I’m getting ready for summer trap!

Actually, this heading can apply to any number of special events. For instance, instead of saying, “I’m getting ready for summer,” it could have been, “I’m going to a wedding,” or “I’m taking a vacation,” etc. The concept is the same, and it’s all a recipe for disaster.

Today, while ordering a 6 inch sandwich at Subway, I saw 3 women say, “Please scoop the guts out of my bread, I’m getting ready for summer.” Out of the 3 of them, 2 were very obese, and 1 was just a bit heavier, though not as obese as the other 2.

Why do we do this to ourselves? I say we because I’m no stranger to this trap, how else could I intelligently speak on it? We can starve ourselves, and it’s just not gonna happen. Especially at the level of obesity that two of them were. The smaller one may be able to make some visible changes, but after summer, she’d go back to being just as big, or even worse.

That’s what happened to me. Every time I cut, after the event, I’d gain the weight back, and a few extra pounds along with it. The process would repeat over and over, and eventually I got really, really heavy, older, and I could no longer make those drastic “cuts” anymore. That led to nearly a decade of me being quite fat and unhealthy.

I learned that the best way to do this was just to set a realistic goal, and get to, and stay at work. The summer trap, along with the others are just a recipe for failure. You are setting very unrealistic, unsustainable goals, and that will have psychological implications. Most of us who become very heavy, eat out depression, and “failing” at a goal, no matter how unrealistic it is, makes you feel upset, and more often than not, you’d eat those sorrows away. I know I did, it was a vicious cycle.

This has to be a long term commitment, one that is sustainable. Do not set unrealistic, and unfair goals for yourself. I’m far from the hippy type, but give your body a break, and do this the right way.

Not to be a jerk, but those ladies are many months, maybe even years, and many, many bread guts away from getting ready for summer. My advice to anyone like them who may be reading this is to abandon that idea right away, make the necessary life changes slowly, and let time do what time does. Reach your goals whenever it is that you reach them, and do it in a way where next year, you won’t have to crash diet, because you’ve been doing the right things all along.

I’m nearly two years deep into this “recovery” weight loss journey, and I’ve yet to hit my goal weight that I set back then. This is no easy task, it takes time and dedication. It’s the only way. If you don’t believe me, go ahead and look up most of the contestants from those weight loss shows, and lets see how many of them actually maintained their changes.

Long term, it’s the only way! Reach out if you’d like to talk.

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