Lessons From a Former Fat Girl

Having been a fat girl, I know all too well how hard it is to lose the weight and keep it off.  I am not a "natural skinny."  I have to think about my food choices every day.  Every meal, in fact.  Is it worth all that work?  Absolutely.  I feel better.  I think better.  I sleep better.  I look better.  The list could go on... No, it doesn't come naturally to me but it has gotten easier as the years pass.  It has been almost 7 years since I hit my goal weight.  Sometimes I even surprise myself that I'm STILL at my goal weight.  Oprah said on her show when she gained her weight back, "I got cocky.  I thought I had it mastered."  I learned a lesson from Oprah...you have to keep on working.  You never have it mastered.  There are lesson that I have to keep on learning, every day!

1.  Not every meal has to be a sumptuous buffet of deliciousness for all the senses!  I am a food lover.  Aren't we all?  My fat self had to have it all.  The perfect meal...appetizers, perfect entree with yummy sauces, desert, drinks and all the trimmings at every meal!  I have to continue to learn that most meals are just about refueling.  Nothing more than that.  Going all out is just for special occasions.

2.  One cheat doesn't give me license to binge.  I know you've heard me say this before, but having one cookie doesn't mean I need to keep on going with the junk food for the rest of the day.  Every meal is a new opportunity to make good choices.  I get back on the wagon immediately.

3.  Find your moderate button.  I've heard it a million times, "Everything in moderation."  Well, I am not equiped with a moderate button.  I had to create one and learn how to use it.  I'm a go all out type of girl.  That's why I was fat.  I have to  remind myself regularly that a few bites is enough.

You would think after 7 years I wouldn't have to keep learning, not just learning but re learning.  But I do.  And it's worth it.