Today is that day when I bring you my personal progress report of how I’m doing with my weight loss and fitness goals. I’ll get to that in a moment but first I’d like to share with you a funny fantasy life that is running through my head and helping me derail my personal progress.
You see I have this secret fantasy that I’m living in the 1700 or 1800’s and I’m baking all of these wonderful baked goods for the family at this time of year. No, I’m not delusional (LOL), but I do have a passion for the past and those wonderful days of yesteryear. It doesn’t help that I’m a good baker, especially when you throw in the fact that I’m addicted to sugar, but there is something about the Christmas season that causes me to start thinking strange things like, “I can handle just a few cookies”, or “baking is just a part of the season!”
Well it would be one thing if I really could handle just a few of anything that contains refined sugar, flour, sodium, fat, all of that stuff that makes up all of those tasty treats you can find in the grocery store, but I can’t!
The part of the fantasy that involves happy faces and lots of baked goods is only a part of it though, the other part being the fantasy that I really don’t have a problem with sugar, that I really can eat whatever I want and not overeat, and that I just want to be like everyone else. But wait a minute, what does “being like everyone else” mean? It means being able to eat what I want, not overeat, not have any problems with sugar, feel awesome no matter what I eat (have high energy), and not have any problems with weight gain.
Now where is the fantasy in that, huh? In actuality, it’s a pure fantasy that “everyone else” can eat whatever they want and not gain weight! In fact, when you look around you’ll see that there are more and more people today who are overweight and/or obese, at least that’s what I saw last night at a holiday event where there were 1,000’s of people in attendance.
It’s also a pure fantasy that a human being is going to be living in high energy and health by feeding the body processed, dead food filled with refined sugar, fat, flour, sodium, all of that stuff that makes up those tasty treats on the store shelf.
The thing is, I could say that this is just a fantasy brought on by the holidays, but it’s really not true; it’s a fantasy that I’ve been struggling for much of my life, wanting to be “just like everyone else” and be able to eat what I want without gaining weight. Well you know what? I honestly don’t even know anyone who can eat whatever they want and not gain weight and besides that, also live in high energy.
So this probably sounds pretty silly, my fantasy that I should be able to live in a human body and thrive in high energy by eating whatever I want. Basically what it comes down to is denial: denial that my human body reacts as it does to sugar and all of those other ingredients that make up that tasty processed, dead food, whether it’s the Christmas season or the fourth of July. It doesn’t matter what the season is, my body doesn’t feel good when I eat those ingredients.
Well that’s the story of my fantasy life filled with sugar and baked goods. As far as my weight goes I maintained the same weight as last week. I also mentioned last week that I was going to focus on walking at least 15 minutes and getting some exercise each day. I didn’t exercise every day but I did get in 3 days, as well as fit in a whole day of downhill skiing, although there is too much sitting around on chair lifts to call that cardio. It does count for some sort of exercise though because it really takes a lot out of me at the beginning of the season. 😉
Are you in denial when it comes to sugar? Do you give into your sugar cravings during the holiday season while you know that you aren’t able to have “just one”? If you’d like to share about your denial when it comes to sugar, or if you’ve made peace with your sugar addiction and kicked your sugar habit, then please leave a comment!
Hi JoLynn, I lived with the same fantasy for my adult life… especially since I was a skinny kid and teenager who could eat whatever I wanted, mostly sugary things, without gaining weight! The past year I’ve been accepting that those days are over. I’ve also been accepting that the days where it’s okay not to exercise are also over. Long walks with my dogs are a great activity, but I also need “contrived” exercise. Overall, I’ve experienced a shift in my mental attitude. It was “motivation” that got me started, but what keeps me going is that I have moved past my resentment of the need to give up certain foods and to incorporate exercise into my life. It doesn’t matter if it is “fair” or not, it just is.
Hi Daphne, thank you!
I can so relate to the wonderful sharing that you leave here in your comments and I hope that the other smart readers of Fearless Fat Loss are also gaining insights from your experiences! 🙂
Your comment, “It doesn’t matter if it is “fair” or not, it just is”….that is soooo true, and something that I am still in the process of accepting emotionally instead of only intellectually.
For some reason I keep that fantasy alive that it should be different, although I know that it’s not….refined sugar (as well as processed, dead food) is just not healthy for the human body. I think it would be a different story if we truly were living a couple hundred years ago when you didn’t eat refined sugar every day but only a couple of times a year. In today’s society though, many eat it every day, if not at every meal.
Additionally, your point that, “Overall, I’ve experienced a shift in my mental attitude.”….that is exactly where most of the struggle lies, is in the mind and emotions.
Excellent insights, thanks again Daphne! 🙂