Over the weekend, I flew to Philadelphia to meet 12 of the other 3FC moderators. I had the pleasure of meeting…LBH, Meg, Ilene, Mel, Karen K, Jennifer 3FC, Jiffypop, Jane, Ruthxxx, Mauvaisroux, Ellis and Beachgal. It was a wonderful get together. Some of you may not be familiar with some of these members, but they are a lovely group with A LOT of success. Some are at goal, some are almost there and some are just starting. I want to share what I took away from the weekend as far as the whole weight journey goes.
I learned that the people at goal still do their “weight loss” plan every day. Key word EVERY. I now realize how important it is for me to find a plan that really is a lifestyle and not a diet. I have said those words a million times, but I never really understood it. Whatever cravings you have now, you’ll have at goal. Whatever foods you love now, you’ll love at goal. I will be fighting my demons forever and it’s not about making them go away, it’s about making them controlled. They admit that some stuff does get easier and you lose your taste for some things the longer you stay away. And they even swear that if you are hungry enough vegetables taste great!!
I learned that every day will not be a great day. Sometimes even the gym rats have days that they don’t necessarily want to work out. The key is to change things up and make them interesting, maybe even find a partner.
This weekend I saw women who have strength like I have never seen. I think sometimes that the gym is just treadmills, ellipticals and weight machines. They introduced me to balls and combo-exercises that I didn’t know anything about. But what was the most amazing was watching them do things I wouldn’t even dream of. A pushup while balancing on a ball…Lunges where you “flip” from one lunged position to another and a rolly thing on a barbell I can’t even begin to described. Long, defined muscles. And to think these women were once overweight couch potatoes. It made me believe that you can do anything that you put your mind to. Their advice was that 20 minutes of any kind of movement is better than being on the couch and that I should start there. Now I have thoughts of being able to play soccer and baseball with my boys.
It’s funny, when I see someone who has lost a lot of weight, I immediately want to know what they did, how much and how often. I think somehow I believed that I was still missing out on the “secret” and if someone would just tell me I could get it done. I was waiting for someone to tell me the easy way to do it. Maybe I was waiting for the problem to resolve itself.
We talked about the idea that maybe there is something “eating’ at you and you stuff that emotion with food and we discussed the idea that for some food is just an addiction and you need to control it much like you would with any other substance abuse. I believe that I am simply addicted to food and allow myself to live without any boundaries.
We also talked about regret. About wishing that you had made life changes before your wedding…before your kids grew up…before your skin lost all it’s elasticity. I already have so many regrets, I don’t want more. The one that really concerns me is that I want another baby and for health reasons, I would like to be 250ish before I try again. I fear that I will lose all opportunity to have another baby because I didn’t lose the weight “in time” or not at all.
I wouldn’t say I came away “motivated” or “all pumped up”. It goes deeper than that. It’s almost as if I am convinced. Convinced that it can be done. Convinced that it MUST be done. Convinced that even little ole me can do it. Convinced that I will do it.
My plan is simple – 2000 calories and try and move more. I have removed all weight loss goals. My goal is to be consistent and eat 2000 calories a day. Plain and simple. The weight loss will come at it’s own rate. If I go over calories on one day, I am not “off” plan, but simply didn’t have an ideal day, I will continue eating 2000 calories the next day. There is no on or off. THERE IS NO ON OR OFF. It’s a change in lifestyle. It’s my food budget…it’s my life budget.