Does this story sound even remotely familiar to you? January 1st, you resolve to lose (fill in the blank) pounds in the coming year! You are going to eat the right foods, exercise every single day and get lean and healthy. No more junk foods, no more sugar, out with carbs and processed foods. You vow they will never touch your lips again! This is the year that you are finally going to get a handle on your weight once and for all! This time you really, really mean it!
Week one: You’ve read the latest book about the newest diet that promises to melt all those excess pounds off your body in just a few effortless weeks. You purchase and prep foods you rarely ever eat but this time it will be worth it! The book tells you that if you eat these foods, in these specific amounts, combined in this specific way you are guaranteed to lose all the weight you want. You tell yourself it’s only temporary until you lose the weight then you can go back to eating the things you love, but only in moderation, right?
Week two: You are shopping at the grocery store buying all the foods for your new diet regimen. You spend hours in the kitchen, slicing and dicing; doling out little portions that you can grab and go when the urge to eat strikes. You have gone through the pantry and fridge and removed all the “bad” foods that you are no longer allowing yourself to eat. This time it will be different, you tell yourself, this time you are going to do this the right way and the weight is going to melt off.
Week three: you are invited to have drinks after work with your friends. After a couple of Margaritas you convince yourself that eating a few chips and salsa won’t hurt anything, you’ve been so good on your diet. Problem is that you have been depriving yourself for weeks and now the floodgates have been opened. You inhale 2 bowls of chips and salsa, and join your friends for dinner telling yourself that you will get back on the wagon tomorrow.
When tomorrow comes you feel so guilty about being weak and overeating the night before, you just can’t muster up the motivation to get back on your diet, and thus begins the journey of regaining all the weight you just lost plus 10, 15, or 20 pounds more…sigh.
Week three: You have failed yet again. You resign yourself to the fact that you will never be thin, that you will always be the chubby girl. You tell yourself it doesn’t matter how you look on the outside, the only thing that matters is what is on the inside. Then why are you so miserable and so unhappy with yourself?
Does any of this sound familiar? I was finally at the point where I had pretty much given up. I was almost resigned to the fact that I was a fat, unattractive, middle aged woman and that I should just get used to it. I was too weak to change it, so it was time to just accept my body the way it was. Only I couldn’t.
There was still a part of me, deep down inside, that hoped there was a miracle out there for me. I was tired of avoiding social gatherings because I didn’t feel comfortable in my own skin. I was tired of standing behind people in pictures because I was ashamed of how I looked. I was tired of trying to blend into the background so people wouldn’t notice me because was ashamed of my appearance. I was tired of feeling disgusted with myself when I looked in the mirror. I was tired of not feeling sexy or cute anymore. I was sick and tired of having no energy. I was sick and tired of feeling like I didn’t matter as much as someone who was thinner than me. I wanted to take my life back, I just didn’t know how! I didn’t want this to be who I was going to be for the rest of my life.
Then I stumbled on intermittent fasting and I’ve never looked back. Before you dismiss intermittent fasting as something that you can’t possibly do, I encourage you to do your own research into what it’s all about, and then make an informed decision about it. It is not about starving yourself!
Check out Gin Stephen’s website at http://www.ginstephens.com/. She does a wonderful job explaining how it all works and she shares some of the most inspiring success stories from everyday people who have lost huge amounts of weight and share the health benefits they are experiencing with intermittent fasting. I highly recommend her book Delay, Don’t Deny. You will find everything you need to know about intermittent fasting in her book.
She has truly changed my life and how I feel about myself. She has given me hope again; that I am not destined to be fat forever. My relationship with food has completely changed as well. Food no longer controls me like it used to. I have so much energy and feel so good practicing intermittent fasting. There are no good foods to eat or bad foods I can’t eat; I enjoy all my favorite foods every day and never have to deny myself the foods I love to eat.
I’m cooking all my favorite recipes again, now that I’m no longer on a “diet”. I started baking homemade bread, from scratch! Bread is my kryptonite and the one food that any “diet” I have ever been on, has always been a forbidden food. Oh the carbs, the glorious, delicious carbs, and anyone would tell you a definite no-no. Now I can enjoy all the bread I want with lots of butter and wash it all down with a glass of red wine, guilt free, and I’m losing weight.
If this sounds intriguing, read the book “Delay, Don’t Deny” and you will see why there are so many people, just like me, who swear by this way of eating. I’m still new at this, but in the first three months I have already dropped 15 pounds. I’m averaging about a pound a week, and I estimate that I will be at my goal weight this summer. This isn’t like any other “diet” I have ever tried, it truly is a lifestyle that I have adopted and will continue long after I reach my goal weight. It’s not a quick weight loss plan, but the scale is moving in the right direction and that gives me the motivation and patience to stick with it.
Is 2019 finally going to be the year that you lose that excess weight for good? Are you finally ready for the scale to start going down instead of continually creeping upward? Are you tired of buying bigger and bigger clothes? Or are you in denial and continue to squeeze into painfully tight clothes that are uncomfortable, unflatteringly tight, and ill fitting? For me I know it certainly is! Are you going to join me? What have you got to lose? Except a few pounds?