During an interview this week, I was asked a question that stopped me in my tracks.
“What derails you?”
It took me a couple minutes of thought before I could even get my head around this. It felt a little familiar – like maybe I once knew what it was like, but it was a dim memory.
I’ve been losing weight a long time. Like, if there’s an award for long-term change, I’m in line for it. But what happens when you keep going is that some things that seemed like BIG CONCEPTS and HUGE AH-HAs become…
well…
just life.
So I told the interviewer:
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It’s been a couple weeks since I posted a blog! This is always a busy time of year as my son starts school, and I usually begin another enLIGHTen Your Life! mastermind course.
This year, I have two classes beginning at once! Double fun!
It’s also an interesting time because my birthday falls in September too. That, combined with telling my weight loss story to my new classes, has directed me to a more introspective perspective on my journey than usual.
Losing weight permanently opened up my whole world on so many levels. I gained confidence. I took risks I’d never taken before. I began to chart my own destiny in terms of work, relationships, parenting, creativity.
I literally found myself under the layer of insulation I carried for over 20 years.
Perhaps it was my birthday, but I recently thought about what I found when I lost weight from the inside out. What was hiding underneath all that fat?
This is what I found:
I believe this photo was taken on my first birthday because you’ll notice I’m standing by the ice cream churn! My mother used to make homemade ice cream on our birthdays.
No doubt I am waiting for ice cream! Maybe I’ve been churning and I’m taking a break. But this is what I see:
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Weight loss takes time. I’m often asked to define the best loss rate. My answer is: “The best rate is what your body and mind will allow. It will take as long as it takes YOU.”
There are natural restrictions on what your body will release in terms of weight. If you are careful to burn fat and nothing else (optimal because the body fights back when other elements of the body are threatened), you will release as much as your body can process. The process of burning fat is quite complicated, and doesn’t happen as efficiently as burning some butter on your stove – misunderstanding this is a big reason most people never achieve permanent weight loss.
Did you know that, if you could burn one pound of fat in a day (and you can’t), it would take
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This week has seen a lot of discussion about a new diet book which targets girls ages 6-12. After the initial outbreak of criticism, the author appeared on several talk shows defending his book as “empowering.” I spoke on the news about it Thursday.
I have to admit I’ve been wrestling with conflicting feelings about this. On one hand, I want to have the guy banned from Amazon and every other bookseller. His complete ignorance of the damaging and diminishing effect of diets on young women is simply deplorable.
On the other hand, we live in a country where we enjoy freedom of speech.
And yet, we have laws and policies that protect children from harm. And this is harmful.
To complicate matters further, as a blogger, do I speak up and risk giving him more exposure, or do I remain silent?
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We often have a picture in our heads of what successful weight loss looks like.
It might go like this:
New Diet + Short Period of Time = Skinny Me
We convince ourselves this is how it works and, when it doesn’t work, we blame ourselves. Or the diet. But usually ourselves – as if any diet EVER worked!
With a 99% fail rate and a 108% regain rate, diets are so not the way to go.
Once we realize this, some really big opportunities open up! As one of my clients recently said, “There really are 50 ways to leave your lover!”
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The phrase “having it all” has been cropping up lately. You know what that means. Time to pay attention!
“Having it all” drives so much activity and behavior! We seem to have hugely idealistic pictures of our “perfect” lives: thin bodies, thriving relationships, successful careers, high achiever children, beautifully appointed homes, oodles of money, respect, admiration…. the list can obviously go on and on.
We’re even willing to minimize huge aspects of our lives that are fantastic when just one part of what we define as “all” is missing (or doesn’t show up exactly when we want it!).
Having it All - Version 1
Here’s an example: A client* comes to me with a fantastic life
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The more I study the obesity epidemic, the more I am convinced we are an overweight nation (and growing more so) because we do not know or practice the truth.
Look at our politicians.
Look at our television programs.
And advertising.
LIES. LIES. LIES.
It’s so easy to bend the foul pole.
It’s even easier to blame the other guy or gal.
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The new movie “Limitless”, starring Bradley Cooper as a blocked writer seeking a pharmaceutical boost to meet a publisher’s deadline, inspired this post.
The movie is built around several cliches, including the one known as “blocked writer syndrome” (I’m always incredulous when I hear “blocked writers with publishers’ deadlines”, since I have 3 books ready for publication right here on my desk, can always meet a deadline, am a self-starter and finisher (because I can coach myself out of any hesitancy), and have no contract yet) — but its bigger themes include “power is seductive” and “today’s world lacks humanity.”
Another cliche caught my attention though. It’s the “quick fix.” Our growing cultural belief that we can “fast forward”
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- Take a look! Wisdom! https://t.co/zjh6DbmIh9
