6 Pieces of Advice: Losing Weight to Spite the Pain

Losing weight is not easy. Especially when chronic pain is involved. It’s easy to let the pain be the excuse to not exercise. It’s easy to let food be a comfort when the pain won’t go away. It’s a self-perpetuating cycle. But, it can be broken!

First, I had to understand HOW I got this way. I’ve always been athletic and could eat whatever I wanted without worrying too much. I lifted weights a lot in high school, so my metabolism was quite high. After the motorcycle accident, exercise stopped being a priority. It took everything I had to just deal with LIFE, i.e, college, boyfriends, paying the bills, family, and day-to-day minutia.

I believe we all have only so much energy to give each day. When a large chunk of that energy goes to something like chronic pain, there’s less energy to devote to things that should really matter.

After the fusion, I got my life back in ways I never even realized I had lost. Eating was one of those things. It took a few years, though, to figure out what to do about it. One problem was living in the South. The food is SO GOOD and SO CALORIC/FATTY! (yeah…I needed gallbladder surgery after living in Memphis for a year. That’s bad.) Another problem is that I don’t know how to cook. At all. Luckily for me, I met my boyfriend, who is an awesome cook, AND he does it really healthy. It’s pretty amazing! (In fact, he should probably get most of the credit. Maybe I’ll ask him to guest blog about how he does it.)

Here’s how I lost 50 pounds in one year and re-gained confidence (and lessened my back pain!!), and my advice to you (but ONLY if you really do need to lose weight…seriously):

1. Get your head on straight. You are not going to “diet.” I know it’s cliché, but this must be a lifestyle change. Approach it as though you are fundamentally changing your life, your day-in, day-out. Because you are. You must. It will not work, and it will not last if you don’t.
2. Eat less meat and dairy. I’ve become what I call “quasi-vegetarian” (which is funny because at one point in my life I thought vegetarians/vegans were crazy people; how wrong I was!).
3. Eat more fruits and vegetables. Don’t make it complicated.
4. Work out. Walk, run, play sports, hike, lift weights, whatever. Don’t judge yourself. Turn off the TV (cancel your satellite/cable…it’s amazing what you don’t really need to watch), the computer, the record in your head telling you that you can’t.
5. Ask WHY? Things start with enthusiasm, then time goes on and it gets harder and harder. Falling back into old habits will happen. Go easy on yourself, but ask yourself why. Is there an emotional reason for those two pieces of cake you just ate? If so, that’s okay. Just be self-aware.
6. Accept yourself. Love yourself the way you are right now. Because right now is all we ever have. Stop thinking that “things will be better when…I lose 10 pounds…I fit into those size 4 jeans”…whatever. Because that’s a lie. Things won’t be better. Things will be as they are, and it’s up to you to decide that’s okay. This thinking falls into all aspects of life, by the way. Relationships: when you meet “The One” you’ll be fulfilled and ever happy. You won’t. And fulfillment is a feeling, NOT a person. Career: when you get the perfect job, every day will be like play. It won’t (because then, what’s the point of playing). On and on. Pain is wishing the world to be different than it is. Oh- and the easiest way to love someone else, is to love yourself.  Now I’m getting preachy. Sorry about that.

Anyway, whether it’s chronic physical pain or emotional pain, both will be helped when you decide it’s time to lose weight. Ultimately, it’s about deciding that you’re important enough to make that change. And the pain will not win. So there!