My Secret to Weightloss!
I have been attending and helping out a weightloss support group for a few weeks now and it's been enligtening on many fronts. Today, two things struck me that I just had to share:
My healthy lifestyle is automatic and I NEVER thought I would say those words.
I know one of the most important secrets to successful and longterm weightloss...community.
Automatic...Who Me?
Last week I was travelling, sick, out of my routine, and faced with life's challenges. These are the things that usually derail people from their weightloss and fitness efforts and I looked at each one of them in a matter of seven days. It struck me today while sharing with the group ways to travel healthy, how it is second nature for me to think about my healthy foods and fitness FIRST, and the junk, indulgent stuff second.
I don't know when the change happened, but I know the last few years of plugging away, doing the right things each day, that going off plan feels uncomfortable. It used to be eating right and exercising was abnormal. I had to work at getting it in, something always came up that was more important than the gym, buying healthy foods at the grocery store was "expensive" and "no fun", and eating right meant most of my foods weren't going to taste good.
Now, I move things around MY WORKOUTS because, yes, they are that important. I go to the store and am SHOCKED at how much convenience foods cost compared to the batch of chicken and rice I cook. Did you know a bag of eight to ten apples costs about the same as six little cups of applesauce? Unbelieveable, I know. The biggest WOW moment is the fact that I enjoy my oatmeal, grapefruit is no longer bitter and doesn't need sugar, and Fiber One is a sweet cereal when you get off the sugar train. My taste buds ACTUALLY TASTE the fresh foods rather than searching for a gazillion grams of sodium and sugar added to it.
The lesson: you might not do it perfectly everyday, but if you keep trying a healthy lifestyle will literally sneak up on you!
Community...We Need Each Other
A client made an interesting observation. She let out my weightloss secret...darn Candace! It's helping others even when you can't or don't feel like helping yourself.
I started PNP with the idea of helping other women achieve fitness and weightloss just like me. We grew from a tiny little message board to a whole website filled with forums of support. Candace said that what keeps her going on the days that she hasn't done her best is knowing she has a place to go, vent, get help, and GIVE HELP. Giving advice, teaching others what works for you, and passing on the knowledge to the next woman is so powerful. It literally keeps your head in the game on the days you feel like giving less than 100%.
The group I am attending is the same way. They meet at work, discuss their issues, make a weekly commitment, and then check on each other throughout the week. It's nothing fancy, but it's filled with that community aspect. They know they have each other to lean on and the next week they have people expecting them to report back their successes or challenges.
The Lesson: It's always easier to make this a lifestyle when you have someone or a group of people doing it with you. Reach out and find a network that supports the lifestyle you want, not the lifestyle you want to leave. Practice it long enough, share you experiences, and you'll be like me one day - amazed that health and fitness is the comfort zone...not McDonald's drive thru.
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Food Journal for 3.19.08