Originally Posted by Pam Turner on 10/07/14:
Well, here we are again. The beginning of the Holiday season. For most people that starts in Oct with Halloween. Granted, Halloween is all the way at the end of the month, but depending on what stage of life you are at, it can mean a whole month of school activities and parties or just a lot of candy laying around the office. Heaven knows the stores are LOADED with candy displays and just going grocery shopping can be overwhelming.
Every year I have clients that are going great guns on their weight loss, only to trip and fall when the challenges of this time of year get to be too much. The only way to get through it is to make up your mind that this time, you are going to make different choices then you have before. The remaining months of 2014 (can you believe that?) are completely under your control as far as the what you choose to eat or not. I think at times we actually justify what we eat by telling ourselves we are powerless over the food temptations. How crazy is that? We haven't been force fed anything since we were on baby food!
Yes, we have Halloween, then Thanksgiving, then Christmas and then New Years. All plenty of reasons to procrastinate doing anything about our weight until it's over. No one likes to feel left out or deprived of the celebrating, but how often has your weight interfered with you living your best life? How often have you felt deprived of an opportunity because of your weight? How often have you made an excuse not to do something that you worried would embarrass you and how often have you said "No" to food offered because you didn't want people to see you eating? All various forms of self deprivation, isn't it? And that just leaves you feeling frustrated because nothing was really accomplished.
The thought of beginning a diet this time of year may seem like poor timing, and for most conventional diets I would agree. Why suffer for only a few pounds lost? The good news is that The Cambridge Diet allows you to make a HUGE amount of progress in a very short amount of time. Between now and the new year, you could potentially lose 50, 60, even 70 pounds! We have 85 days from today until 2015. You can spend those days knowing that by the New Year you will be slimmer and healthier then you are now...or not. Jan 1st will come either way and it's up to you how you welcome the New Year.
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Sunday, October 12, 2014
Starting over
Originally Posted by Pam Turner on 09/23/14:
It is not unusual for people to have a harder time getting back to SS after a break. I try to warn people of that, but most people don't have a cooperative life that will accommodate several months of uninterrupted dieting time. It does't seem to matter how desirous a person is to begin again, or how much progress they have already made...it's never as easy to start again, but it's also not impossible. It really is all in the mind and as humans, we are highly suggestible to outside motivation and influences, good and bad. When we start the first time we have TONS of motivation! There is lots of anticipation of what your experience will be, what it will be like to watch the scale and the sizes go down. We are highly focused on the complete change. We will not be eating regular food and the reality of that can seem intimidating. We are prepared to experience something unknown and it keeps our head in the game.
It is not unusual for people to have a harder time getting back to SS after a break. I try to warn people of that, but most people don't have a cooperative life that will accommodate several months of uninterrupted dieting time. It does't seem to matter how desirous a person is to begin again, or how much progress they have already made...it's never as easy to start again, but it's also not impossible. It really is all in the mind and as humans, we are highly suggestible to outside motivation and influences, good and bad. When we start the first time we have TONS of motivation! There is lots of anticipation of what your experience will be, what it will be like to watch the scale and the sizes go down. We are highly focused on the complete change. We will not be eating regular food and the reality of that can seem intimidating. We are prepared to experience something unknown and it keeps our head in the game.
After a break and discovering how much we like to eat again, it kind of deflates the momentum and all the unknown factors are replaced with "here I go again" type of feelings. We now know what to expect and the memory of how great we were feeling while SSing has dimmed somewhat. Just like the first time, it takes a few days to get back to fat burning mode and once again getting excited about the weight loss.
The emotions attached to food and being overweight run deep. They are strong and up until now have over ridden all others. It falls very much in to addictive type thinking, justifying, bargaining, denial, procrastinating, deception, depression, dependence...the list is long and different for everyone, but also very similar in that we choose it over our own well-being. The fact that we are surrounded by food at all times is unique to our lifetime and our culture. If we still had to grow it or catch it, we'd probably all be thin! It's way to easy to make snap decisions before we realize we made them.
As far as not enjoying the taste as much, for most people that is actually something that doesn't come right away. Our tastes are based on what we are used to consuming. Regular food is salty, sweet, bitter, fatty, and multi-textured. Most people find Cambridge palatable, but not necessarily enjoyable until their pallet has adjusted and then they actually begin to look forward to it. Like before, a few days on track and things will be different.
