It's been over a month since I last blogged. During this month,
I've been a bright example… to avoid at all costs!! My life has been
"enhanced" with many kinds of worries and troubles, the
"sanity-threatening" type. Consequently, I had little time for SP and I
allowed myself all kinds of off-track behavior. I repetitively indulged
in many temptations like sweets, pizza and wine, I habitually
surrendered to emotional eating because it was simply the easiest way to
deal with negative feelings and I even gave myself excuses – yes, I
confess, I reached this level of self-destructive behavior – for
overeating when my day was full of difficult situations.
And, of course, I would avoid the scale… But I had already signed up for the BLC24 with the panthers team, so a weekly weigh-in was necessary. So, every Wednesday morning, I would take a deep breath and face the ultimate judge of my eating habits…
"Oh, please, don't be very angry…"
"I shouldn't have eaten that pizza yesterday…"
"Please, show me the same number as last time and I promise I'll be a good girl from now on…"
And miraculously, it seemed to work! The scale would show almost the same number every time! It seemed too hard to believe and I even had to try a different scale to make sure mine wasn't lying!
But it was really happening. I was maintaining my weight through a period that was logged as "completely off-track" in my mind.
Now how did this happen? When I seriously think about it, there are two reasons that my body had switched to auto-pilot and was actually maintaining even though I wasn't trying at all – or at least I didn't feel that way and I'll explain the difference in a minute.
The first one was exercise. A habit I'm mostly proud and happy for having established. During this health journey I've had my ups and downs, like we all do, but I never allowed myself to go back to couch-potato mode. I have an amazing streak of 141 weeks of at least 3 workouts per week. It's usually 5 or 6. Being on the move constantly is my way of life. I don't have a car, I walk to wherever I want to go, I never use elevators and I grab any chance I get to keep my muscles active and my cardiovascular system in good health. This has nothing to do with how I eat. I've separated it in my mind and even on my overeating days, I still do my planned workout.
The second reason is vigilance. "What vigilance???" you’re going to ask. "Just minutes ago, you confessed having indulged in a great number of edible temptations!"
Indeed, I have.
But it seems that vigilance was always present. It's like indulging in a fully-controlled environment and state of mind. Yes, I will eat pizza tonight. If that was my weekly cheat meal, I would eat one slice. Now I'll eat two because I need to "swallow my disappointments and sorrows". But I will not allow myself to eat four like I would once do. (Not an acceptable behavior, I know. Not one I'm proud of. But still it's better than the eat-everything-in-sight mentality.)
I've managed to maintain a healthy weight through really difficult times that are not yet over. I may be at the highest end of my maintenance range but I'm still there. I can only imagine what would have happened if I had gone through this period in my life carrying my old way of thinking about eating when in crisis...
Constant vigilance is the free gift you get when fully committing to a lifelong healthy way of living. And with vigilance comes control. And moderation is part of this control. All these elements paired with an active lifestyle are keys to successful maintenance. Through good times as well as bad ones.
And, of course, I would avoid the scale… But I had already signed up for the BLC24 with the panthers team, so a weekly weigh-in was necessary. So, every Wednesday morning, I would take a deep breath and face the ultimate judge of my eating habits…
"Oh, please, don't be very angry…"
"I shouldn't have eaten that pizza yesterday…"
"Please, show me the same number as last time and I promise I'll be a good girl from now on…"
And miraculously, it seemed to work! The scale would show almost the same number every time! It seemed too hard to believe and I even had to try a different scale to make sure mine wasn't lying!
But it was really happening. I was maintaining my weight through a period that was logged as "completely off-track" in my mind.
Now how did this happen? When I seriously think about it, there are two reasons that my body had switched to auto-pilot and was actually maintaining even though I wasn't trying at all – or at least I didn't feel that way and I'll explain the difference in a minute.
The first one was exercise. A habit I'm mostly proud and happy for having established. During this health journey I've had my ups and downs, like we all do, but I never allowed myself to go back to couch-potato mode. I have an amazing streak of 141 weeks of at least 3 workouts per week. It's usually 5 or 6. Being on the move constantly is my way of life. I don't have a car, I walk to wherever I want to go, I never use elevators and I grab any chance I get to keep my muscles active and my cardiovascular system in good health. This has nothing to do with how I eat. I've separated it in my mind and even on my overeating days, I still do my planned workout.
The second reason is vigilance. "What vigilance???" you’re going to ask. "Just minutes ago, you confessed having indulged in a great number of edible temptations!"
Indeed, I have.
But it seems that vigilance was always present. It's like indulging in a fully-controlled environment and state of mind. Yes, I will eat pizza tonight. If that was my weekly cheat meal, I would eat one slice. Now I'll eat two because I need to "swallow my disappointments and sorrows". But I will not allow myself to eat four like I would once do. (Not an acceptable behavior, I know. Not one I'm proud of. But still it's better than the eat-everything-in-sight mentality.)
I've managed to maintain a healthy weight through really difficult times that are not yet over. I may be at the highest end of my maintenance range but I'm still there. I can only imagine what would have happened if I had gone through this period in my life carrying my old way of thinking about eating when in crisis...
Constant vigilance is the free gift you get when fully committing to a lifelong healthy way of living. And with vigilance comes control. And moderation is part of this control. All these elements paired with an active lifestyle are keys to successful maintenance. Through good times as well as bad ones.
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