The Feel Good Plan

Do you know the best diet to follow?  The one that works!  Adhering to most diets will make you lose the weight you want, but there can be trouble. Usually one gains back even more weight than before. I can surely testify that.  I've tried a bunch of diets in my past.   I've lost weight, but then regained.  (I wonder what I would weigh had I never tried to lose?)  It got a little more harry after I began to study nutrition.  Knowing some science made it difficult for me to follow any sort of fad diet, but I was frustrated with my weight and desperately desired for it to come off fast.

I've been hard on myself for being an overweight dietitian.  Condemnation has frequent flyer miles on my brain waves.  I've always known that freedom in my mind would be freedom in my body.  It's been such a slow processes that I often fell back into a mind-trap because "I'm such a bad example...  I'm not going quick enough.... not doing good enough, etc. etc. etc. blah. blah. blah."  I've also struggled about mixing physiological science with psychology and spirituality.  I've placed all sorts of rules on myself and boxed in ideas.  I've been unsure with where to put the boundaries.


Obesity is such a complex disease.  There are multiple factors to sort through.  If it was as easy as just following some diet and eating less, wouldn't we all be skinny?  It's time to admit that it's more about the human part of us than just diet and exercise.

There are thousands of diets out there that work.  We are sold on them easily because we don't think we are enough by ourselves.  We will buy anything we think could improve us.   Do you know who is the best weight-loss practitioner out there for you?  You are!  We can certainly find helpful tips, strong evidence-based research, and be influenced by people who help guide us on our plan.  But this diagnosis is so complex and has to be so individualized, that somebody can't just claim a certain diet will work for everyone just because it worked for one or for few.   

I finally know what to do with my metaphorical diet boxes....throw them in  the dump, burn them, use them for target practice.  I've finally come up with a plan that works for me.  It's a plan where I can mix science with the things I think about and who I've discovered I am.  I feel safe to remove the walls, be who I am, and come up with a plan that makes the complexity of my issues seem simple.  I'm calling it, "The Feel Good Plan." (It even makes me smile to call it that.)

Since I've truly adopted the Feel Good Plan, things are definitely different.  Sure I'd like to wake up fifty pounds lighter tomorrow, but even more than that.  I just want to feel good.  Spotting the successes everyday are little wins that keep my heart merry, my spirits high, and keep me high on the mojo.   How do I now measure success?  ...Does it make me feel good?  Then it's successful.

There already has been some weight loss, but everyday on the plan I realize more how it's more about the feeling than the goal.  It's taken me a long time to get here, but I'm excited about it.  You know what?  It just feels good to be excited about something. I've had to accept myself and get rid of some hindering beliefs.  I've found some tips and guidelines that meet me where I am.  I've experimented and figured out some things that work for me.  I've realized I wasn't made to fit into a box.  Thank God for science to serve as a guide for health.  Thank God for a mind to make choices and experience this life.  Thank God for that inner voice that drives me on my journey.  It's hard to know where to put the boundaries when it's all dumped into one person and the world tells us we're a formula.   Thank God for an individualized plan that drives me to my destination.  Can it be simple enough just to enjoy the ride?  Sometimes it's difficult to admit it can be easy when it's been so hard before.

Feeling good IS the plan!