When my brain wanders to "I can't wait until I weigh xx lbs............", I really try hard to refocus.
I really am trying to ENJOY the journey this time around. I know this might sound cliche', but I've lost significant weight two times before and like most of us here on 3FC, I gained it back. I know what it feels like to be thinner and of course love that feeling, but I want to enjoy the process and appreciate each step along the weight loss this time. Don't rush it: allow myself to feel the better flexibility in my body, the better range of motion in my muscles, thinning stomach muffin-top, zipping up smaller jeans, fitting in my husbands sweatpants, clasping the tightest clasp on my bra, being able to paint my own toenails, liking the thinner face and not minding my side profile in the mirror, etc, etc, etc.
In the past, my "diets" have always been about getting thin. This time I think/hope I've come to a place in my life where I'm realizing
IT is so much more than that. I'm grieving a little along the way knowing that there are old eating habits that I just WON'T be able to go back to. If I immediately allow these old habits to start after I've been successful (i.e. lost the weight and hit goal) then I am finally realizing/accepting the fact that the weight will come back (and statistically probably more than I started from).
I tell myself, NOW is the easy part.
The END of the journey will NOT be when I've hit goal weight. This is a lie we all tell ourselves, but it is the farthest from the truth. The HARD part is going to be keeping this weight off! When I open up my food choices in P4 maintenance and have to learn to stop at a taste or a bite rather than having a ridiculous serving size. I know I will have to continue to eat low carb and very cautiously allow sugar in or I will easily ignite that carb addiction that puts me in a frame of mind that only cares about the next sugar high!
I don't want this period of my life (losing the unhealthy weight) to be for naught. I tell myself to focus on the next chapter, the next part of the journey -
how to keep it off! Jen