In previous posts (see links below) I described the decision to become healthy, the commitments made, and the tools used to achieve my goals. In this post I'll discuss some of the obstacles I've encountered.
The most difficult by far is the staying power of unhealthy habits. I developed a lot of very unhealthy habits over the years. See, for example Night Eating. Trying to break undesireable habits is futile. They must instead be replaced by new habits. Maintaining a daily habit of exercise means I have to really push myself many mornings to get out of bed and go to the gym. I have to continuously remind myself why I’m doing it. When I want to eat more than I’ve planned or something really unhealthy but tempting I have to very deliberately - and repeatedly - go through the cognitive and behavioral process of acting on what I know and need (I’ll describe this in Part V). It’s simple but not easy and I don’t always succeed. When I give in to the temptation I must resist the urge to throw in the towel and say the hell with it. I just remind myself the goal is progress, not perfection and that practice makes permanent, not perfect. This all takes deliberate, purposeful action - over and over again. Habit is not glamorous. It is destiny.
A second obstacle is other people. People offer you food you don’t need or even want, encouraging what for me at least is addictive behavior. They tell you to have “just a little.” If I knew how to have “just a little” I wouldn’t have gotten to 350 pounds! The offer is well meaning but the results are quite negative. As much as possible, each morning I try to plan what I will eat for the entire day. Sticking to that plan ensures success. When I don’t plan or at least have a very good idea of what I will eat throughout the day, I am much more likely to grab the extra helping or take “just a little” of something I don’t need or really even want. It all adds up, just like exercise, only in a harmful way. By the way, that is solely my responsibility and if I eat what people offer, that is completely on me and not at all on them.
What I have come to see is that these comments come mainly from difficulty in adjusting to the “new me.” I look entirely different than I did 15 months ago, much less four years ago. Hell, at times I still am shocked . It takes some getting used to for me so why wouldn’t it be more difficult for others? When people haven’t seen me in a long time, after the initial shock they often ask if I’m ok, i.e., if the loss is deliberate or the result of a disease, mainly cancer. At first taken aback by the reactions I have learned to simply accept the compliments, appreciate the concern, and answer the questions. One thing I don’t do is try to persuade. I know I’m ok. That’s what matters.
A third obstacle is political. We’ve lost our connection with food - it’s just another product to consume. We live in a culture that encourages and depends upon excess. We emphasize fast, easy food and lots of it. Just look at how average portion sizes have changed! Our agricultural-industrial food system promotes the consumption of huge portions of highly processed, highly fattening food. It’s cheaper, often because of subsidies, and readily available everywhere. 
Delicious, healthy food is more expensive and takes more time. I started cooking in part to develop a healthy, grounded relationship with food. Cooking, I become aware of food in a different way - where it came from, who grew it, how to be creative with it, the pleasure in preparing, presenting, and sharing it. It’s no longer about having as much as I can until I can have even more. It’s more about the complete experience, physical, emotional, cognitive, and, yes, spiritual. It’s tough to have that kind of experience when you’re just stuffing your face! This is an ongoing learning experience. I still stuff my face and often am not mindful of what I’m eating - it’s hard to enjoy food and easy to eat more than you need when you’re not paying attention to the experience - but this is still a new skill and I expect it to take much practice over time. I believe it is essential to my long term health and enjoyment.
In the next post, I’ll discuss lessons learned over the last 15 months.
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