Accepting Lifestyle Change

One of the questions I am asked most often is what made me decide to lose the weight. I had been over weight for years and had tried so many different methods to renew my health. So what was different when I tried Trim Healthy Mama? What made that successful when all else seemed to fail.

Let me begin by saying that part of the reason that I lost the weight is that Trim Healthy Mama really works. When you begin eating real food, you get healthier day by day. No fads, no fancy shakes, no medical intervention, but just eating well, and learning to love eating well. I had seen several friend's lives changed as they walked out their Trim Healthy Mama journey, but I had not yet decided that the journey was for me. I had tried a few good meals, and even an excellent on plan dessert or two, but in the end, I was not ready to head into the lifestyle for myself. Honestly, the reason I delayed was that I was so fully addicted to sugar and unhealthy carbs. Guys, we are talking doughnuts and Ding Dongs, not sprouted wheat bread and oatmeal. If we are being real, the thought of giving up sugar shouldn't make you want to cry or get angry. It really, really shouldn't. That is an indication that your connection to that food is much more than enjoyment, but is rooted in emotion, and perhaps even addiction. After all, most of us would not feel the same way if we were told that we are deathly allergic to asparagus. We would be thankful to know that we ought to avoid it in the future. That was not my response when well meaning friends talked to me about the Trim Healthy Mama lifestyle.

It wasn't until I was getting ready for a Scouts camping trip for my two youngest children that I made that decision. It was required for everyone attending the trip to take a sports physical, and I had not really accurately weighed myself at that point in years. I peeked down at the scale to record my weight and the revelation was astounding to me. I mean, I knew I had put on a lot of weight, but what shook me was not really the number, but the sudden understanding of why the camping, hiking and outdoor activities were so difficult for me. Really, I was only 41, and the limitations I had because of my weight seemed endless. I was ready for a lifestyle change because I was not ready to stop enjoying life because of my weight. I was ready because I wanted to experience life with my children.

I began the Trim Healthy Mama lifestyle within the month. It was so hard to start with facing that sugar addiction, but I learned something early on that changed my perspective and was likely the biggest factor in my success of staying on plan. This was no diet. It was a lifestyle and I was committing to it. I will admit, it was initially more difficult to get on plan knowing that it was meant to be a permanent change, knowing that the sugar and super processed flour would need to stay off the menu, but that understanding is what brought freedom to me as I worked to stay on plan consistently.

It was all about the mindset. I am eating to be healthier, not just thinner. I have a goal and a goal weight, but they aren't the same thing. My goal is to be healthier, and my goal weight is just a number. Let's be real. There is never a time where eating something unhealthy suddenly becomes a loving and healthy act, even if we are at goal weight. To be healthy, you must stop doing the things that make you unhealthy to begin with, and that includes fueling your body with junk. Just like it took many years for my health to spiral out of control, I knew it would take time to see my healthy habits take root and develop into a healthier lifestyle.

But, being a lifestyle meant it didn't need an end point. For a long time, my family members would ask me when I planned to get off the "diet" mostly because they wanted mashed potatoes to return to the menu! When eating plans change for the wrong reasons, like just to produce a nicer number on the scale, there is so much pressure to get the weight off fast. It pushes us to unhealthy extremes, and to push our bodies in punishing ways that don't show honor or love for ourselves. It causes us to obsess over plateaus and to look for faster methods to trim inches that may be less healthy. It can even push us to look for miracle pills to help boost metabolism. But if we embrace the lifestyle change as the new permanent lifestyle, we experience the freeing ability to walk our journey consistently and well knowing that we are always only 3 hours away from a healthy meal choice. Making a real change means making a change for good.