See video version here.
Maintaining weight loss can be as difficult as losing weight, and most fail. I did — many times. I’d gain a few pounds, try to lose them, gain a bit more, lose some of it, but then I’d gain more again. A couple of times I lost good chunks of weight, but most of the time, I could only last for maybe 10 pounds before I’d get bored or frustrated and abandon the diet.
Few who lose weight maintain the loss for even a year much less five years. Even weight loss surgery doesn’t guarantee long-term loss and maintenance. Whatever the weight-loss method, long-term success seldom exceeds 20 percent.
Why do some succeed and others do not?
We do not address what put the weight on: Nutrition, Exercise, Health, Age, and Emotional Eating. We abandon the good habits and return to those that didn’t work. We don’t make the changes part of our lifestyle.
After 40 years on the Diet Yo-Yo, I finally reached my goal weight on October 8, 2012. Eight years later, I’m still there.
How?
Yes, of course, I changed my nutrition to fit my body’s needs and made it a lifestyle. No pills, no powders, no potions. Just real, healthy, nutritious foods that fit my body. It ain’t sexy, but it works.
Even more helpful, I worked on my emotional baggage, the “stuff” that drove me to food for soothing. I dealt with old patterns and flawed thinking that kept me upset, the long-term memories and pain that dogged my thoughts. Most of that could have been jettisoned years ago if I’d known how, but I didn’t.
As my heart healed, I didn’t need the soothers. Shock Shock
Emotional Eating is Costly
When we aren’t eating for emotional reasons, it does save a lot of calories. So not only did I get healthy physically, I also grew more healthy emotionally and mentally. Imagine that for yourself. What would you like to be free from? How would that affect your life?
I know – and why do we wait so long to heal that?
When we need to make a financial change, it’s painful, but the path is clear: don’t exceed your budget, and do what you need to do to pay off any debts. We often have a debt of calories – we call it our fat cells. It may take some time to reduce that financial or calorie debt, but once we do, we continue the good and healthy choices to stay solvent. The steady progress and doing what works for us produce the results we seek – and helps us maintain that result. There may be occasional deviations, but then we return to what we know works with our next paycheck – or our next meal.
Genuinely, this is the secret to lasting maintenance. Making consistently good choices your lifestyle and healing your heart.
