My heart goes out to anyone dealing with obesity. It can’t be easy. Could it be not easy because there’s too much information-too many books, too many “experts” with different opinions, too many magazine articles, too many family and friends giving advice, too many tv shows speaking about the big “problem” in America today. Too much junk food in the supermarkets. Too many chemicals added to foods.
How does one begin to shed pounds? Get information, perhaps at a bookstore or library. Prepare to stay until a book that feels right captures your attention. If one is suggested, be sure it feels right for you. It could take time to get the right information. Observe your body and be aware of the foods you eat. Are some foods causing allergies, e.g. soy, dairy, nuts, wheat? Feeling bloated or uncomfortable in any way after eating? What did you eat that’s causing it? Watch closely.
Let go of guilt. Let go of guilt. Let go of guilt. You need to put your energy into losing weight, not badgering yourself. No time frame needed either. It’s your life. It will take time to establish a new way of eating, and step-by-step learning is a way to be comfortable and confident and to understand how you want to go about losing the weight. Ask yourself how you became obese. Keep asking. The answers will come. Understanding will help keep the weight off. It’s a journey. People who are thin have no magic pill. For them, too, it’s a journey – eating the right foods and finding an exercise program that’s manageable. If one person has lost and maintained that weight loss, so can you. Once established in this new way there’s a good chance you’ll enjoy it.
Agree with yourself that carrying excess weight has been a burden, and you want to get rid of the burden. You can begin the weight loss while learning about the how of doing it, or learn and then proceed. Discover what the best way is for you. Talk only to people who support and uplift you in this endeavor, and people who make you laugh. Find ways to keep yourself laughing.
Begin a love affair with fruits and vegetables. You were hoping perhaps this sentence would take a different turn? Start experimenting with the many, simple, delicious ways there are of preparing fruits and vegetables. There’s a well-stocked health food store with friendly, knowledgeable employees, books, and a good selection of organic vegetables and fruits waiting for you. You just have to discover where it is.
No more embarrassment about having this excess weight. Simply learn what it will take for you to lose it. The old way of living needs to be abandoned until the new way takes root. That could mean spending time at the library or bookstore instead of watching TV, and, if taking courses is your style, do it to add to your knowledge. Learn what works for YOU.
Do it your way and be in control all the way. Others have succeeded. You can too. Don’t beat yourself up if you fall off the wagon. Get back on and keep getting back on until you don’t fall off anymore. No fuss. Understand that any new endeavor takes time to master. Some can do it more quickly than others. No comparing your progress with another. It’s not fair to you.
It’s not going to be easy. It does get easier as you go along. There are lots of things in this world that are not easy. People are diving right in and learning the how of whatever it is they’re trying to accomplish. All you need is a good enough reason for wanting to do this.
“Whatever you can do, or dream you can, begin it.
Boldness has genius, power and magic in it.” – Goethe
“Make Life What You Want It To Be” – on a poster at the library in Beacon