Why Weight

How I Lost Twenty Pounds in Two and a Half Months

By Woodrow Meeks


I won’t lie about it, I am still not at my ideal weight due to diabetes, my present diet constraints and certain medications I, perhaps, shouldn’t be on. That being said I will now describe the mental tools I used in the early nineties to peel away twenty pounds of excess weight. I didn’t count calories, I didn’t exactly exercise (I did have fun), I did eat less and was not miserable during the process.

This really isn’t extreme at all and it is a healthy diet, if in fact, one may call it a diet. I think of it more as a regime and mindset. Let me first describe the logical basis of what I did:

I knew that most of the time when I thought that I was hungry, that I was actually bored or stressed. Most of us have trained ourselves to seek out comfort foods at such times.
Comfort foods, the ones that make us feel good, are almost always rich in the things we shouldn’t be eating to start with. Some popular comfort foods are macaroni and cheese or ice cream. There are a host of them almost every one a dairy product. Dairy products are the worst things a human can devour. As a doctor told me and my wife once, “Man is the only animal in the world that consumes milk or dairy products after infancy.” Household pets don’t count because they are perverted from their natural ways by human intervention and are less intelligent for it.

Habits require intervention at the exact moment needed and by the person needing intervention. We must all be responsible for our own actions and not be so dependent on others so often. I must intervene on my own behalf because my extracurricular self gratification usually occurred when no one was around to intervene for me. We should each fight our personal battles alone when possible.

Excuses are just a deceptive way to avoid doing that which we know needs to be done in personal transformation. There can be no excuses or exceptions.

Realize that personal growth is also a personal test of character. Morality is a set of personal rules that each of us choose to live by. Character is the measure of our ability to abide by such rules at times of duress. So having a code of conduct means little if one is unable to maintain their character during the very difficult times. It is during the difficult times that we are truly measured and it is these very moments in life that heroes and cowards are born. This is as true at the refrigerator as it is anywhere else. Those seemingly little moments of testing that are so easily blown off as insignificant are probably more trying than any dramatic human endeavor.

These are the tests we endure alone. These are the moments we can cheat and no one will know. If one cheats at such trials it will be their greatest disgrace, even if they do not know it.

Exercise has become a dirty word thanks to the ignorance of teachers who punish children by having them do things they should have been encouraged to do such as writing and exercise. I refuse to refer to any physical activity as an exercise. I will use it in any context but that one.

Your mind acts on the information given it. Positive affirmations don’t always succeed because of how they are worded. I don’t use them. Your mind is as smart as you are -and why not. You cannot change your mind by simply making a declaration of intention if you do not truly believe it. I made no declaration of intent. I never said that I was going to lose weight. Thankfully we don’t have scales and that put me in a position to declare within two or three days that I had lost five pounds. Was it the truth? Probably not. I didn’t have scales to alter my new reality. I simply declared one morning that I had lost five pounds and went about telling everyone that new truth. They would say things like how did you do it or how long did it take and I would tell them. This was the most valuable part of the plan. Their involvement reinforced my new truth and as time progressed I would declare that I lost another pound or two until the day came that I was weighed at the doctors office. I had lost almost ten pounds in the space of a couple of months. It was not as much as I had declared but it was progress. I took the opportunity to use the reported weight loss as incentive to bolster my determination to lose even more weight.

There is a border we cannot cross and remain healthy despite what any doctor may say and you are free to research this for yourself. It is known as the set point. The set point is the lowest weight achievable by an individual and is determined genetically. It is not meant to be an excuse to quit or slack off. It also changes through your life and in my opinion can be slightly altered through a strict program designed to change your metabolism. I think changing one’s metabolism does require the advise of of a professional and I refuse to go to such lengths myself. I therefore cannot dispense with such advise publicly.

I eventually reached my set point and could not lose any more weight than the twenty plus pounds I had gotten rid of. The following is exactly how I did it:

Remember, these rules applied to me. If you feel you will not succeed you are 100% correct.

