Thursday, May 20, 2010

Like Yourself Now, Before You Lose Weight


Over the years, I have learned a lot of things. (Like the fact that I am making myself sound like an old fart who is ancient. I am only 40 and I have finally decided that I am okay with my age.)

But I have digressed.

What I wanted to share with everyone is what I have learned about weight loss and liking yourself.

I have been reading loads and loads of blog posts about weight loss. The one thing that has really bothered me is that I have been feeling that so many people are tying up their self esteem and happiness with their weight. They believe that when they are thin, they will be happy.

Now don't get me wrong. I know that when I am thinner I feel physically better and a bit more confident. What I do know is that the weight loss itself or being thin is not what makes me happy.

If I don't like myself or my self image when I start a diet, I will not like myself or my self image when I am thin. For a while I may be able to fool myself into thinking so, but the truth always surfaces.

For most of us with weight issues, there is an underlying reason we are heavy. We eat in response to something. We eat in response to things that are missing in our lives. We eat instead of dealing with the issues that are troubling us. We have triggers that send us scurrying and scrounging for food. Some of these triggers may be with us since childhood. They are "friends" we have known for so long and are hard to part with.

Sometimes we eat without thinking about our triggers or realizing they are there. Sometimes we know what are triggers are, but we don't want to enter the world of hurt and pain and self work to deal with them.

But eating does not make the issues go away. We just bury them in another layer of fat. We hide our issues away instead of confronting them.

I know losing weight and reaching my target will not make me happy. Not by itself. I need to work on my issues and triggers now. I need to know what things make me unhappy and happy now.

Why? So that when I do reach my target weight I will be truly happy. About me and my life.

Fat And Happy
I know that thinness will not make me happy. Being happy though will make me thin.


Images:

MEASURING
© Stiven | Dreamstime.com

FAT AND HAPPY
© Chris Denbow | Flickr Creative Commons



3 comments:

  1. So true! I finally started on my weight loss journey but after I experienced counseling for several years. Seriously!!
    I have lost 140 lbs. so far and plan on losing 90 more. Whew! I feel so much better and I can move around!! Big change! So I still see my counselor. She gives me a new fresh viewpoint on what I am going through. And what I had gone through.
    If you are not happy with yourself and can't seem to shake it...get some help. Get a fresh point of view of someone on the outside. Losing weight is serious business and keeping it off is no easy feat either.
    Good luck to everyone on their journey.
    Hugs
    SueAnn

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  2. Hear, hear. Well written Kat. Food and fat are the symptoms of the problem. I go to Overeaters anon and that is so useful to me as it focuses on the emotional and spiritual recovery as well as the physical. Mich x

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  3. Slommler-it is so true. For me I know when I start to gain weight it means I need to focus on what is not right in my life-as much as I kid myself sometimes that it is not related. Good luck!

    Michelle-it is so true that the weight and fat are the symptoms not the problem. (Btw-I wrote this post)

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