Rewards and Healthy Choices

I just read a short blog by INDYGIRL and was struck by several statements she made. One is : "It isn't about fast, it's about getting the weight off for good" and the other: "Every positive choice you make should be celebrated."

These statements, while simple, are quite profound. When I lose a pound, or five...I want it to be FOR GOOD...and honestly it isn't always. I lose five, gain 6...lose two gain one...What can I do to make the weight loss FOR GOOD? And then in comes her second statement...The weight loss can be for good by making healthy choices. One choice; one decision at t a time and I need to STOP celebrating the weight loss and start celebrating the healthy choices. I think this is where I've gone wrong. I'm always ecstatic about losing weight...but then will make poor choices and regain it all again. My focus is backwards and wrong.

And too, my goal is wrong. My goal has been weight loss....when it SHOULD be, "getting healthy." When I was doing the 'eat to live ' method, most of the people in their blogs said that the weight loss really took off, once they stopped worrying about the weight loss and merely focused themselves on getting healthy. The question is, "What constitutes a healthy diet?" What Spark People says and what Fuhrman says are not the same thing. Spark People says you can eat anything...just keep it in moderation and count your calories by tracking.
Fuhrman says you can eat big quantities....just eat the "right things" meaning plant based food, beans, and nuts and seeds. The reason I was so gung ho about Fuhrman is that I HATE tracking my food and I hate restricting quantities.

So why was I unable to stick with the Eat to Live program? Well, the first thing is "Steroids" -- I wanted to eat everything in the house and then eat the house. So I got off track...and so did my husband which made it even easier for me to slide.

The second reason I fell off the program was that I was cooking elaborate gourmet style foods from his recipes...and my husband did not like them and would often refuse to eat them and if he did eat them, he complained about them the entire time. This was discouraging.

So I need to come up with a plan that stays in the parameters of the Eat to Live plan but is SIMPLE. DH says just to make him plates of raw vegetables and he will be happy. Problem is: I do not like to eat plates of raw veggies. It's boring. Now here may be the time to pull out my RAW cookbooks....from the days of my raw veganism. There are salads in there and foods made with the spiral cutter ...and these things are YUMMY. I think that is what i will do...I will search for a bunch of recipes and will notate the ones he likes and I like as well....that way I will have a list of recipes to go to when I need to plan a menu.

And every day, I need to make good choices and celebrate them. I'm going to try to be conscious about this...and I will celebrate every choice I make that is healthy and will lead me to being healthy. How will I celebrate? What does celebration consist of?

1) acknowledgment - I will try to keep a written log of healthy choices I make each day.
2) reward - on a regular basis, I will reward myself
3) make a list of rewards to choose from
4) Publicizing my healthy choices. I will blog about it.

A healthy choice does not have to consist of eating "birdfood"...It can involve going to Walmart and walking instead of using the scooter...It can mean encouraging a struggling friend...It can mean walking up and down the basement stairs a couple of times a day... It can mean sharing Spark People with a friend...or recommending the books by Fuhrman. It can mean putting on makeup and looking nice.

So my first healthy choice? Writing this blog!

Thank you Indy for a great blog that prompted me to think.