Weight Loss Envy

Ever wonder why sometimes you just can’t lose those extra pounds? Weight loss programs, television shows, magazines, and fad diets galore are all around us. We can’t hide from the fact that we are just getting bigger and bigger. Anyone seen the movie Wall-E? How everyone aboard the ship was obese, not exercising, floating around in their hover chairs. That movie made me think twice the next time I wanted to gulp down a mocha frappaccino. Odd how an animated movie can have such an impact, but soon even that fades back in my memory, and I am back to the mocha.

Ideally, I believe that we have to be happy with the way we look and feel.I’m not saying one needs to be thin to be happy, but that everyone needs to find out what is best for them. I always told myself, yeah “I could lose a few pounds,” but then continued eating whenever and whatever I wanted.

Over a year ago, Alex and I started running. He has slimmed down quite a bit, but I on the other hand, did not lose even an ounce. Why was life so cruel to me? Why did I not reap the same benefits? After all I was running 3 miles 3 times a week as well. I just didn’t get it.

That’s when our recent ski trip put things into perspective. My friend, the expert skier, wanted to show me that I could go down a bigger mountain instead of all the easy, now boring, slopes I was skiing on. She told me that I just needed to “Commit” to turning left to right, and then just do it. See, I was scared to go down an intermediate hill because I knew I was going to speed down at top speed fall and quite possibly injure myself in the process. However, she saw my potential, she saw that I mastered the easy slopes without a problem. I thought to myself “commit to the turn,” “commit to the turn.” Needless to say that became my new mantra, basically the whole way down the mountain and then I realized that I did it. She was right I just needed to commit myself to making the right moves.

During our ski trip we shared a condo with one of my friends who had lost over 30 pounds herself in the past year and I just envied how good she looked and her new sense of accomplishment, pride, and renewed self confidence. I thought “I want that.” I noticed how devoted she was to her new weight loss: making sure she ate smaller portions and not overdoing it on sweets. I thought to myself how could she possibly be happy rejecting a bite of that delicious chocolate smothered cake? I of course ate as much of the chocolatey goodness I wanted, and then groaned in the morning when my ski pants were tighter than the day before. I was frustrated and so then I asked her, “how did you do it?” She said one word “Commit!”

I wondered if my two friends had something going. Commit to turning down the mountain, commit to a healthier lifestyle. Why had I made the decision to go down that mountain? Because of my friend? or the fact that deep down inside I knew I could it. After all I just needed to commit to the turn! The end result? An overwhelming sense of achievement, pride, and the desire to go down again and again this time without fear, just fun!

Now I  am going to choose to commit to losing weight, the healthy way. Which means I have to give up a lot of the unhealthy foods I eat on a consistent basis, like chocolate. Wish me luck and I hope that you too will choose to just, “Commit!”