Ultimately this is where you test your determination. If you really want to lose this weight, there is no painless way to do it. Weight loss always requires some deprivation of some form. It would be awesome if we had a switch we could flip that caused our body to store or burn fat as needed, no change of lifestyle required.....wow....that WOULD be awesome! lol! Unfortunately we have to say "No" to ourselves a lot to accomplish this goal of weight loss and getting healthy. We tend to jump from diet to diet, hoping to find one that fits in to our life effortlessly and without any sacrifice of the things that have made us overweight, only to find that they ALL demand we turn away from what we crave or long for. The fact that most conventional diets only give 1 or 2 pounds loss per week, if that, is discouraging and drags the dieting experience out forever. We quit and jump to the next. Cambridge works and it works fast if you give it the chance. No other diet will give you the results that Cambridge can in a very short period of time. 20 to 30 pounds per month is average. You would be done before you know it. If you decide to eat a small meal each day along with it then you would still meet your goal if you are careful about your additional calories. No more then 300 to 400 tops. About 3 oz protein and 1 to 2 cups of green veg or salad greens is all.
If you are beginning again, what I would suggest is that you take some time and try to rediscover what motivated you to begin Cambridge the first time. This is where journaling would have come in handy. There is something about reading your own thoughts and feelings back before you started that can refocus your emotions and thoughts back to where you want them. You could take some time today and begin doing that now. I know that writing helps me dig in to my feelings and having it in writing and reading them reminds me of my true feelings, not just those "in the moment" when I'm feeling weak. Make some post-it's and put them up for reminders. Make a time line and mark off the hours and days of being successful. You will be less likely to sacrifice the time you gave already if you see it in front of you. Create an environment of support for yourself to get you through the re-start until you are in the zone.
I hope I gave you some things to ponder and that it helps. This is completely under your control. All you have to do is make the decision. Maybe there is a switch? It's in our mind, not our body. Our thoughts govern our actions. Every choice we make begins as a single thought. Spend some time concentrating on what you really want and what you are willing to do to get it. Commit to one day, 24 hours. You can do anything for 24 hours. It may be all you need to get back on track again.
The emotions attached to food and being overweight run deep. They are strong and up until now have over ridden all others. It falls very much in to addictive type thinking, justifying, bargaining, denial, procrastinating, deception, depression, dependence...the list is long and different for everyone, but also very similar in that we choose it over our own well-being. The fact that we are surrounded by food at all times is unique to our lifetime and our culture. If we still had to grow it or catch it, we'd probably all be thin! It's way to easy to make snap decisions before we realize we made them.
As far as not enjoying the taste as much, for most people that is actually something that doesn't come right away. Our tastes are based on what we are used to consuming. Regular food is salty, sweet, bitter, fatty, and multi-textured. Most people find Cambridge palatable, but not necessarily enjoyable until their pallet has adjusted and then they actually begin to look forward to it. Like before, a few days on track and things will be different.
Ultimately this is where you test your determination. If you really want to lose this weight, there is no painless way to do it. Weight loss always requires some deprivation of some form. It would be awesome if we had a switch we could flip that caused our body to store or burn fat as needed, no change of lifestyle required.....wow....that WOULD be awesome! lol! Unfortunately we have to say "No" to ourselves a lot to accomplish this goal of weight loss and getting healthy. We tend to jump from diet to diet, hoping to find one that fits in to our life effortlessly and without any sacrifice of the things that have made us overweight, only to find that they ALL demand we turn away from what we crave or long for. The fact that most conventional diets only give 1 or 2 pounds loss per week, if that, is discouraging and drags the dieting experience out forever. We quit and jump to the next. Cambridge works and it works fast if you give it the chance. No other diet will give you the results that Cambridge can in a very short period of time. 20 to 30 pounds per month is average. You would be done before you know it. If you decide to eat a small meal each day along with it then you would still meet your goal if you are careful about your additional calories. No more then 300 to 400 tops. About 3 oz protein and 1 to 2 cups of green veg or salad greens is all.
If you are beginning again, what I would suggest is that you take some time and try to rediscover what motivated you to begin Cambridge the first time. This is where journaling would have come in handy. There is something about reading your own thoughts and feelings back before you started that can refocus your emotions and thoughts back to where you want them. You could take some time today and begin doing that now. I know that writing helps me dig in to my feelings and having it in writing and reading them reminds me of my true feelings, not just those "in the moment" when I'm feeling weak. Make some post-it's and put them up for reminders. Make a time line and mark off the hours and days of being successful. You will be less likely to sacrifice the time you gave already if you see it in front of you. Create an environment of support for yourself to get you through the re-start until you are in the zone.
