It's Not
About
the Scale

By Karen Preston

Karen lives, plays, and works
in Portland. A member of TOPS (Take Off Pounds Sensibly), she also founded Pounders, a weight-loss support group focusing on being fit through exercise and healthly lifestyle changes. Her story
was recently featured in Self magazine (September 2003).

I still find each
day too short for
all the thoughts
I want to think,
all the walks I want
to take, all the books
I want to read and
all the friends
I want to see. 

— John Burroughs

Making Healthy Lifestyle Changes

Whoa, can you believe it’s March already? Some of you are as dazed as I am by how quickly 2004 seems to be zipping by! It seems like just a few weeks ago I snuggled up on my couch with a notebook on my lap plotting my New Year resolutions for 2004. This year they include keeping in better contact with my friends and buying my own home, but in years past I’ve always had LOSE WEIGHT at the top of my list. I think it’s a safe bet that many of you made weight loss a key resolution for 2004.

So here’s a fair question. How’s it going now that a quarter of the year has passed? Have your resolutions fallen to the wayside or did you make some changes that improved your bottom line (and perhaps your waistline and bust line)? Some of you may be disappointed with yourselves after going on yet another diet January 1 and quitting a few weeks later.

This is a good place to point out how important language can be. I challenge you to think about “making healthy lifestyle changes” instead of “going on a diet.” It’s often been said that diet is a four-letter word. I’m the first one to admit that it’s much easier on the tongue to say, “I’m on a diet” rather than “I’m making healthy lifestyle changes.” However most of us associate the word diet with deprivation. Just think about the first three letters of that word! Plus doesn’t “going on a diet” imply that at some point you’ll be “going off”? What’s likely to happen then?

If you want to lose weight permanently instead of serial dieting, think about making small changes and rewarding yourself (with non-food related items of course) for following through. If you consistently make good choices you’ll find your weight loss headed in the right direction. Most permanent weight loss winners report that to maintain their desired weight they don’t alter much about the way they eat or exercise once they removed the extra weight when they were “dieting.”

The key is to make changes in the areas of food, water, and exercise that you can live with for a lifetime. You don’t have to change everything overnight. When I was losing weight it took me over a year to wean my family off of 2% milk down to skim. We drank 1% for months!

Now let’s talk about something fun — those rewards! It’s wise to consider what will truly motivate you and how often you’ll indulge. The ideas are endless. You could buy yourself pretty costume jewelry, flowers, or a session with a personal trainer. Perhaps you’d enjoy a professional manicure or massage? Just make it something you wouldn’t normally spend money on.

Several years ago I spent nearly three and a half years removing extra weight. Money was tight, but since I adore music I bought myself a new CD whenever I lost 10 pounds. The entire time I was losing weight I threw my spare change in a bowl. When I finished losing 184 pounds I purchased a beautiful ruby and diamond ring (down from a size 9 to an amazing size 6) with my savings. What a wonderful visual reminder of my weight loss journey!

Finally, let’s return to the beginning of my column and discuss making goals. I’d suggest that you write your goals down and post them where you’ll see them every day. List the mini goals that will help you reach that major goal of losing X number of pounds and make them measurable. For example, instead of saying “I want to drink more water” write “I will drink eight cups of water every day.” And don’t wait until next January 1 or the beginning of the month or week or whatever as the perfect time to “start.” Make those changes now. As Alexandra Stoddard once said, “Life isn’t a dress rehearsal.”