Fun to the Finish

Hi all!  I am currently gallivanting around England with my mama, so I have arranged for a special treat for you guys: a guest post from Diane of Fit to the Finish.  I have always been a fan of Diane and her blog, but lately her blog posts have been especially moving to me, so I asked her if she would share some words of wisdom with my readers.  Lucky for us, she said yes!  So, without further ado, here is Diane!

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Can You Still Have Fun?

I wanted to thank Lara for giving me the opportunity to post on her fabulous site! Every time I read through her posts, I’m so impressed by the care that she puts into her food choices and the diligence she uses in planning her day. But at the same time, I’m totally impressed that she has so much fun!

In case you’re not familiar with my story, I used to weigh 305 pounds. Twelve years ago, I lost 150 pounds and went from a size 26/28 to a size 6/8. Losing weight was one of the most rewarding things I’ve ever done, but maintaining the weight loss all these years is even more important.

When I was thinking about what to write today, the word that came to mind was fun. Can you have fun, make good food choices, and keep your weight where you want it to be?

I’d say the unqualified answer to that question is yes – with a caveat. You can have all the fun you want with food as long as you keep a few things in mind:

• Every choice is important
• Moderation is the buzz word of the day
• Keep moving and don’t stop
• Have some accountability for yourself

The choices that you make throughout your daily life all add up to one thing. They either keep you in the right weight range for you, or they start to move you away from your goal. My choices during my morbidly obese years moved me further and further away from a healthy weight. Instead of trying to watch what I ate when I first started to see the scale move up, I ate more. So by making poor choices I took the fun out of food. Instead of being enjoyable, food became a chore. I ate without thinking and didn’t appreciate all the great tastes out there.

Over the 14 months that it took me to lose the weight, I learned that I didn’t want to deprive myself of any food. If I wanted some chips, then I ate a few. If chocolate was calling my name then I answered – not with an entire pound bag of M&M’s, but with a few. I finally learned that I could have what I wanted, but I couldn’t have the whole bag!

Another idea that became important to me was exercise. You can pretty much eat what you love if you are moving your body and burning off a good amount of calories each day. Staying sedentary while my weight ballooned was the worst thing I could have done. I radically changed my thoughts on exercise and started moving – difficult at 300 pounds – but possible. I know it takes some planning to fit exercise into our busy lives, but if I can exercise six days a week with seven children, so can you!!

And finally, finding a way to keep yourself accountable is really important. For me, the accountability partner I selected was my scale. Some people like to use a favorite pair of pants, or other benchmarks to keep them accountable, but whichever you choose, be honest with yourself. I weigh myself every day, and if I see the scale move up out of the three-pound range I allow for myself, then I watch things for a few days. It’s worked well for me throughout the years.

As you move through your life, I just want to encourage you to have fun, enjoy every moment you are given, and within that fun to keep an eye on your health and weight. I so wish I hadn’t spent my 20’s and early 30’s as a morbidly obese woman. If I had been mindful of having fun in a smart way I may have spared myself many years of heartache. Take care of yourselves and thanks again Lara! Diane

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Thank you, Diane!  To hear more about Diane’s weight loss and maintenance success, visit her over at Fit to the Finish.

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