Brett and his friends are playing Xbox.....just a couple of boys! He NEVER has his friends over here (he goes to their house once a month)-so I am glad that he is having a good time with them! With the kids gone-I am just sitting here on my laptop surfin' the net. I was looking up all kinds of diet plans-just to see what was "out there". WW has a brand new plan but I did not make it to a meeting this month to get the info on it. Anyhoo-I am just really tired of following ANY plan! Tired of counting points, calories, fat, carbs.....or whatever the current diet has me counting! I am not even CLOSE to giving up though! I can not afford to "not care"-I know that I could easily end up being 225 lbs again! But.....I was thinking, what if I just stopped counting and planning and stopped worrying about it? I believe in good nutrition-I realize that we only have ONE body, if we abuse it, we do not get another one! As you know, I have been re-reading my Bob Greene books, he is ALL about healthy eating and even more focused on exercise. I love to read all kinds of books on healthy living-some of them offer really great advise, others are so crazy and unrealistic that it is insane!! I am almost positive that at LEAST 1/2 of my readers (probably more!) plan on going on some type of "diet"........come New Year's day! You will get all excited and hopeful and promise yourself that THIS year, you WILL lose the weight. Now, I am NOTHING if not an optimist-but at the risk of sounding pessimistic, I want to bring you back to reality and ask you WHY will THIS year be any different than every other year? Will you try a "brand new" diet program? Will you try an old program that once worked? If it worked.......REALLY worked, why would you need to lose weight now? If you can not live with the plan that you are considering for the REST of your LIFE....then it will not work! Now I KNOW that I have lost some of you! I am just as guilty as anyone when it comes to this! When I lost my weight-I reminded myself that I was making a LIFE long change.....I knew that walking (my form of exercise) would be a part of my life forever! STILL......11 years later, it IS a part of my life! Unfortunately, the eating plan that I choose is NOT! I counted calories and only ate low fat foods.....some days I would not even get 10 grams of fat! Over the years I have learned more about healthy eating-but I still have had that "diet mentality". I can not even begin to tell you how many times I have said "I will start my diet tomorrow!"-dead set that I was REALLY going to do it! Only to get 2 days into the week and promise to start again another day! Sound familiar? Well, I have decided that I WILL NOT be starting a diet tomorrow..or next week, or even Jan 1st! I am doing a little experiment-what will happen if I just STOP dieting? I will continue to make healthy choices-but no counting and no guilt about unhealthy choices that I may make! I will continue to walk.....I really do enjoy it and it is so important for my mental and physical well being! However, I will make no promises of walking "X" amount of mins or hours each day! I am choosing to listen to MY body.....not to the people who swear that they can not tell that I have gained 20 lbs in 2 years! Not to the media or magazines that tell me that I need to be 110 lbs! MY body will dictate where I end up on this journey! I am not aiming for a certain size (although, I'd really like to FIT IN MY CLOTHES again!) or a certain weight. I will weigh myself 1 time a month and report to you all what my stats are. I already feel liberated! If you would like to join me on this "no dieting" journey.....please, send me an email and let me know!! If you are starting a diet plan come New Year's day......I really do wish you the best of luck!! Many diets DO work...as you know, WW was my favorite, but if you get tired of counting and planning and then "give up"-you will only gain it all back. Please consider that when deciding what plan you will choose!! I will be sure to keep you all updated on my day to day progress! Now, how do I retrain my brain to quit counting??
7 comments:
I applaud you, Sherri!! I hate AND refuse to diet!!! I have about 25 extra pounds that I need to lose. But I refuse to "diet", count points, etc. Eat smart, exercise, make intelligent, non-chemical choices. STOP THE SPLENDA!!!! Everyone! Please STOP ingesting stuff that is low fat/low sugar, but loaded with man made chemicals!!
Ok -- Sherri, you can do it. You already know everything you need to know. Be accountable to yourself. Here is something my mother does. She has never had a weight problem - though she thinks she has. She is under 110 on her 5'1" frame. She eats what she wants in small portions. She stops at one plate or less. She weighs herself about every other day. If she is 2 pounds heavier, she cuts back to nearly nothing for a day, drinking water and eating raw veggies. In one day, she loses those few extras, and back to eating as normal.
Personally, I don't have that willpower! But, you may.
Hugs -- I love ya no matter how big or how small. It's YOU that has to be happy with your body!
xo
j
Thanks Jodi!! Jump on the "no diet" bandwagon with me! Your Mom follows some great guidelines! My money is on the "gamble" that I actually LOSE weight.....now that I am not dieting!
Hi Sha,
I'm very interested in any support that can get and give. I hate looking at some of my pictures and don't want to avoid them all together. My kids won't have any of me.
I'm not into dieting either, just focusing on eating healthier and gettting off my duff and exercising. Those are my goals for 2009.
Let's see how we can encourage each other.
Blessings,
Heidi
Have to be honest:
As I sit here, crying...it is soo true! I'm an example of WW. If I did the program, I lost, if I starved myself to have a good week, that was even better! So, WW really didn't 'work' for me, because I was too interested in seeing the numbers lower each week and not learning how to eat right.
I am 40 pounds overweight, and each morning, I tell myself, "today is the day Michelle"...well, it's not. I fail each day!
My sister has told me for years...if you eat right and exercise, you will lose the weight.
With all of this said...I am on the wagon with you!
I've told you before, I enjoy reading your blogs: they are informative, uplifting and sometimes painful, but it's just what the Lord ordered!
Thank you!
Have a most blessed Christmas with your family!
Sisters in Christ...
I am so glad that I have some support!! I say we encourage each other to stick to it! Sounds crazy....that we would need encouragement to stick to a "NO diet" diet-doesn't it? Well, I can not even begin to tell you how many times my mind has started "counting"...but I have been able to catch myself and stop it! I know that we can do this together!! Let's keep our sanity and eat healthy...even if it means hanging on to a few extra lbs!
Hi Sherri,
I'm a friend of Heidi's. I totally agree with what you said about dieting! I'm going to follow your progress and try to make some progress on my own. So far I haven't had much willpower, but I'll let you know how it goes!
Susan : )
Great! I just sent you an email!
Post a Comment