Right Now

I meet most of my members because of some last straw moment - being told they need to go on medication, realizing none of their clothes fit, or not being able to chase after their toddler. That moment is their PRESENT reality. They can't escape it. They want to change. They need to change.

After they get the program information, they may get excited for a healthy future, or depressed by all the wrong decisions they made in the past that affected their health and weight. Their good or bad feeling are about the past and the future, not about RIGHT NOW (does this sound like "A Christmas Carol"?). Having a goal and a plan is important. You don't know if you got there, if you don't know where you are going. But so many members spend time worrying about a vacation coming up in 2 months or why didn't they keep going to meetings last time so they wouldn't have gained so much weight back. What's done is done. Learn from it, but move on. Decide on what the best plan of action is for the day and for the week. The best use of your time right now may be planning for the future, like making dinners for the week. But don't starve today, because you have a party at the end of the week. Yes, you can save your weekly Points allowance for the weekend, but don't under eat (and torture yourself) for something that hasn't happened yet.

I know this from experience. I would go back and forth from being on a diet one day and eating everything in sight another. I would go from trying to lose weight to eating too much because I was on vacation (which would be why I lost weight before the vacation). I wouldn't appreciate where I was right now. I wouldn't make food decisions on what felt good for today. That's why members are afraid of maintenance. What happens when I am no longer trying to lose weight to get to goal in the future? Can I keep the weight off, since I didn't in the past?

If you think of what you eat as food you need to get all your nutrition in, plus some fun foods and a little less of both if you want to safely lose weight, you live in the present. If you quiet those past and future stories and listen to what your body wants at this moment, you'd be surprised at what you hear. When it wants dessert, I listen. When it wants some protein to rebuild, I listen. If the scale says I am gaining weight, I may have to tell my body a thing or two, like lets put the food on the scale to make sure it's not too much, I do it. If I have to eat a snack that I don't love, but it's something that will give me energy and not melt in the car, I bring it. Life isn't just about the food. But if I feel lousy, because I didn't have good fuel, that will effect how I feel in the present.

So, start your day off with your daily Points target and plan to fill it with the best nutritious, filling foods. Live in this moment. Don't worry about your goal weight, or what you ate for breakfast when you weighed in last week. Think about making the best choice in front of you. Understand there are rules (check your Pocket Guide)to losing weight, but enjoy the journey. If you don't, the destination won't matter.