Guest guest Posted February 25, 2008 Report Share Posted February 25, 2008 The line in your post that really stood out for me was this one: >>I realized that I was having negative thoughts (the person next to me on the treadmill's thighs were 1/2 the size of mine, even though I've lost 5 pounds my but is still fat...)<<< As long as you are measuring your weight-loss goals and body image by comparing them to other people's, you may be setting yourself up for failure. Hope that doesn't sound too harsh but I've seen this happen to many so many people, especially to women, who are under ridiculous, unrealistic pressures to achieve some kind of cultural ideal in our society. You are not supposed to look like the person next to you on the treadmill, or that person at work who can eat anything he/she wants and never gain weight, or that supermodel on TV who looks like a pencil wearing a bikini. You are supposed to look like you. Concentrate on what is good about how YOU look and the way YOU want to feel, and work to improve those areas. Don't let anyone set your goals or define your standards for you. Best of luck, Steve deeniepop wrote: Hi. I joined the group a few weeks ago and have been just observing for a while. I started listening to iowl about 6 weeks ago and so far it has really worked for me. However, last weekend I started feeling like slipping back into the old ways. I realized that I was having negative thoughts (the person next to me on the treadmill's thighs were 1/2 the size of mine, even though I've lost 5 pounds my but is still fat...). I weighed myself and I was back up about 2 pounds. The difference this time around is that I quickly got back on track. Normally, this would have been the time for me to abandon the effort, but I was determined. One major change is that I got back on track right away. When I started doubting myself I went to the gym which snapped me back into feeling great. I went back onto good eating habits then and there instead of waiting until the next day, week or whenever. This was particularly challenging because my daughter's birthday party was the next day and I absolutely love chocolate cake with white butter cream frosting! We also had a taco stand at the party. On the day of the party, I ate breakfast and then waited until taco time to eat again. I normally would have been afraid of being too hungry in the meantime to run the party or to socialize but instead thought about how much better the taco will taste if I am truly hungry. After everyone else helped themselves to tacos (even seconds and thirds), I had a plate of one taco, beans and chips. Now I don't mean " healthy " tacos, I am talking good old fashioned carnitas with refried beans I followed this by a small piece of cake. I then waited until dinner to eat again. I enjoyed some of my all time favorite foods but felt totally in control by the manner in which I ate and the amount that I ate. I felt completely satisfied and 4 days later I not only was down the 2 pounds I had gained (could have just been bloat - another reason not to obsess about the scale) but I had lost an additional pound. I also realized that I needed more than just IOWL for motivation. I have told many friends about IOWL, which I think is spot on, and one friend referred me to The Beck Diet Solution. This is a book and workbook that is similar to IOWL in that it takes the mental approach instead of telling you what to eat. The subtitle is " The 6-week Plan to Train Your Brain to Think LIke a Thin Person. " I have also read Pollan's In Defense of Food, which I learned about on 's site. Those two books have been extremely motivational for me and I plan to keep on track and keep learning more. One thing that fascinates me is that we all basically have the same issues. I think that we have gotten to the point in our society where it is almost socially unacceptable to not have food issues. Anyway, this is a long post and I hope it is helpful to someone. It helped me to type it. > > > > Hi everyone. I was just hoping for a little input about my situation. > > I have been doing IOWL since October. It was great the first three > > months, but sadly in the last two months, a binge pattern started up > > again. I have really searched and searched for solutions, but I can't > > seem to make it stop. I realize something in me still objects to > > losing weight, but I am just not sure what it is, and I don't really > > know how to figure it out. I would really really like for these > > patterns to stop. I was feeling so amazing before, and I would like to > > start living like how I was. I miss my skinny and more fulfilled self! > > So if you find yourself in the same situation, or you have been in a > > similar situation, I would really appreciate some feedback. > > > > Thanks > > > --------------------------------- Be a better friend, newshound, and know-it-all with Yahoo! Mobile. Try it now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 25, 2008 Report Share Posted February 25, 2008 Here, here! So many people get lost because they are comparing themselves to their friends, co-workers, or " the person next door. " There is nobody on the planet exactly like you, thus making any comparison to another person the proverbial " apples to oranges " comparison. When you develop your moving towards and moving away form motivations, you should always keep it about you, and not about other people. Randy > The line in your post that really stood out for me was this one: > > >>I realized that I was having negative thoughts (the person next to me on > the treadmill's thighs were 1/2 the size of mine, even though I've lost 5 > pounds my but is still fat...)