Look Beyond The Obvious

Light at Last - a blog about weight loss

Dorothy Rodwell, LMFT

July 19, 2015

Knowing the future

Keeping the ending in sight

I am light at last

How long does change really take?  Yes, we can think that in order to set a weight loss goal and regime it will take lots of effort and a long time.  And we can also think that with a new paradigm of how to approach this lifelong relationship with food and ourselves it can naturally flow and it doesn’t matter how long it takes as there is no endpoint.

There are people who do not think about food as much as they focus on what is happening in their life that brings joy.  But food does bring me joy, you might say – and that would be true.  However the overweight, lumpy body, feeling bad pattern erodes that joy.  Let’s get rid of that endless loop and tune up the mind to reorganize in a way that leads to what we want.

How do we begin?  Let’s begin by talking about goals.  The idea of SMART goals (specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and timely) is one that we see a lot used a lot for weight loss. And yes, for the logical mind this is a valid way to set and get a goal.  And yet, for the emotional/intuitive mind this approach does not work so well. 

It’s all about using the type of planning process that works for you.  If the logical approach works, great.  If not, consider using a different way of planning to get started and then a hybid approach may be just fine. 

The emotional mind responds to stories, symbols and metaphors.  So, I see you eating out with friends and talking about how much you enjoy your new way of eating.  You are telling them how great you feel and how much energy you have.  Wow, if you had known you would feel this good, you would have done this a long time ago. Five pounds down on the way to ten. You feel light and enjoy a sense of well being in your body and mind. Each time you sit down to eat, you take a deep breath and enjoy the relaxation associated with really enjoying eating with all your senses.

 It was like when you learned to ride a bicycle and using training wheels.  There came a day when you got a bigger bicycle without those wheels. Wow, that was scary and you stayed with those training wheels.  And then one day, you decided to try that other bicycle and you learned to ride it within days.  After that, there was no turning back.

Swinging on the swing, you notice that there are times when you just want to float and do little except notice the sensation of being above the ground in the air supported safely.  Other times, you want to be active and see how high you can go.  Those are the times you pump your legs and move your body as leverage into the movement of the swing.  And then you glide for as long as you wish until the swing stops moving and it’s time to begin again.