I was reading on a forum yesterday and I ran across a posting where someone said that one of the problems with many people's thinking is this all or nothing mentality. And tht got me to thinking as it is so true. And it goes around about so much of our thinking. I know I tend to be that way. Like, I can't just clean a little. I have to do the whole thing. I can't just plant 10 bulbs for spring planting a day Instead of over a course of several days. No, I plant 180 in one day. Weight loss is a lot the same way, but, it can be tempered and that is what I am at least trying to do.
I don't understand it as I am usually a very shades of gray person in my thinking. But I either didn't care or I cared completely. And I'm trying to temper that by being ok with date nights and special occasions, but it's difficult to fight the all or nothing demons.
I see it on weight loss forums all the time too and I wonder if that is why there is such high failure rates with weight loss. First, people go from eating whatever to being too restrictive. They can't seem to find that middle ground. And then if they can lose enough to get close to goal, they feel like a failure if they can't get or don't get to the perefect, ideal weight. And is that healthy thinking? Especially for someone who was morbidly obese? Isn't it far better to weigh 250 than 300? Isn't that in itself a smaller burden on the heart and joints? Is it perfect? No, but it's in the right direction! And why do we seem to feel it has to be done all once? Why do we feel this nneed to take it all ofF in a year or in one stretch when it took us years to gain all that weight in the first place?
And it is ok to lose slowly. And more and more research suggests that this slower pace might make it easier to keep it off. I know for myself that I only did what I felt was maintainable. And it will probably take me a year or so to drop the last little bit and get to where I will stabilize and I'm ok with that. I will not starve myself down to my end weight. Which is why I am also not going to sweat maintaining or even a slight gain during the holidays. Life is joined with food - worldwide it's a part of our culture and a big part of special occasions. So what if I don't eat perfectly every day? I just need to have it balance itself out so that in the end, I eat a bit less than I burn and eventually to find that equilibrium.
This all or nothing mentality gets a little weird to me when people select their goal weights. Especially for those morbidly obese. It is extremely daunting to be that heavy and to look at such a huge number to lose. It can be so daunting it can keep people from losing even 20 pounds and even that is an improvement! It all counts!
So that is part of the reason I chose a higher end weight. I knew that at 175 I could probably get there and maintain that. Once I got there, I realized the weight was still coming off easily so why not see where it goes from there. Now I would like to get it to 165 and beyond that is a big what if. If I do, I do. If I don't, don't. I'm going to take away from this that I did a huge thing for my health by getting fit and losing weight and if I'm still 10-15 pounds overweight? So be it. I could be 120 pounds overweight. I don't need to be at an ideal weight to feel proud of how far I've come. Being active and fit is the most important to me.
Stats for 12/6/11:
Beginning weight: 255.6. Now: 174
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