Weighing and Measuring

itsforgood · January 2011

I just figured out how to post my own topic (I've already replied to 3!) and I've been on this site for about 15 minutes!
I'm very excited to have found such a great site. I've been going nuts trying to log in my calories on a different site and it's been more than a little difficult! This one is much more accessible.

Better still, it's a support group! Yay!

Somewhere in one of my reply posts I already said some of this, but since I'm introducing myself....I'll give a quick version of my weight and health management. This past year I lost over 55 pounds. I have battled with weight for 16 years and I have finally gotten the weight off. I went from a size 22 to a size 10. Along the way, I have learned that measuring is important. Don't misunderstand, I don't measure my food as often as I used to (when I was on my protocol I weighed and measured all of my food), I'm actually talking about measuring in general. I used to have a phobia of scales (why should I get on a scale to tell me that I was fat? I already knew it and it already made me miserable enough). I'd close my eyes in the doctor's office and tell the nurse not to tell me what I weighed. But...

This past year I weighed myself. I weigh myself every day. Not because I'm so happy about the weight loss (yeah, it's great and I want to continue, but that's not what it's about), but because it shows me where I am. It's data. Just like recording my food and calories is important too. It's data. Plain and simple. I hated keeping a food journal, but now I understand that measuring and keeping track of what I eat allows me the freedom to be able to eat better food (and choose a donut on a bad day and still record it!). If I don't eat well, that's fine, but keeping track of my patterns seems to keep me in line. So I guess I wanted to share this thought: Measuring is important because it makes me mindful. So now I guess saying that I mind measuring is a good thing....:happy:

kaem · January 2011

Molly, you have done awesome already, congratulations. I am a yo-yo dieter and weight goes on and off all the time. I weigh myself constantly, not out of good, but even if I gain the slightest I get depressed. It feels like I've been on some sort of diet my whole life. In the last 12 months I have gained 12 kgs. I feel this site could help me keep it off this time. With the inspiration of people like you and knowing there is someone who is struggling with the same thing!

itsforgood · January 2011

Hey there Kaem:
I do understand! I have been a yo-yo for 16 years. I have found that the best way to get to a place where you can stop the yo-yo from going up and down (and stay in "sleep" mode

) is to first get that weight off quickly and efficiently, and THEN practice, practice, practice mindful eating.
No, it's not easy, but it's not as hard as it sounds. I have taken my information about how the brain works (neuroplasticity), which I learned about when I was working on pain management, and flipped it over to work with the behaviors that I have always had with my eating habits.
Simply put, you can change the way you behave and think. It's a scientific fact and the practice of it works in many ways. The most important thing that I have realized is that I was facing (and do face) on a daily basis, the idea that I am living a new "normal." It is with this in MIND

that I apply my new strategies for mindful eating and mindful "soothing" of myself without the use of food. (It used to be about how to use mindful practices to manage my chronic pain. And I have developed, out of necessity, the tools I need to survive.)
It's not about your inability to be successful. I promise you that being depressed is normal, and I also can promise that it can change. There's no one right way to do it, but there are so many choices for you.
Let's keep talking. The next picture you post should be one where you are smiling.

Molly

Weighing and Measuring

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