Friday, April 5, 2013

Losing Weight



         Losing weight is an American obsession. It fuels the publishing industry, drives reality TV and forms the bulk of our water cooler conversations. But how does it really work? What finally spurs us to action?
         Sometimes it’s a medical diagnosis – high cholesterol, high blood sugar and reduced kidney function. You’re tired all the time, a simmering anger and depression plagues your ever step, and you’re sick of it. Even some of your XXL shirts don’t fit anymore. You can’t breathe and cut your toe nails at the same time.  You stopped tucking in your shirts years ago. You spend as little time as possible naked. Then it hits you – you’ve got the American Disease. You’re fat.
         It takes years to get fat. You have to really work at it. First, stop moving. Then, eat way more than you need, and make sure the food you eat is composed of overly-processed fat, carbohydrates and sugar. When in doubt, deep fry.
         Then tell yourself that you prefer this kind of food. You need it. It makes you happy. And all other manner of lies.
         All this was happening to me. It was time to change. I’d tasted freedom before – in decades past I’d quit cigarettes, drugs and alcohol. I knew how to let things go. But my work wasn’t done. Food was my final frontier.
         My decision to lose weight was a child of many mothers. One was my doctor at Kaiser Permanente, Dr. Mikus. He watched me slip further and further away from the ideal. Like any good teacher, he matched the lesson to the student. He knew I’d take a rather intellectual approach to the whole thing so he suggested a couple of books by Michael Pollan, Food Rules and The Omnivore’s Dilemma. Then I watched some documentaries, Food, Inc. and King Corn. My reeducation had begun. Like most Americans, I had no idea where my food came from or what it even was – and more importantly, why it was killing me. Dr. Mikus and Michael Pollan became my gurus. But I still wasn’t free.
         I’ve been a member of 24 Hour Fitness for fifteen years. I’d been a gym dabbler, going through periods of total commitment and even longer periods of total absence. Something was missing.
         The final straw was my nephrologist. I didn’t even know what a nephrologist was. Now I had one. There were sudden concerns about my kidney function.  After he read my labs he sent me an email. The subject header read, “Moderate Kidney Disease, Chronic.” He kept saying it’s not as bad as it sounds. Good, because it sounds terrible.
         The good news – it was reversible. All I had to do was, well, everything.
         I needed help. I needed structure. I needed a map. I needed a team. As with any recovery process, the fastest way to fail is to white knuckle it alone.  The wise words of my friend Anne Day kept sounding in my ear, “Allow it to be easy.”
         I Googled Medifast and made an appointment. I sat down with Coleen and Tran at the Mission Valley center. We did a thorough body analysis and wrote a plan – three months to lose twenty five pounds, then a year of follow-up counseling. Eating five small meals and drinking a half gallon of water a day. Making sure the nutritional balance was right, and geared toward fat burning. I don’t really understand it – it’s science. I’m more of an art guy. But I trusted my growing team of advisors and surrendered to their superior knowledge.
         The results have been startling. In the first three weeks I lost fifteen pounds, most of the way toward my goal. Suddenly I can breathe and cut my toenails at the same time again.
         Another important voice in my Greek chorus of cheerleaders was Louise Hay and her classic book You Can Heal Your Life. The undisputed queen of New Age optimism, Hay offers a compelling portrait of New Thought claims with deep roots in the world’s ancient wisdom traditions, namely, that our life is a product of our thoughts. I immediately typed several of her affirmations on a note in my iPhone and read them out loud every day. My favorite one is, “I nourish myself with spiritual food and I am satisfied and free.” When you say that to yourself everyday something weird happens – it becomes true. Now I can drive by In-N-Out and Chipotle without even a ripple of craving. Doughnuts have become invisible. The smell of pizza in the Costco Food Court no longer sends me on a downward spiral of longing and loathing.
         A few weeks ago I posted something on Facebook about an annoying moment at the gym. The woman on the elliptical machine next to me was talking so loud on her phone that I couldn’t focus on the music blaring out of my iPod’s ear buds. All I could hear was her. Tim Flannery, multiple World Series winning third base coach for the San Francisco Giants and musical friend, commented on my thread. “Turn off the music and concentrate on running and getting stronger.” I typed that into my iPhone too, immediately appointing Tim as my honorary personal trainer. When a world champion athlete and professional coach gives you free advice, you take it. For years my central focus at the gym was my iTunes playlist – Son Volt, Steve Earle, Lucinda Williams and the like. Now I leave my iPod at home. I run. I focus on my breathing. I feel myself getting stronger.
         Then other voices joined the chorus. Magazine articles from the New Yorker, Shambhala Sun and Unity Magazine crossed my path. It’s as if the universe were conspiring for my success. Wherever I turned I kept getting the message that weight loss fails if it comes from a place of self-loathing. The foundation of any successful health-restoration plan has to be a deep sense of self-respect and self-love. You can’t go to the gym thinking I’m mad at myself, I’ve got to lose weight, who I am now is wrong and bad and I have to change. You’ve got to go to the gym thinking, I’m so excited about the prospect of liberating the real me from years of neglect, I am willing to do whatever it takes to become who I really am by letting go of everything and anything that doesn’t serve my highest good. Real weight loss can never be grounded in a negative body image. Something far more primal and fundamental is at stake. Your body is a miracle of flesh, bone, muscle, sinew, ligament, fluid, chemicals, electricity and spirit. Your well-being depends on its optimal functioning. In my case, there is a lean, mean, vibrant, energetic man somewhere under this fat suit. And he wants to come out and play.
         They call it weight loss. But that’s just a by-product. What you’re really losing is a mistaken worldview, a battery of delusional notions that conspire against your highest good, a grim and toxic narrative that binds you to a slowly suicidal path. When you lose weight, what you’re really losing is a mistaken notion of where your joy lies. This is a story about mental emancipation, not physical transformation. When we re-invent and re-imagine our relationship with food and with our body, we are virtually reborn. Spiritual nourishment is so much more delicious than recreational eating. Food is medicine, a sacred connection to the embodied energy of the cosmos, not cheap entertainment. When you come to see food as it really is, you come to see yourself as you really are. Then your destructive habits drop away one by one and you begin to respect yourself. You experience an abundance of joy no plate could ever hold. And you come to rest in the knowledge that letting go is the only way to get everything you really want. 

