"Climbing Mt. Everest"

This morning we woke up to (yet another) snow event...2-3 inches predicted...but I decided I was NOT going to let it change my plans. 

Our driveway may be sloped and it may get slippery, but I hadn't done Spinning class in like, two MONTHS (between having bronchitis, then all the snowstorms...) so I decided 'no more putting it off' and got ready DESPITE the weather.

I figured, worse comes to worse? I'll park down the bottom of the hill (somewhere) and WALK up our driveway. I was that determined.

Spinning class is my own particular "Mt. Everest" of challenges; exercise-wise, anyway.  It's my hardest class by far. 
But every time I get through it? I feel AMAZING. Because...I DID it!  AGAIN! "Happy dance time!" LOL....

Sometimes this program can feel like that...climbing a mountain.
In fact, Mulrey titled her blog 'Climbing the mountain' and it's a great analogy for our journey here.

Sometimes staying OP is relatively easy...we're in a nice, easy, downward slope....but sometimes we're in a plateau (literally) which can seem to go on 'forever'....and then sometimes we get faced with easy climbs, and sometimes...Oh, MAMA, is it hard! 

And the thing is? You never know when you'll hit a rough patch!
You can't really see that far ahead. All you can see is the road ahead of you a little bit...but what's around the next bend? Who knows?

All you know is, the 'peak', the top of the mountain, is up there somewhere, waiting for you. You can try and predict when you'll get there ("Let's see, if I lose 5 lbs a week...No, No, that's too optimistic...let's be more realistic...if I lose 2 lbs a week...then I'll be 160 by March 26, and by April I'll be 152, and by May, 146...and I'll make goal in JUNE! YAY!...") 

...but guess what?  Our bodies have other ideas! They won't lose in a straight line, or for that matter with any predictability whatsoever!

I've seen people blog about how they lost MORE than they thought possible by this point in time. Others who bemoan the fact that they've 'only' lost...10 or 20 or 30 or whatever pounds.

People, ANY loss is a good loss, right?  ANY change for the better is something to be happy about. And guess what? Getting to the top of the mountain isn't just about reaching goal weight. That wonderful 'goal' number? Is just VALIDATION!

Repeat: Getting to the top of the mountain is CHANGING YOUR LIFESTYLE...it's not about what that number on the scale is! 
The number is just VALIDATION for a job well done.

Think of the scale as your 'gold star', your 'diploma', if you will.
But the education you receive, the change in habits, is yours to keep for LIFE. The lessons you learn here will -- hopefully -- stay with you over time.

And YES, sometimes it's easier than others. But it's important to understand that there ARE peaks and valleys, slopes and downslopes, plateaus and horrible vertical climbs that seem impossible.

But every foot you gain...i.e, every time you win a battle with Fat Brain and stay OP 'despite' the obstacle in your path...you are REINFORCING the good eating habits we came here to learn, and you're gaining one more little bit of CONTROL over your eating.

In a sense, you're 'climbing your Mt. Everest', a little bit at a time, with every meal you eat OP, and every day you stay on your food plan.

You want goal....we all want goal....you're doing well...so you immediately hop on the scale. "Did I do it?" "Did I lose weight?"

But listen to me for a minute.

What's the END RESULT here? What's your TRUE goal?

Isn't it....NOT to have to redo this program?

Isn't it....to NOT achieve some 'dream weight' we pull out of a hat (no matter how much we may fantasize about it....
[(and trust me, I still catch myself doing it sometimes and I have to laugh at myself! Just the other day I was thinking, "Jeez....I'm 58...only 2 years away from 60! OMG!....Well, wait a minute...what do I want my LIFE to look like at age 60? Well, let's see, I'd still be happily married and in this home and be surrounded by friends and family and weigh...147....")
147? WHERE THE HECK DID THAT COME FROM?
My goal weight was 159! Now all of a sudden I'm not HAPPY with that? I've never been 147 in my LIFE! (well, OK, maybe when I was in High school....and you know what? Even back then I considered myself 'fat'....sigh)...]

I mean, talk about OBSESSED, right? LOL...!

Where does it END?

What IS the goal here?

