Gloria B. Collins

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Losing Weight and Living in Balance

March 4, 2020 By Gloria B. Collins

Today I’d like to talk a bit about losing weight and living in balance. Despite all of our planning, invariably, life will test us in every way. The beauty of pursuing a balanced yet loosey-goosey approach of living enables us to have a bit more wiggle room to stay afloat when things fall apart.

Developing a balanced approach to deal with issues during the chaotic moments we all face is essential for self-preservation. Especially if we are to maintain a positive and healthy lifestyle.

Is embracing balance in everything we do truly helping us to achieve challenging goals?

Because “balance” has so many different meanings, striving for day-to-day balance is an excellent approach toward mindful living, especially when our hectic to-do list becomes overwhelming.

But, perhaps, keeping balance is instead too vague a term to describe our addictive behavior toward food. Especially food like sugar which is proven to keep us hooked. 

So how can we approach losing weight or maintaining our weight when so many of our food options are unhealthy?

Look everywhere, and we are told to pick a balanced approach to eat healthily. We count our calories, eat keto, Paleo, and exercise regularly. How well we do at eating healthily is a supposedly a testament of how “balanced” we are living.

Can we truly live a balanced life yet still achieve challenging goals?

Losing Weight and Living in Balance | Gloria B. Collins

Has the word “balance” become a mechanism to protect oneself from the discomfort associated with the hard work needed to endure losing weight and achieve our weight loss goals?

Do the people we admire most really live a balanced life or do they work their arse off every step of the way to succeed in their personal weight loss program?

Aren’t some goals, like weight loss, hard work and often painful to follow through with?

Most of us purposefully don’t run away from the challenges of work. We convince ourselves that just this once won’t hurt, which ends up sabotaging any of our hard work. Yet the reality of dealing with the discomfort associated with working at losing weight turns us off quicker than we can blink an eye. We convince ourselves that “just this once” won’t hurt and we call our self-sabotage balance.

The fact is, our brain will pick the path of least resistance every time to protect us from discomfort.

Balancing weight

It wasn’t until I began tracking my weight loss progress that I realized just how difficult reaching my goal weight had become. But why?

Why was I not losing weight? Especially if I am eating a balanced diet and exercise every day.

Answer: Because the pursuit of any goal through only ‘balance’ is entirely unattainable. If we are to achieve any goal, there is no wiggle room or excuses like “just this once.” Cheating with our diet is not serving the “goal” to lose weight. Having a “tomorrow is another day” approach balances us into excusing our own bad behavior and we don’t follow through with the work.

The cruel fact is saying “NO” to the foods that harm us is the only way to succeed. Saying “no” means there is no compromise or ‘balance’ needed to achieve our weight loss. Sure we are going to feel unsatisfied and unhappy at times, but in the end, we will be thrilled and proud of the work we’ve invested in ourselves. Our health depends on it! And remember that It’s Not a Diet, It’s a Lifestyle Change.

My goal moving forward is to develop the discipline needed to achieve a well-balanced life through sustainable healthy lifestyle choices. 

Filed Under: Growth

Comments

  1. B. Pierce says

    March 6, 2020 at 7:30 pm

    I always love reading your posts. Thank you for sharing them!

  2. Suzanne Brack says

    March 15, 2020 at 3:17 pm

    Thank you Gloria. Always enjoy receiving your newsletter! Love your tracker, drawings and sharing your stories. Gracias y abrazos, Suzanne

    • Gloria B. Collins says

      April 15, 2020 at 9:56 am

      Thank you Suzanne~
      I am delighted to hear from you and that you use them. I’d love to hear about what you track and if it has helped you see progress.
      All my best, and please stay safe.
      xo

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gloriabcollins

Picking herbs and bits from the garden. #theygard Picking herbs and bits from the garden.  #theygardenanddraw #cottagegarden is such a joy for me as is my #art. Hope you are enjoying your day. ❤️
Left overs always are best the next day! #mixedmed Left overs always are best the next day! #mixedmedia #illustration #theygardenanddraw #homedesign #kitchenart
Gardening and drawing together bring pure joy! #th Gardening and drawing together bring pure joy! #theygardenanddraw #illustrationartists #illustrator #kitchenart #recipeartist
Making some kitchen art today. Staying loose and Making some kitchen art today.  Staying  loose and having fun.  #theygardenanddraw
As an Artist, there’s always time to make whatev As an Artist, there’s always time to make whatever brings us Joy. For the past few days, I’ve been traveling and exploring.  And now, it’s time to catch up with my prompts. Let’s see what’s growing in the garden. #theydrawandgarden 

Not sure what the prompt was before I sat to draw because I just wanted to capture this clematis before it passed. I used watercolor and Tombow brush pens.
Yesterday I went to my local nursery and picked th Yesterday I went to my local nursery and picked these beauties out for the garden. I just had to watercolor paint them #theydrawandgarden
As a little girl, I made my art to pass the time. As a little girl, I made my art to pass the time. But my grandfather saw something more and gave me my first unpaid commission.  I remember vividly the dining room table I sat at, and out of the blue, he came up to me with his loving voice and asked me to illustrate two intertwined trees, depicting the deep and ageless love a couple has for each other, a pretty deep ask for a ten-year-old. But I followed the brief and delivered. 

What he thought of the drawing must have been positive because I’m still draw. I didn’t get any negative comments. 

What happened to the young artist in you? #MindfulMonday #theydrawandgarden
Why not have fun drawing recipes. #foodillustratio Why not have fun drawing recipes. #foodillustration practice, practice, practice.
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