Small steps to big weight loss

Weight loss is hard. The behaviors that caused the weight to accumulate must be changed in order for the weight to go away, and the change can be quite difficult. I was overweight for many years, almost my entire adult life. I didn’t like how I looked, I wasn’t happy when my already plus size clothes were too small for me and I was worried about my health. But, permanent weight loss didn’t happen until I stopped the behaviors that were keeping me overweight.

One of my favorite things to do with my kids is cook. We especially like to bake together. I have bonded with my kids over many a bowl of cookie dough. It’s fun, and when the warm cookies come out of the oven, yum! But, I don’t help ‘lick the bowl’ anymore. I modify recipes to contain healthier ingredients and stick to a moderate serving of what we make.

Another habit I gave up was cleaning my children’s dishes. I think most of you moms know what I’m talking about here. We can’t let that last bite or two go to waste, right? Multiply your zero waste thought by the number of children whose dishes you are cleaning. For me, that could be another full meal’s worth! Waste is not desirable, but I’d rather give those last few bites to the chickens than end up on my waist!

I had to start thinking about what I was drinking. Many drinks have calories. I used to drink flavored coffee usually throughout the day. I just didn’t give it much importance. So, I realized that each cup I was drinking contained about 80 calories. That really adds up. Many of the diet drinks contain chemicals that I choose to avoid. So while it took some getting used to, water has become my drink of choice throughout the day. Now I enjoy my afternoon cup of flavored coffee, because I haven’t been idly sipping it all day.

I learned to recognize emotional eating, which usually happened when I wasn’t even hungry. The problem was that it didn’t matter what emotion she was experiencing; Food was the solution! Happy, excited, angry, sad, they were all reasons to have a little snack. Controlling emotional eating was a crucial step in losing weight.

I love cookbooks and I read them for fun. I had to stop doing that while I was losing weight. Thinking and thinking about food made me want it more and made it much harder for me to switch to eating in moderation. Finally, I was able to get back into my habit of reading cookbooks, but not until I lost weight. I needed to learn to cook and eat for health, not entertainment.

These are just a few of the changes I had to make to my eating habits in order to be successful at losing weight. Many small steps really do add up to a big leap towards fitness. The good thing about making changes to my habits is that by the time I lost weight, my healthier habits had become second nature. The me of today hardly recognizes the obese me of the past. That feels great.

2010 Julie Cazier