This isn't quite the last day of April, but it's close enough, so I'll post my updated weight loss chart.I had some terrible diet days in April. I had some pretty decent days, too. Apparently I had more good days than bad according to the scales. And I'm sure the daily exercise has helped.
It's a good feeling to look at my chart and see the dots drop.
I tried various tactics in April - - calorie counting, food exchanges, omitting sugar, intuitive eating, a morning fast... Then I went back to a method that's been stuck in my brain for months, probably years. It's called act-as-if. Basically, it's telling yourself you are already where you want to be, and behaving accordingly.
In my case, it's putting food on my plate in the amount I would need to maintain my ideal weight (substantially less than eating to maintain my current body weight!)
It's saying no to second helpings (or nibbling as I clear stuff away from the table).
It's not eating in the evening before I go to bed. If I've GOT to munch on something while I read or watch TV, I try a carrot.
It's walking a mile every day, either outside or with my walking DVD in the living room.
It's making better choices when I'm away from home, such as a decaf latte with lowfat milk and no sugar instead of malt, or a turkey breast Subway sandwich instead of a MacDonald hamburger and fries.
It's saying no to that candy bar calling out to me in the checkout lane at Safeway, and popping a stick of gum into my mouth instead.
I'm going to trust that skinny thinking will help get me where I want to be. And as the lyrics go,
I'm not where I want to be,Not where I ought to be,
But thank God I'm not where I was.
I'm hoping acting-as-if is one way to rewrite the script in my brain. If I stop the craziness of eating the way I have always eaten, with all the bad habits, then how can I expect to see change? If I eat and live like I would at forty pounds less than I am today, how can I not see change?
I stumbled onto a page for Alcoholics Anonymous. A suggestion often made to people who are stuck in a cycle of poor choices and behaviors is to act-as-if, implying if you follow the steps and teachings of the program, the program will begin to work for you.
Another web page suggested acting-as-if could be looked at as living a faith-based life rather than an evidence based life, tapping into the power of the possible. That sounds pretty thought-worthy to me.
Next month (or sooner) I'll let you know how it's working.
