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Back in 2006, I decided that it was time to finally do something about the 40 pounds I had gradually put on over the course of the previous ten or so years. One of the main reasons it suddenly seemed much more urgent to lose the weight is that I had just recovered from skin cancer. The extra 40 pounds probably hadn't caused the cancer, but it certainly hadn't helped the situation. I was determined to get my health back on track and losing weight was an obvious place to start.
The first breakthrough I had around actually being able to lose the weight was that I joined Weight Watchers. I had always resisted doing this in the past, because I am very independent and like to think that I know how to do everything on my own. I had a secret contempt for people who needed a support group, of all things, to teach them how to lose weight. But then a friend of mine, who needed to lose 100 pounds, joined Weight Watchers and was very successful with it. And I realized that nothing I had been doing on my own for the last ten years had resulted in losing any weight, so obviously I didn't know how to do it by myself and maybe joining a group would actually help.
The second breakthrough was an insight I had about how my own attitude was holding me back from losing weight. I thought that I was too old to lose any weight, that it was too late for me, that I had better just resign myself to being this weight for the rest of my life. When I started thinking about when I had first had this thought, I realized that it started when I gained five pounds one year and my mother told me "well, get used to it - it's all downhill from here!"
I was twenty-six years old when she said that to me.
When I realized how ridiculous it was to think that it was impossible to lose weight at 26, I realized that it was just as ridiculous to think that I couldn't lose any weight at 39 (my age at the time). Basically, all I had to do was get out of my own way, and the weight came off. Not without putting in the work - watching what I ate, exercising, drinking plenty of water - but I had to shift my attitude before I could do the work and have the results.
Between the fall of 2006 and the spring of 2007, I lost thirty pounds.
On my blog I've written about how this year I've put five of those pounds back on and have been struggling to make progress in losing those five pounds as well as the last ten pounds from my original goal of losing 40 pounds.
Recently I've realized that my old friend, the "I'm too old" voice in my head, has returned and is getting in the way of my goal. It's a very sneaky voice, and sometimes I don't even realize it's there!
I turned 41 a couple of months ago, and I have realized that one of the reasons I haven't been keeping my healthy promises every week is that deep down in my heart of hearts I don't really think that I can lose the weight at this point. It seems pointless to actually do any exercising or watch what I eat, because I'm too old to be in good shape. At least that's what the sneaky voice in my head says.
Well, I say "hogwash!" I know there are certain metabolic realities that go along with getting older, but that doesn't mean I can't be healthy and strong and fit! And it certainly doesn't mean that it's pointless to exercise or eat right or drink plenty of water! Even if the scale never changes, it's worth doing these things to stay healthy - but the scale will definitely never change if I don't do them at all!
So, I am recommitting to my goal of getting down to 125 pounds and will shoot for reaching this goal by Christmas. Then I can reward myself with some new clothes as Christmas gifts to myself!
Is there an area in your life where your attitude has been holding you back from reaching your goal?
