giving myself a pep talk -- feel free to read/add
Dear Self,
Today you are having a hard day. This is most likely because you gained weight yesterday during your weekly weigh-in. You felt sure that you had lost -- after all, you were feeling good. You had done the best you could, generally followed your eating plan, responded relatively well to a major unplanned event, and got in a few workouts. It wasn't your time of the month, and your clothes felt like they were fitting a little better. And, there it was, a gain. Since then, you have been having urges to forget the whole thing -- or at least seriously go "off the wagon". After all, you are going away for the weekend. It will be hard to stay on your diet then, so you may as well start binging now, right? You can "start over" again on Tuesday... or maybe Wednesday... or maybe after Spring Break...
Girl, don't do it! First, let me tell you the things you already know. 1) This is normal. Everyone on this site, as well as every reasonable weight loss resource would agree... You just can't expect to lose weight every single week. 2) You, in particular, have been noticing lately that your weight tends to drop in spurts. You have been tracking your weight for a year. You know that you stay the same or gain a bit for a few weeks, and then you lose again. This is true even if you do everything "right". It's just the way it is, and there isn't any thing that you can do about it. 3) This lifestyle change isn't just about weight loss. It isn't. It's about being healthy, feeling good about yourself, and finding balance. That is the ONLY way that it will be successful. Decades of "dieting" has taught you that.
Now that you are reminded of those things... here comes the pep talk. You deserve to be happy. You can't let weight loss or gain make you lose your sense of who you are. Yes, it feels great to lose weight, but you can't get lost in that too much. It makes you vulnerable to the crash that you are feeling right now. You FEEL BETTER when you are eating better. You LOVE how exercise makes your body feel. You have gotten stronger and healthier over the past several months. You HATE the way that you feel when you aren't taking care of yourself. You feel guilty and sluggish and gross. You feel unworthy of love and kindness, because you aren't even being kind to yourself. But, you are worthy of love, kindness, and happiness. Please treat yourself that way. And, finally, most days this doesn't feel that hard. Most days, you don't want to go on a food bender. Most of the time, you love the way healthier food tastes. You don't go hungry, and you feel centered. Today is hard, yes. I won't deny you that. But most days, really, aren't that hard.
One final kick in the pants. You have never regretted a day of good choices. You have never regretted working out. You have never thought, "oh man, if only I didn't eat so healthy". Or "one of these days, I'm going to have to stop making good choices". You will regret it if you lose focus. I know you well enough to know that you will get back on track at some point. You haven't strayed too far for too long over the past couple of years. But, when you do, you will regret it if you throw in the towel, because it will be that much harder to pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and get going again. Don't sabotage yourself again, because you deserve better.
I love you,
Yourself
Last edited by hope4balance; 03-03-2011 at 06:05 PM.
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Great response!!
