There may be days when you ask yourself did I do enough today that was beneficial to my new lifestyle? As some of you know who are maintaining your weight, it's often a challenge to attend events that accompany many food items and may defeat our daily routine. When I was morbidly obese, I used to observe and then ask thin people what were they eating to be the size they were, and I often received many different answers. For some thin people they ate whatever they wanted and never exercised. That used to baffle me and I couldn't understand how and why this happened? The obvious answer is that their genetic make up gave them a "free pass" but for many of these thin people, their health issues were not obvious by looking at their appearance. One man had cholesterol issues and his numbers were well over 400. So as the old cliché goes, looks can be deceiving.
Other people who were thin indicated that they had a glass of wine every day, and watched what they ate, and walked every day after dinner. Then there were thin people who told me they would be obese if they didn't watch the amount of calories they were taking in on a daily basis, and exercise was essential to their maintenance program. I now understand that I am a thin person, who has to watch my caloric intake, and I also have to monitor how much activity I'm doing on a daily basis. I can very easily become obese again, but the difference is that this time I will not allow the scale to move upward where I cannot realistically get back to basics. Maintenance is an on-going task that I don't take lightly. One day you may eat a food item that is not beneficial, but if you get back on track immediately, you've succeeded in not allowing yourself to eat the same way tomorrow and the next day, etc.
That's progress and it's remaining honest with yourself. We all know that if we turn back to our destructive habits, we will begin to destroy ourselves once again. We must remain in check every day and monitor ourselves closely. Making the decision to either give in to a moment of a short-term compulsion, or be pleased with ourselves knowing we cannot do this anymore and we'll only benefit by eating beneficial, healthy, and fat- burning foods, which will provide us with feeling good mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. We must save ourselves in the moment of temptation and instant gratification we may receive, but remorse will soon follow afterwards. We've done this too many times in the past and it's never worked out to our advantage.
It's okay to say "no thank you" and it's okay to decline a night out that would be harmful to your health. As a recovering addict, many relatives and friends of mine wanted to go out and eat, drink, and eat some more and drink some more as well. I cannot entertain that way of life anymore. I am strong enough to go out and have a sensible meal and perhaps a cup of coffee, or a tall glass of ice water with lemon, but if our relatives and friends find it frustrating and just downright bored with the idea you're not joining in, that's on them and not on you. As I'm branching out and expanding my social circles, I'm achieving balance in my life. Balance is essential for me to remain true and stay on track. I love and care about my relatives and friends, but I also care about my well-being, and if I have to take care of my needs first, so be it.
I'm not saying that it's a selfish act of what I'm doing, but it's knowing my strengths and weaknesses that lead me in the right direction. I'm satisfied with my decisions and comfortable enough with myself to enjoy my own company when I need time alone to do what I need to do in order to remain healthy.
Take care of yourself first, and you'll be happy you did!
Linda Hegedus
