Getting the Fire Going

Hi,

Setting goals used to make me crazy but I think it is time to give this a try in the area of weight loss. I have been successful over the past year or more at taking off about thirty pounds but I am definitely stuck there. My weight hovers around the same numbers week after week. I go up a few and then down a few. I can hit a new low number but that does not mean I stay there. I am not clean with following my own programs.

There are two things that I have accomplished and I am very happy to remind myself that I have not gone back up to my original starting weight and I've reversed my prediabetes. Those two things are pretty much miraculous in my book and I am very happy to have done them. It is that third goal, the one of losing weight that I believe I need to examine a little more closely.

I think that I have not accomplished the feat of "getting thin" because, inside my deepest heart, I don't really believe it is possible. I see other people losing weight and I wonder why I cannot. See that? I said "cannot." I did not say "have not" I said "cannot" which means "not able to." Yes, I have seen that inside me before and I think it is time to address it.

I've shied away from setting weight loss goals because I have followed the diet du jour rules in the past, set the goal, and not reached it so many times that I began to believe that setting the goal was idiotic. It also became scary to face, so I simply left it behind. Right now I even feel like if I continue to examine the powerless "why I've not done it" I will never get to the "accomplishment" so, for this moment, I am going to face the other direction and begin to be empowered.

For inspiration I am using John Barban's book the: "Anything Goes Diet," -- the separate additional PDF called: "Thinking Thin," which is about programming your mind for weight loss. I definitely need to reprogram my mind for weight loss. Since his is not a "hypnosis" session, it is simple for me to try out. (In case you would like to try it out here is a link to his blog: http://www.anythinggoesdiet.com/blog/ ) I am going to focus on the first two steps he shares. (As I am writing I've tested the link and it leads to a blank page, so I've contacted the author to let him know something is wrong. Hopefully it will be fixed, soon.)

The first tip is to ask yourself "What is this food going to do for me?" He suggests that asking yourself this question before you do an on-the-fly adjustment to your program, which usually means adding a snack, a meal, or doing something that is not on your agreed upon program, will allow you to admit to yourself exactly why you’re eating that extra meal or snack and decide if you really need it.

It gives you a moment in time to examine what you are doing to see where this action will eventually take you. If eating that food will satisfy a legitimate need that is one thing, but if it will only serve to screw up your weight loss, then maybe you need to set it aside and choose to do something else. It could go either way, so this is not a "moment to beat yourself up," it is simply a moment to step back and take a look to see if you want to end up where eating that item at this time will take you. Since we've previously established that "we are what we eat," will eating this food make you what you want to be?

While that is not actually "setting a goal" it seems like it would help you "keep headed towards your goal." This is about commitment. You will discover if you are really committed to your goal of getting to a particular size or if you are committed to satisfying your current food lust -- craving. Then you get to decide where you really want to end up.

His second tip incorporates your vision of your goal. He asks you to imagine that you have reached your exact goal. Imagine that you have been successful at your weight loss attempt and you fit into the size you always wanted to be. Assume that your weight loss is guaranteed and then imagine that your future successful self is standing next to your current self and having a discussion.

What would your future self say to your current self in any challenging situation? Would your future self allow your current self to over eat? Imagining that you have reached your goal will create feelings of success, accountability and responsibility right now to make that future a reality. Your future thin self will never exist if your current self does not do what it takes to get there.

So. Both of these supportive thinking exercises depend on having a specific goal in mind and not only having the goal, but believing that you can reach it. (Ha. I just got overwhelmed and headachy... I'm going to go for a swim to give me a little "distance" and to have a little more time to think about me and my personal intention.)

Ok. I went and got myself ready to go for a swim (have not gone yet) and it has dawned on me that I do have goals. I've had them in my mind all along. I've talked about them before in this blog. I just did not blow a trumpet and make a list of what they are. Not keeping my current goals is what has been frustrating me. So I'm going to use the two tips to support me in my current, already existing goals which are:

1. Daily: obey my eating program today
2. Ultimate: Wear a size 12 dress.
3. Intermediate: Reach the weight of 315 and use my success as a catalyst to set the next goal (current weight today is 329.25)

• Benefit: my blood pressure will normalize as I normalize my size
• Benefit: I will no longer have to be embarrassed from noticing others judging me (they may still judge me -- but it won't be about them looking down their noses at my body shape and size and making assumptions about me)
• Benefit: I will feel like I fit in when I want to and I don't have to "fit in."
• Benefit: I will be happy to go shopping at the "normal size" store
• Benefit: I will be happy to be able to purchase size 12 items on sale
• Benefit: I will be happy to boast about what the Lord has done for me!!

To reach my daily goal of obeying or following my current eating program I will use the question: "What will this food do for me?" -- as needed -- to remind me of what I can do for myself in this moment.

I will envision myself in a size 12 dress which would be an absolute dream come true for me. I can see what my body will look like in a size 12 dress. My tummy will be small. I will have a visible waist and my back will be smooth. I see myself wearing a cotton, flower print, knee-length, A-line, size 12 dress and looking in a mirror to admire how good I look. I can see my future self talking to my current self and being my "support group" of one who encourages me and reminds me to believe that I can do it. My future self knows that I can do it, because she is proof that it can happen. It is possible! She did it. So can I. I know because she is me.

My intermediate goal is reachable, too. As I go along I will set up new intermediate goals as needed to be markers of my successful journey.

• My eating program is currently the snack/meal/snack with a 24-hour fast on Monday/Tuesday. 
• I need to have fresh raw salad available for my meal and snacks every day. 
• I need high quality animal protein for all meals and snacks. 
• A snack is half the size of a meal. 
• On Monday, before the beginning of my evening fast, I can have two meals. 
• I can have shirataki noodles two times in one week. 
• I can have 1/2 of a potato or sweet potato if I go out to eat with friends once a week.

That about sums up my current program and goals. Praying that the Lord Jesus will give me the strength I need to remain committed to doing something good for me.

Remember: It is better to obey, than to make a sacrifice for sin

Be back soon,

Marcia