Luke, from L-Squared Podcast, invited me back to record a second interview. Since we talked last, he has lost 125 pounds. He used a medical-based program, but he also said our conversation last summer about emotional eating helped him, which was kind of him.
No matter the program – medically supervised, bariatric surgery, online program, meal delivery, or your favorite plan – if you’re an emotional eater, addressing that is part of the equation of success.
In my years on the Diet Yo-Yo, I did very well until I got upset or frustrated. That’s where the real tension began for me. How about you?
Guess what – that’s also part of the equation for maintenance and beyond.
When Luke began the program, he wasn’t sure he could do it. He hadn’t been at his healthy weight as an adult, so he’s in new physical territory, and it’s hard to believe it will stick. His question was: once you get to your goal, what then?
It’s that fear of not being able to maintain the weight loss, that fear of the Diet Yo-Yo inching back up the scale.
So what DO we do?
My program has three parts – your body, your baggage, and your best – and each piece has a significant role in smashing the Diet Yo-Yo so you can maintain your healthy weight.
Your Body: First, find the nutrition plan that is right for your body – one you can live with. A “diet” isn’t just for losing weight. It’s research into what works for your body, what keeps you satisfied – and what does not. Finding your threshold requires some experimentation once you get to your healthy weight just like it did to find the threshold for losing excess weight. Every body is different, and you have unique nutritional and exercise requirements.
Your Baggage: Identifying and facing your baggage helps you manage the emotional parts, what you do around food when you’re upset or frustrated, other ways to soothe yourself. That saves those emotional eating calories. Making peace with your nutritional and exercise requirements – without tagging it as deprivation – is essential. It’s not deprivation – it’s your unique requirement like your shoe size. That nutritional level fits you best.
Your Best: Accessing your best self is the crux of it. How often are you able to access your best self? As you do, how easy is it to make better choices?
We carry a lot of “stuff” – old beliefs, scars from life, experiences that we’ve incorporated in our outlook and personality, and it’s not always good for us, is it? When you can resolve those issues, you get better at accessing your best, and I don’t know about you, but my best self makes much better choices. Maintenance gets much easier when you manage your body and your baggage, and make your choices from your best self.
