The one chapter that really grabbed my attention was chapter 10 where Shonda explains her journey and struggle with weight loss. She specifically explains her 110 lb weight loss was actually a byproduct of her saying yes to her health. (Attached is her interview with Oprah)
She says in the interview,
“[The weight loss] came from, sort of, having an epiphany of ‘I work hard to succeed at every single thing I do. I work my butt off at work. I work really hard to be a mother. I work really hard at everything. Why do I think that losing weight is supposed to be easy?'”
Her words struck me. This is what I try to explain to my clients every single day. So many times people set out to lose X amount of pounds because they have this idea in their mind that they need to weigh X. That's awesome people are setting goals, but how realistic is that? In a world with diet fads and gimmicks, so many times people start two weeks in and and lose no weight or 1-2 pounds and THEY ARE PISSED! "I quit, I should have lost more!" is usually what I hear from 80% of people. I guess people assume or they've watched so many episodes of The Biggest Loser that they think
Week 1= -14 pounds
Week 2= -18 pounds
and after 3-4 weeks they should be sitting around -50 pounds.
Is that the weight loss math people do in their heads? Listen, that weight didn't just happen over night... you probably have been packing on the pounds over the years. So reality is, don't expect to drop 100 pounds over night, or even in a month!
HONESTLY, IN ALL HONESTY... If a person is losing that much weight in that short amount of time their calories are going to be drastically cut, they're going to be spending ungodly amounts of time in the gym doing ungodly amounts of cardio, and they're going to be losing muscle along with any fat.
Sustainable weight loss doesn't happen over night. It's a lifestyle change. You cannot diet fast and hard core and expect to keep it off. If fast weight loss is what you're after, at some point your going to say screw this and dive into the cabinets at 2 am in the morning and eat the dang house down!
I've been there. I once was topping the scale at 230lbs for my 5'4" frame. Lord knows how many 1 and 2 am gimmicks I purchased off TV and how many weight loss gimmicks and fat burners I tried. Just like Shonda said in her interview, "WEIGHT LOSS WAS A BYPRODUCT of making healthy choices".
I will stand 100% behind Shonda's statement because my weight loss happened the same way. I was sick and tired of being depressed. I was sick and tired of being sick and tired. I was tired of shopping in the moo moo section where you just bought the biggest size hoping it would cover and mask how large I was underneath. Anyone who knows me knows I love fashion. I'm a clothing and shoe whore! So not being able to shop for cute outfits was depressing. Not being able to wear cute outfits when I went out with my friends was saddening and often I would opt out. Avoiding mirrors that's a whole other story, I just didn't look! Trust me, I know it all too well and I will never forget it.
It may have been 5 years since I've started this whole fitness journey, but I will NEVER forget where I started. I truly started at the bottom. I decided I HAD to change my daily habits and my eating habit. I vowed to never miss a Monday and I vowed to workout AT LEAST 5 times a week. I vowed to stop eating fast food and start making my own. I vowed to LEARN how to cook healthy options. I vowed to not step on the scale and just solely focus on my DAILY ACTIONS AND HABITS. HOW did I lose 90 lbs? Honestly speaking, it was the byproduct of my daily habits.
So my question for you is if you aren't WHERE you want to be, if you don't like the person staring back at you in the mirror... Answer this, what are your daily habits like? Are they getting your closer to your goals? If not, I'd recommend making changes.
Food For Thought
Love Alison
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