“Welcome to your new life.” It was a line spoken to a woman during a television program showcasing her dramatic weight loss.
The words stuck with me for weeks after. One day I realized why they bugged me so much…
Those words took me back to childhood fairy tales. They seemed to parallel the happy endings in books, where the prince rode off with the princess and they lived happily ever after.
While it makes a good story, as an adult I now realize life isn’t quite that simple. Deep down, we all know this.
We know that scene wasn’t really the end of their story.
Had a subsequent book been published, we would have observed what happened in the days, weeks and months that followed. It may have included a sometimes difficult relationship with the in-laws (Can you imagine trying to tell the king and queen that you won’t be joining them for the holidays this year?), arguments about leaving too many lights on in the castle, or frustration because the prince repeatedly left his crown hanging on the handle of the bathroom door.
How Fairy Tales Lead to Failure
See the similarities to weight loss? While the media would have us believe differently, weight loss is not a fairy tale where as soon as you hit a magic number on the scale — there’s a new life — a happily ever after.
No matter if you gain weight, lose weight, or remain stable, how your life feels often remains nearly the same. That’s a plot twist most don’t anticipate!
Therefore, it’s so important to create a life that feels good, right now and at any weight.
Thousands of dieters fall for the fairy tale each year. They go through stressful deprivation because they are convinced their new life will be so happily ever after that they’ll gladly count calories and measure every morsel of food for the rest of time.
But then they achieve that magic number and realize life feels almost the same. Disappointed and frustrated, their weight often starts trending upward again.
Trade Happily Ever After for Happiness Right Now
Instead of embracing the fairy tale of weight loss, choose to write your own true story.
I’ll give you a hint: To be a best seller, the plot of the story needs to focus on discovering and feeding your truest hungers, your passions. After all, overeating isn’t about the food at all.
Overeating is an attempt to feed a personal or spiritual hunger with food.
Unfortunately the desire to overeat doesn’t just disappear because the scale reaches the right number. But with the right tools, it can happen.
Try this instead. Next time you’re tempted to eat beyond satisfaction, ask, “What feeling am I really craving?” Once you have your answer, do something to create that feeling in your life. Experiment with different methods until you find something that feels the way you want it to feel (or better). Repeat often.
By doing this, you create a life that feels good right now, regardless of weight. That’s the opposite of happily ever after. It’s happiness right now.
And this story has an attainable happy ending that can go the distance. There’s no let down when reaching a certain number on the scale, just a continuance of an already good feeling. Plus, the best part is that this tool will help you get there, deprivation-free!
Sending lots of love,
XO
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