The GOAL is not ABOUT some wonderfully low number on the scale.
Or about wearing a size 2.

It's about KNOWING we're in CONTROL OF OUR EATING.  (P.S....PERMANENTLY!) 

OMG I wish they had a typeface like, a FOOT HIGH that I could put those words into! It's THAT important.

Because you know as well as I do, if you're just here to lose the weight....again....(because we've all lost weight before on other plans, or even on this plan!) and that's our mindset, and we lose it,
.... then....what happens?

The moment the 'diet' is over, so is our eating plan.

"GOODBYE, chicken, HELLO lasagna", right? 
"Oh GOODIE, I'm at goal, I'm DONE, I can eat WHATEVER I WANT now."

Uh....Nope! Sorry....!  "Don't pass GO, don't collect $200."....go back to the beginning and start over.  Because you DON'T GET IT.

It's not ABOUT losing weight. It's about CHANGING OUR LIVES.

FOREVER.

GAINING CONTROL over that 'fat monster' in our heads.

It's about facing down a whole table's full of pies and desserts at a party (and wearing a gorgeous little black dress in size 10 while we're at it, and everyone's telling you "You look GREAT! You can eat now, right?") and thinking "Where's the FRUIT?"

(I'm serious!)

It's about going out to eat and not even LOOKING at the enhanced pictures and delicious sounding descriptions of the entrees and instead saying "I'd like your fresh fish for the day, please, baked, no oils or breading, a side of fresh broccoli and a green salad, dressing on the side....Oh...and you can take this (handing the bread basket back to the surprised waiter), we won't be needing it...and can you bring us a pitcher of water when you get a chance? Thank you so much!" (big smile).  And ENJOYING that meal with whom you're with. WITHOUT stuffing yourself.

I always try and remember (and I remind my DH of this, too, whenever he says something like, "Oh, but you can't eat there, right?")....the BEST, most romantic dinner we ever had together was about a year ago, in a hotel restaurant, and I had the salmon and veggies and was totally 100% OP....and we talked and laughed and had a wonderful time. I didn't NEED the food for my 'entertainment', because HE was my entertainment! We enjoyed EACH OTHER. The food was just...nutrition plus some added ambience and relaxation (not having to cook or do the dishes helps! LOL)....

You have to learn to do this, over and over and over again, and SMILE and be CONFIDENT about it. When you're confident? You'll get what you want from the restaurant (believe me....YOU are the customer!), trust me on this.

If not? Maybe that's not the kind of place you want to be eating!

It's about spending every day in CONTROL of your body and your mind, doing what's RIGHT for both...and what's healthy.

AND LOVING IT! Loving the challenge of it. Loving the FEEL of it when you 'get it right'.

And yes, that includes exercising...JUST FOR THE JOY OF MOVING YOUR BODY.

WOW, what a concept, right? You mean I don't have to 'kill' myself?

NO WAY! Who said that? YES, I struggled during Spinning. But it was MY choice. I choose this 'hardest' class as my personal 'Mt. Everest' every week and I climb the mountain every week and every week I do it I feel FANTASTIC.

But I do NOT push myself until I'm passed out (believe me you can do it in that class....), and I do NOT do it when I'm sick, and I do NOT do it 5x a week.

The rest of the week? I do a variety of other exercises...all of which are easier. Some much easier, some challenging in other aspects. I do Pilates, weight lifting, low-impact aerobics, and a little bit of planks and calisthentics, some tai chi (slow gentle movements), and a LOT of stretching.

In fact I stretched BEFORE Spinning today.....AND afterwards.

In a lot of ways I have to thank...as krazy as this sounds...my fibromyalgia for my stretching obsession. Because having fibro taught me I HAD to stretch my muscles or I'd be in agony several hours later. My muscles NEED to be stretched. So I do it.

I learned the hard way, and I DO IT.

We have all LEARNED the hard way...in many respects this journey is STILL teaching us to LEARN the hard way. From our mistakes.

We play games with ourselves. We make little promises, and then break them. We tell ourselves 'one won't hurt'. We 'take a break' for vacation or the holidays.

And then we pay for it.

