Weight loss is a journey, it is full of unknowns, unforseen challenges, and amazing discoveries. Sometimes the going is slow and sometimes we can be astounded by our progress. We can fear what we encounter in both the world and ourselves, or we can see the unknown as something exciting which should be embraced instead of feared.
Let’s take a look at how our friendly AI assistant portrays someone embarking on a long journey who is filled with both fear and joy. At least that’s what I asked ChatGPT to create. His head is held high, he’s well-equipped for his journey, his path is clear and the sun is rising. He’s left some baggage behind at the start of his journey (Granted it looks like this goof has double packed and he’s leaving his stuff in the dirt on the side of a trail which is nuts. If you’ve been to REI in the last 10 years to buy the stuff this guy is probably carrying you would not leave $2K worth of camping gear behind).
As I stepped into my own journey I moved forward with hope and I actually looked forward to the long path ahead. I told myself I had nothing to lose (except a bunch of weight) and to just take it slow and easy. As people found out what I was doing (mostly because my eating habits changed a lot pretty quickly) they started to ask me questions–lots of questions. The most common one I got in the early days was, “Don’t you miss eating ______ (fill in the blank).” The short answer is I didn’t and haven’t. Part of it is because I didn’t feel like I was punishing or denying myself. I ate things I liked, avoided the really bad stuff and because I made progress pretty quickly it gave me the confidence to believe in what I was doing and realize that the tradeoffs were worth it.
I didn’t miss eating all the crap I did before because I missed basic things like:
- Being able to sit comfortably in a booth at a restaurant, not needing a belt extender on an airplane.
- Not being the only person sitting in a row on my weekly bus ride into NYC for work because I effectively took up two seats.
- I missed not needing blood pressure and cholesterol pills.
- I missed not being the fattest person in the room. Yes, I would often look around to see if there was someone bigger than me–often there was not.
In my mind the tradeoff I was making was worth it. I did’t wonder, “Where Have All the Good Times Gone?” I thought about the good times ahead and kept my eyes forward.
I found this picture of me at a company event on a beach in the Hamptons. I can remember how uncomfortable I felt at events like this.
Here’s another of me going to an event at Mount Vernon. Going to get that tuxedo fitted was not a fun task. I’m smiling on the outside but I know how I felt on the inside didn’t match.
Making changes to help me really live my life seemed easy compared to how hard it was becoming to navigate my day to day life. The day I took the belt extender out of my travel bag and threw it in the trash gave me way more joy than any amount of food. The day I no longer needed blood pressure and cholesterol pills gave me joy. Being able to stand with my family in pictures and not cringe at the guy staring back was a bigger reward than than anything I could have imagined.
As you take the steps on your own journey think about how the tradeoffs you are making will enable you to achieve your goals. Write them down, when the going gets tough having a list of your goals to refer to can be just enough to keep you on track and to keep you in the ‘light’ when you want to go ‘dark.’