Hi all, I was just thinking back on the year and what important food/eating 'Ahaa's' have struck me. There have been many smaller ones, but there are 3 that stand out.

1. I have to think like a maintainer even though I am not at my final goal. If I divide losing and maintaining into totally separate activities, I am more likely to suffer a relapse because there are no weight ceilings in place while losing to prevent backsliding because I consider the task unfinished. The only goal is to get to a lower weight, with absolutely nothing in place for a higher weight. I have to behave like a maintainer at all times no matter what I weigh for two reasons. To put the right mindset into place for the rest of my life, and to help prevent relapses before the wl is finished so I dont have to keep re-losing the same blankety-blank pounds.

2. The importance of being consistent meal to meal, day in, day out, week in, week out, month to month, year to year. Its not enough to eat right and exercise sporadically or 3/4 the time. To both lose and maintain, I have to be consistent over time. Not perfect, not forbidding myself all goodies, but finding the right balance and being consistent over time.

3. The discovery of wet, low fat foods and foods high in fiber to become satified with fewer calories, as well as remaining satisfied longer. Eating 'large' if you will. This concept has allowed me to eat more filling foods, and hence to not get too hungry too soon. This has made eating less so much more comfortable and less stressful. And the food is very good tasting too.

Anyone else have any lightbulb moments to share from the past year?

Jan

You mean not one other person learned anything that was a revelation to them about food/eating/wl/maintaining this past year? No mistakes were made nor lessons learned from them?

Jan

This is a great thread! How did I miss it?

Light bulb moments:

1) I'm an althete. Maybe not a particularly talented one, but an athlete none-the-less. I have exceptional endurance.

2) I need to be consistent with boundaries I set for myself. I nearly got derailed by eating work-provided food, and once I quit that (again) I had a lot more success.

3) Even the most difficult behavioral change takes only about a week of struggle, and then it becomes easier. Maybe not easy but achieveable.

4) I very recently discovered I am afraid of food. While some fear of regaining is probably healthy, fearing chocolate cake is not.

My lightbulb moment:

It's okay that I am not perfect. Having that mantra has helped me shed half of my post weight loss relaspse...

I don't do well eating off of lists although at least for breakfast, snacks and lunch I pretty much eat the same thing, psychologically I like in theory that no foods are off limits.

I try not to correlate my exercise to weight-loss. I am satisfied doing it now for its own rewards, not just a smaller pant size.

I am learning to take my eating bite by bite and am trying hard to get rid of the "all or nothing" thinking.

Cheers!

Ali

I appologize Jan for not responding sooner, but every day since reading your post I have been "thinking" of some ah ha moments... I'm not too swift sometimes or deep like some of your gals I just don't think or go deep into myself...

The MAJOR moment for me in 2004 is when I lost 5#, I thought OMG I CAN do this... for years I had in my head that I could not loose # or dress sizes because in my HEAD I thought I was doing the right things... Well, I found out I was eating and hiding way too many food bits and bites from myself... I just opened my eyes a bit more... and again for me it was 3FC that saw me through this...

Another ah ha moment came when I ran 3K outside! I again thought I CAN do this... I had convinced myself I could not run outside... I can do anything I put my mind to... I again shocked myself on Christmas morning when I ran 8K on Christmas morning...It musta been the new runners Santa put wings on them for my first time out

1. I can run. And while running I can actually enjoy it.
2. The more routine food I eat, the safer I am.
3. One time splurge means nothing, one time a day splurge means gain.
4. It is harder to maintain than to loose.

It is nice to see your ah-ha moments! Cheers, Sandy.

This is something that I'm trying to get past too. One chocolate is not going to cause me to gain back all I've lost. One is enough.

In the past, a little treat has led to 2 little treats, then three and then a food snowball rolling downhill! I've only been successful when I've completely avoided anything outside my comfort zone. Unfortunately, that is a very hard line to maintain!

I need to remember that one treat followed by days of good eating habits equals a life style that I can follow forever.

My lightbulb moment--the weight loss and generally improved physical appearance has opened a real Pandora's box for me. I lost about 18 pounds, have kept it off 6 weeks. I am exercising regularly, including strength training. Generally, I am eating what I like and keeping close track of it.

Complication: all the feelings this experience has stirred up about looking attractive--can I accept that I want to look good, how do I feel about others noticing my appearance and/or commenting on it, am I setting a good example for my children or do they think I am obsessing about things.

So it feels pretty complex. The maintenance world isn't a tranquil one! I am happy I lost the weight--I feel better--and I am proud that I am able to learn the strategies to keep it off.

Joy and peace to everyone in the new year.

No need to apologize Ilene, I can be a persistent old broad, LOL. Upon reading your major moment above, I realized I had forgotten a big revelation of my own. That after reading all the maintaining posts here including past posts, from living, breathing, 3 dimensional human beings who have successfully lost (as opposed to disjointed Thin for Life examples), I have come to believe that I too can lose more weight than I originally was going for. I had been going for about 170, just so I wouldnt croak while exercising (as well as have a bit of a waist), but have realized with added effort, I too can lose to where I spent most of my earlier life, or close to it, in the 150's. I want it all, and intend to have it. For this I thank you all.