I hope I gave you some things to ponder and that it helps. This is completely under your control. All you have to do is make the decision. Maybe there is a switch? It's in our mind, not our body. Our thoughts govern our actions. Every choice we make begins as a single thought. Spend some time concentrating on what you really want and what you are willing to do to get it. Commit to one day, 24 hours. You can do anything for 24 hours. It may be all you need to get back on track again.
Monday Mornings
Originally Posted by Pam Turner on 09/08/14:
We are already in our second week of September! Wow!!! Time is flying by. I think we can get kind of apathetic in the summertime. Vacations and BBQs and all can distract us from our goals. We just want to have fun! Unfortunately, as Fall begin to move in and we see the changing of the season, we know the winter and the {{{{{Holiday}}}}}} season is right around the corner! Gasp!!!!!
Don't let this upcoming holiday season catch you off guard. Make as much progress as you can right now so you can freely enjoy the season with all the picture taking, family reunions, party clothes and socializing without any self consciousnesses. No hiding behind someone bigger in the family pic! Not this year!
Monday is traditionally a day to begin a health and fitness reboot. It's psychological of course. Your body doesn't care what day or time you begin. Only that you do BEGIN! Today there is a sense of summer waning and Autumn approaching in the air. This may just be the perfect Monday to begin or recommit to your life changing for the better. Why wait another week, or month, or heaven forbid...another year?
We can continue to build a wall of isolating fat around us, food brick by food brick, or we can start swinging that sledge hammer and begin the process of bashing it down.
Monday morning? Bring it!
We are already in our second week of September! Wow!!! Time is flying by. I think we can get kind of apathetic in the summertime. Vacations and BBQs and all can distract us from our goals. We just want to have fun! Unfortunately, as Fall begin to move in and we see the changing of the season, we know the winter and the {{{{{Holiday}}}}}} season is right around the corner! Gasp!!!!!
Don't let this upcoming holiday season catch you off guard. Make as much progress as you can right now so you can freely enjoy the season with all the picture taking, family reunions, party clothes and socializing without any self consciousnesses. No hiding behind someone bigger in the family pic! Not this year!
Monday is traditionally a day to begin a health and fitness reboot. It's psychological of course. Your body doesn't care what day or time you begin. Only that you do BEGIN! Today there is a sense of summer waning and Autumn approaching in the air. This may just be the perfect Monday to begin or recommit to your life changing for the better. Why wait another week, or month, or heaven forbid...another year?
We can continue to build a wall of isolating fat around us, food brick by food brick, or we can start swinging that sledge hammer and begin the process of bashing it down.
Monday morning? Bring it!
Addiction, depression, fighting back, giving up
Originally Posted by Pam Turner on 08/13/14:
With the suicide of Robin Williams, a lot of speculation is being shared regarding what the cause was for his tragic decision to end his life. He was after all, just a man. He had a career, a family, a couple of divorces, a health crisis, personal losses of friends, struggled with addictions and depression...not much different than the average person. The only thing that set him apart was that he was in the entertainment business. Lots of people are and there does seem to be a high level of deaths due to suicide and overdoses within those in the entertainment business, but maybe that is only because we are bombarded with the news when it happens with someone famous. People die every day for the same reasons that we never hear about. Some of us may even have someone in our family that ended their life or attempted to, or who maybe has addictions that they have not been able to overcome. What makes one person able to overcome and another one to give up?
We have discussed the concept of overeating as an addiction. Some people with chemical addictions take offense at that idea. They do not believe that food can be an addictive substance causing the person to knowingly be self destructive and even endanger their life by indulging in it like someone addicted to a drug or alcohol.
I think we do not need to classify things so much. Any person who repeatedly partakes in a substance or behavior that is harmful or destructive to mind and/or body is suffering from the same basic problem. Food, alcohol, drugs, tobacco, all can be the eventual end of life. All can rob the person of quality of life, end relationships, hurt innocent people, cause depression and a sense of failure. Logic tells the person to just stop. Quit. Change. Easier said then done.
Rehab is a popular option for drug and alcohol addictions, even sexual addicts have rehab....for those that can afford it. Eating disorders like anorexia or bulimia have recovery centers. All of these self destructive behaviors have intervention options. What is there for the obese? We are no different. Our psychology is very much the same as any other addict. Where is our rehab?
