One Hundred Seventy Two point Eight

Well, I gained weight this summer. I knew it was happening- I was in a land full of candy- I love that land- it's called Mom and Dad's house :) and even though I was running, I wasn't watching what I was eating and I wasn't cross training. I weighed myself this week and I was not pleased. But I also didn't want to feel like I was bad somehow, I didn't want to go on a diet, I don't want to feel powerless against that number- That number is not who I am, I am so much more than that- I don't want to feel like I'm constantly in a battle against my body- I don't think that is healthy at all.

At Stake Conference this weekend, someone brought up the choices we make each day between Good, Better and Best and I thought "I want to be My Best, whatever that may be" and so I sat down and I made myself a little daily checklist- on it I put things that I felt would help me be my best. Time for Spiritual things- scriptures, gospel study etc; Time for my body- exercise; Time for helping others- Volunteering and service; Time for Singing; Time for Learning- anything, something new, anything I'm interested in; Time for Housework- because yeah, I can improve; AND Time for Healthy, Mindful Eating. The past few days I have been using my time for learning to learn about Mindful Eating/Intuitive Eating. And in true mother fashion, while I rode the exercise bike today, I watched this video. It's pretty interesting.



She speaks about how our bodies have weight set points, It's something our brains just do, and though we can train our body/brain to have a higher set point, it's rare that our set points ever go down. This is why after dieting the majority of us gain the weight back. At first when I heard this I thought "WAHT?!?!?! How am I ever going to be able to maintain a healthy weight!" But then I remembered something I have spoken about before, and this memory gives me hope that I may be able to convince my body to reset. Don't worry, if I can't I'll still be happy, because I will be my best no matter what.

So here is what I remembered. 8+ years ago my body had a set point of 202 pounds. If I wasn't constantly on guard, that's where I would find myself. Through hard work I was able to get down to the 160/170 range and I was amazed! But as always seems to happen with dieting, you eventually stop watching yourself, and when that would happen I would find myself at 183. Yep. That was my new set point! I reset! My current set point is 172.8. 30 pounds less than my original 202. YAY! But about 20-30 pounds more than the range I'm hoping to be able to reset it to, my personal Anti-Type 2 Diabetes range.

At the beginning of her TED Talk Sandra Aamodt told about how 3 years previous she had started to make changes in her eating habits, to be more mindful and intuitive. This lead to a 10 pound weight loss, which is awesome, but the more awesome part is that she moved from the "Controlled" group of eaters- those who use self control when it comes to food and tend to diet, lose then gain- to the "Intuitive" group. Those who eat when they are hungry and stop when they are full- and who tend not to obsess about food. She said she doesn't even THINK about the chocolate that is in house! Imagine that- I know where the chocolate is, it calls to me. Currently I'm a Controlled Eater. But I hope that I will be able to change to an Intuitive Eater. Near the end of her talk she says that becoming an Intuitive eater won't necessarily lead to weight loss, unless you tend to eat a lot when you are not hungry. EMOTIONAL EATER RIGHT HERE!

So this is my goal. Be the Best Me. Retrain my brain, become an Intuitive Eater. Find a better outlet for my emotions than eating them, that's where I hope to find the weight loss and my final RESET. I'll let you know how I'm doing.