Weight loss doesn’t occur in a vacuum, although some television and Internet ads may lead you to think it does. “Follow this plan and lose 20 pounds” the ad promises, or “Sign up for our $150.00 special weight loss program and watch the fat melt away” flashes an Internet ad on a site you visit.
The truth is – losing weight isn’t mostly about the program you follow, but rather how well you do at following your program through those inevitably difficult life circumstances that will come your way.
I’ll admit to having a Pollyanna attitude when it came to my weight loss efforts. I never even thought about how I would handle difficulties, or even whether difficulties would come my way. Instead, I blithely started out on my newest diet and did okay for the first little bit of time. If I didn’t get bored or frustrated with my diet, and actually stuck with it for more than a week or two, something would inevitably happen to throw a kink into my dieting world.
One time, two of my children got sick at the same time. That sent my diet into a tailspin because I worried about them, and started eating whatever was within reach. Another time, we had a financial crisis with an expensive car repair, and I couldn’t keep focused on my diet with all the stress of that.
Did I do anything to cause these stumbling blocks and obstacles? No – these circumstances were definitely beyond my control, and I wasn’t prepared for them. Honestly – who is?
Whether you are a brand new dieter, a seasoned pro, or somewhere in between, I’d encourage you to not get discouraged if sticking to your diet is hard when things happen in your life that you can’t control. You may find that you slip right back into old, unhealthy habits. I know I did. But instead of allowing the old habits to stay around permanently, take some steps to get back on the right track – even if you are still struggling with whatever problem is going on.
When I was losing weight, I had a major life event that really could have derailed my most successful weight loss effort to that point in my obesity. (I’ll share that event in another post, as it really is worthy of having its own post.) But although I did slip for a few days or a week, I didn’t let the slip-up turn into a permanent problem.
You can’t change your circumstances, but you can stop reacting to the circumstances with overeating or making unhealthy food choices.
Any thoughts? Diane
I too had and still do, some really difficult and hard times and sometimes I too slip into old eating habits. But, the difference this time around is that I get right back on track with my healthy eating as soon as I realize my mistakes.
blackhuff´s last fabulous musings ..Being overweight can hurt more than just your looks
for me it is moment by moment.
choice by choice.
hanging on and doing the best I can.
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Oh perfect timing for me… leaving on a road trip today and things will be out of my control for a lot of it. And, I am a major control freak! I am hoping I do the best I can given the situation and can’t wait, already, to be back to routine in just under a week.
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Great post. Accepting that there will be slip ups is so important. But it’s great to hear it from you, too! I get so frustrated when I slip back into old habits after all of this time–but I guess it’s normal. The important part is turning it back around again.
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There is a reason for the cliche that old habits die hard. Every repetitive action in that direction reinforces the habit. The great thing is that this works for our GOOD habits just as well. Every time I turn down a dessert, exercise when I rather not, measure my food, sit and meditate, choose the salad over the fry platter – I am helping to reinforce better habits. SLowly but surely I am filling in the grooves made by the habits that do not bless my life today.
Jane~
Keepingthepoundsoff.com
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I have to convince myself that eating like a maniac in addition to the stressful situation will just make things worse! For so many years, I actually thought that it would help things but stuffing my face to comfort myself in stressful situations.
But I am slowly learning that when bad situation arise, (like last night when our phone rang at 4:00am and it was a call from our son who left for college last Thursday…long story) my family needs me healthy and strong…and heading down to the kitchen to ease my mind with a plate full of Reese Peanut Butter Cookies will NOT help.
BTW…I did not go to the kitchen…I am getting RID of those cookies this morning, and I called our son about an hour ago and he is fine, (what they learn about roommates AFTER they move in with them..let me tell ya!)
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Thanks for the important reminder. We need to keep trekking along and keep our eye on the prize. If we don’t, we’ll be on the hamster weight-loss wheel forever!
Ali @ Peaches and Football´s last fabulous musings ..Quiet Sunday
You can’t change your circumstances, but you can stop reacting to the circumstances with overeating or making unhealthy food choices.
Diane, that sentence says it all.. really & it does take hard work & it took me time to lean this as well…. as Carla likes to say, it is about choices & willingness to do what is best for you…
Jody – Fit at 53´s last fabulous musings ..Gratitude Monday & Fit Stanley
Our pastor just preached recently about worrying and said something I want to blog about…one of the things was “If it’s out of your control, then don’t worry because there’s nothing you can do about it. If it’s in your control, don’t worry, but go do something about it.”
This is a great point. Your life circumstances were out of your control, so you had to take them as they came. But your weight loss was within your control and you could do something about that.
I’m basically preaching to myself right now.
Thanks for the reminder, Diane.
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I guess I had a “Pollyanna” attitude about my weight loss too. Failing was never an option and any challenges I might have had I stuck to the plan. You can call it obsessed or “rigid” but it worked.
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It is very hard when something unexpected comes up, but planning for those and always having a backup in mind is so helpful. For instance, knowing what foods convenience stores stock that are decent and in your plan is great for those times when you just stuck and can’t get home to your prepared meal. That can help you avoid running to the nearest McDonalds.
And not being afraid to ask for help is so important, too.
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I don’t handle stress the best, and it does make it hard to handle when I have circumstances that I can’t control. I was doing really well with staying on track with losing weight, and then towards the end of the school year, I was stress eating and having a lot of difficulty. Then my dad had a cattle accident and was in the hospital in June, which put another bobble in the mix. (He has since started recovering.) BUT, in the past it may have led to falling off the wagon completely (and regaining weight), this time I have rebounded, and am only slightly above where I was. It did take until the first of August to get back on track, but I’m trying to see the positive in that I AM back on track!
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Some people have one of those days, and some people have one of those lives! Lat’s hope we have enough of what it takes to be in the first category
Wonderful, wonderful advice. I know what ultimately led to me regaining all of the weight I had lost about five years ago was a bad breakup. That girl is no longer in my life in any way, shape, or form. I overate for about two weeks, and then I should have stopped. But I didn’t. I let those bad habits overtake the good ones I had created, and now, here I am, much heavier than I was at first, trying to lose those same pounds again.
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I found that aiming to maintain in these times really helped as well – that way I didn’t feel as pressured and I think that really contributed to my success.
Liz@LastChanceTraining´s last fabulous musings ..Random Acts of Vegetarianism and Stuffed Chook
Hi Diane! Perfect post for me today. It’s exactly what’s on my mind. My work has been so stressful, my head aches from thinking hard, and I’m so tired that I’m near tears sometimes. I have never handled lots of stress well and I have been eating too much.
But I try to enjoy thinking about the day after my big deadlines–meaning Wednesday–tooth cleaning day at the dentist.<< But so much more fun than I'm going through right now for work.
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This is such a key point. Eating indiscriminately when things go awry doesn’t actually help the situation, does it? And we end up feeling worse!
This is definitely something I struggle with. I usually do okay until the inevitable stress factor pops up. And there is always SOMETHING.
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I love this post and your so right about our reactions. No matter what it doesn’t mean we should give in and eat unhealthy.
Sheri @ TheMotivationalGirl´s last fabulous musings ..Never Give Up!
Awesome post. This ties in with your last one. I’ll be honest, I started to comment on the last post 7 times, and deleted all 7. This post is great, it shows that most of us struggle. We all don’t get it the first time around. When I have a bad day, month, year, or do the same stupid stuff again and again, that doesn’t make me a failure. I keep trying. I love the blog world, the encouraging one. The one that doesn’t make me feel stupid for trying again and again. One of these days I’ll get it. I believe that and that is all that counts.
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