We LEARN - the hard way - that this is for LIFE if we want it to 'stick'.

And in the process? If we hang in there and get it done, if we're OPEN MINDED and learn from our mistakes and also try and LISTEN to the advice of others who've 'been there'....we enrich our hearts and souls and mind with knowledge and we help others AND learn how to help ourselves. And that helps us to get to goal, change our lives, and learn how to enjoy life to the FULLEST.

Because it's not about 'eating'. It's about LIVING.

It's not about drowning your sorrows in the nearest goodie.

It's about moving BEYOND 'needing' that goodie in the first place!

Living with ALL your emotions, not covering them up or hiding them.
(read Geena Roth's books for more info on THIS issue...)

So I submit to you today....it's about MORE than weight.

You aren't a number on the scale. We all use those numbers as tangible, understandable, 'identifiers' in terms of 'where we are' along the way in our journeys, BUT you are much much more than that.

No one walks around with a big '159' on their foreheads (and thank GOD for it LOL).

So STOP fixating on that number and START fixating instead on the permanent changes you are making in your life.

Are you eating a salad with every L&G? Then CONGRATULATIONS, you are one step closer to changing your life. I learned (finally) to eat a salad with every L&G and I can't eat dinner without it anymore! I found an MF approved salad dressing I adore, and that's that!
There's a long list....there's no excuse to not finding one. Salads are important...lettuce has lots of fiber and vitamins and fills you up and....well...it's a "Green"!  And we get THREE "greens" for a reason, they are IMPORTANT.

Have you learned to love veggies? You've got half the battle won, right there. Especially if you KEEP that love, you don't 'switch it off' the second you hit goal.

Do you understand that this isn't a race or a competition, this is about getting CONTROL over your eating, once and for all?\
That it's NOT about how 'fast' you can lose but what PERMANENT changes you can make? Little by little? (because you can't change everything overnight. You just can't. It will backfire. You have to do things one step at a time. One HURDLE at a time.
One 'vertical climb' up that mountain at a time.

And that this isn't a 'one shot battle', either (unfortunately).
There will be many battles along the way. Some you will win, some you will lose. But when you lose? If you GET BACK UP again, you're still in the game! (again, CONGRATULATIONS because that's a big part of it...LEARNING to get UP again! Think 'Rocky Balboa' LOL).

It doesn't stop when you hit goal, either. 

I hate to be the one to tell you this, but you will STILL have to monitor what you eat! You will STILL have to adhere to some type of food plan. Yes, your new food plan will have more calories and more food groups, but NO, there will be certain foods that you will NEVER be able to eat again! Not without causing tremendous harm to your body and your psyche.

So which side will win? You can't have it both ways (although God knows we try! LOL).  You need to understand that every time you 'take a break' for a vacation or a wedding or a holiday, there WILL be consequences. NO, you won't necesarily blow up like a balloon and gain 20 pounds, but...you WILL have to fight, tooth and nail, to get BACK 'in the groove' again (trust me I've done it several times already and it's NOT fun).

Every time you 'take a break' you're taking a step backwards. You're telling your brain "I'll do this when times are GOOD, but if anything bad happens, or if it's just too hard, you have my permission, Fat Brain, to take over and go back to my old eating habits."

And it doesn't take long before those "it's too hard" or "something horrible happened times" somehow get stretched to include ...."whenever I'm bored", "whenever I'm lonely", "whenever I'm home alone", "Whenever it's raining" etc!....you get my drift.

And pretty soon you can't even remember what an OP day LOOKS like, much less DO IT.

There are no 'if's here. This is an absolute. Controlling your eating has to be NON NEGOTIABLE. That means under ANY circumstances.

It's only THEN that we TRULY gain PERMANENT control over our eating.

So CLIMB YOUR particular mountain, but remember your goal.
Your goal is to CHANGE your lifestyle. The way you regard FOOD. The way you EAT...FOREVER.

So that you LIVE SLIM...FOREVER!
...and set a wonderful example to EVERYONE around you, every friend, every relative, every child and (especially) every overweight person you meet...that IT CAN BE DONE. It's not impossible.

Keep on keepin' on!