Stop the insanity..................NOW!

A healthy lifestyle is not an all or nothing proposition.  Plans will go awry and obstacles will pop up.  Don't get down.  Get down to business.  






It doesn't matter how often you fall.  What matters is how you land and where you end up.  Cats have nine lives, and always seem to get second chances.  Cats also land on their feet when they fall.  Coincidence?  Healthy living is a process of learning.  Life does not always pan out as we thought, and fate has a toolbox full of wrenches to throw into your plans.

In the years ahead, you will go through success and failures, highs and lows, steps forward and steps back, times of plenty and times of difficulty.  When the dust settles and the books of life are squared away, you are doing well if you come out the other side, better, stronger and happier for the experience.

Some of us see weight loss and healthy living as struggles.  I believe this is because we have an all or nothing approach and will only accept perfection.  When we have to face anything less than 100% success, we fall into the vat of guilty despair, convinced that we have failed.  We then revert to our old habits and the cycle begins again.

Guess what, it does not have to be this way.  Healthy living is a process of learning.  Setbacks can show up in a lot of ways.  

Plateaus:  "the scale is just not moving anymore!"
Burnout:  "I just can't keep up this tough regiment anymore!"
Week Moments:  "I had a really bad week, and spent all weekend drinking, eating cheeseburgers, and donuts!"
Discouragement:  "I'm never going to make it all the way, I might as well just give up now!"
Interruptions:  "Why did I have to get sick now!"
Injuries:  "Can't believe I pulled a muscle right when I was starting to see progress!"

Since you are developing a new healthy life style, you can choose to do things differently this time.  Instead of expecting perfection, you can concentrate on damage control, on bouncing back.



Keep a positive attitude:  Studies have shown the optimists reach more goals than pessimists.   You see, a setback is not a brick wall that must be climbed, it is merely a gate that must be opened and gone through, you will soon be on your way.

Trust in your plan:  You spent allot of time, money and energy deciding to get your band.  You laid out the steps before you.  You knew it was only a matter of time to reach your goal.  You also knew, it was not an easy fix.  What was true in the beginning of your journey, still holds true today.  Stay the course. 


Believe in yourself: Self discipline is hard.  But you have what it takes to build a healthy lifestyle.  When things go wrong, do not beat yourself up, instead give yourself a pep talk.  You are worth the effort.  Your weight loss goals deserve another shot.  You are already doing more than most people even try to do.


Give yourself good reason to keep going: return to the basics of motivation to get back on track.  Look back over the reasons you got your band.  Remind yourself of how you felt those first weeks after surgery when you had no intention of cheating what so ever. Who can you connect with that can give you a lift?  Are you rewarding yourself often enough?  The answer to those questions may hold the golden nugget of motivation that you have forgotten about.