Hare or Tortoise

[ImJenno]

Everybody’s heard the story of the tortoise and the hare and I find it very similar to weight loss.   Think about it, most want to shed the pounds quickly, get to that goal the sooner the better I’ll call this dieter the hare.  Then you have the tortoise, he moves slow has his goal in his mind and works at it slow and steadily.  And we all know how this race was won? 

Take the hare, he’s all about the goal, not about the journey.  He gets side tracked, gets comfortable and sloppy, he loses the race.   Take a dieter, he or she sets that goal, jumps out in full force fast and furious, gets comfortable, gets sloppy, tells him or herself I can take the eye of the prize and get back on track tomorrow, they either never reach their goal or gain it all back over time.

Now, take the tortoise, he’s all about the journey to get to his or her goal.  He sets out at a steady pace, he is aware of all that is around him and he stays focused on the goal.  In human world I’d call him a lifestyle setter.   He’s aware of the dieters around him or her, the obstacles he may encounter and the perks of his journey, learning to accept food as his or her fuel, aware of what he is eating and in the end her will have better health, and possibly weight loss not to mention know what food is best to sustain a health lifestyle.

Over the years of trying to lose weight, I see (at age 58) that I have always looked at a diet as weight loss, not as learning how to eat for good health.  If you eat for good health, weight loss is a perk of the journey not the goal.

In 2014 my doctor told me to look into the paleo lifestyle so I purchased all sorts of books and started my research.  Now, I have to admit I jumped into the paleo plan only after a few weeks of reading simply to lose weight and well I have not lost but a few pounds.  I also will acknowledge that one of the first books I got was “It Starts With Food” but after reading it and looking into the Whole30 program I was too intimidated by giving up all I had to give up for 30 full days.  So it was back to Paleo but I figured I could do it my way.

So after about 1¾ years of following Whole30 groups on facebook and checking in on the forums I finally purchased the book (I had purchased the kindle version in 2014) in March 2016.  The hard cover book is a tangible asset, not that the kindle version isn’t but having the actual pages I can highlight, fold page corners and just touch for motivation I was set to start the journey.

The book says plan, plan, plan and plan I did.  I stocked up on the little things, what I couldn’t find locally I found online.  Now, I know from past dieting experiences that though in voice and on paper it is nice to have a week or even a months’ worth of meals planned but for me I would plan my week in advance and by the 3^rd day in I was not in the mood for what was on the menu for the 4^th day so on this journey I plan 4 days at a time and on the 3^rd day I start planning the next 4 days.  I also don’t plan for exact days I just plan meals and as long as I’ve shopped for all the food needed I can mix it up.  For me I find that planning out to far ahead leave no room to be spontaneous with your meal creativity.  When I was working I never planned I fixed what I was in the mood for when I got home.  I shopped for a weeks’ worth of food and many weeks I just wasn’t in the mood for what was in the freezer and pantry so it was off to fast food to fix my hunger.   So now that it is just me and my husband I find plan for 12 meals at a time and shop for the food on those 12 meals.   We do eat a lot of leftovers and it usually works out that I have 21 meals total ready to go when needed.  If I’m not in the mood for what I have chosen for the day I look in my freezer for a meal that I can swop out with what I had planned.  Most importantly I tell myself, fast food just isn’t worth it.

Now granted I’ve only been on whole30 for 9 days but I have to admit I have felt better than I have in years.  I haven’t had many of the withdrawal symptoms described in the book but I also had cut out most grains, dairy, vegetable oils, beans, sugar and gluten.  I also had given up soft drinks (diet and regular) and caffeine many years ago so I think this is a big reason I have not experienced the withdrawal symptoms I have observed many talk about on forums and facebook groups.

To know me personally, I’m sure most doubt I will stick to this lifestyle but right now it feels good.  I don’t know if I have lost weight and won’t for 3 more weeks but really I will admit I’m about 150 lbs overweight so I don’t think I will see changes in 30 days maybe 90 but we’ll see when those times get here. 

So I tell myself be the tortoise finish the race and win!!

I can do this, yes I can and if this 58 year old stay at home grandma can anybody can.

[kirkor]

Great analogy, thanks for sharing!