This is a question to ask before starting a weight loss journey. We take ourselves everywhere we go and when we say " I'll be happy when" but we do not find our happiness before we get there, it is never what we think it will be. When we can learn to be happy with where we are, amid whatever might be going on, we will be happy everywhere we go. When we are waiting to be happy until we get to our goal weight, have the car, the house, or the dream job, we are always looking for something outside of ourselves to make us happy. That is really an exhausting process.
I worked with a 50ish year old lady that had a significant amount of weight to lose. She started over 400 pounds and wanted to get down to 120. She was motivated and very compliant on the plan. As she got closer to her goal, she decided that 140 was a better long-term goal for herself. She made it! It was amazing to watch the transformation. She was tiny and in her after photo she stood in the pants she wore on her first visit with me, her whole body was in one leg. It was an incredible moment.
This patient's entire goal was a number on the scale. She was looking for happiness in that number and when she got there, she was not sure why she did not feel like she thought she would feel. Now she did not like her body because of her excess skin. So, the plan was to get that fixed. The cost to get the skin taken care of was going to be in the $60K range. A price of a nice car. It was overwhelming to her because that kind of money was just not in her budget. So, because she could not "afford" it, she gave up and when back to eating like she did prior to starting the weight loss journey. She has not gained all her weight, but she is struggling with how to get back down, even with a meal plan that she knows works. Why isn't she just sticking to this plan? Because she knows that her happiness is not going to come from that magic number... 140.
Another woman that I work with, about age 49 came to see me to lose about 50 lbs. She did not feel right and wanted to get back to feeling like herself. She was not really focused on the number on the scale, she just wanted to feel better and be able to do the things she used to do. She ended up losing 100 pounds and changed her life. Not because she was thin, but because she started playing and enjoying life again. She connected with her husband again, she started working out again and she started living again. This patient was not worried about the number on the scale, instead she was focused on enjoying life and being healthy.
If I had one piece of advice for anyone starting a weight loss plan, it would be not to focus on the number on the scale, but instead the quality of the life you are living. Are you as active as you want to be? Are you as playful and adventurous as you want to be? How well do you feel? Are you living with passion? As you get these areas of your life aligned, you will find your weight aligned as well.
Have fun creating your life on purpose!
Leigh
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