I want to share this with all of you because it worked for me and I think it will do the same for you. First of all, be easy on yourselves. You probably need to stop right now, take a long, deep breath, and tell yourself you are not all that bad for not eating what you should. After all, it’s not easy changing your eating habits—it all ties in with family, culture, traditions, and has been the way you’ve been eating for a long time, so again, I ask that you be kind and gentle with yourselves—change takes time and good, lasting change requires patience.
I’ve got the same story as you—struggled with my weight since I was a young adult and tried many different diet methods, medications, etc. The thing with me is that if my will power is not strong and if I don’t have a sense of this is what I want to do and now—it won’t happen. Last year—right around the end of April 2007, beginning of May 2007, I had literally had it—not with me, but with the way I was eating. Two years before, I’d started to eat unhealthily again after following a regimented health plan for pre-diabetics. What really set me off, was eating that bread from the bread basket again at the dinner table. I had stopped doing that, but said to myself, a little piece won’t hurt. Well, that’s where it all started—the bread from the breadbasket, extra sugary sweet, and rich desserts and back to larger food portions.
So last year when I’d just eaten a hungry-man sized lunch and felt ultra disgusted, so much so that I could hardly breathe after consuming so much, I stopped myself in my tracks, right then and there—and decided that this was the right time to do something about it. I didn’t want to feel sick after every meal anymore because I’d severely overeaten. I also wasn’t extremely enthused by the way my belly hung over and how my clothes looked on me—or more importantly how much my sugar regulation (or lack thereof) was being affected and how much my knees hurt.
Here’s how I started my journey to good health. Many years ago, I had seen a wonderful nutritionist who made me understand that eating well was not a punishment and that it was indeed a gift to my body, mind, and soul if I did so. She also taught me that rewarding oneself now and again with a favorite treat was fine and should be guilt-free. I dug up my old food diaries and some self-affirmation books she had given me and realized, at least a decade later, that all of it was common sense and what we all know we should do, but don’t. Back then, I’d work with her to formulate weekly food and activity health plans—foods that I liked and activities that I enjoyed doing. Nothing was to feel like a task.