Depression and hopelessness is the natural result of a life out of balance, a life out of control. Not everyone can pull themselves out once they descend in to the pit, especially if they are still battling their addictions. My own personal experience with depression went on for many years. I was medicated and had some therapy, but it didn't cure anything. It wasn't until I got my addiction for food under control and began to put some distance between it and my sense of self that I realized I wasn't a "depressed person". I was a person struggling with an extreme problem that effected every aspect of my life. A problem that I felt powerless to do anything about, no matter how hard or how long I tried. I wasn't depressed. It was just that the life I was living sucked really bad.
Beginning the process of change is intimidating and scary and exciting and unknown. Those of us that hold tightly to whatever we have used to cope or to self medicate do NOT give it up willingly. We can't see life on the other side of addiction and believe that we can ever be truly and permanently free or at peace. The people in our lives grow weary of our repeated attempts at recovery and we gradually lose our support system and can find ourselves feeling alone.
What makes one person give up and another fight until they are free? Hard to say. To see someone who appears to have all the resources available to them to overcome their addictions, only to commit suicide...makes sense to no one but them. Oprah had unlimited resources to deal with her obesity. Personal chefs, personal trainers, therapy, some of the world's most respected minds a phone call away...she lost weight and gained it back the same as any other food addict. We are all the same.
When we lose someone like Robin Williams to addiction or suicide it shakes us up and can cause us to examine our own problems a little more closely. It is a time for empathy and an unfortunate opportunity to realize we are all battling our demons of one kind or another. He didn't have it in him to fight anymore. I can't imagine that kind of desperate sadness to actually do something to end my own life.
Hopelessness is the enemy. When a person loses hope, there is no more reason to fight or change or believe there is anything to save them. I have had the privilege of being in the receiving end of phone calls over the years of people making one more attempt at reaching out for help. They don't believe in themselves anymore or their ability to change. There is nothing better then if by the end of the conversation I hear the magic words, "I have hope". It's a beginning.
Never give up on achieving the life you want. Losing weight in no way gets the respect it deserves. Living life as an obese person is hard in every way. Overcoming what drives a person to self abuse with food is a tremendous accomplishment. Remaining "food sober" is no walk in the park either. We all know that. Never give up.
With the suicide of Robin Williams, a lot of speculation is being shared regarding what the cause was for his tragic decision to end his life. He was after all, just a man. He had a career, a family, a couple of divorces, a health crisis, personal losses of friends, struggled with addictions and depression...not much different than the average person. The only thing that set him apart was that he was in the entertainment business. Lots of people are and there does seem to be a high level of deaths due to suicide and overdoses within those in the entertainment business, but maybe that is only because we are bombarded with the news when it happens with someone famous. People die every day for the same reasons that we never hear about. Some of us may even have someone in our family that ended their life or attempted to, or who maybe has addictions that they have not been able to overcome. What makes one person able to overcome and another one to give up?
We have discussed the concept of overeating as an addiction. Some people with chemical addictions take offense at that idea. They do not believe that food can be an addictive substance causing the person to knowingly be self destructive and even endanger their life by indulging in it like someone addicted to a drug or alcohol.
I think we do not need to classify things so much. Any person who repeatedly partakes in a substance or behavior that is harmful or destructive to mind and/or body is suffering from the same basic problem. Food, alcohol, drugs, tobacco, all can be the eventual end of life. All can rob the person of quality of life, end relationships, hurt innocent people, cause depression and a sense of failure. Logic tells the person to just stop. Quit. Change. Easier said then done.
Rehab is a popular option for drug and alcohol addictions, even sexual addicts have rehab....for those that can afford it. Eating disorders like anorexia or bulimia have recovery centers. All of these self destructive behaviors have intervention options. What is there for the obese? We are no different. Our psychology is very much the same as any other addict. Where is our rehab?
Depression and hopelessness is the natural result of a life out of balance, a life out of control. Not everyone can pull themselves out once they descend in to the pit, especially if they are still battling their addictions. My own personal experience with depression went on for many years. I was medicated and had some therapy, but it didn't cure anything. It wasn't until I got my addiction for food under control and began to put some distance between it and my sense of self that I realized I wasn't a "depressed person". I was a person struggling with an extreme problem that effected every aspect of my life. A problem that I felt powerless to do anything about, no matter how hard or how long I tried. I wasn't depressed. It was just that the life I was living sucked really bad.
