Why I eat healthily and stick to my eating plan

One of the most useful things that Cognitive Therapist Bradley Drake suggested was to list the benefits of maintaining a healthy weight. I revisit the list regularly and suggest you create one too if you are on the journey.

Why I eat healthily and stick to my eating plan.

I can participate in walks and hikes with JP.

I have reduced the risks associated with being diabetic like gangrene and nerve damage.

I have minimised the risks of high-blood pressure like death by stroke or being a vegetable.

I can fit comfortably into an economy plane seat and not spill over onto the person next to me.

I don’t have to ask the airhostess for an extension belt.

I can turn over easily and without pain in bed.

I no longer have nerve pain in my leg.

If there’s an emergency and I can’t walk down stairs, a stretcher could take me.

I will help avoid cancer and Alzheimer’s in later years.

I practice not satisfying immediate wants.

I have the opportunity to learn new social behaviour (ie. Not around food).

I have the stopped taking 15 pills every morning and seven at night.

I have stopped damaging my joints.

I no longer stand out in a crowd just because I’m fat.

I can engage fully and not use the excuse of “being fat” to opt out.

I can practice tolerance for feeling hungry and feeling unfulfilled.

I avoid back pain/immobility.

I practice tolerance for not getting to eat what I want to eat.

I continue to develop the skill of being satisfied with food limited in quantity and variety.

I continue to learn to be at a table with the smell of freshly baked bread and not eat it.

I continue to get better at differentiating between hunger and cravings.

I continue to develop a greater acceptance to saying no, thank you.

While I wish it weren’t this difficult to keep to my plan, there is no rule to say it shouldn’t be.

While it is difficult for me to give this up, there is no evidence that it is too difficult. The fact that I have already lost 60kg is proof of this. I can do this.

It is worth tolerating discomfort purely for the sake of improving my tolerance for discomfort.

While I, too, can fail, it is important that I learn what to do differently so that I succeed the next time.

I practice leaving food on my plate so that I become better at saying no when it is so easy to say yes.

I can cut my toenails myself.

I have energy to climb the stairs at home

I can fit into clothing that I haven’t been able to for a long period and can buy off the rack at any store.

I continue to become healthier and stronger with each day.

I’m able to stand for more than 15 minutes which I couldn’t do when I was 60kg heavier.

I can kayak and snorkel and ride a bicycle.