Hello!
Why I lost it
This past spring, I went to the doctor for a routine checkup. I expected it to be like any other routine doctor’s visit.
Instead, I was diagnosed with being prediabetic. I also found out that over the past 5 years I’d gained 45 pounds.
To be completely honest, I didn’t really care about the weight. But I sure as hell did care about thwarting diabetes. And in my case, the same behavior that caused me to become prediabetic was the same behavior that caused me to gain 45 pounds.
I am extremely determined when I’m feeling motivated, and I was feeling motivated AF. At first, I went a little overboard. A little “I’m never eating a gram of sugar every again” overboard. (As if I could forever abandon my first and forever love — sugar!)
I have to give credit to my boyfriend, who reminded me that I needed to have a normal, healthy relationship with food and not live in a state of deprivation.
How I lost it
I believe very strongly in the power of self-identification. Over the past 4 years, I had started to identify as a person who struggled with motivation to work out regularly. And I had begun to identify as a middle aged person who would never be as fit as I used to be.
I was extremely comfortable with my new identity. I would say very unemotionally, and matter-of-factly “I just don’t care about my body anymore.” And it was almost a source of pride — that I had moved past the vanity of my youth into the self confidence of my 40’s.
But this health crisis and my resulting panic cured me of the delusion that caring about my body and my health was optional. And I realized that in order to make the lasting change I needed to stay healthy, I had to change my self-identification.
And so I made a choice — to actively work on changing my identification to a person who prioritized her health and fitness.
Once I made that decision, I started to look at many of my life choices through that lens — what would a person who prioritized her health and fitness do?
A lot of people have been asking me how I’ve lost 33 lbs in 4 months. And the real “how” is by continually asking myself this question, and — critically — taking that action more often than not. Now I work out most everyday, and it’s easy as pie (oooh pie!) for me to motivate to do it, because I feel more and more like that person I wanted to be each day.
If there’s anything in your life that you want to change, I invite you to try this exercise.
#1 Get clear on how you’re self-identifying on the subject.
#2 Decide the identity that would better serve you in achieving your goal.
#3 Commit to taking the action of that new identity, even if you don’t “feel” like it or it isn’t your natural inclination.
#4 Repeat step #3 until it becomes automatic.
You got this.
xo
F