Confession of a Reluctant Dieter

I plan to write more about what I mean by the whole life approach to dieting, but I was sitting around thinking about eating and food today and I had a bit of a revelation.

Planning yet again to give up soft drinks, eat a whole foods diet and all in all get healthier.  I was going over again when my start date should be, things I could do to stick with it, and how to all in all transform my diet.

I think these things a lot, but for a long time, it hasn't come to much of anything but thinking.  I took note of this and looked a little deeper.  I asked myself a question that I never really had before.  "Do I really want to change the way I eat?"

The immediate response was a defensive, "Duh, of course I do."  But I paused and asked again.  I realized that it's more complicated that than.  Do I want to lose weight?  Yes.  Feel better about myself?  Yes.  Be in better shape?  Yes.  Yes.  Yes.

But do I want to give up the comfort of sweet or fatty snacks?  Not really.  Give up the sugar rushes?  Umm, well...  Stop the warm and full feeling of midnight snacks?  Ok.  I give up.  I don't really want to do it.  The sacrifice feels too great.

So now what?   Well, I think acknowledging it is a first step.  And this is where the real work has to come in, figuring out how to shift my no to a yes, and reluctance into an embrace. Actually, this is where the idea that dieting has to be about more than eating but also about living really has to come in.  I will come back to this more later.

Whole Life Diet?

So, what do I mean by a “Whole Life Diet”? 

I’ve tried at a number of diets in the past.  It used to be very easy for me to lose weight, but eventually I’d gain it back.  Now, even the thought of going on a diet makes my head spin and the next thing I know, I come to my senses with a half pint of ice cream in one hand and a bag of chips in the other -  don’t worry, they’re the healthy organic chips!

As a counsellor by day, I’ve analysed and reflected and pondered and explored this problem.  How can a person in the business of personal transformation consistently hit a wall when I want to change something so important about myself? 

What I’ve decided is that I need to address the weight issue from a holistic, whole life perspective.  I need to stop looking at my problem as if my body’s a machine independent of my mind, emotions, spirit and, well, my life. 

So over the next,... well,... however long it takes, I plan to explore this angle and try to tweak and alter my approach to my body and diet in a way that will, finally, hopefully, creating lasting change.

Starting Another Diet?

There is nothing more frustrating than getting on the scale and seeing that the number has gone up.  For more than a year, I’ve maintained my weight.  It’s been too high and I’ve been wanting to start some kind of weight loss strategy, but at least it hasn’t been changing.  Now, suddenly, it’s going up.  Today it was at 183, which at my height means a BMI of 29.5.  Just a hair away from being obese. 

So with that kick in the pants, I have decided to get going on this.  For years I’ve been designing what I believe to be the ultimate weight loss program in my head.  I’ve researched and read and thought and planned.  And now I will act on it.  To keep myself going and as a kind of journal of the process, I’ve decided to blog about the techniques that I’m using.  I plan to further flesh out this “program” as I go, see what works and what doesn’t.

It would take too long to explain it in detail now, but suffice it to say it’s more than a diet.  It’s a whole life assessment.  A re-examination of what’s working and not in many aspects of life and taking the time to make the changes that I should. 

Oh, and it should be fun too.  So with a hint of desperation, a glob of excitement and a sense of panic, I begin, today...