“You wouldn’t take only half the medicine your doctor ordered,” said my weight loss book, The Complete Beck Diet Solution.
Why, Dr. Judith Beck continues, would you expect to lose weight by doing some of the things you need to do and not others?
Well, it seems logical to me that I’m better off implementing some healthy behaviors than none. In fact, Beck herself encourages people to change one habit at a time. Her plan, though, calls for changing several habits before officially entering the weight loss phase of the plan, which does involve carefully sticking to a planned diet until the later stages, which teach flexibility gradually.
Between last Tuesday and today, I have apparently gained four pounds, and I’d put on a couple before that. I am now officially only five pounds less than I was when I started the weight loss program. (For those of you who haven’t read my first blog, I lost 12 pounds last spring and have kept ten of them off until recently.)
This is what I was afraid of when I committed to blogging publicly about my weight loss—that I wouldn’t be successful, and would not only embarrass myself but wonder if I’ve wasted readers’ time. Still, I myself sometimes enjoy knowing I’m not struggling alone, so I hope this is helpful to someone.
I did learn some things over the Thanksgiving weekend, thanks to the Beck program’s emphasis on mindfulness. I learned that I really wasn’t enjoying Thanksgiving dinner to the fullest because I was focused on making sure dishes were passed between the two tables (which contained ten kids and eight adults, both my family and my husband’s). Over the weekend I made sure to notice and savor any leftovers I ate, eating them sitting down.
But, I now have to face the fact that I must use all of the skills in the program to the best of my ability, not pick and choose which ones I’d like to use, if I want to lose weight and keep from gaining.
I keep thinking I’ll start Monday. But here’s another quote from Dr. Beck to consider:
“If you got a ticket for running a red light, would continue to run red lights for the rest of the day, figuring you might as well wait another day for a fresh start?”
This analogy makes sense to me. Each time I don’t stick to plan has consequences on my body (especially my aching feet), just as surely as each red light would cost a fine and a bill that would accumulate quickly.
The holiday season is a time when we often have sentiment attached to food we eat. We are reluctant to deprive ourselves of things we enjoy. Food sometimes seems part of the whole holiday atmosphere. (And Beck would say we can have one favorite food each day, in a controlled portion size.)
And so for further motivation, I’ll end with one other quote from Dr. Beck:
“You can eat the way you used to eat if you want to look the way you used to look.”
Mamma mia!