What’s Wrong with Now? | Perspective | Life After Sugar | The 3E’s | Takeaway

We celebrate a major holiday, birthday, or life event every month of the year. We celebrate with food. It is never a good time to go on a diet. But, with a few small shifts in perspective, I think you’ll agree that it’s the right time.

It’s Not a Good Time to Diet. But It’s the Right Time [Video]

In this video, you’ll learn…

• Things we tell ourselves in order to put off dieting.
• How shifting perspective can help you get results!
• Helpful resources for successful weight loss!

“Now Is Not a Good Time”

Whether your goal is to lose the last 5 pounds or 105 pounds, reaching that goal will take time and consistent effort. The world we live in is not set up to provide us that time or make it easy to stick with your plan long enough to reach your goal.

Here in the United States, we start the year with New Year’s Day, jump right into Super Bowl celebrations and Valentine’s Day, which are all events highlighted by food. The list goes on and on. It’s easy to think, “Once we get into Spring and past this cold weather, I’ll start my diet.” “Once we get through the Summer picnic season, it will be easier to stick to a better eating pattern.”

There is always a reason to put off starting a goal, and those reasons can be valid. But, the reality is that life will not slow down so that you can focus on losing weight. In fact, it may feel like life conspires against you when you make up your mind to change. 

A Different Perspective = A Different Result

I was very encouraged by a member of my Freedom Program. In the program, we have a forum where I provide guidance, and members can share their experiences. One member wrote that she was having great success and went on to share that she was caring for her husband, who has some severe health issues.

With the challenges she was facing, it would have been easy for her to take on the mindset that her health could wait. But, she had a different perspective. She realized that by taking care of herself, she was better able to care for her husband. It didn’t look like a good time for her to diet, but it was the right time. 

When I was in my late twenties and early thirties, I struggled with a powerful sweet tooth. I would wake up thinking about junk food, daydream about junk food, and sneak-eat junk whenever I could. Of course, you can sneak it all you want, but you can’t hide the weight gain that comes when you eat sugar and refined treats every day like I was doing. 

I was becoming more and more uncomfortable in my body, yet, at the time, I felt very attached to the junk food. Life was stressful, and food seemed to calm me down. It was a coping mechanism. I liked having it as part of my life, so I developed an arsenal of excuses and justifications as to why it wasn’t a good time to change.

I had to laugh at myself as I remembered one of my reasons for not starting a diet. I had convinced myself that dieting was torture. Then I would tell myself, “What if you get in an accident tomorrow? It would be terrible to spend your last day on Earth voluntarily torturing yourself by dieting.” I look back at that now and laugh at myself, but it was a genuine concern at the time. 

Life Is Good on The Other Side of Sugar

If you’d like to hear more of my story, I have a free video series on my website that you can watch.

But to make a long story short, I found out that life is really good on the other side of sugar. I would have missed out on many of the positive experiences that I have today if I had not changed my perspective. 

When I started my journey to lose weight, it was not a good time to do it. Life was stressful. My mind was working overtime, trying to convince me to come to my senses and unwind with some ice cream already! In the early days, I was tempted to give up and go back to my comfort zone. You can’t wait for the temptations to go away. If you struggle with the desire to eat sugar and fast food and dessert, the irony is that the only thing that will lessen that temptation is not giving in to it. 

When you eat refined foods, which are the ones that I refer to as the 3 C’s: cookies, cakes, and candies, they get absorbed into your system so quickly that they cause the release of a feel-good chemical called dopamine in an area of your brain called the nucleus accumbens. That area is nicknamed the pleasure center of the brain. Stimulation of this area is one reason why people get addicted to drugs.

Sugar is an addictive drug, so there is no shame in wanting to eat it. Even though I no longer struggle with my sweet tooth, nothing magically happened inside of me to now make me feel repulsed by the smell of fresh-baked donuts. I think they smell delicious and I have little doubt that they would taste good. But, the temptation to eat them is no longer strong.

To Change, Get The 3E’s Working For You.

A committee of doctors came together many years ago to try to understand the factors that had to be in place for someone to stick with healthy habits like eating right and exercising. They found that people stick with their goals long enough to get results when their plan is easy-to-follow, enjoyable, and effective.

If you have a clear strategy that works for your lifestyle, enjoy the foods you eat and see evidence that your plan is working, you will stick to your goal. These elements are what I call the 3E’s. It takes some work to get them in place, but when you do, you can sit down in front of a dozen cupcakes and comfortably say no thank you. 

Takeaway

There are many reasons why it is inconvenient to start a diet today. But, remind yourself that you don’t have to complete the entire journey today. You have what you need to get started and today is better than tomorrow. Tomorrow never comes.

If you want something that will help you get aimed in the right direction, I have a free eating strategy that more than 80,000 people have downloaded. It can help you get started, and when you request it, you will be directed to the free video series that I talked about earlier. The videos will encourage you and motivate you to get in the game and stay in the game. 

Thank you for reading and have a wonderful week!

About the Author

Becky Gillaspy, DC graduated Summa Cum Laude with research honors from Palmer College of Chiropractic in 1991.