The Amazing Adventures of Dietgirl
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Finished a book with the above title just yesterday. Its a memoir of one dieter's journey through six years and 175.5 pounds. The author, Shauna Reid, lost half her body weight. Yet the really amazing thing to me is that it took six years off and on (mostly on), and she never gave up! She persevered.
Perseverance. That's a key element that has been missing is all my other attempts to lose weight before. It just so happens that I am struggling with it again this week. For about 5 months now, I have been on a roll. Not as in weight coming off, although I have lost 44 pounds. I have been on a roll of determination. I was done with my old fat habits, and there was no turning back. But this week I am struggling. Don't know why. Scale not moving last week? Hormones? Watching the Biggest Loser contestants see some incredible losses? All I know is that for whatever reason, my determination wavering. Somehow the idea that I will never reach my target goal has entered my mind, and I am struggling with not believing it. I CAN do this. At least I thought I could.
On a positive not, I have not seriously entertained thoughts of giving up. What is there to go back to? Nothing of what I have given up is worth losing years off my life. And thanks to Dietgirl, I don't even think this period of doubt is going to derail my progress by much. She made a simple, yet profound (to me anyway) statement in her book that has stuck with me: "I know I'll get there if I keep doing all these positive things. Weight loss isn't about willpower or motivation; its just the cumulative effect of tiny actions over time. Putting down the chocolate bars, putting on the running shoes. You just have to keep picking yourself up when you fall, over and over again, for however long it takes."
So I'm going to get through this period of doubt, and while I am waiting for it to pass, how ever long it takes, I'll keep on doing as many of my 'tiny actions' as I can manage. And I will (as did my hero Dietgirl) persevere: to persist in anything undertaken; maintain a purpose in spite of difficulty, obstacles, or discouragement; continue steadfastly.