My weight loss journey: Breaking bad overeating habits

This is part eight of Pat’s weight loss journey that she is sharing with us. To read her previous blog, click here. Each week she will document her progress as you support her and hopefully gain positivity and encouragement to lead a healthier life.

As I enter another week, my weight loss has plateaued and I find there is more to sustained weight loss than just eating healthy unprocessed food. As a child I was made stay at the table until every morsel of food was eaten. I am sure that I’am not alone and that many of you reading this blog will identify with what I’m saying. I believe that this type of forced eating sets up negative patterns of eating which stay long after one has grown to an adult. In the back of one’s mind is the nagging thought, “I must finish every thing on my plate”. It is only now in my 63rd year that I am challenging those thoughts.

Dietary research indicates that it takes 15 minutes before the body registers that it has had enough to eat. So it got me thinking: how many of us, while eating good healthy food may be eating more than we need? As a general rule of thumb, I have  either 1/2 cup of rice, pasta,or sweet potato along with a serving of protein with the remainder of my meal being made up of vegetables. I find this works for me. 

Sustained weight loss is very much an individual process and what works for one may not work for another. It really is all about finding what works for you.  

As I mentioned earlier my weight loss has plateaued at this point in time, this is not a time to get down, quit or heaven forbid go on a food binge. No one has won a race by stopping during the race. So it is, if we are to be successful in our journey to better health and weight loss we need to stay for the long haul. This week has been a struggle for me, those old diet thoughts came back: you’re wasting your time, you’re always going to be fat, you haven’t lost any weight in two weeks. I could have fallen into the trap of dwelling on my negative thoughts but instead I chose to remind myself of where I started and what I have achieved. I have lost 6 kilos; 6 kilos of fat. Next time you’re out grocery shopping look at the margarine section, picture the weight you have lost in terms of tubs of margarine, it made me smile.

Anyway that’s it till next week, remember it’s never too late to put yourself first in your journey to better health and weight loss. 

Tell us, how is your weight loss journey going?