Q&A Rock Bottom

I belong to many 'groups', and most I have left behind. This particular group, wannabeabigloser I joined as it started and then I faded away. Recently I found it again in my quest to help people that used to try to help me.

Q:     Well, I have finally reached a weight that I have been dreading for a long time. Ugh. I am so sick of my bad eating habits. But every time that I try to change them, I eventually go back to the the old ways again. And every time I go back to the old ways, I end up heavier than I have ever been before.

How do I break the cycle?

- S




A:     Two words "AS IF";


Thinking "as if", is how I lost weight finally and have kept it down. Still have some weight to
go, but I don't get worried as much about it anymore. Less stress equals less
fat on the body too.

I acted 'as if' I were already thin. I thought to myself, do already thin people
drink diet drinks? no, so I don't either. Do already thin people eat fast? No
they enjoy every mouthful of quality food they eat.

I have a thin family member and I watched her eat along side my larger family members once because I was curious. The larger family members had seconds while the thin one was still eating
firsts, although it seemed like she was eating the whole time. What she was
doing naturally, was that she chewed longer. The heavier ones had a forkful ready
as soon as they put one in their mouth. The thin one put her fork down and when
she swallowed, then she got more food on her fork. No one ever told her to do that, she just did. Not all thin people do that, but most will wait to get another mouthful until after they have swallowed what they had.

I acted 'as if' I were already in shape. I stopped saying I would do something
when I got smaller. Like I thought when I got into shape, i would then do things
I always wanted to do like biking, climbing, karate. Then I saw my life going
by, had not done the things I wanted because I was still fat. So I pretended to
be an athlete. I joined karate thinking I would be the fattest most out of shape
person in the dojo. When I started classes, I 'knew' I was those things, but I
decided to fake it. A year later I am the US Open Womans Champ in kyokushin full
contact karate and looking back, I was SO *** hard on myself.

I acted 'as if' I was the person I wanted to be and after a time, i was that
person.

~Patty