Thursday, August 26, 2010

Temporary Plans Give Temporary Results

That sounds rather intuitive doesn't it and yet day after day in many a country people adopt a strategy for some goal and when they achieve that goal they drop the strategy. Usually a method only works while it is being employed. (heck that even applies to government incentives right! - or cash for clunkers, etc)

If you reframe it however, it does not have to be a negative and if you choose a strategy that is NOT painful, but one that you enjoy, then you will not mind incorporating it into your very essence.

I say this today because I was walking with my dear friend who has had the weight loss surgery (WLS) and as I will continue to say, though I think negatively of the procedure, I do NOT think negatively of my friend.

It has been more than a year now and she has lost about 80 pounds I believe. She thinks another 75 would be good. I asked what her plan was to make that happen and she shared that though she has to eat small meals now, she still is drawn to foods that are high in calories and that she feels compelled to eat sweets.

I told her about something I had heard on the radio recently that sounded a lot like me. It wasn't the ideal, but it was a step in the right direction. This is the person who decides to only eat at certain times and even knows what he or she will eat at those times. It puts the person in control so much so, that when a person enters the room with donuts or cakes or cheeseburgers for that matter, the controlled person isn't even going to be tempted.

My friend said that she had been very good about eating every few hours and packing her meals BEFORE the surgery and she just thought that afterwards she wouldn't have to do that anymore. Even this incredibly invasive surgery was, in her mind, going to be a quick fix.

It doesn't work that way, but if you find foods you enjoy, cook them in ways that doesn't increase their calorie or fat content and you exercise in ways that make you smile, you can make it a lifestyle. The benefits will continue.

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