Saturday, August 11, 2012

Success and Mind Set

"Hope you are really enjoying---and not just suffering.
Well worth it all---if you can make it stick"

I knew when I started this blog and eventually opened up to others about being on the Ideal Protein diet, that I would be opening myself up to the opinions and prejudices of others.   Today I got an instant message from an acquaintance.  She had heard about the diet, was impressed with my progress and had questions about the program.

Her questions were more about the possibilities of my failing, how deprived I am feeling or if I am experiencing any light headedness or health issues as a result of the diet.  (Guess she hasn't been reading this blog.)    I answered her questions, told her I didn't feel deprived or hungry, my health is doing nothing but getting better and I feel like I could easily stick to the diet until well after Christmas if that's what it takes.  My answers didn't seem to impress her.  What she wanted to hear were the negatives - my guess is she wanted to hear excuses for why this wouldn't be a good program for her.

She also asked about the cost of the program and if it was worth it. Worth it?  Hell yes, it's worth it!  Good grief.  I'm visibly shrinking and feeling healthier than I have in years.  I am re-claiming my life and ready to take on the world!  I don't know how someone can look at me, see the change in my body, the nicer way I am dressing, my happier frame of mind and ask "Is it worth it?" 

She really wanted to wish me well, I could tell... but she just couldn't let go of her own doubts and conceptions of what "diet" means to avoid voicing a few barbs.  The quote above was her parting shot at me before she signed off.   It was if she was saying "Good luck!  You'll never make it." 

By the way, I AM NOT SUFFERING, for crying out loud!  Suffering was what I was doing when I couldn't walk or sleep because of the stress my near 300 lbs. was putting on my body.  Suffering is listening to teenaged boys sitting near you in a restaurant making fun of your size.  Suffering is the shame after realizing you've become an embarrassment to members of your own family or letting them down because you aren't doing your share of the chores (or ate all of their cookies).

Life is already richer, happier, more vibrant after a little over two months of healthy eating that in my mind failure is not a possibility.  I am already a success! 

If you are overweight or morbidly obese and unhappy with the way you look or feel, your condition is not permanent.  If you are willing to change your life - REALLY change your life - you can do it.  However, you won't make any progress until you first shift your attitude to a success-oriented state of mind. 

If you think diets make you suffer and never work, then guess what - there is no diet on the planet that is going to help you. There's no magic fairy out there.  You have to do it yourself. The change begins inside of you.  It's not about the level of exercise or what you're eating in a given day.  The thing that makes the biggest difference between success and failure is what's going on in your head and it takes a lot of work to switch off the negativity. 

It took me a couple of years to get to this point, to get firmly on my own two feet and make up my own mind about what works and what doesn't.  The negative opinions of others don't affect me as much as they used to.  Frankly, they're just noise.  I know what works.  I know what I have to do, I have a firm goal established and I'm willing to do the work necessary to reach that goal.

It's not my job to convince others that this diet works or save them from their own bad habits.  I'm a living, breathing example of the program at work.  My job is to reach my goal, get healthy, keep focused, stay positive and live life to its fullest.


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