I meet with my life coach every other week now, and I was excited to have a chance to catch up with Betsy late last week. Betsy specializes in helping people “Find Food Peace” so I knew that she’d be someone great to talk to about my plan of action for the new year.
What I’ve grown to expect from these sessions is that I’m going to get way more than what I’m asking for, and Thursday was no exception.
Over time, I’ve realized that I don’t gravitate to the “Yes Sir” kind of people. You know them, the people that just love everything about you… your hair, your smile, the way your shirt is wrinkled, the way you carry your suitcase. While I appreciate those people for being kind to me on the regular, those aren’t the people I spend my life with.
If given a choice, I always choose (consciously or subconsciously) the people that cause me to pause and reconsider an opinion, a plan, or a belief.
I’m not always right. I don’t have all the answers. And, no, I don’t always have on cute shoes. Nope. And, I don’t always have life figured out 100%. {PS… I never will.}
Life to me is about looking at your current situation, examining why you do what you do, and pausing… assessing… and making a decision to change or to continue your course of action.
Talking with Betsy last week, she caused me to pause.
Right now, I’m at a critical point in my weight loss journey. I’ve recognized that I’ve gained about 15 pounds, and I’ve established a plan to lose that weight.
Quickly, I put into place my MyFitnessPal practice of tracking calories. I began getting my happy self to the gym a few times a week. I’ve already started to see my weight decrease.
What a brilliant plan! I thought.
And then, I spoke with Betsy. She and I spent our hour talking about how freeing intuitive eating can be. We talked about how my body knows when it’s hungry, what it should be eating, and how much it needs for fuel every single day. We talked about how great it would be to not be logging my food into an app… instead, just to listen to my body. We even talked about how it is a good idea not to weigh myself every single day.
WHOA!
All of these concepts sound amazing. Each one of them get me closer to where I want to be with this weight loss journey… and each one of them represent me letting go of the control I’ve executed to lose weight in the past. Whoa…
My first instinct during this conversation: TO RESIST. 100% to resist.
I mean, I only know what’s worked for me in the past. I don’t have confidence that I can do this new approach. I don’t know that it will yield results, and in many ways… I’m afraid.
But when I think about it… what she’s describing is EXACTLY what I want my end-game to be. I don’t want to have to track my food forever. I don’t want to count calories for a lifetime. I just want to live.
As I move into this week down 2 lbs following my old track-it and weigh-it philosophy, I’m beginning to adopt some of the philosophies that Betsy talked about. I’m adopting them in a gentle way… still tracking on MyFitnessPal while simultaneously incorporating some strategies of intuitive eating.
Just three simple things… so it doesn’t seem so scary to me.
So far, it’s going well. As this process continues, I’ll certainly follow-up.
Why did I choose to incorporate these new challenges? Frankly, why wouldn’t I? I have support as I do so, and it’s ultimately how I want to live… eating intuitively, rather than deliberately or per plan.
Also, my standard plan isn’t without fault. If it were, I wouldn’t have gained back the 15+ lbs I’ve been carrying.
So, here I go… adding a little more complexity (or rather simplicity) to the process. This journey is all about learning, and afterall…
How do you listen to your body when it comes to weight loss/maintenance?