This article is hugely resonant...probably for all of Us! Aha, we say: I can't help it. I guess my genes just aren't as evolved on the chain as some people's. I am close to my wild and desperate ancestors. I just CAN'T have self-control. My body is wired to survive in much harsher circumstances than exist for most of us in the modern world.
Hmmmm...
From the teeny bit that I have read so far in "The Crack" book, I see this actual physical reality described there too.
So how do we overcome "nature"? That is a damn good question. But this article talks about how humans have had to adapt to living in communities...that takes self-control. I manage to do THAT. (Although living with a partner is definitely often an exercise in self-control, right?!). :-) I guess this is just another hurdle some of us have to jump.
And, this week, I did it. I had self-control. I had it perfectly for three days and pretty perfectly for the rest of the week. And my reward is 2 more pounds off. I have now made a good dent in the "holidaze" lbs that I gained. And I can now see the possibility in the not-too-far future of being back where I was in a happy weight range. Whew.
The self-control is NOT easy. I think about it every single day. I am confronted with things I want to eat and drink and I have to self-talk myself out of it at least once a day (usually at night...work days are pretty easy). Sometimes I can do it. Sometimes I don't have the strength. But I realize that this is just something that I have to ACCEPT and DO. Or else I will balloon up again.
I said to DB the other night: I have kept a huge amount of The Big Weight off for almost 15 years. In order to do that, I had to change my life. Since I started losing The Big Weight in 1994 I have never stopped exercising (before then, I never exercised, period). I have had periods of enforced inactivity, but I never let them go on longer than I was forced to. And, while I have had periods (and still do) where food and drink seems to take over a little bit, I still can't imagine sitting down and eating (for example) a bag of Doritos and not, at the very least, THINK about it...and try to make up for it. This is SO NOT the me of pre-1994. And I am proud of that.
And I see a friend of ours who had liposuction on her hips, a tummy tuck and arm lift last week. While she is not a skinny person, she was NOT what any of us would call fat. And she is thrilled with her "boy hips". But all I can think of is that this WILL NOT LAST (similar to what I think when people get the gastric bypass -- sorry, I know this is a hot topic and I am NOT judging anyone else's choices). I don't see how anything can change permanently unless you change the behavior that got you to where you were...permanently. I don't believe in quick fixes. I have never seen them last.
So, today, I guess I'm tooting my horn a little. Feeling good. Feeling like I have made good choices with my body even though I am not totally pleased with how it looks and feels some days. Feeling like I am on a journey. Feeling like I am continuing to learn about me and what works...for me. It's a never-ending process....
And it's not ALL about self-control.
4 comments:
Hooray for your good week!! and the reward of the two pounds off. I thought i was doing good but the pounds are not off yet..I need exercise. Anyway reading this post inspired me. Thanks!!
you are right about the surgery people - and it has always bothered me to no end that therapy is not a part of that process. the lipo lady will just accumulate it somewhere else on her body - unless she changes the habits that got her there in the first place.
I think that a big part of what you wrote about is children have not (much) been taught impulse control about food.
People think of 'kid food' and don't think 'setting habits for life'.
It is odd that we were both so struck by the same general thought on the same day!!! I wonder why? because we were both 'triggered' by totally unrelated events. Maybe this is a necessary understanding/step and we are on the same general evolution/progression?
Whoo whoo! I'm glad you had a great week! Here's to another great week for you!
A little late, but congrats on your self control & weight loss!
The self control thing is interesting. I can make myself run hard even when I want to stop. I just make up my mind to do it, & I do it. I hit me smack in the head last night that I could do the same thing with food, but I don't. I DID avoid having Fruit Loops at 9:30 pm. by unloading the dishwasher & telling myself that by the time I've loaded the dirty dishes, the craving will have passed. I fought the craving hard! But it did pass. I was a little shocked, actually. I employed the same thought process to the food avoidance as I do to my running--you can do anything for 60 seconds (or 2 minutes or 1 mile or whatever). Strangely, it worked. I just need to train my brain as hard as my body now. Funny how that's so much harder!
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