<<< > > As long as you are measuring your weight-loss goals and body image by > comparing them to other people's, you may be setting yourself up for > failure. Hope that doesn't sound too harsh but I've seen this happen to many > so many people, especially to women, who are under ridiculous, unrealistic > pressures to achieve some kind of cultural ideal in our society. You are not > supposed to look like the person next to you on the treadmill, or that > person at work who can eat anything he/she wants and never gain weight, or > that supermodel on TV who looks like a pencil wearing a bikini. You are > supposed to look like you. Concentrate on what is good about how YOU look > and the way YOU want to feel, and work to improve those areas. Don't let > anyone set your goals or define your standards for you. > > Best of luck, > Steve > > deeniepop <deeniepop@... <deeniepop%40gmail.com>> wrote: Hi. I > joined the group a few weeks ago and have been just observing for a while. I > started > listening to iowl about 6 weeks ago and so far it has really worked for > me. However, last > weekend I started feeling like slipping back into the old ways. I realized > that I was having > negative thoughts (the person next to me on the treadmill's thighs were > 1/2 the size of > mine, even though I've lost 5 pounds my but is still fat...). I weighed > myself and I was back > up about 2 pounds. The difference this time around is that I quickly got > back on track. > Normally, this would have been the time for me to abandon the effort, but > I was > determined. One major change is that I got back on track right away. When > I started > doubting myself I went to the gym which snapped me back into feeling > great. I went back > onto good eating habits then and there instead of waiting until the next > day, week or > whenever. This was particularly challenging because my daughter's birthday > party was the > next day and I absolutely love chocolate cake with white butter cream > frosting! We also > had a taco stand at the party. On the day of the party, I ate breakfast > and then waited > until taco time to eat again. I normally would have been afraid of being > too hungry in the > meantime to run the party or to socialize but instead thought about how > much better the > taco will taste if I am truly hungry. After everyone else helped > themselves to tacos (even > seconds and thirds), I had a plate of one taco, beans and chips. Now I > don't mean > " healthy " tacos, I am talking good old fashioned carnitas with refried > beans I followed this > by a small piece of cake. I then waited until dinner to eat again. I > enjoyed some of my all > time favorite foods but felt totally in control by the manner in which I > ate and the amount > that I ate. I felt completely satisfied and 4 days later I not only was > down the 2 pounds I > had gained (could have just been bloat - another reason not to obsess > about the scale) but > I had lost an additional pound. > > I also realized that I needed more than just IOWL for motivation. I have > told many friends > about IOWL, which I think is spot on, and one friend referred me to The > Beck Diet Solution. > This is a book and workbook that is similar to IOWL in that it takes the > mental approach > instead of telling you what to eat. The subtitle is " The 6-week Plan to > Train Your Brain to > Think LIke a Thin Person. " > > I have also read Pollan's In Defense of Food, which I learned > about on 's site. > > Those two books have been extremely motivational for me and I plan to keep > on track and > keep learning more. > > One thing that fascinates me is that we all basically have the same > issues. I think that we > have gotten to the point in our society where it is almost socially > unacceptable to not have > food issues. Anyway, this is a long post and I hope it is helpful to > someone. It helped me > to type it. > > > > > > > > Hi everyone. I was just hoping for a little input about my situation. > > > I have been doing IOWL since October. It was great the first three > > > months, but sadly in the last two months, a binge pattern started up > > > again. I have really searched and searched for solutions, but I can't > > > seem to make it stop. I realize something in me still objects to > > > losing weight, but I am just not sure what it is, and I don't really > > > know how to figure it out. I would really really like for these > > > patterns to stop. I was feeling so amazing before, and I would like to > > > start living like how I was. I miss my skinny and more fulfilled self! > > > So if you find yourself in the same situation, or you have been in a > > > similar situation, I would really appreciate some feedback. > > > > > > Thanks > > > > > > > > > > > --------------------------------- > Be a better friend, newshound, and know-it-all with Yahoo! Mobile. Try it > now. > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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