How aiming at a healthy lifestyle changed my mind - for good

mwimwi

Hi guys!

Just wanted to share a thought I've been having recently.

First, a little about my journey to put my reflexion into context.
My mom's been suffering from bulimia from her teenage years and even though she ended studying nutrition in college, she didn't want me to have her problem so she let me eating what I wanted (junk, dessert, name it); this way she thought I'd have a "healthy" relationship with food and wouldn't starve myself. And she always told me Phys Ed. was dull.
So, no surprise that at age 8, I weighed 115 lbs and by 12 years old, I topped 200 on the scale, then 225 at 17, my heaviest.

Even though I've been training for almost 4 years (gone back at 200 since mid-2010), joining MFP in January marked a major change in my way of seeing weight loss.
At first, I was curious to see how it would work, but since results were late to show, I felt a bit discouraged at the begining. Result: not putting a lot of motivation, but still doing it.

Then, I realized, logging food and exercise, that my main focus should be on my food intake, because I exercise at leat 40 min a day, 4 or 5 days a week. What happened is that I felt, with weeks going, that I became obsessed with food, not always in a good way. I was always thinking about that to eat, if it's healthy, on calorie control, etc. Result: feeling depressed, really obsessed and not wanting to make my life turn around my food intake, and finally cheating more often than I wanted.

Since, I focused on another goal, which is being healthier, more than loosing weight (even though I'd be happy to get into my healthy BMI - can you believe it said I'm obese? I don't think I am at all!) . Result: I consider my relationship with food the best it has ever been, mostly because I'm trying new, healthy, low-cal recipes that taste sooo good!, because I allow myself to that chocolate cake from time to time without feeling guilty and because I feel active.

Plus, what is the main point of my novel-long post, is that I went up a notch in intensity when I train. Now it feels like I can last longer, and I feel so good after exercising. More, when I'm not, my body asks me to move all the time, which is difficult when you work in an office! It feels like I'm addicted to exercise and I love it! It's like I never felt that comfortable in my body. I'm motivated and the more I go, the more I want to go. I just lost 6 pounds since mid-Jan, but it had been a year and a half the last time I lost weight, and I really can feel it in my clothes.

What matters the most is that being healthier is not only about being better-looking or fitting in the "mold". It's just about being someone you like, feeling you're a better person because you're taking care of YOU, the most important one in your life. This is why I think I'm making the good thing here.

wanted to share... wanted to know if someone else noticed changes or an evolution on the psychological side throughout their weight-loss process? I'm taking maximum advantage of it while it's there!