Open Letter to Anyone Trying to Drop a Few Pounds

"There is no weight loss lottery."

I read this sage epithet in a comment written by someone who lost a lot of weight. Although she had lost significant poundage years ago, she still haunted weight loss forums and programs because it still took lots of focus to maintain her hard work. She advised newbies to the health/weight loss/nutrition scene that there was no such place as easy street. Just as most of us have to work to make sure we are financially fit, most of us also have to work to make sure we are physically fit. Of course, in the financial realm, some lucky schmo wins the lotto every once in a while. But no one ever hits the weight loss jackpot. That's all work, all the time.

Anyone who is at odds with some odd pounds will often lament the unfairness that there really are beanpole-types who can eat whatever they want and never gain an ounce. Not so, says I.

I say this because mi esposo is one of those tall drinks of water who looks like he can shovel in a truckload of cheeseburgers without showing any bloat. He even tells people that he never has to worry about his weight. But the truth is, the good man does not overeat. He stops the meal the instant he gets full (much to his chef-wife's chagrin!) Similarly, those skinny-mini model-type girls I have known love to make much of how they DON'T diet, how they DON'T starve themselves, and all of this may be true. But when I was roommates with them in my younger years, I saw firsthand that they also did not take second helpings. Those skinny folks are not pigging out. The beanpoles just don't have big appetites. Anyone with a bigger appetite has to work every day at reminding themselves that second helpings, high calorie indulgences, big portions, and the like will not serve their health well over the long term. The folks with bigger appetites have to work at it every single day for the rest of their lives.

That's the big "lifestyle change" that all of the weight loss experts have failed to define. The rest of us out here in "TV land" thought the experts meant we have to eat a few more vegetables, carry around a water bottle, and get mad at the concept of high fructose corn syrup. While we have made those lifestyle changes, we still remained culturally obese. So, when that didn't work we may have thought that the concept of lifestyle change meant we had to be on a fringe extreme diet. So we tried them, but maybe could not cotton to the whole concept... plus, it really got too cumbersome while traveling or being a guest in someone's home. So we flat-out quit. While it is completely right-on to embrace fresh vegetables and pure water in our diets, and I even think that dabbling in some extreme diets can be educational as a short-term experiment (so long as our physicians do not see a health risk), I don't think those actions are the essential lifestyle changes we need to make. The essential lifestyle change is making your food choices and portion sizes mindful and focused, every day for the rest of your life. There is no absently munching cheese-puffs during the Clint Eastwood movie marathon in the new lifestyle. The new lifestyle is aware of the pros and cons of those cheese puffs. Armed with the knowledge of what's in them and how those ingredients affect your health goals, you may go ahead and munch away if the craving just won't die. But now you only indulge in one cup of them because you know the fat/sugar/chemical/calorie content.... You no longer polish off the whole bag because you are blissfully ignorant to the facts and you are enjoying the crunchy texture and orange fingertip effect.

That's the lifestyle change. That's the "new normal". You just have to think about it every day until the day you die, if you are serious about achieving your goals. Just as you think about going to an unrewarding office plaza every day if you are serious about ensuring that your bills are paid and there are no collection agencies with your number on speed dial. Just as you think about going to that tedious required class every day if you want that degree. Just as you think about walking your dog every day (rain or shine!) if you care about preventing stains on your new living room carpet. No one may really want to go to a lackluster job, or sit through a snoozer of a class, or walk Fido in the sleet, but you do it anyway to ensure that your goals, no, that your needs are met. It becomes an automatic part of your life...er, your lifestyle.

If you need to be healthier and weight loss is part of that health need, then you may have to do some draggy things that ensure that your needs are met. Just look at it that way and it will become an automatic part of your life(style).

Because not one of us has the winning ticket for the weight loss lottery.