I used to wonder why some of the people from the TV show The Biggest Loser struggled to maintain their weight loss. The first season
winner claimed he celebrated his weight loss by eating a burger and fries. What could it hurt to have something he’d
been craving for a few months? It seemed harmless enough until he found himself
back at his original pre-show weight. I read that a spin-off
show, The Big Fat Truth was created inviting several winners from previous seasons
of the original show to participate. I’m not sure how they thought a second
show utilizing pretty much the same methods would help outside of losing the
weight again. Did the creators of the show consider
addressing what caused the participants to put on the weight other than “biological
factors” and “bad behaviors?” This is a testament to the danger of shedding a
lot of weight without addressing the root cause. That being said, it’s obvious the creators of
the show didn’t get it. Critics of The Big Fat Truth made this statement, “Roth's new show is another version of what they see as a
dangerous approach to weight loss that favors quick results over science.” I’m sure there are a great many people that can attest
to the dangers of quick weight loss. I’ve certainly had my share of ups, downs,
and merry-go-rounds. That’s why this time I’m taking it nice and slow.
I’ve been on my weight loss
journey for several years, but that doesn’t mean I was always actively dieting
and exercising. I knew from much trial and error that I needed to start my
journey at the beginning, not the end. In other words, I didn’t need to focus
on the current behaviors without revisiting my past taking a long, hard, honest
look at the significance it had on my previous and current weight gain.
The first couple years I
spent much time figuring out who I am outside of who I was created to be by my
parents. There had to be more to me than being a product of abuse or victim of
circumstance. I found that to be a great place to start with therapy. It wouldn’t
be until after I started to figure out who I am and how to love myself that the
weight would begin to shed. Slow and steady. The 3rd and 4th
years my self-worth came up and I was able to enjoy doing good things for
myself like being more consistent with exercising and eating better. There were
many struggles and periods of uncertainty where I found it difficult to
maintain good habits, but I didn’t give up and that’s what made the difference.
That’s why I’m still in the game. In the distant past, I would have given up before
completing year 1 and I would not have looked back until several years and a
few health concerns later.
Now I’m looking at years 5 and
6. Year 7 will start this Fall. I’ve lost a significant amount of weight. There
is still a ways to go, but I’m in no hurry. I am thankful for slow progress. I’ve
finally crossed a threshold I haven’t seen since pregnancy. Are there still
struggles? Yes. Slow progress allows me the time I need to face and confront my
struggles head-on. There have been slips here and there. I’m struggling with
fear and triggers as I move towards weights I haven’t seen since my 20s, but
that’s okay. I’m praying for strength and wisdom.
My newest method for dealing
with triggers is working. This past winter season I fell head-first into a
binge frenzy that I could not work my way out of. While praying it came to me to
stop focusing on losing weight. Make my focus on maintaining the progress I’ve
made. This train of thought tricked my mind and kept me from getting majorly
depressed while dealing with the binging. If I were still hyper-focused on
losing weight, knowing that my behaviors were making me gain weight, I could
have potentially spiraled out of control just on the guilt alone. But somehow
thinking of maintaining my progress made the struggle a little less damning and
I was able to think about my behaviors one day at a time, not focusing on any
particular measure of loss or gain. I just focused on decreasing the binging as
best I can for that one day. I did gain a few pounds, but have since turned the
binging around and am losing those pounds again. No major setbacks, moving forward.
Onward and Upward!
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