How I lost 100 pounds by changing my tune: Mind over Platter weight loss

Greetings my dear friends! In today's episode of "how I lost 100 pounds" (without gastric bypass) we explore the psychology of obesity and weight loss. You may have noticed my plan to lose weight focuses as much on mental/emotional as physical changes. I call the obesity mindset "fattitude" (what Al-Anon calls stinkin thinkin" and the mental resets necessary for weight loss "mind over platter." I've developed many mind over platter concepts from stories of gastric bypass patients on the show "My 600-lb Life."

Many of the overweight people on "My 600-lb Life" are shown making excuses, whining, throwing fits when told to lose weight. It's easy to fault their behavior. But it's important for those trying to lose weight (and maybe everyone) to look in our own backyard, to see where we may be kiboshing our weight loss with fattitude problems.  

I heard myself in some of the "My 600-lb Life" patients, the constant complaining, whining. Maybe not to that extent, but I realized that if I didn't do something different, I could end up at that point. People with morbid obesity are no different than anyone who is overweight. They are not freaks. They are just farther down the path. Getting to that point could happen to anyone and but for the grace of God, go I. 

Part of  how I lost 100 pounds was to examine my own stinkin thinkin (self-pity, blame/shame, resentment, defeat, feeling victimized). I started listening very carefully to the negative, self-defeating songs I was singing, the litanies I was repeating in my head. And then I began to change the tune. The process was very much like the Al-Anon 12 step program.  

This "fattitude" adjustment may seem to have nothing to do with weight loss. In fact, shedding negativity, low self-esteem, lack of self-worth, feeling of helplessness has EVERYTHING to do with it. Before I lost 100 pounds, I was powerless over food. I was extremely overweight and now I'm not. If I just fix the physical without dealing with the mental and emotional, it won't do any good. Just like gastric bypass won't lose weight without habit changes. I'm not sure I could lose weight without healing my mind. 

So it's not perfect and neither am I. But it's progress not perfection as Al-Anon says, one day at a time.