Today’s post is inspired by the lovely Renee and her post:
The question is…when you have certain health/wellness goals, why don’t you do the things to achieve them? Or, maybe the question is: why do you do things that will put you further away from your goals?
When I journal my food intake and exercise for a consistent period of time, I feel better, lose weight, and, most importantly, I get closer to my goals. I feel like I’m in control of my decisions and my life. I feel proud that I’m actually taking control and accomplishing what it is I set out to do. Nothing beats this feeling!
When I eat without care (read: OVEREAT), skip a workout or miss a weigh-in, I feel disappointed and disgusted, not to mention bloated! I feel like I’ve taken several steps backward and that I will need to work even harder just to get back where I was before. I hate being in this position!
So, if one set of behavior is wonderful and the other set of behavior causes self-loathing, why is this so difficult? I should institute the good behavior all the time, so I never have that bad feeling again. Yet, I will go an entire weekend and eat “freely” without bothering to journal. I’ll have a beer, but tell myself it’s only three PointsPlus when it’s really five. I’ll order pizza when I know I only have enough PointsPlus left for grilled chicken and veggies. I’ll tell myself that I’m too sore to lift weights, so instead of at least going for a walk, I skip the workout all together. Shall I keep going?
I once had a friend tell me that she loved Weight Watchers because all you had to do was follow the plan and it worked. I told her that I wish it were that simple. She said to me, “It is. Just follow the plan.”
I will reiterate what Renee stated – why is it so difficult to let go of habits instilled in us so long ago? Why is it so difficult to just follow the plan?