Beginning the process of change is intimidating and scary and exciting and unknown. Those of us that hold tightly to whatever we have used to cope or to self medicate do NOT give it up willingly. We can't see life on the other side of addiction and believe that we can ever be truly and permanently free or at peace. The people in our lives grow weary of our repeated attempts at recovery and we gradually lose our support system and can find ourselves feeling alone.
What makes one person give up and another fight until they are free? Hard to say. To see someone who appears to have all the resources available to them to overcome their addictions, only to commit suicide...makes sense to no one but them. Oprah had unlimited resources to deal with her obesity. Personal chefs, personal trainers, therapy, some of the world's most respected minds a phone call away...she lost weight and gained it back the same as any other food addict. We are all the same.
When we lose someone like Robin Williams to addiction or suicide it shakes us up and can cause us to examine our own problems a little more closely. It is a time for empathy and an unfortunate opportunity to realize we are all battling our demons of one kind or another. He didn't have it in him to fight anymore. I can't imagine that kind of desperate sadness to actually do something to end my own life.
Hopelessness is the enemy. When a person loses hope, there is no more reason to fight or change or believe there is anything to save them. I have had the privilege of being in the receiving end of phone calls over the years of people making one more attempt at reaching out for help. They don't believe in themselves anymore or their ability to change. There is nothing better then if by the end of the conversation I hear the magic words, "I have hope". It's a beginning.
Never give up on achieving the life you want. Losing weight in no way gets the respect it deserves. Living life as an obese person is hard in every way. Overcoming what drives a person to self abuse with food is a tremendous accomplishment. Remaining "food sober" is no walk in the park either. We all know that. Never give up.
Day 15
Originally Posted by Pam Turner on 04/18/14:
So here I am on day 15! I am well on my way to achieving my ultimate weight loss goal. My high school weight. Back when I was in high school I never thought of myself as thin. Not by a long shot! I had spent my entire life up until then being the chubby kid so it was all I knew. I was 5'9" so I was already taking up more space then any of my petite little 5'4" friends were, and they were all so willowy. My body always felt bulky to me, even thought I was only a size 7. I was curvy, but the style back then was to look like a 9 year old boy so I just didn't fit the mold.
I look back at the few pictures I have of myself as a teenager and I realize I was absolutely perfect for me. I was physically healthy, (once I recovered from the horrible crash diet I had been on) but my mind was still the mind of the "fat girl" who didn't look like her lithe, wispy friends. Unfortunately my distorted self image eventually became my reality, only much worse.
Now, my goal is to go back to my ideal weight and enjoy and appreciate what I should have when I had it before. Will I look 16 again? HAHAHAHAHA! Such a funny question. I now live in a 55 year old body that has been beaten to Hell and back, but for an old girl...it's all good. My thighs will never make a public appearance in shorts or swim suit, even though I live in Florida. But I can live with that. I come from a family with people that die too early. My mom at 62, her Father at only 45, and more recently this past Oct, my sister that was only 2 years older then me. I have a history of diabetes that keeps snapping at my heels as I try to outrun it and heart disease...well...the list is long. I've managed to outrun the pack of health issues so far, but I know enough to know that getting older will trip me up if I don't do everything I can to be as healthy as I can and priority 1 is get rid of the last layer of excess me that for some reason up until now, I was not ready to let go of.
So here I am on day 15! I am well on my way to achieving my ultimate weight loss goal. My high school weight. Back when I was in high school I never thought of myself as thin. Not by a long shot! I had spent my entire life up until then being the chubby kid so it was all I knew. I was 5'9" so I was already taking up more space then any of my petite little 5'4" friends were, and they were all so willowy. My body always felt bulky to me, even thought I was only a size 7. I was curvy, but the style back then was to look like a 9 year old boy so I just didn't fit the mold.
I look back at the few pictures I have of myself as a teenager and I realize I was absolutely perfect for me. I was physically healthy, (once I recovered from the horrible crash diet I had been on) but my mind was still the mind of the "fat girl" who didn't look like her lithe, wispy friends. Unfortunately my distorted self image eventually became my reality, only much worse.