When I go to the refrigerator I would ask myself if I was in fact hungry or if I was actually bored or perhaps my wayward brain no longer knew the difference between hunger or boredom. It is simple really. If I had eaten a reasonable amount that day my brain (or mind) was in error and I would correct it by suggesting we go for a walk or do something useful around the house. Like a two year old my mind (or brain) would object and I would have to insist that it it join me in a more healthy endeavor for the moment until it overcame it’s lustful urges. I know I’m being silly, but thank goodness everyone is not privy to our every thought. Because the battle in my mind was about like that. I exaggerated only slightly. It is a fact that you can reason with yourself and change your own mind. It is sad that most people do not use this ability to coerce themselves to act against their will when their health or betterment is at stake. Strange, but our minds are usually wrong. Some of my best essays would display a change of mindset on my part as would realize, as I explored a subject through writing, that I was wrong, indeed. This requires a certain amount of mental disassociation on the part of the practitioner. In other words you must exercise a great deal of objectivity when screwing around with your own head.
I did not do this but it would have helped. Put a notice on your refrigerator door that reads, “Are You Really Hungry”.

Hide your scales. Scales help you to worry about your weight thus increasing stress which will increase the likelihood that you will eat more. If you stick to the plan you will lose weight. If you cannot see the difference and you do the right things you are in no need to look at scales. In time others will reward you by asking how you lost so much weight and that does encourage us to try harder.

Walk a lot and take in as much physical activity as you can. Do not use a pedometer, they are like scales. This is not a competition or torture. If you are healthy enough, and only then, walk a minimum of thirty minutes a day. We are people so I will not insist on some torturous program.

Anything over thirty minutes should begin to burn glucose and thus eliminate calories. How much more is up to you.

When walking hold your stomach in and keep your chin up. Good posture contributes to better health and longer walks. Practicing your posture while walking is as good a place as any to begin.

See yourself as looking good. Beauty really is in the mind of the beholder and your mind is paying attention.

Park farther away from the store.

Use stairways when available. Each floor has a door so you can finish on the elevator when needed.

Use smaller dishes or plates.

Whenever given a choice between walk or ride, choose walk. My dog made the walks more enjoyable.

Outsmart the old you. I know you can do it.

Remember, in the Bible, (One of the books of Timothy I Believe) gluttony is treated with the same disdain as drunkenness. Eating over and beyond your physical requirements is wasteful and gluttonous. It doesn’t matter what others believe. It doesn’t matter, in this regard, if you are Christian or not. Wisdom is where you find it. It is true and gluttony is as deadly as alcoholism where health is the concern.

Things a doctor told me: When eating dairy products picture them for what they really are. Pure cholesterol refined and made attractive and tasty for your detriment and the profit of those in the dairy production business. They will not be sued for poisoning people as they are backed by the government who also approved of an untold number of drugs and foods and processes that has killed thousands of American citizens and perhaps even more people outside of our borders. Refined dairy products are worse than natural dairy products.

You may deem this plan as foolish but it actually worked for me. Talking to yourself silently or otherwise is actually healthy if you say healthy things to yourself. Do so with discretion.
Truth can be found even in the mouth of a liar or a fool. It is up to you to have the knowledge, wisdom and discernment to figure it out.

That’s it. I actually lost twenty pounds in a matter of months. I am pretty sure it was about two and a half months. I cannot and will not guarantee your success but it is easier to eat less for a logical reason and to reinforce why you are eating less each time you are tempted than to count and worry over calories. There’s no such thing as a calorie. It is a measurement of heat. Nothing has calories in it. We are overweight because we eat too much, work & play too little and consume pills and certain foods that are unnatural.

Obligatory Disclaimer:

Dear Reader. Your on your own here as we all are responsible for our own deeds and choices. You have the ability to read and it is assumed you can also make your own decisions as an adult.
The following worked for me and may work for you as well. I wish all the love and success that one can possibly have.

You have got to see this. I think it will help you. Download it if you wish. Go to my wife's URL http://stitchcraftusa.com and click on The Little Green Car. "It is a little animated movie thing.

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posted by Cheryl Levesque @ 4:02 PM