On may to work I walk through a patient wating area on the way to my office and sometimes the titles on magazine covers jump out at me. Today an issue of Ladies Home Journal with Kristie Alley on the cover (yes, it is almost August and this was the May issue…I don’t have the luxury of working at a ritzy suburban hospital, so our magazines show up late;) jumped out at me. “I’m going to loose 100 pounds again” This was the tag line on the cover.
It got me thinking about how we reward ourselves. Maybe affirm would be a better choice. Kristie had dropped off the radar screen of the public eye until she gained a ton of weight. Her struggle to lose and keep the weight off revived her career. Then she dropped off the radar screen again because she was back to “normal”. So whether it was intentional or not, she regained the weight and is back on the radar screen as she struggles to loose the weight again.
The point I am trying to make with this illustration is that her reward, money & fame, came back with the weight. For the rest of us it is more subtle. Maybe it is the sugar rush from that candy bar, the buzz from a cup of coffee, the cholesterol from the cheese burger, all causing changes in the body’s hormones. These small daily indulgences all add up until one day we wake up, look in the mirror, and say, “dang, I don’t look good naked anymore”.
I wish changing our habits was easy, but you are fighting a genetic/metabolic reward center. It takes a combination of consistent work and getting back to basics. Breaking the cycle is the hardest part, but once your body is running on clean fuel again…WOW!! <–that is your body’s response to how it feels.
RIP THE BAND-AID OFF!!
I believe the cold turkey approach is the best method. Here are some tips to get started:
- Identify the “reward” that is sabotaging you and make a goal of where you want to be.
- Stay away from the temptation…whether it is sugar, pasta, eating out to often, etc.
- Start making meals from scratch (don’t give me you don’t have time because you can make great meals in under 20 minutes) and think high fiber!
- Find an activity that gets you moving, but most importantly is fun.
- REMEMBER this is a marathon not a sprint so focus on the incremental progress.
Good Luck and let me know h0w it goes!
Richard
