Good (??) Advice To A Friend

A friend of mine recently started on her own health journey and asked me if I had any advice for her. I gave her, what I think, was pretty good advice: remember why you started on this journey; keep records of your progress and develop some mantras that you can repeat for yourself when you need them. I hope this was good advice; I didn't want to overwhelm her with too much information. But it got me thinking about what other advice I could give or what was given to me.

Each person's weight loss or health journey is as unique as we are. What works for me and my lifestyle may not work for another person. And I usually don't give advice on these kinds of things because I really don't feel as if I'm an expert in weight loss. I attribute my successes mostly to being determined and stubborn and to taking quitting off the table before I started the journey. All  can say is what I do and what's worked for me so far.

There are a bunch of things that have helped my success. First, I attend meetings. I attend them pretty much every week and if I miss a week, it's because I was sick. Even when I'm out of town, I find a meeting to go to. It helps keep it fresh in my mind and also helps be accountable. I also weigh in no matter what. If I don't, then I have no idea how I did. If it was a crappy week, then it gives me the freedom to take the information the scale is giving me and start fresh with a new week. Meetings also allow me to listen to other people and get new ideas. Sometimes another member has some brilliant insight and I might miss it if I don't go to the meeting.

Second, I try to be open to new things. I try lots of fruits and veggies. Some I love (yes, you lovely persimmons) and others I can live without (like Kumquats), but I wouldn't know this unless I tried them. When I was injured and couldn't run, tried all kinds of exercise to keep active and keep from getting bored. If I hadn't, then I wouldn't have fallen in love with Zumba and made it a must on Wednesday mornings.

Third, I have a wonderful support system. From attending meetings, I have met some of the greatest and supportive people, who have also become some of my greatest friends. I also have a wonderful person in my life who continues to support me throughout this journey. I surround myself with inspiring people. I think success is contagious and when I'm around people who work hard to live a certain way, it's hard not to try to live that way too. I cheer on my friends when they run races and push themselves; they inspire me to someday do the same.

Fourth, I don't focus on losing weight. I try and do lots of healthy things and make the weight loss the byproduct of all of the things I'm doing. If weight loss was my only focus, I would have quit long before now. Instead, I make small, attainable that require me to actually do something, like go to the gym twice a week. If I achieve that goal, then I set a new one. If not, then I continue to make it a goal until I do.

Fifth, I find out what works for me and I do that. This means I make mistakes sometimes. I've learned a lot about myself so far (and I keep learning) and this helps me be successful. I like to cook and am most successful when I eat my own food, but if I hated to cook, that wouldn’t work for me. I know what foods trigger me to binge and what foods I can manage to enjoy a serving and move on. I know that if I leave my running clothes out and in the living room and set my alarm for 5 am, I will get my ass out the door to get a walk or a run but you can't get me to leave the house after 8pm on a weeknight. I know I eat when I'm bored. I work with what works for me to be successful and not push myself to do something I just won't enjoy or just won't do.

Finally, I truly believe that I will at some point get to goal. I know it is hard, but there are no shortcuts. It took me my entire life to get to the point I'm at and real change does not happen overnight. If I believe I can't do something then I can't, but if I believe I can, I will push myself to be able to do it. If I didn't believe I could get to goal, then why would I bother? I know I can and I will.

There a lot of others things I do (bring my lunch to work most days, keep healthy foods at the ready at home, write this blog, etc.), but like I said, they are what work for me and may not work for anyone else. I hope my friend finds lots of tools that help her be successful too.