I’ve been wildly successful on a nutritional program I started 10 weeks ago. I have a lot of weight to lose (like 160 lbs. and I’ve lost 40 so far!) I lo
ve this program and I often tell people how “easy” it is. However, this really doesn’t tell the whole truth and doesn’t always equip other people to be as successful as I am being. I want you to know that while it’s easy for me, it doesn’t mean I don’t struggle and make imperfect choices sometimes.
I have been addicted to food since I was 6 years old. Someone I trusted would sexually abuse me and then take me to McDonald’s to “heal the wound.” This went on for years and I learned that the more I ate, the better I felt. Food became my drug of choice to push the pain down into a place where I could no longer feel it for awhile. As an adult I’ve been in therapy, grappled with these issues, gotten mentally healthy and have triumphed over the abuse. However, my relationship to food, almost like a lover, has never changed and I have remained obese for 40 years.
It wasn’t until I tried this program that I began to have power over food. While I have been “awake” to my patterns for decades, I have had little ability to adjust my choices and avoid being controlled by compulsive eating urges. For me, this program has been a game-changer. While I still have cravings, they are muffled. As I make better nutritional choices and feed my body dense superfoods, my body is getting balanced and the cravings no longer have hold on me. I am in charge of my choices rather than being swept up by the food craving like a wave crashing a buoying seashell to shore.
Part of my health transformation is the following: I think it is important to realize that changing the way you eat is a LIFESTYLE, not a diet. It’s about making better choices every day to build the best version of yourself. This truth applies to EVERYTHING in your life you want to change, not just weight loss. It applies to exercise, productivity, nurturing talent… This applies to anything you want in life, that you currently lack.
I’ll give you an example: I haven’t eaten through a drive-thru window for almost 3 months; something I did almost daily before February. Yesterday, I sat in the parking lot of Kentucky Fried Chicken for about 10 minutes considering whether taking a lunch home would be feeding my soul or feeding my demons… yesterday the verdict was demons, so I drove away. Another day, picking up KFC and going on a picnic with my family might result in a different answer. But the fact that I’m AWAKE to my automatic ways of being and consciously choosing is a symptom of transformation.
The point is that SUCCESS is a result of CONSCIOUS decisions you make in your day, moment by moment. And each day, those decisions become habit. And, after weeks, those habits become who you are and how you live. This is not just in relationship to food.
Don’t sell yourself short because you ate popcorn last night. But, in the same breath, don’t give yourself room to eat popcorn today. You are stronger than you think and can do MUCH MORE than you allow yourself. BE STRONG and don’t let food (or whatever YOUR vice is) control you.
Be awake and make sure your NEXT decision always builds a better YOU.
APPLY THIS: What is your biggest vice/bad habit from which you want freedom? In the next 48 hours, notice how it uses you and stop before you do it an consciously CHOOSE whether or not you will continue. Please share in the comments what you discovered.
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