Saturday, June 30, 2012

FORMING HABITS!




Peggy and Bob - June, 2012

I have a very important anniversary approaching.  It was August 4, 2010, that I signed up for the Ideal Protein WeightLoss program.  That was the day that I began my new life!


During that time, I have come to an important conclusion. 

IT'S NOT WHAT YOU DO ONCE THAT MATTERS!

For instance.  I did not become "morbidly obese" by eating one Hershey bar - having one mocha laced with whipped cream - one apple fritter - one dish of broccoli or cauliflower covered in rich, creamy cheese sauce.  It was when I allowed those one times to become habits that I was on my way to obesity.


Conversely, I did not lose all those excess pounds by following the Ideal Protein program for one day - or one week - or even one month.  It was when  I allowed the program to become habit that I truly felt I had conquered my tendency to be fat. 


"We first make our habits, and then our habits make us."- John Dryden


We have made many changes over the past two years!  We put much more thought into our shopping.  As we were told at the IP seminar in Seattle - shop the outside aisles of the grocery store.  That is where you will find produce, dairy, meat, and bread.  The sugary, high carb,  prepared foods fill the center aisles of the store.  Cereals laden with sugar and fat.  Soda.  Chips.  Candy.  All of the things that lead to obesity.  Each has its own healthy claim displayed proudly on the face of the box.  Heart healthy!  Low fat!  Fewer calories!  But, "low fat" doesn't equate to healthy - or to fewer calories.  "Sugar free" can be laden with fat and with sugar substitutes that are equally as harmful as the sugar.  READ THE LABELS! 


When shopping on a weekend, you are faced with - not one, but several - carts with samples of every kind of food imaginable.  And, each tastes so good that it takes super human strength to pass them by and pick up a package of asparagus instead. 


 A 16-ounce mocha with whipped cream contains 410 calories.  If you add a sweet treat to accompany your drink, you have chalked up another 420 calories.  We had formed the habit of having at least one mocha a day, and sometimes - two!  And, at least once a week we would add either an apple fritter or a pound cake or a raisin cookie.  That habit alone accounted for a whopping 170,000 calories a year. 


"Destiny is not a matter of chance, it is a matter of choice;  it is not a thing to be waited for, it is a thing to be achieved."  - Winston Churchill


In a few days, we will graduate to phase 2 of the program.  Within a month, we will be on maintenance and on the road to a lifetime of healthy choices.  We will be faced with different choices - ones that are much harder to control.  We will have fruits and breads and even a glass of wine and/or dessert now and then.  We will order off the regular menus when we go to our favorite restaurants.  But, we have learned to question the servers about what ingredients are in the foods.  I have learned to assert myself in asking for my foods to come without heavy sauces or butter.  We have learned to enjoy a glass of iced green tea rather than the mochas that we consumed on a daily basis.  We will step on the scale each and every morning and if we notice an increase in our weight, we will make different choices for whatever time it takes to maintain our new bodies.


"Everyone who got to where they are had to begin where they were." - Richard Paul Evans


Green iced tea - unsweetened
This is a lifetime commitment!   What we did once - and then again and again - became the framework for our new 'normal'.  New habits have been developed, but just as they have become a part of our daily lives, they can be replaced by bad habits if we allow them to.  A dessert once a week will not hurt us.  In fact, it is encouraged during the maintenance phase of the program.  It's when we allow the dessert to become a normal part of our every day diet that new, bad habits will again be formed.


Happy eating!  And may your days be filled with healthy choices!


"Always bear in mind that your own resolution to succeed is more important than any other one thing."  - Abraham Lincoln

2 comments:

  1. Hooray and congratulations to you on the upcoming anniversary! I hope to be in your shoes with similar habits a year from now!

    -Lanza

    ReplyDelete
  2. thank you Peg, love you, whats left of me that is.

    ReplyDelete