How many of you have started a diet only to quit after a week? How many of you are tired of losing the weight and gaining it back, plus more? That was me for decades. It was a joke amongst my friends and family and a constant source of shame. What did I learn?

A HEALTHY DIET VERSUS DIETING

We NEED to eat food. Our diet consists of what we eat daily to provide fuel for our organs to function optimally. Dieting is RESTRICTING our food intake to achieve some desired goal, usually to lose weight by reducing excess body fat. It seems obvious, but understanding this may be the first thing you need clarity about. This will also help you understand one of the reasons dieting fails.

SHAME CAN BECOME A NORMAL STATE

I was ashamed because as a physician I had allowed myself to gain excess weight. I was ashamed that I could not keep it off. I was ashamed that I had lost connection with the body’s signals. I was ashamed to be so overweight. The more ashamed I felt, the more I struggled to be healthy. The paralysis was apparent in my struggles to get out of bed and get moving. I was too ashamed to work out or even try. Recognize that most people gain weight because they do not:

1. Acknowledge their emotions [we are human]
2. Understand the message of their emotions
3. Cope with their emotions in healthy ways
4. Realize they can CHOOSE something different and healthier

STEPS TO REDUCING YOUR WEIGHT

It’s the first day and you are excited and motivated. It’s the third month and you are still excited and motivated. You can make lifestyle changes that are sustainable, which will give you the sustainable result you desire when you:

1. EXAMINE YOUR STORY
2. RENEW YOUR MIND
3. UNDERSTAND SOME HARD TRUTHS
4. PRACTICE BEING CONSISTENT WITH THE SMALL STEPS

A HEALTHY PLAN IS A NECESSITY

No plan must be so rigid that you feel like a failure if you cannot stick to it. A healthy plan allows you to be consistent in choosing healthy. Realize that without discipline to practice self-control, no plan will succeed. Start by learning to listen to your body. I recommend taking a week of being mindful daily. Get interested in noting when you are hungry physiologically. Notice how your body responds to certain foods. Understand your stressors. Accept that sometimes things just will not go as planned. Discover what healthy foods you truly enjoy. Then learn to prepare those foods in ways that are delicious to you. Pay attention to unhealthy patterns of thinking. Weed out your negative or limiting beliefs. Finally, gain clarity about why losing weight is important to you.

NON-NEGOTIABLES ARE IMPORTANT

It’s like brushing your teeth, I hope most people consider this a non-negotiable. I won’t go to bed without brushing my teeth. Perhaps it is your water intake, I must have a minimum of 12 glasses of water per day. Then again it may be that you must have 30 minutes daily of movement. I will not start my day without spending at least 30 minutes with God. List your non-negotiables. This helps to create the foundation on which you will build your plan. Also, we tend to get overwhelmed with the decision-making process, so we can conserve energy and nix the “overwhelm” state of mind by having clearly defined non-negotiables. Finally, it is not three months of dieting, it is creating an effective lifestyle that you can sustain.