What's Different This Time

I have half-heartedly tried to lose weight before.  I have lost some weight, but never really kept going.  I have, at times, put more effort into exercise, and at others, put more effort into diet.  I am not really one of those people that tried a ton of whack diets, although I did consider briefly the “GM Diet” because it seemed extreme but promised radical results within one week.  You eat only fruits the first day, then vegetables the second, and then each day following has some absurd new regime (including a day of only milk, bananas, and cabbage soup).  I only considered it in the first place because of how I learned about it.

I was at a networking event and talked with a young woman who worked in event production.  During an icebreaker exercise about New Year’s resolutions, she shared that she wanted to lose 15 pounds in a month for some event where she needed to look good.  (A concept I quite understand.)  She had seen the “GM Diet” posted on Pinterest and simultaneously had seen a photo of The Biggest Loser’s “Gillian” Michaels and thought that’s what GM stood for.  Well, it doesn’t.  Gillian Michaels is actually Jillian Michaels, and GM is for General Motors.  It is, as the legend goes, a diet that GM promoted to its employees.  She said she had tried it for only 2 days and she lost weight so it was a sure way to lose weight for her event.  I was so charmed by the story that I looked it up, bought a bunch of fruits and vegetables, and stopped as soon as I realized I Die without protein, and it was an utterly ridiculous idea.  My first instinct was to get a slice (probably 2) of pizza at a place right by my work, maybe a root beer too – but I didn’t.  I made a much smarter choice (Flame Broiler chicken + steamed veggie bowl, no rice, no sauce) but I realized in that moment how misaligned my thoughts on eating are these days.  It was the beginning of a wake-up call that I have been snoozing for a while.

I have been waiting most of my adult life for eating healthy and exercise to just “fit in” conveniently to my life.  The thing is that neither of these things are actually that convenient.  Why it hasn’t worked in the past is because I have focused on changing some parts of my life but never saw as clearly that I need to change my whole life.  I’m not saying I need to change who I am, but I need to change what I’m doing about it.  In the past, I have been afraid to say out loud that I am following an eating plan, or that I am focusing on working out to lose weight – I have never wanted anyone to keep track of my progress or support me because it made it easier to not follow through. The only consequence is the self-defeat!

What’s different this time is that I AM changing my whole life.  It ain’t gonna be easy, but it’s a hell of a lot easier than the feeling of defeat. And I'll let you in on the journey so you can maybe help hold me accountable.