You've Got to Accetuate the Positive!

When January 1st rolled around, many of the women’s magazines touted headlines with diet plans promising quick, easy and significant weight loss. From accai berry to cleansing, carb-counting to food combining, volume eating to soup diets, all claimed that by using their strategies, women could melt the fat and shed the pounds quick!

Like many other women, I have had to manage my weight throughout my lifetime. I was not a small and thin child - in fact I was the one that got teased about my weight in school. In my preteen awkward years, I still struggled with fluctuating weight, battled eating disorders, and was obsessed and consumed by the number on the scale and the number of calories on my plate. And even though my weight regulated some as I became and adult, after three pregnancies, I again had the same struggles with weight.

Up until I hit my 30's, most of my life had been consumed with food. If I wasn’t thinking about what I shouldn’t eat, I was thinking about what I could eat for my next meal. From the moment I woke up in the morning to the time I went to bed, I was in a constant battle with myself over what I did or didn’t, and should or shouldn’t have put in my mouth. During this time of my life….those diet fads were pretty appealing to me.

But, sometime in the last 10 years or so, something in my mindset shifted. Instead of looking at all of the things I was doing wrong with my nutrition and weight, I started looking at all of the things I was doing right. I realized that I had always been active, and if I got tired or didn't like a particular physical activity, I found a new one. I realized that even though I had obsessed about food for years, I did know what good nutrition and sensible eating was for me - limiting fatty and fried foods, limiting packaged or prepared foods, watching sugar, eating lots of fruits and vegies in lots of different colors. Shifting to the positive thought process instead of the negative one actually motivated me to push my health goals farther.

Now as I am about to reach my 40's I am in the best shape of my life. I am healthy and active - running my first 1/2 marathon soon - and have stayed at a healthy weight. By accentuating the positive, I'm benefiting my health, my body and my future.