Something to think about (OLDER POST)

Monday, November 05, 2007

A while back I had posted a link that sent u to a blog by an inspirational man, he has lost a lot of weight and kept track of it through it all. The following is an excerpt from one of his pages, It has really got me to thinking and hopefully those of u on the same path as me will get out of this what i did. I honestly would love to shake this man's hand for the inspiration that he has given me.....Think of this as almost a tribute to Billy. What's the difference between a lifestyle change and a diet? All of us (in the F.A.T. coalition) realize that "diet" is a bad word, and that what we really need to do is make this a lifestyle change. But I've been doing some thinking about what that actually means. I think that most people would answer that the difference is that a diet will end once the goal has been achieved, and that old, unhealthy habits would immediately resume. And that a lifestyle change would mean keeping up with your healthy ways once you have achieved your goal, and for the rest of your life. Sounds about right. The problem is, that's a bit hazy. I seriously doubt anyone goes into a "diet" these days with the intention of resuming old unhealthy ways when the diet is over. They probably say "Well, once I reach my goal weight, I'll still eat healthier, but I'll be able to splurge more, and I won't need to be quite as rigorous with my exercise." This is the gray area called "maintenance", and the reason that people often gain the weight back is that they gradually become more and more lackadaisical about it until eventually they're back at their old, unhealthy ways. Believe me, I know. I lost 50 pounds once only to gain about 40 of it back. The power of denial is strong indeed. My point is this: I'm willing to bet that most of us, myself included, have this "maintenance" attitude about how we will proceed once we've reached our goal weight. And we're calling it a "Lifestyle change". But what it really is, is a "Diet". Not that our intentions are not pure as the driven snow, but it's time to stop fooling ourselves. I submit to you that the real difference between a diet and a lifestyle change is this: A diet is primarily focused on results. A lifestyle change is primarily focused on the process. What happens when we are reinforced by our results? Well, when we stop seeing them, we get frustrated. We consider giving up. We start to feel like we aren't doing enough. Then when we start to see results again, we get the wind put back in our sails, we are re-energized. Look at what's been happening with our plateaus. As long as results are our primary reinforcement, we are dieting. What do you think will happen once we reach our goal weights? The results will stop coming in. That reinforcement is gone. And that's when it starts to creep back in. I know it's not easy to stop focusing on results, and yes, it is nice to see how far you've come, and how you're doing. But I think that all of us really need to take a good hard look at ourselves. Are we dieting? Or are we making a lifestyle change?