Here it is, the last report of 2014 regarding my experience following Dr. Fuhrman’s Eat To Live program.
Final Result
I did it. I finally lost the 20 pounds I wanted to drop. Although I was always within my “normal/healthy” weight zone, I wanted to go from the top of that range toward the bottom. I started with a BMI of 24 and ended at 20. A healthy BMI is generally considered to be between 18 and 25. Here’s a link to a BMI chart for your reference.
But crossing the finish line is bitter sweet, mainly because it took me a full year to do it. And I don’t want that to tarnish anyone’s opinion about the efficacy of Dr. Fuhrman’s 6-week program. On those days/weeks when I followed it perfectly, the weight came off rather easily. What seemed to get in the way most of all was my head – my motivation level wavered constantly and I was quick to use social occasions and holidays as an excuse to fall off the wagon.
Finding Motivation
Motivator #1:
Humans are creatures of habit and we aren’t likely to stray far from what is known and comfortable unless a compelling event intervenes. So what did I learn about what motivates me? This is really quite embarrassing to admit publicly, but here goes. Vacation clothes – mainly bathing suits.
I can hear the critics now – how shallow, what message are you sending to women about body image!
What can I say? My bad.
Motivator #2:
Another motivator for me? Being too cheap to buy new clothes.
My husband and I try to take a vacation to the tropics once a year when the frigid cold grips the Midwest. I’m one of those women who simply doesn’t enjoy shopping, so I wear the same thing for as many years as I can get away with it. That means maintaining a constant weight year after year which, let’s face it, gets a bit more challenging as we age.
These first two motivators explain why I tend to have my best weight loss during December and January, because that’s usually right before our vacation. I procrastinate until the last possible minute, then start a strict diet and live at the gym. Yes, it accomplishes the ability to squeeze into last year’s wardrobe (and each year it’s a tighter squeeze!), but as soon as vacation is over, everything slowly slides back where it was for the rest of the year until crunch time comes again.
Motivator #3 – not so much:
I was a bit surprised to find that posting my monthly results on this blog wasn’t nearly as good of a motivator as I thought it would be. One would think that fear of public scrutiny would keep your nose to the grindstone. But it didn’t. What does it say about me that I’d rather publicly admit my shortcomings and failures, rather than to not be able to fit into last year’s bathing suit? I’m sure there’s a 12-step program out there somewhere to address this character flaw, but I’m not going to go looking for it.
A New, New Year’s Resolution
Last year my New Year’s Resolution was to drop 20 pounds and I accomplished that. This year, my resolution is to keep it off without going into the yo-yo cycle that has become all too common for me.
I’ve thought long and hard about whether to continue documenting my dietary ventures on this blog. Last January I was full of hope and ambition, and didn’t realize what I was committing to when I started down this rabbit hole of monthly reporting for a full year. Although sometimes I enjoyed writing these posts, most of the time I found it very difficult and all too frequently embarrassing. And it didn’t have the intended effect of keeping me constantly on target.
As of right now, I still haven’t made up my mind whether to continue these reports. I have some projects starting this month that are going to consume quite a bit of my time, including the free eBook I promised in the October Eat To Live Report. Instead of being my day-by-day food diary, it’s going to be a compilation of what I ate on those days when I had the best weight loss, as well as my tips for what worked, what didn’t, grocery lists, prep times, and of course photos of everything. I don’t have a strict deadline set, but I’m aiming for the end of January/early February.
I’d like to thank all of the readers who have been so supportive and cheered me on during this journey. Your emails and comments make my day!
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