Some greater life lessons learned while dieting

By BOB BRANDTS

Published on November 24, 2006

I just recently went through a period of time when I was engaged in the true Great American Pastime: dieting. Now that I'm at the end of that process, I find myself thinking back on all of the little lessons I learned about myself along the way, lessons that I'm finding apply to many other parts of my life. Stealing from the title of a popular book many years ago, here in no particular order are my "Lessons Learned While Dieting":

1. Choice is the enemy -- The diet plan I was on severely limited my food options for the first couple of weeks, and I'm convinced that that's what ultimately allowed me to successfully attain my goal weight. Not having to think so much about what to eat for each meal - and thus not allowing my daily mood fluctuations to influence those decisions - was critical to my success because, when left to make split-second decisions I inevitably opt for less-healthful food options. The "You had a bad day, so you deserve that cookie." and "Go ahead and cheat just this once." voices were quieted when I knew that my options were limited and, after a few days of being on my new eating plan, the voices of temptation subsided to a barely audible whisper.

Applying this lesson to my everyday life, I find that having choices causes more stress in my life than I ever realized. Just recently I went to the store in search of laundry detergent, feeling confident that I could find our usual brand based on the color of the container. I was wrong. I got to the detergent aisle, and I became frozen in place, overwhelmed by all of the sub-categories that existed for that one detergent in that same orange container. There was "Mountain Fresh" and "Cold Water Plus" and "With Bleach" and "Perfume Free" and on and on it went. I counted no fewer than a dozen different sub-categories for that one brand. I remember seeing a book a while back that dealt with "the stress of choice" in today's world, and I have become a big believer in that concept. We have gotten to the point in our society where we have too many choices at our fingertips and that inevitably leads to low-level stress, as we struggle with decision-making, doubts, regrets at not having made a different choice, remorse at having made a wrong choice, etc., etc. More is not always better and, in the case of more choices, can often be downright paralyzing.

2. We are spoiled -- As I wrestled with the "You deserve &" voices during the first few days of my diet plan, I was struck by just how spoiled I sounded. It dawned on me just how tuned in I've become to the "I want &" voices versus the "I need &" voices within our society. I didn't need that cookie, I didn't deserve that cookie; the plain and simple fact is that I just wanted that cookie, much like a spoiled child wants something that they can't have at the moment. I was embarrassed by this revelation.

What this realization has done in my day-to-day life is make me more mindful of my motivations for the things that I try to bring into my life. It's hard to push aside the "I-want-it-now" mentality that's everywhere you go in this country and instead try to get to the more reasonable "What-do-I-really-need?" voice that tends to hang back in the shadows most of the time. This approach prompted me and my wife to go through our house top to bottom and purge all of the "stuff" that we didn't need, giving most of it to local organizations that had a true need for those items. Now, not only do I feel physically lighter because of all the weight I lost from my diet, I also feel emotionally lighter because of all the weight I purged from my surroundings.

3. The power of compound interest -- I've read many times about the magical powers of compound interest - e.g. "If you save five cents a day for the next 20 years you'll have a million dollars when you turn 60 years old." I found that the same principles hold true when dieting. There are no ways to lose 10 pounds in a few days - short of lopping off an arm or a leg - so my ultimate success depended on making small decisions each and every day that eventually added up to something substantial after many weeks. It was the sum total of all my walks, choosing low-fat products over their higher fat brethren, and basically saying "no" to anything that contained any refined sugar that made the difference over the long haul.

Applying this principle to the rest of my life is easy and can be summed up in two words: be patient. I see now that anything worthwhile does indeed take time and the real rewards come in direct proportion to my willingness to "pay the price" on a moment-to-moment and day-to-day basis. It can feel like drudgery at times -- as the daily commitments walk the fine line between "routine" and "rut" - but I try to keep in mind that all of these tiny efforts do add up and they form the stepping stones on the path to my long-term goal, whatever it may be.

4. Aim high - When I started my weight loss effort, I stepped on the scale and was horrified to see that I weighed 212 pounds, an all-time high for me. I then set my goal weight at 190 pounds, which was a nice round number and a weight that I knew I could maintain once I got there. My goal was to get to 190 pounds in time for a family gathering in another state that was two and a half months in the future, which I felt was enough time for me to drop the 22 pounds safely. I was stunned when I hopped on the scale two and a half months later - it was actually the night before we were flying out to the family gathering - and saw 190 staring up at me from the scale. I had hit my goal right on the nose.

The fact that I hit my goal weight exactly got me wondering: What if I had set 185 pounds as my goal? Would I have shot past 190 and settled at 185 at the end of the two and a half months? It made me realize how powerful expectations are and just how powerful our mind is when it comes to controlling our bodies. I believe we can achieve most anything we set our minds to and the trick is to make sure we set goals that are as challenging as possible while still being attainable. I have to always remember not to sell myself short with what I think I can do.

All in all I would have to say that my dieting experience was definitely a good one - I reached my goal weight, I have managed to maintain my goal weight, and I learned some valuable lessons about myself along the way. What more could I ask for? Most importantly, I learned that my mind, more than my body, is the enemy when it comes to tackling goals such as this and my ultimate success tends to rely on how well I do at stiff-arming my mind's attempts at sabotage and maintaining my focus on the goal at hand. Good luck and stay positive.

Bob Brandts is the sports and recreation director for Amherst Leisure Services. If you have any comments regarding his column, you may contact him directly at 259-3144 or brandtsb@amherstma.gov.