Successful dieting, I think, requires the right mindset and attitude. I have started several diets before, none of them successfully. There’s a saying: “Diets don’t fail. We abandon them.” I started this diet in September, when I weighed 251 pounds, and I was determined to do it differently than before. The mindset really feels different this time, so I don’t have any doubts I’ll continue all the way to my goal of 185 pounds. In fact, it’s gotten downright addicting to watch the pounds peel off, and I find that’s overpowering any urges to overeat, so that’s part of the mindset right there.
I’m not entirely sure how I got to that point – in the past I’ve struggled quite a bit with wanting to eat when I knew I shouldn’t, or wanting to eat bad fatty things when I knew I should be eating better. I guess this time around, I reached a psychological limit, got kind of disgusted with myself, and found some resolve I didn’t know I had. I’m not sure I could have done it a couple of years ago and 10 pounds lighter, when things didn’t feel as urgent. This time around, I felt that if I didn’t do something, it would get entirely away from me and I’d lose control of my weight altogether. That scared me, and I guess it scared me straight.
My mindset right now feels very focused. I count my calories religiously, and it’s become kind of a contest for me. How well can I do each day? I find I’m not even hitting my daily limit, because I’m always trying to see how much I can stay under (not in an unhealthy sense; I’m eating plenty and healthily, but I’m always trying to beat my calorie budget for the day by at least a little). And now that I’ve done it for several weeks, it’s easy. The initial urges to eat are gone, and now I’m just focused on losing the weight. I step on the scale every morning to keep myself in line, and watching even a couple of ounces come off is very rewarding. The fact is, I’ve learned to like my diet. It’s easy to keep doing something that you like to do.
I’ve been thinking of getting to this point for a long time, but I obviously wasn’t ready. If I had tried before, I think I would have failed (or rather, abandoned the diet). This time around, things have just clicked for me, and I have zero interest in doing anything that will jeopardize my success. I find myself turning down temptations left and right, and feeling empowered and proud of myself every time. It gets easier and easier, it really does. Success is breeding success. And believe it or not, I started my process with not a lot of confidence. I’m not trying to brag – what I’m saying is that if I can do it, anyone can. Eating is one of my favorite recreations, and I’ve had many a despairing moment when I thought I’d never pull myself out of the destructive cycle I found myself in when I weighed 250 pounds.
In the end, I think that I finally decided that losing weight was more important to me than eating big portions of my favorite fatty foods. For me, it came down to dedication and focus, and a final decision that I was just going to get it done. And it wasn’t just a disingenuous “you can do it” kind of thing for me, either – I genuinely decided that’s how it was going to be, and I can literally feel the difference in my mind from all past attempts. Without that very concious decision, I would have abandoned my diet already.
