is the simplified way to remind myself to stay away from things I have trouble identifying or have been highly processed in order to get to that state. My food doesn't need preservatives. I'm okay with the fact that living things die and eventually the window to eat it passes. I want to eat foods that haven't had a lot of time pass since they were picked (and hopefully as close to being ripe as possible - like avocados mmmmm). I'm on the fence about eating meat. I mean, I love it and it's definitely a staple in my daily diet, but I have some issues with eating excessive amounts of meat. I feel like my next goal is to cut back considerably on my intake of meat. But this mantra sort of applied for me here because I would argue that butchers who run small, manageable farms and use good practices for raising cattle that is safe to eat is worth investing my money into. Because that's what it is. When I used to buy meat, I wanted the cheapest ground chuck available because I didn't want to spend $8-$12 on ground beef. But that's when you get the cows that lived in their own filth, eating the lowest quality diet and causing hoards of people to get sick. I'll spare myself the risk and pay the money. Also, if I do end up liking a reduced meat diet then I'd be spending even less on beef because I would then consider it more as a treat than a staple. Much like sugar!
By the way, this is a recent picture of me experiencing a euphoric effect from eating a very sugary dessert after months on my very sugar-restricted lifestyle. Haha!
Do you have any mantras that help you stay on track? They can be about anything, not just healthy eating!
Have a great week, all! <3
Have a great week, all! <3
A boy in a show I'm working in asked me what food I missed eating the most. I thought about it silently for a few seconds and couldn't come up with anything. So, as not to sit there staring at the poor kid I admitted that though it was a good question, I'd have to have some time to think about it more. I told the kids I was playing cards with that several years previous I stopped drinking soda. I'd probably slipped about 4-5 times over the years, especially when drinks came with meals at Popeyes. I'd usually give my soda to someone behind me in line so they didn't have to pay for a drink or could have an extra one to bring home, but eventually I stopped just eating at Popeyes or any fast food type places that includes a drink in the meal price.
Tonight, as I try to quiet my brain to go into sleep mode and reflect on the last 3 weeks or so, I really don't miss any of it. I don't miss the ridiculously over-salted chips, snack mixes or movie theater popcorn. I don't miss the adrenaline-rushes caused by excessively sugared cookies, beverages and candies. I even wanted to say I miss the ice cream, but I had already begun cutting back on ice cream consumption, so I was kind of used to it being something I only had on special occasions. It's been one step at a time for years. I took a drastic step by cutting both sugar and processed foods at the same time, but it felt like the right thing to do, so I did it. In all honesty, I didn't expect to drop 30lbs in 3 months. I had no idea it was going to be this effective, and even if someone had told me I wouldn't have believed it because I've been sold that bill of lies countless times before by fad diets claiming to cure my problem.
In 2010, I weighed around 230lbs and could easily sit and mindlessly eat a couple of pints worth of ice cream. A half-gallon of chocolate peanut butter and a spoon. Justified with a "well, I only ate half, so..."
For me, this was not the behavior of someone using their better judgement. I knew deep down that it was wrong, but I didn't know how to stop. And even when I did stop eating ice cream, I just replaced it with other highly addictive junk food. I saw skinny people eating the same things I was and they weren't fat, so I wasn't convinced the problem was the food. I thought it was just that they worked out more than me. It was amazingly difficult to accept that even skinny people could be just as sick on the inside as I was, they just didn't show it in the same way. I actually think I'm lucky to have been able to see it so I could make the change and hopefully losing weight will just be a fortunate side effect.
So, no kid. I don't miss anything about junk food. Those 90's posters in the administration office in grade school were right. You really ARE what you eat. I ate junk, so I only saw junk in the mirror. I'm 10lbs down and I have no doubt it's directly proportionate.
Tonight, as I try to quiet my brain to go into sleep mode and reflect on the last 3 weeks or so, I really don't miss any of it. I don't miss the ridiculously over-salted chips, snack mixes or movie theater popcorn. I don't miss the adrenaline-rushes caused by excessively sugared cookies, beverages and candies. I even wanted to say I miss the ice cream, but I had already begun cutting back on ice cream consumption, so I was kind of used to it being something I only had on special occasions. It's been one step at a time for years. I took a drastic step by cutting both sugar and processed foods at the same time, but it felt like the right thing to do, so I did it. In all honesty, I didn't expect to drop 30lbs in 3 months. I had no idea it was going to be this effective, and even if someone had told me I wouldn't have believed it because I've been sold that bill of lies countless times before by fad diets claiming to cure my problem.
In 2010, I weighed around 230lbs and could easily sit and mindlessly eat a couple of pints worth of ice cream. A half-gallon of chocolate peanut butter and a spoon. Justified with a "well, I only ate half, so..."
For me, this was not the behavior of someone using their better judgement. I knew deep down that it was wrong, but I didn't know how to stop. And even when I did stop eating ice cream, I just replaced it with other highly addictive junk food. I saw skinny people eating the same things I was and they weren't fat, so I wasn't convinced the problem was the food. I thought it was just that they worked out more than me. It was amazingly difficult to accept that even skinny people could be just as sick on the inside as I was, they just didn't show it in the same way. I actually think I'm lucky to have been able to see it so I could make the change and hopefully losing weight will just be a fortunate side effect.
So, no kid. I don't miss anything about junk food. Those 90's posters in the administration office in grade school were right. You really ARE what you eat. I ate junk, so I only saw junk in the mirror. I'm 10lbs down and I have no doubt it's directly proportionate.
May 10th, 2015