Rich Wolf
I have come up with four questions that I think you might ask me if we were face to face. They are: · Why was I fat? · What motivated me to change my life? · How am I controlling my eating? · How do I maintain my weight? The answers to these questions are the reasons for my success to date.· Why was I fat? Like most long term overweight people, it was emotional issues that caused me to eat and to be fat. These are two distinct things. I ate because I was bored or anxious or sad or unhappy or lonely. Does this sound familiar? But I also ate to remain fat. I needed to be fat. I needed to be fat to lower people’s expectations of me. This goes back to my days as a child and teenager, when my parents would accept only top performance from me. Being fat was my rebellion. I also needed to be fat to be less attractive, but that’s too much intimacy for me to write about here. Without the insight I gained as an active participant in the Positive Choice program, I would be back on the road to fatness. · What motivated me to change my life? Notice I do not phrase this as “what motivated me to lose weight?” I had lost weight in the past, only to put it back on. I was very good at losing weight. Clearly, earlier methods had not worked and would not work now. A life change was needed. My motivations included my grandchildren, who I want to see graduate from college, marry, and have children; my wife, who would be an unhappy widow; and my performance in my chosen physical activity, cycling, which was far below that of my friends. These all contributed to a desire to make the necessary changes. After my annual physical, I was given a CD describing the Positive Choice program and realized that by following the program, participating in the classes, and exploring my inner self, I could make the necessary changes. · How am I controlling my eating? The answer is that I am not controlling anything. During my 6 months on Optifast, I broke my connection with food. I broke my connection between emotion and eating. I established a habit of eating 5 times a day. I established a habit of drinking lots of fluids. I established a habit of eating the same amount at each meal. When I ended eating Optifast, I replaced the liquid with healthy foods. I re-established my food preferences. I can honestly state that I prefer salads to pizza, chicken to beef, vegetables to ice cream. I do not feel deprived or virtuous. I’m not giving up anything. I’m just living my new lifestyle. My wife and I eat out frequently. We often share an entrée. Today, we went to Karl Strauss and after talking about the hamburgers, we ordered a grilled fish sandwich to share. Why? Because that is what I wanted to eat. I ate a few of their house-made potato chips as well. Why? Because that is what I wanted to eat. · How do I maintain my weight? There are two parts to this. The answer is partly above - my broken and then re-established relationship with food. The rest of the answer is exercise. My chosen activity is cycling. I love to ride my bicycle. I love riding alone/ I love riding our tandem with my wife. I love riding with friends. I find it freeing, rewarding, and fun. And as a side benefit, it causes me to burn calories. In my opinion, finding a physical activity you enjoy is essential to weight management. In mid 2005, we moved to San Diego from Atlanta. Being in this wonderful place with perfect weather has encouraged me to become an exercise enthusiast. No more excuses. I have become as fast as my riding companions. I ride more frequently. I ride longer distances. I miss cycling when other life activities get in the way. To balance aerobic with muscle, I also do weight resistance training 2-3 times per week. Since muscle weighs more than fat, I can slim down without losing weight. Also, muscle metabolizes calories faster enabling me to consume more.
Am I done? Never. My new lifestyle is a journey, not a destination. Back in fat class, I said that six years at my goal weight was what I needed to allow some of my paranoia about regaining to wane. Six years, two years, or forever. That’s not relevant. Staying with my new life plan is. It is a lifestyle I enjoy. My new eating habits are a perfect fit to my objectives. No conflict means no regression. And that is what I’m about.
Thanks to Vince Alvarez for all his nutrition expertise and his encouragement.
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At the start of my Positive Choice Optifast experience, I weighed 316.5 pounds. Six months later, I had lost 129 pounds and weighed 187.5. I am 6 feet tall. I was born in 1941.