26 comments:

Madison Keith said...

Awesome Peter... I lost 35 pounds with Medifast... Great program...
Your bud... Madison

Unknown said...

Hi Peter...Very nice article about your journey. I do not know anything about Medifast, as I am an Isagenix guy, but that is not what I want to comment on. I would like to acknowledge your awareness of the necessary journey that is needed on the inside that takes a person from being addicted, out of control, and basically unhappy to a self-loving and life filled person (who can touch their toes again with the blood vessels in the head almost popping!). With your permission, I would like to share this with some friends in fb. Thank you for your "mind"!

© Peter Bolland said...

Of course Robert, share away. And thanks for reading...

Unknown said...

As someone who has struggled almost every minute of every day with this "self loathing" idea regarding weight loss, this hit me like a ton of ...corn chips. I mean, it's so obvious, but I never thought of it. If you try to lose weight as a way of ditching your body hatred, it's bound to fail. Very good insight, Peter. Thanks for sharing it.

Motorod said...

Great work, Peter. I lost 45 lbs on Medifast, but gained 25 of it back. I did Medifast again, losing 20 lbs, but, eventually, getting it back, plus 5. Negative view, here, all 'round, I suppose. I think I'll try one more time. I'll be following your example of doing it out of self-love rather than self-loathing. third time's a charm!

lostnacfgop said...

Great accounting of a difficult journey for us all. Can't give up my iPhone at the gym, though - the 24 Playlist at my local facility is A-W-F-U-L !

queengeek said...

I just started doing MediFast online. I'm in my first week, and although it is tough, it's not as tough as I thought it would be.

Unknown said...

This should serve as a marker to approximate our state of progress from where we are, and where we can go and move forward, far as weight loss efforts are concerned. Do not hesitate to re-evaluate your past and present strategies, and to look into new ones that you can pick from and maybe utilize yourself. Hope you're still at it! Have a good day!

Lindsey Catarino

Unknown said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Unknown said...

Great Article. I lost 25 lbs on another program, but gained 25 of it back. I was totally dissapointed and then I found your blog that really motivated me. I'll be following your example of doing it out of self-love rather than self-loathing. I have found the same program on another website http://weightlossedge.net and I would like to have your inputs on this. Thanks again for providing detailed article. Cheers!!

Luigi Boschin said...

Losing weight is never easy. Talk to your doctor or nurse about how to lose weight in a healthy way that’s right for you.
Regula RX Review

Unknown said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
OnlineCasino said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Unknown said...

Losing weight is not easy. You have to dedicate your life on healthy eating and workout. You should always be eating food quality of food. Say no to sugar. Remember, there is a difference between dieting and starving. Thanks for this informative article.

Best Regards,
Mantis Hugo
Raspberry Ketone Juice

V Care Pharmacy said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Unknown said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Unknown said...


Hello...
its Amazing
i like this post
There are many different weight loss solutions out there. If you need to lose weight, you are not alone. Here are best weight loss supplements this is a patented natural formulation which is prepared using a combination of pure herbs.

Unknown said...

I have read your blog completely and got it is very helpful. Thanks for sharing it.
Jannat Online Shopping

Unknown said...

Nice post which you have shared with us..
morten andersen jersey | Bobby Hebert Jersey

Unknown said...

Good post....thanks for sharing.. very useful for me i will bookmark this for my future needs. Thanks. Healthy heart products

Unknown said...

THE 3 WEEK DIET is a revolutionary new diet system that not only guarantees to help you lose weight — it promises to help you lose more weight — all body fat — faster than anything else you’ve ever tried.
how to lose weight fast

nestpillmart.net online pharmacy said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Unknown said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
anonymous said...

keep it up

Emily Brown said...

Though losing weight can be challenging, it’s not impossible. Start your weight loss journey today and monitor your vital exercise statistics and health performance with Ikom’s body composition scale. It’s
Best Supportive Wellness Tools Lebanon that allows you to measure your weight, calculate your BMI, access tracking charts, and much more with a one-year international warranty.