Remembering the WHY!!!

A while back I wrote a blog on the "WHY" of losing weight. Basically, it was all about the need for me to have a strong reason for why I want to lose weight, and to keep that "why" close to me in order to continue to be motivated and to continue to make decisions on what I am putting in my mouth through out each day. I think the slight "slip" that I had over the last 2 weeks is strongly contributed to not keeping my "Whys" close enough in sight. I think I was so wrapped up in just living my life and running on auto-pilot, I allowed myself to forget all the reasons WHY I want to and need to lose weight.

And everyday, I am finding more "Whys" to add to my list. Of course there are more than just one reason for me to want to and need to lose weight. So, today, the "Why" that I am adding on my list is "To avoid having to have weight loss surgery." Of course, no one HAS to have it, it is a choice, but what I am learning is that more and more people are seeing it as necessity instead of an option. That is very scary to me, as anyone who follows me knows that I do not believe in weight loss surgery. I do have exceptions to this belief of course, for instance, for the person who is 500 plus pounds, or that person that is 800, 900 or even 1000 pounds. People who have gotten themselves in that situation where they are so large, they literally can not move. They are in a very delicate situation and because they probably can only move very little or not at all, it's hard to lose weight on diet alone, especially at that weight. In that situation, I could understand the need for Weight Loss Surgery to help get that person to a more healthy weight. I feel that when people are that big, there is a big risk of death anytime, so anything they can do for themselves to get that weight off is so important.

But here is where I draw the line. Today I was speaking with a friend, whom I have know literally my entire life. She was my neighbor and she was 4 when I was born and we grew up hanging out and through the years have stayed in touch intermittently. Since joining facebook 3 years ago, we have stayed in very close tough.

Today, we spoke and she told me that she was considering having weight loss surgery. I was very shocked to hear it because although she struggled with her weight her whole life, she kept herself at a healthy weight. Since I hadn't seen her in a while, I asked her if she thought she was very overweight. I have seen pictures of her on Facebook, and although it looks like she has gained some weight, I didn't think that she looked like she was at a weight that be such a hopeless situation that she would need weight loss surgery.

She said she was at about 280. Ok, well, that is certainly not a good weight to be at, but certainly not a hopeless situation weight. In my opinion, I feel that people are looking for a magic cure instead of making the commitment and doing it right!

I think in the case of someone who has 150 pounds or less to lose, you can do that on yourself by eating right and exercising. And the question I didn't ask her was, how hard have you tried to lose weight? And when I say TRIED, I mean REALLY TRIED?? Probably not very hard. She said she never exercises, and actually she hates it. And from the looks of her son, who is 13 and is probably way over 250 pounds, she not only doesn't try for herself, but she doesn't try for her kids either!

I don't mean to pass judgment, but it just makes me sad. This friend of mine is going to lose weight because physically her body won't be able to hold a large amount of food at one time. She won't learn about herself, like what drives her to eat, is she an emotional eater, or does she just have bad habits. Does she know what's right, what's wrong, what's healthy, what's not, what quantities? Your not losing weight from behavior modification and learning about nutrition. You are losing weight because physically your body just can't handle the large amounts of food. But because of the type of tissue the stomach is made from, eventually it will stretch, because do you think that when she begins to feel full, she will stop eating immediately? No, of course she won't, because she doesn't do that now. It probably not a change that is even on her radar.

One of the things I have been doing on my journey is to be more in touch with how I feel while eating. I am more in touch with the signals my body is sending and how my stomach feels when I am satisfied instead of eating to the point of gorging myself. So, eventually her stomach will start to stretch and over time she will be able to eat more and more. And although she might have lost weight, she hasn't really made any behavoral changes. She will have all the same habits, she will have all the same struggles, and just like so many, she will put the weight back on.

That is why I am so against weight loss surgery. You don't learn to change yourself.....You don't learn behavior modification and you don't get to know yourself. You probably don't get a chance to go on this journey of self-discovery that I have been on and you don't get to become passionate about all the reasons you want to not just lose weight, but to make serious changes and a commitment to good health. Because I have learned it's not just about losing weight, it's about being healthy!

Anyway, after I talked to her today, it gave me so much motivation to keep going and to always remember my "WHYs" so I never forget what I want and need the outcome to be so I don't have another 2 weeks like the 2 I just had!