What is the overweight habit?

This lovely photograph was taken three years ago. I was closing in on the weight that I'd been when I was fully pregnant. Even though I was capable of losing significant amounts of weight over short periods of time, I could never keep it up. I was stuck in what I call the overweight habit.

In the simplest sense, the overweight habit is the set of well-documented behaviors - mindless eating, frequent dining out, a sedentary lifestyle,  and so on - which can lead you to become overweight.

But the overweight habit goes well beyond that.



For me, these behaviors became so ingrained that I came to believe that I was just naturally an overweight person - and always would be.

"Sure," I thought. "It's possible to lose weight for a while, but my natural tendency is to gain. It's always going to be a struggle, so the best I can hope for is to watch what I eat now and then and just hope I don't get too fat."

This is the attitude I'm trying to kick! The overweight habit is giving in to the idea that you are helpless when it comes to changing your behaviors in any permanent way.

Shortly before the above picture was taken, I went on a business trip. As soon as my plane landed, I thought of meeting up with some old friends whom I hadn't seen in years. One second later, I realized how embarrassing it would be. I knew they would be shocked by my weight gain. After that, I told myself I'd NEVER be that heavy again. But after yet another loss-and-gain cycle - or two - I started to approach that weight again.

I do think I've learned a little bit each time I've gone through a weight loss/gain cycle. I certainly knew enough by this past spring to realize that fundamental behavioral change was what I needed. And I knew that behavior modification was one of the foundations of the VTrim™ method.

I decided to give it a shot. It was a life-changing decision.