It has been a rough summer as far as weight loss goes. I am still exercising almost every day but my diet has not been good. I'm thankful that so far, my weight is staying in the 150's. That's a praise. However, I still have a significant amount of weight to lose. I have to get back to following the GREEN vs RED system as soon as possible. I keep thinking, "Today is the day I can start back on the program," but there are a couple of problems with that mindset.
First of all, this system was intended to be a HABIT CHANGING system that would BECOME A WAY OF LIFE. For that to happen, I first have to recognize the bad habits that led to me being 60 LBS over weight and then choose new healthier habits on a regular basis, over a long period of time, to truly become a changed person.
I'm on my way to being that truly changed person. Although I would have preferred to continue losing weight this summer, I have learned some important lessons that will ultimately help me reach my goal of being an overall healthy person, at a healthy maintainable weight.
Lessons Learned:
1. I eat when I am stressed. I need to consciously choose to reduce stress in the areas where I am able to. That way, when the unexpected stressors happen (and they will) I have the time and energy to deal with them in a healthy manner.
2. I often create stress in my life by my poor boundaries and mismanagement of my (and my children's) time. As my wonderful husband puts it, I consistently try to shove 10 LBS of stuff in a 5 lb bucket. I can change that. Free time (or white space on my calendar) is a GOOD thing!
3. I'm very addicted to sugar. I've suspected it for years but as I've watched my daily sugar gram count be over the recommended amount almost every day, I believe there truly is an issue there. Even on days when I am well within my calorie allotment, and I've not eaten any processed sugar, I will still be over on sugar grams by a significant margin (double, triple, quadruple or even more!) There really aren't any good things that come from too much sugar in your system so I need to diligently address this issue.
4. Exercise is a natural, anti- depressant. I need to do something physical every day. Plus, I LOVE to exercise, so why wouldn't I?
5. Sleep is CRITICAL. I RARELY get enough. Answer to this issue is found in #2- Poor boundaries and poor use of time. Very much within my control to change.
6. Reading my Bible (or a scriptural based devotional) and praying daily are CRITICAL to having a peaceful, calm spirit. Nothing else fills that gap. When I am calm and peaceful, I deal with stress better and that peacefulness transfers to my children. Everyone benefits from a calm mom. No one (including me) likes a busy, frantic, often yelling mom.
7. Water fills me up. I eat less, have a much happier digestive system and don't drink diet soda. It's a win- win all the way around.
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