PWLP: Week Fourteen - Lesson Three

Personal Evaluation

1. Describe some of the risks that are involved in making a commitment to the TRUE YOU.    Not being able to eat foods I once did in favor of living the TRUE ME lifestyle. Alienating myself from my family/friends/coworkers at social gatherings. Not identifying with some of the people I know in the same ways anymore.

2. Do any of the above risks have their roots in your past weight loss failures? If so, how?    The first one, about not being able to eat certain foods anymore, was a stumbling block for me. It was always really hard to give up the foods I knew I should stay away from, and usually giving in to them was the reason I fell off a diet/lifestyle change in the past.

3. What are you risking by learning more about yourself? What risks are involved in learning more about how to succeed in your weight loss efforts?    I am risking more self-awareness (which can be both good and bad). I will be able to expose those deep-rooted fears and lies that I've told myself (and believed) all my life. I'll be able to see myself for who I really am, which isn't always pretty. I am also risking learning more about myself in that I'll know things I never did before, in that certain foods might be taboo for me, etc. Basically, all of the risks revolve around cutting things out of my life that I previously held near and dear to my heart. Changing lifestyles will mean changing the old ways I am used to doing things and making changes to better myself and my health. This will mean giving up things that I once (and still do) love and adore, but it will be for the better.

4. Do any of the risks described above involve pain? If so, what kind of pain and how does that make you feel?    They all involve emotional/mental pain. Not physical pain, that's for sure, but a mental sadness and grief for what has been lost, and the tremendous amount of work I still have left to do. This makes me feel frustrated and discouraged sometimes, but it also makes me feel optimistic and hopeful for the person I hope to one day be, as well as the HUGE amount of growing I have left to do.