I Kinda Get It Now

I've struggled with my weight all my life even during "thin" times when it wasn't obvious. I would watch other people lose weight and maintain their weight loss and I always wondered how they did it. What were they doing that I wasn't? What piece of the puzzle was I missing?

I think I'm slowly beginning to understand what I was missing. Earlier this year, I began my weight loss program with a low calorie diet because it's what I knew; it's what I had done before. That was the problem. In the past I had focused entirely on losing the weight without trying to understand why I gained the weight in the first place. For me, the missing piece of the puzzle was admitting to myself that I was an emotional eater. Nothing earth shattering, but it was a revelation nonetheless. I had to admit to myself even though I said I was a Christian, I had been taking my problems to the refrigerator instead of to God. Ouch.

Admitting that I had a problem was only the beginning. However, once I admitted my problem and examined my past behavior, I became more open to the fact that I needed a new weight loss approach. Simply put, I had to stop dieting and start learning how to eat sensibly. Enter calorie shifting (also called zig zag dieting, ironically). It's working for me and more importantly, it's a plan that I can live with because I'm not on a diet - I'm making a permanent lifestyle change. Do I have days when I slip up? Yeah, I do. Like today, for example. But the beauty of it is tomorrow is another day...and best of all, it's a preplanned high calorie day!

Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. Philippians 3:13-14