After reveling in my latest weight loss quandary, I’ve realized something.  Moderation is what I am fighting against (at least that 20% of me).  My whole life has been a series of extremes and I’ve never lived in a state of moderation.  So naturally, my comfort zone is at one extreme or the other.  I think that must be why I can go for several weeks of eating very healthy and exercising very regularly and then BOOM, I let life’s circumstances bring me to a screeching halt and send me into a frenzy of binge eating.

After reading this SparkPeople article (you know how I love them), I realized that there is a lot more to do with moderation than just being in the middle of two extremes.  Moderation in terms of weight loss represents a commitment to living a healthy life, not just temporarily, but for life.  That means that the “diet” never ends and that there will never come a time that I can simply eat whatever I want for the rest of my life.  I’ve proven to myself that I cannot handle that.

Well, throughout my weight loss journey, I have harboured sneaky little thoughts in the back of my head that once I reach my goal weight, I can eat how I want to again.  (I have the same thoughts financially.  Once we are debt free and financially secure, I can go back to spending the way I want to.)  So from what I can tell, my problem stems from my lack of willingness to commit myself to a life of moderation, seemingly in all areas.  (Now that I’ve mentioned the finances, I tend to go on financial binges as well!  Very interesting.)

What is it they say about accepting things?  The first step is admitting the problem.  So there.  I have exposed my secret plan to eat how I want to once I lose the weight.  There’s something about admitting it and discovering how silly it sounds when I read it or say it out loud.  Funny how secret plans that stay secret are much more powerful than when they are exposed.  HA!, brain, I got you now!  No more secret plans for you.

So, here are my non-secret plans and goals to help me address my binging issues and fear of moderation:

1) My weight loss goal is to get to 145 (that’s 5 pounds).  Once I reach that, it might change to something lower but for now, 145 is the magic number.

2) Focus of progress rather than perfection.  From the SparkPeople article:

Concept #2: Progress—not perfection—is important. To be successful, you don’t have to always make perfect decisions and have perfect days where things go exactly as you planned. If you eat more or exercise less than you wanted to one day, you can make up for it over the next several days if you want, or you can just chalk it up to experience and move on. Remind yourself that what happens on any one day is not going to make or break your whole effort. This is not a contest or a race, where every little misstep could mean the difference between winning and losing. It’s your life—and you’ll enjoy it a lot more when you can keep the daily ups and downs of your eating and exercise routine in perspective.

3) Pray for help accepting my need for moderation and help to live moderately, in all areas of life.

So, that’s my plan Stan.  I think it will help.  I also have to remember to go easy on myself and to not take it all so seriously.  Losing weight is a journey and a destination, both of which should be enjoyed, not just the latter.

Edit: I just found another article that has a “Mind over Body” 10-step plan.  This includes comparisons of a diet vs. a healthy lifestyle and 10 very in depth steps to overcoming the “brain/thinking” issues that can hinder our progress.