A week or two ago, I posted something about losing weight on the Shrink Rapping blog (http://psychcentral.wordpress.com) , mainly because I was becoming increasingly annoyed at the numerous articles on losing weight and the promises of this or that product to make one into a svelte person (for a price, of course). Several students jumped on the bandwagon and posted some honest and “true –life” responses. Check out their posts and feel free to leave one of your own.
Today it occurred to me that while I stand by my original premise that there are no secret formulas or shortcuts to losing weight, I’d like to add a little postscript, a comment I’ve heard so many times that I’ve committed it to memory. So have many of the rest of you. The problem is that I haven’t committed it to lifestyle, to personal decisions and behaviors. Here it is: “If you do what you’ve always done, you’ll get what you’ve always got.”
I’m an average sized gal who’s never worried that much about weight except when “with child.” Even then, I knew that it was a temporary state and that sooner or later, I’d resemble the me of yesteryear. That said, I’m carrying around 3 – 5 more pounds than I did five years ago, and while it’s true that I’m older and that my metabolism has slowed, there are things I must change IF I want to shed those few pounds. Some who know me will argue that I look fine, but the truth is that once you gain 3 or 4 pounds, it’s easier to gain 8 or 9 or 10 or 12.
What have I been doing about it? Mainly talking. All talk, no action. Sure, I still walk about 20 miles a week, and I’m pretty good about not eating fatty foods or red meat. I don’t even drink soft drinks, not even the diet variety. However, if I’m serious about losing those four annoying pounds, then I’ve got to do something more than I have been doing. I must develop a new strategy.
So here’s the plan. Tomorrow I’m going to walk 15 minutes more AND eat one less granola bar or cookie. And I’ll do it the next day too. In fact, I’ll follow some version of the above until I’ve reached my desired weight. That said, I’m going to floss and brush right now, thus removing the temptation to waltz back into the kitchen where the goodies are.
Remember: If you do what you’ve always done, you’ll get what you’ve always got. What are you changing?
mom's musings 
I Love your Blog!! Although I am new to wordpress, yours is one that I really enjoy, and I wanted to tell you to stop by mine, I make specialty wreaths that are aromatheraputic!! They are scented to deal with all kinds of aches and pains. Come check me out!
I just checked out your site, and there are certainly a lot of beautiful wreaths there. Must be nice to be so creative!actually i think i will changethe number of times i go to molewart and spend money….instead of once every 6 months, once every two years
Putz, You're one of a kind!Sassy header! Methinks you got plenty of mileage off your fabulous NYC escapades!! 🙂
As for the ‘doing what you’ve always done’, I totally agree. My health Achilles heal is sugar and bread (which breaks down into sugar).
Ah, how observant you are! I got the idea from the "standard" header that I put on the Shrink Rapping blog. I liked the cosmopolitan look of it so much that I decided to use one of my NYC pictures on the mom's musings blog. The problem was in deciding which one, and I probably spent an hour playing around with different ones. It was fun, but....About that doing what you've always done, I'm headed out the door for a longer walk than the one I took yesterday.
You are smaller than average sized, that said I know when your clothes don’t fit right it doesn’t matter what size you are…good luck with those four annoying pounds and I am sympathetic I promise. I totally agree with your comments about doing what you’ve always done!
It just hit me as a revelation that I'm always spouting off about things, and yet in this situation, I wasn't doing anything different. Somehow, however, I expected things to change. Crazy,huh?Losing weight at home isn’t as easy as it seems. How do I know because I’m in the process of losing fifty pounds in the next four-five months? I found out that losing weight is all up to you. You can travel anywhere you want to find a way to lose weight, but if you are not eating healthy or doing exercises, as you can, then nothing really happen to your effort. You can just stay at home and work at home but if you’re eating healthy and active everyday then you can lose weight unnoticed.
On my journey of weight lost I remember these three rules.
1. Lose weight by just being happy everyday.
2. Be active in doing household chores daily to help you lose weight.
3. Keep an eye on what you eat, and control yourself from food cravings.
It’s not as easy as it seems but to be determined and motivated will take you far!!!!
Gloria, Thanks for dropping by and leaving a comment. I hope your weight loss strategy works out for you. Like Dr. Phil asks, "How's it working out for you?"