Words to Live By

Last night's Biggest Loser was not a particularly eventful episode. Nicole came back and won the right to return to the ranch based on the % of weight loss she achieved at home. She lost 87 pounds at home in 12 weeks which is an average of 7.25 pounds per week. That just sounds miraculous to me. I have read where prior contestants enlist sketchy tactics before the finale like only eating asparagus or other natural diretics or spending hours in a sauna, etc... to lose all that water weight. Nicole must have done some of these things as at weigh in she was up 5 pounds and lost her immunity and went to the elimnation room. She smoked her competition to return to the ranch and probably didn't even need to go to those extremes (if she did) but in the end she was voted off and sent home for the second time.

When Nicole left the elimination room, she gave the customary parting words to the camera. Her thoughts really hit home with me. I felt so connected to her through those words. I think she spoke for any of us who are trying to lose weight and what it is really about. I do not have TiVo and searched this morning for the exact words on NBC and You Tube but the episode is not up yet. So here is my recollection of what she said...

It is not about winning the weigh in or getting eliminated. It is not about winning the competition. It's about how I feel about myself, what I know I am capable of doing, and the woman I have become. And I really love her.

Sometimes we get so caught up in the results, the scale, the number, the goal, the tangible - the things we can tell others. That we miss what we are really doing. We are transforming our complete selves. Not just our pant size or weight. But changing who we are and how we choose on a daily basis to interract with food. It is so hard to tell people what I am trying to achieve. I really struggle here. People ask me, "so are you trying to lose weight."

Well, yes I am. But that is not all. I am also trying to learn to love the person I am and when I am binging, I do not really love that person. I am trying to identify the areas of frustration in my life that lead me to overeat. I am working on becoming more fullfilled in my work, my parenting and my hobbies so the Little Debbies are not quite as tempting. I am trying to change the patterns of behavior I have had since I was 14. In short... it is so much more than just trying to lose weight.

When we focus on just losing the weight, we fail to address the reasons we gained the weight in the first place. So if I could successfully diet without addressing all of the factors that led me to gain the weight in the first place, where would I be at maintenace time? Struggling to keep the weight off. The best comparison I can come up with is whenever it is time to paint a room, i just want to slop the new paint color up and have it looking nice. My husband wants to wash all the walls and use spackle on all the holes and caulk the molding, etc... But that takes time. I cannot get to the results as quick if I have to spend a day or two on prep. My wise husband will say... the time spent will be worth it. The results will be so much better.

Like my weight loss efforts... the time spent in going slow and working on more than just calorie counting will be worth it. My results will be so much better. (And lasting I might add)