eatingThinking

This seems overly simple.

Of course I know why, you say. I want to put on that dress or that suit again. I don’t want to be self-conscious anymore. I don’t have to be afraid of exposing my skin in the summer. I want to look good. I want to find the man or woman i love.

Sure these are real reasons. But are they good enough reasons? Are they good enough when you are ravenous and exhausted from the day’s work and you pass by a McDonalds and all you want to do is to order a supersized meal? Are they good enough when you had a really bad day and all you can think about is a big tub of Haagan Daz ice cream to make everything ok again?

Remember, everyone goes off focus from time to time. That is to be expected. To expect yourself to never go off track is unrealistic and will never happen. The challenge, then, is getting back on course when you’ve strayed. And we need some REAL reasons to put us back on track!

First, think of all the things that you hate in life that is caused by your being over weight and your disastrous eating habits. Do you feel tired and low on energy all the time? Do you have frequent constipation? How about acne? How’s your sleep? Do you have sleep apnea that disrupt your sleeping pattern? Or Do you find that no matter how sufficient your sleep is, you still feel sluggish and beat up in the morning? How about back and muscle pains from carrying too much body weight? Do you have severe headaches sometimes? Do you find that you have irritable mood from time to time? Are you currently diabetic and under a medication and a strict diet, or even under injection? How about high blood pressure? What about your self esteem? Has your confidence level suffer because you hate the way you look? Do you talk down to yourself all the time? Do you settle for something less because you feel you don’t deserve anything better?

All of these are pains you have to live with everyday. They are real. And they can get worst. The good news is, most of them can be improved or be eliminated altogether with a real change in life style.

Of course, trying to find the love of your life is a real reason too. But lets face it, this is not something you can control. Being slim and looking good does not automatically win you your dream partner. There is a lot more to a relationship than just your size. And what if you lose all that weight and still you are single? or what happens if your perfect love life takes a sudden turn? Does that mean that you will stop your effort now because the partner is no longer in your life? Will you put on all the weight you’ve lost before because being fit did not get you the person you want?

This is why you have to do this for a real reason – things that is under your control. Your physical and mental health is real – it is controlled by you and dictates how you live and feel everyday. Think of all the reasons you want to do this. And narrow it down to your top 5 reasons. Think carefully you choose. These will be what gets you back on track when you are vulnerable. They better be good. Real good. They need to be able to pick you up from the ground when you’ve been shattered. They need to dust you off and put you back on the right path.

Write your top 5 reasons on a sheet of paper and paste it at the head of your bed. That’s what you will see the first thing you wake up in the morning and the last thing you will read before you go to bed.

The idea is simple. If you are lost, just knowing where you want to be is not enough. You would need to know exactly where you are in order to find the path that will lead you to where you want to be. Similarly, just knowing how thin you want to be is not enough information. Figure out the status of your weight is equally important!

The easiest way to assess yourself is by plotting your weight and height on the BMI chart shown below. This will tell you your BMI figure and how much you are over your healthy weight.

There is no need to be afraid.  And there is no need to judge.  This is simply getting a clear picture of where you are.

If you are under the “overweight” category, then you are 10 to 20% higher than your healthy weight.

If you are under the “obese” category, then you are more than 20% higher than your healthy weight and your excess weight comes from body fat. You are at risk of health issues such as diabetes and high blood pressure and may already be exhibiting their symptoms.

If you are under the “morbidly obese” category, then you are more than 50% higher than your healthy weight. You are looking at serious health threats where if there is no immediate changes to your lifestyle, your life may be at risk.

Knowing which category you belong lets you know the impact your current weight will have on your health. Certainly, knowing you are in health danger or at much higher risk of having these dangers provides a good wake up and much greater motivation to stick by your weight loss plan.

I love eating. I share your passion for food. Food consumes my thoughts most of the time (I’m thinking food as I’m writing this). When I lie in bed at night, I think about what I will have for breakfast. Good food can turn a bad day around, while bad food can just as easily tear my day apart. This is who I am and I see nothing wrong with it.

If the same goes for you, then just say it out loud as I have here.

Acknowledging it is the first step to managing it.