Zoom In... Zoom Out... It Is All About Perspective

Sometimes I think I've got it all figured out. That whole what to eat and how/how much to exercise thing. That whole energy balance equation. I think I do have it figured out on paper - and I have the calculations to prove it - but in practice, well, life just happens and things don't always go the way they were planned...

My life has been a bit chaotic lately. In terms of stress levels, I'm good. I'm a pro at handling stress these days. But in terms of roadblocks to living a healthy lifestyle, total chaos. I haven't been able to run for five weeks, and I wasn't able to work out at all for four of those weeks. I learned first-hand why it is important to lessen your energy in (calories) when forced to lessen your energy out (exercise). That plus moving into a new apartment, which means packing up the kitchen and relying mostly on take-out meals, resulted in a 7 pound weight gain.

Ouch!

Which, by the way, is exactly what I say now when trying to button my shorts!

So, life happens... plans go out the window... flexibility is so very important... as is acceptance of what is. Sure, I accept it; but I resolutely retain the right to hate my scale right now!

In a perfect world, I would have made more conscious choices about my meals over the past five weeks. Instead I saw it as a chance to imbibe a little... I do allow myself to imbibe a little now and then, I cherish this, I mean, c'mon, I love food, that's why I changed my life to study nutrition! I just usually make sure I get in more exercise when I allow myself those wonderful little treats. This time, however, I couldn't because I was injured.

And here's where I zoom in to focus on a seven pound weight gain and I beat myself up a little. It is entirely possible to eat out and eat healthy. It's all about making good choices. Nutrition information is available online and in restaurants and with just a little planning and a hint of thought about calories instead of the yumminess factor, there are many options for healthy take-out meals. Panera Bread is one of my most favorite places to grab a quick heathly bite and they are ahead of the game by posting calorie information on their menu boards. If I had just paid attention to these numbers, I could have easily stayed in my calorie range!

Zooming in, my weight is horrible! I gained weight! UGH!

But then I have to take a minute to zoom out and look at the big picture of my life in terms of my always-present struggle with my weight.

As I was unpacking my office a couple days ago, I came across my old Weight Watchers membership booklets. I have about five of them. One of them is my lifetime booklet and I love to open that one up and see my goal weight written down as my "starting weight," which is about 15 pounds less than I weigh now. Half of those 15 pounds are a result of the past month's accident/moving situations...but still, that's kind of a downer to see that I'm so far from that goal now... BUT... then I look at the other four booklets and I see starting weights that are 15-25 pounds heavier than where I am now.

Zooming out opens up a chance to reframe and that mental shift results in feeling that my weight right now is wonderful!

I am consistently maintaining a weight that is 15-25 pounds LESS than my previous maintenance range. My new struggle with my weight has shifted. I moved down that linear scale of pounds and my struggle now is a mere 15  pounds to goal weight where in my pre-heart attack life, my struggle was a whopping 40 pounds on this small 5'2" frame.

I can dig that.

So, yes, life happens and the best laid plans go out the window. Life is change; this is life. There is NEVER a time in life where everything is perfect. To quote Chuck Palahniuk in Fight Club, "A moment was the most you could ever expect from perfection."

The moral of my story is: don't cry and stress about how the world is working against you, instead step back and take a look at your life overall and find ways to praise your progress. Even if that progress is only that you had a healthy breakfast today, well, that's a start... just keep on taking it one meal at a time.