Now, my goal is to go back to my ideal weight and enjoy and appreciate what I should have when I had it before. Will I look 16 again? HAHAHAHAHA! Such a funny question. I now live in a 55 year old body that has been beaten to Hell and back, but for an old girl...it's all good. My thighs will never make a public appearance in shorts or swim suit, even though I live in Florida. But I can live with that. I come from a family with people that die too early. My mom at 62, her Father at only 45, and more recently this past Oct, my sister that was only 2 years older then me. I have a history of diabetes that keeps snapping at my heels as I try to outrun it and heart disease...well...the list is long. I've managed to outrun the pack of health issues so far, but I know enough to know that getting older will trip me up if I don't do everything I can to be as healthy as I can and priority 1 is get rid of the last layer of excess me that for some reason up until now, I was not ready to let go of.
Day 15 is an awesome place to be! I feel great and I already see changes. I refuse to weigh so I have no idea how much I've lost, but I do know that all attempts I've made to do this over the last 12 years ended when I saw a certain number on the scale. Why? heck if I know, but this time I won't know when I reach or speed right on past it. I plan to just focus on what I'm doing and not fall in to any old traps that trigger old behaviors. Not gonna do it!
Eliminating Obstacles
Originally Posted by Pam Turner on 04/18/14:
There are basically two things we are dealing with when it comes to doing this or any other diet. Thing one is the physical part of experiencing some hunger for a few days, maybe some fatigue or a headache. No biggie. It's not fun, but the way I figured it, I'd had my years of gluttony and excessive indulgences. It was time to pay the piper. Hunger has its limits.It's not terminal. It doesn't keep expanding in to an unbearable agony or anything. Plus, you are consuming Cambridge and other non caloric beverages so you're not completely on empty. Nothing terrible is happening. Hunger is a normal part of life for all creatures...although most of us rarely actually experience it in our food laden lives so when it happens...we freak!
Thing two is the mental stuff and that is where the greatest cause of failure (for lack of a better word) happens. When you are fat and feeling negative about yourself, not just in appearance, but in your very character due to a sense of no self control, there is an endless dialog running in your head reinforcing that opinion at the same time there is a library of justifications and excuses playing as to why you should give up and endlessly procrastinate. There are the outside influences as well that do a fine job of discouraging someone when they are on a diet, but ultimately it is our own thoughts that stimulate action. The body is not in control of any of this. It does not go on autopilot and start ransacking the pantry forcing you to eat. Other people do not hold you down and force feed you. Every single action a person takes begins as a single speck of a thought. One thought builds on another and before you know it, your body reacts chemically to the signals and starts producing adrenalin and stress hormones and you need something to smother it all out. For us...that is food.
To be successful you MUST get control of your thoughts and the self talk that leads you to caving in. Pay attention to it. It is not the smell of a co-workers lunch or your mamma's mac and cheese that will be your undoing. It is your willingness to allow the germ of a thought to abandon your diet for one more day or week, or to assimilate any negative ideas about your self worth that will take you out.
Create an environment that nurtures your efforts. Do not fall in to the trap of setting yourself up to fail so you have an excuse to do so. I'm convinced that having a scale as part of your weight loss experience is detrimental to your success. Maybe with other diets you need one to make sure you are not screwing up, but that's not an issue with Cambridge. Just have your 3 or 4 servings a day and let nature take its course. When you're skinny enough for your own comfort, you are done. You'll know when you get there. Scales are the reason most people abandon their diets. We are as hopelessly addicted to numbers on a scale as we are to our bad eating habits. We see a good number..we eat. We see a bad number..we eat. You can't win at this game. Eliminate it.
Do not allow others to implant negative thoughts about what you are doing in your head. It's no body's business but your own and you are perfectly justified in letting them know that. Put them in their place. You're not a fool and you know what you're doing. If they also have weight to lose they'll see your success and and either want to try to improve themselves too from your example,or they will try to sabotage you (for reasons coming up) or they will avoid you like the plague. When a person is not ready to help themselves, they don't want someone else around them getting their act together and shine a big old spotlight on their unaddressed weight problem. Friends, family, co-workers, even spouses can feel very threatened when someone in their life loses weight. They may not like losing their "eating buddy", or feel left behind or suddenly not good enough...so many emotions. It may not seem fair, but it is up to you to set their minds at ease and let them know this is something you are doing for yourself and in the case of a spouse, it's ok to let them know you are doing it for "us".
The main message is, the secrete to weight loss success is not in a can or a pill or a doctors operating room. It is between your own ears. Your thoughts made you fat, and your thoughts will be what gets you thin. No one gets fat because they were hungry. You change your thinking, and you change your life.
