Fat 2 Fit: Listening for a Message from the Heart
It's easy to get in a rut when you're trying to lose weight: No matter what you try, you seem to fall back into the same bad old habits. The fix? Let your heart take the lead.
By: Carole Carson | Source: AARP.org | 2008-12-18
Anybody who's tried dieting knows that even the best-laid plan can disintegrate over time, if not immediately. Have you ever woken up in the morning 100 percent committed to daily exercise and careful eating? That night, have you sat in front of the television, guiltily eating a bowl of ice cream and remembering that you didn't exercise as promised?
Oh well, you say to yourself. Tomorrow's another day. But the following day you do the same thing.
If you were told you had a serious heart disease and were unlikely to live if you didn't change your ways, would you shape up? Of course, you say.
Well, perhaps not. About 600,000 people have bypass surgery every year in the United States. Another 1.3 million patients have angioplasties. Together, the costs reach around $30 billion. So how do you break through the resistance and make the health-saving changes?
In my case, I made changes because I felt badly about the way I was failing to care for my body. I didn't have a medical emergency, nor did I suddenly become enlightened. I based my decision not on what my mind advised but on what my heart pleaded. Instead of reacting out of fear, I had a positive image of myself that I moved toward.
Second, I was already in a learning mode. I was enrolled in a tennis clinic to improve my game. At home, I was starting a second career in writing. I was also struggling to master new technologies involving e-mail, DVDs, computers, cell phones, and digital cameras and was inadvertently increasing the plasticity of my brain.
Most important, I changed everything at once. I got on the scale and it broke. The next moment, I became a fitness evangelist—first for myself and then for others.
Results started coming in quickly, and I did not want to lose momentum. What conventional wisdom said would not work (that is, making big changes) instead improved my chances of success.
I'm still learning how to become more competent in a technologically sophisticated world. I also continue to work on my tennis game. And over time, new activities have become regular habits.
I feel better. Instead of being heavy-hearted about my obesity and lack of fitness, I am lighthearted and optimistic.
Fortunately, the denial and clutter of my mind's misguided thinking didn't keep the message of my heart from being heard.
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