I gotta tell you – if we would just be honest with ourselves, none of us would have a weight problem (other than people with a legitimate physical problem such as a messed up thyroid).

I’ve been working with my new electronic hand-held calorie counter that also washes my dishes.  Well, not really, but it does a lot!  Unfortunately, ever since I started messing with it a couple of days ago, I have really had to face that I was NOT counting every bite or drink (with calories) that I was putting into my mouth.   The counter totals my calories for me.  I couldn’t fake it anymore.  It was not a pretty sight.

I went back and read some emails of people chatting about the battles they were having.  I studied some of the people who have had great success.  There is a huge difference between those who are talking and those who are doing.  I’ve come to a conclusion that overweight people have blinders on when it comes to being honest.  Can we raise our hands?  I did.

I mean, really!  Do we really think that if we don’t write it down in our food journal, it doesn’t count?  Do we honestly believe that if we don’t weigh it, we can really tell how many real ounces we are eating?  You should have seen the small chicken breast I was eating that I thought was healthy.  I allotted myself 4 ounces.  I was eating 6 ounces – not counting the stuffing inside.  Major difference in calories.  Blinders!

And how about the way we can’t see that we are not really exercising just because we think about in and plan to?  It’s another frog story (see blog in Humor).  It doesn’t matter how many plans we make to exercise.  Until we do exercise, no calories are expended, no matter how much we wish thinking about it would knock off some calories.  Or take how we finagle.  We justify today’s fattening foods by saying we will cut back tomorrow.  Tomorrow truly never comes because then it is the today that we will forget our intentions from yesterday and eat other foods we wish we hadn’t.  Blinders!

We slap those blinders on our eyes and say, “I don’t see you calories, so you don’t count!  I don’t see anything I don’t want to see including how I really look!!”  Blinders, blinders, blinders.  We truly have gotten into some rotten habits.  The great news is that it really only takes about 30 days to break that rotten habit and replace it with good ones.  Begin to tell yourself that you can eat right and exercise correctly.  State that you make right choices and good decisions.  You have healthy habits and overcome ever obstacle to healthy habits.  Start talking in the present tense.  Don’t say you are going to.  Speak that you ARE and you DO and you HAVE. 

We’ll work on some other blinder-removers later this week!