There are basically two things we are dealing with when it comes to doing this or any other diet. Thing one is the physical part of experiencing some hunger for a few days, maybe some fatigue or a headache. No biggie. It's not fun, but the way I figured it, I'd had my years of gluttony and excessive indulgences. It was time to pay the piper. Hunger has its limits.It's not terminal. It doesn't keep expanding in to an unbearable agony or anything. Plus, you are consuming Cambridge and other non caloric beverages so you're not completely on empty. Nothing terrible is happening. Hunger is a normal part of life for all creatures...although most of us rarely actually experience it in our food laden lives so when it happens...we freak!
Thing two is the mental stuff and that is where the greatest cause of failure (for lack of a better word) happens. When you are fat and feeling negative about yourself, not just in appearance, but in your very character due to a sense of no self control, there is an endless dialog running in your head reinforcing that opinion at the same time there is a library of justifications and excuses playing as to why you should give up and endlessly procrastinate. There are the outside influences as well that do a fine job of discouraging someone when they are on a diet, but ultimately it is our own thoughts that stimulate action. The body is not in control of any of this. It does not go on autopilot and start ransacking the pantry forcing you to eat. Other people do not hold you down and force feed you. Every single action a person takes begins as a single speck of a thought. One thought builds on another and before you know it, your body reacts chemically to the signals and starts producing adrenalin and stress hormones and you need something to smother it all out. For us...that is food.
To be successful you MUST get control of your thoughts and the self talk that leads you to caving in. Pay attention to it. It is not the smell of a co-workers lunch or your mamma's mac and cheese that will be your undoing. It is your willingness to allow the germ of a thought to abandon your diet for one more day or week, or to assimilate any negative ideas about your self worth that will take you out.
Create an environment that nurtures your efforts. Do not fall in to the trap of setting yourself up to fail so you have an excuse to do so. I'm convinced that having a scale as part of your weight loss experience is detrimental to your success. Maybe with other diets you need one to make sure you are not screwing up, but that's not an issue with Cambridge. Just have your 3 or 4 servings a day and let nature take its course. When you're skinny enough for your own comfort, you are done. You'll know when you get there. Scales are the reason most people abandon their diets. We are as hopelessly addicted to numbers on a scale as we are to our bad eating habits. We see a good number..we eat. We see a bad number..we eat. You can't win at this game. Eliminate it.
Do not allow others to implant negative thoughts about what you are doing in your head. It's no body's business but your own and you are perfectly justified in letting them know that. Put them in their place. You're not a fool and you know what you're doing. If they also have weight to lose they'll see your success and and either want to try to improve themselves too from your example,or they will try to sabotage you (for reasons coming up) or they will avoid you like the plague. When a person is not ready to help themselves, they don't want someone else around them getting their act together and shine a big old spotlight on their unaddressed weight problem. Friends, family, co-workers, even spouses can feel very threatened when someone in their life loses weight. They may not like losing their "eating buddy", or feel left behind or suddenly not good enough...so many emotions. It may not seem fair, but it is up to you to set their minds at ease and let them know this is something you are doing for yourself and in the case of a spouse, it's ok to let them know you are doing it for "us".
The main message is, the secrete to weight loss success is not in a can or a pill or a doctors operating room. It is between your own ears. Your thoughts made you fat, and your thoughts will be what gets you thin. No one gets fat because they were hungry. You change your thinking, and you change your life.
Day 10
Originally Posted by Pam Turner on 04/13/14;
Today is day 10 for me. I have a goal for this year to get all the way down to my high school weight. I have not seen that since....well...high school! I have made a few half hearted attempts at it over the years, but I just didn't feel motivated enough. I made a spur of the moment decision 10 days ago to just pee or get off the pot (as my mother used to say!) and without any fanfare or plan, I just started. I put my scale out in the garage. I have accepted the truth that weighing is the kiss of death for me. I can be going along with my weight loss just fine, but if I see a number I don't like it can completely derail me so...no scale for me. I'm just going to keep moving forward and not worry about numbers. I know that all I have to do is stick to my 3 servings a day and not fool around by nibbling here or there or "taking a break" or any of the other self sabotaging behaviors I know I'm capable of. I want this so I'm giving it my absolute best. I have to admit, I'm curious to know how much I've lost in 10 days, but I will resist the urge and leave the evil scale alone!
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