Awareness
By Jennifer
About a month ago my lunch plans went majorly awry and due to time and weather, I had to run through a nearby Jack N the Box to grab a quick bite before returning to my office. I was trying to make a halfway decent food choice, so I ordered a sirloin burger, which didn’t appear to be weighed down by a pound of cheese or creamy sauces. I thought I was playing it mostly safe until I later looked online at the calorie info and realized my seemingly normal burger was about 1000 calories. I had no idea!
My husband and I recently decided to switch electric companies after a particularly horrid customer service experience. When we began researching and shopping around, we soon found out we were paying twice what we should have been. We were being taken advantage of because we assumed we were given the best rate at the onset of our service contract and we never bothered to check on things during our time as a customer. I had no idea!
Finally — although I am willing to wager you probably see my point by now — I was at the grocery store yesterday when I got stuck behind a mom with two carts spilling over with items and a wad of probably 50 coupons in hand. I wasn’t even annoyed at how long her check-out took (about a half hour) because I was impressed with how much money her awareness saved her (literally hundreds of dollars!). You can save THAT much money with a little research and work? I had no idea!
Gaining control of your fitness and weight-loss goals takes a lot of different things — time, motivation, equipment — but awareness is at the core of it all. If you arm yourself with basic knowledge, it really is amazing how quickly things fall into place. (And, as I sort of allude to up above, this applies to many different things.)
Since I started my month without fast food (a week or so ago), I’ve been forced to become much more aware of what I’m eating, when I’m eating it and why. If I’m not allowing myself to mindlessly drive through something quick and easy — and scarfing it down before I even realize what I’m doing — then I’m taking the time to plan what I’m going to eat and when.
Additionally, about a week ago I wrote something on my personal blog about being kinder to myself, about internally talking to myself the way I’d talk to my friends and loved ones. This has motivated me in ways I can’t begin to explain. When I find myself in the kitchen at midnight, I talk to myself as I would a friend, “Go grab a book or some water instead. You deserve better than a cookie.” I walk out of the kitchen more often than not. When I do screw up, I say to myself, “Eh, just have a lighter dinner now” instead of “Well, you’ve screwed up now, so just go ahead and have ALL THE FOOD YOU CAN SHOVE INTO YOUR MOUTH.” If I knew a friend was struggling with weight, I’d offer a million different words of encouragement yet, before now, I never offered myself a single one.
I knew I needed to lose weight — and I even knew how — but connecting those dots seemed nearly impossible. I get it now — (sigh of relief): being nice to yourself and also being present and aware of your thoughts and choices is a Sharpie-drawn, thick black line between the two.
And, wouldn’t you know. I’ve lost four pounds.
July 13th, 2009 at 3:14 pm
Exactly! I’m trying a lot harder now to be a bit kinder to myself. Just because I’ve had some chocolate doesn’t mean OH NOES YOU STUFFED UP YOUR DIET, might as well eat everything you can now since you STUFFED UP! I try and compensate by eating a lighter meal next time and doing extra exercise.
Great post!
July 13th, 2009 at 5:33 pm
I loved this post. Being kind to yourself is something I don’t think very many of us do. I’m going to try this!
And if you want to give up fast food for good, read Skinny Bitch. You’ll never be the same. I only read parts and had to stop myself before I became a vegetarian because I love the cow.
July 13th, 2009 at 6:37 pm
I am going to do this with you. I need to be my biggest supporter. I know I can do it, I just have to do it. I agree we truly control our own happiness.
Way to go on the 4 lbs this past week. That is awesome!
July 14th, 2009 at 10:14 pm
Oprah said recently that she has decided she has a “love” problem not a “weight” problem. She knows what to eat and when and when she should stop. She knows foods she should never start to eat because she has learned she will finish them. She is starting to connect the dots, much like you, and has learn that she hasn’t given herself the love she needs from herself – more personal time, better work/play balance, daily enjoyable exercise that will help her feel good and healthy. Love. It all comes down to that.
July 15th, 2009 at 3:52 am
Thanks for this post. I hadn’t really thought of how supportive of others I am but how I constantly give myself a hard time. I like it and am going to give it a shot too. I know that I can change my eating habits and feel better about myself.
July 15th, 2009 at 4:15 pm
Thank you, thank you, thank you. Reading the line about talking to yourself the way you would speak to friends and loved ones smacked upside the head so hard I saw stars. I’ve been struggling for so long, trying to figure out how to be NICE to myself, but I kept stumbling because old habits die hard. But this? It’s like you turned a light on for me.
Again, thank you.
Now I just have to *remember* it.
July 15th, 2009 at 5:05 pm
Excellent!! Keep it up!
July 16th, 2009 at 9:59 am
I really agree with what you said here, especially the “no fast food for a month” idea.
I feel as though we tend to put a lot of energy, a la Weight Watchers, into the project of “Eating What We Want And Still Losing Weight.” Budgeting of points or counting exercise calories, exercising strict portion control, substituting “lighter” options off the fast food menu, etc., are all part of this prject of “Eating What We Want And Sitll Losing Weight.”
For me, that project is exhausting, frustrating, and doesn’t work. It’s much, much easier to just Give Up Bad Foods Entirely. That way, I make the decision ONCE, and never have to wrestle with it again.
And instead of feeling constantly deprived, and constantly struggling with my points budget to find a way to have what I want while still losing weight, I feel free.
And weight management is SO MUCH EASIER if I just give up alcohol, salty/crunchy snacks, and sweets. They’re just out of my life.
I think the whole “Eating What We Want While Still Losing Weight” project is as frsutrating as, say, “Buying A New Coutoure Wardrobe Every Season While Still Saving For Retirement.”
Maybe it could be done, but only if you’re willing to devote all your time and energy to looking for sales and ways to get your hands on samples, working a second job, giving up ALL other discretionary spending, not going on vacation EVER, etc.
To me, the easy — and obvious — answer is simply to realize, “I don’t need a new haute couture wardrobe every season. In fact, I don’t need designer labels at all.”
Realizing that you don’t need those “splurge” items (like sweets or fancy clothes) is so liberating. Once you stop consuming those things, you lose your appetite for them, and the struggle is over.