Jan

1. I CAN stop a binge anytime - I've done it several times this year by either going to bed or taking a bath or just stopping eating and moving on. It's not easy, but it has improved my self-confidence and actually reduced the number of all-out binges I've had this year. I get "back on track" the very moment I "wake up" from being off track.

2. If I eat a consistently healthy diet, I can and will lose weight.

3. I can never go back to my old habits if I want to stay at my current weight.

4. I'm happier with my new style of eating and will do anything to keep it going.

Anne

I’ve been thinking about this topic for several days. I think it’s a great question.

Anne, your first ah-ha moment is one I've recently had myself: I CAN stop eating if I simply *walk away,* and I mean that literally. I learned several years ago that I could handle almost any party buffet if I served myself a plate and then took it to another room. In the last month I've learned that I can stave off night-time eating if I leave the kitchen and stay away for at least 30 minutes. Just getting out of the room seems to do the trick, and with the passage of a few minutes, I also come to realize that I'm really and truly full, and that any eating I'm thinking about is head hunger, not body hunger. And these days, I'm not feeding head hunger.

Over the last year, I've had light bulb moments regarding: the wisdom of many small meals; the impact of fatigue on my control over food; the importance of planning, planning and more planning; the inherent danger of getting too hungry; and the importance of visualizing and strategizing for almost any given situation.

December was a HUGE breakthrough month for me. Almost every day brought a new revelation. There was the whole breathing/mind-body connection thing that I've rattled on and on about. There was also the realization that I must find a workout routine that is appropriate for this body at this time.

Then, just before Christmas, I also realized there was great truth in all those admonitions that I’ve read many times: don't eat while you read; don't eat while you watch TV; rather, focus on what your meal, etc etc etc. Well, I'd always discounted that chapter -- it never seemed to make any difference whether I read, watched TV or stood on my head while I ate. And there was little I enjoyed more than eating a really good (and big) meal while drinking a really good (and big) glass of wine or beer, and reading a really good book or magazine. It was perfect: nearly every sense pleasure happily involved.

And then the light bulb went off, and I realized that I was duping myself into obliviousness while shoveling in hundreds of calories. Burying my head in a book was identical to burying my head in the sand. What changed? The breathing. I still eat and read, but now I make a point of pausing a couple of times to take some deep breaths and to check in with myself. I’ve learned that my "full button" is not broken, as I had long thought. It works just fine *as long as I take the time to turn it on.* Incidentally, when I settle down to one of those eat-and-read fests, I limit myself to one regular serving and I stick to my four-ounce glass of wine.

For me, it's all about inner awareness. I’ve also learned to come out of my head and into my body. By that I mean I can’t just *think* about all of this stuff; I have to *feel* it. Breathing is a physical thing. Hunger is a physical thing. Being full is a physical thing, and if I can’t feel it, I don’t recognize it. A whole new awareness.

Incidentally, it would seem that I'm not the only one thinking along these lines. The January issue of Oprah is all about "fresh starts," and includes an article entitled, "I'm Doing Everything Right--Why Can't I Lose Weight?" It's a really good article, and one of the quotes that leapt out at me was: "The bottom line issue of weight control is picking up authority for your own life. The instructions are inside you. Your body knows what to eat." I’m finding that that’s very true for me.

By the way, there's another article about rescuing troubled relationships in which a therapist gives couples techniques for dealing with various issues. The therapist says, "Finding new ways of thinking when you're calm doesn't necessarily transfer to moments when you're upset." One of the things he does is teach couples behaviors that they can practice in moments of calm, so that when a situation blows up they have a technique to fall back on.

I think this is as applicable to maintenance as it is to reconstructing relationships. Bottom line: I always want to remember that I can have a V-8 BEFORE I eat a Krispy Crème

It's a terrific issue of Oprah -- I recommend it highly.

Robin -- I have that O magazine too... It is very good... GREAT post by the way, I always learn something from your posts...

Somewhere in the last couple of days I came across this quote "you need to do what you know to be true." Robin reminded me of that when she quoted "the instructions are inside of you."

I've had a few of these! Here are the most surprising ones (and the most 'duh - I should have know that!' ones at the same time)

1. Exercise is not punishment. My body was made to move and it always feels better after I make it work a little.

2. I don't have to eat it just because it's there or just because it sounds good. When I'm tempted to have a treat 'just because' - asking myself if that item will be in existence tomorrow is great for putting things in perspective for me. There will always be M&M's at my mom's house. There will always be creme brulee at my favorite restaurant. I don't have to eat it NOW.

3. Eating for the nutrition works best for me. Making my food choices based on nutritional value (vitamins/minerals) seems to make everything else balance out right for me (carbs, fat, calories). It has the added bonus of freeing me from emotional eating.

4. People really do judge me on how I look. Sucky, but true. Depending on who you ask, I'm now a better person, or happier, or nicer, or more successful, or snobbier, or sluttier, or funnier, or more ______. It's weird.

I'm bumping this thread because I'm kicking myself for having the same lightbulb moments over and over and over. Thick skull I guess. Sooner or later, they'll stick