Trust the Process: Learning to Accept Change

By , SparkPeople Blogger
Last January I attended a two day seminar led by one of the country's premier sports dietitians, Nancy Clark. During her lecture on weight loss and exercise she made the following comment that struck a chord with me. She said, "If what you are doing isn't giving you the results you expect, what is the harm with trying something else?"

This was such a powerful message to me because so many times in the past I was so reluctant to try anything different in fear that it would take me in the wrong direction. This was especially true when I was advised to up my caloric intake when I started increasing my running mileage last spring. I had become so accustomed to eating between 1,200-1,550 calories per day that to increase my calories to 1,500-1,800 seemed so overwhelming. Almost to the point where fear took hold of me each time I logged my food into my food tracker.

Thankfully, I do not own a scale. Trust me, had I owned one when I started this process last March I probably would have found myself weighing on a daily basis. Even though I know one's weight can vary by as much as 5-7 pounds in a single day, I am not too sure how I would have dealt with that scenario had I seen that number fluctuate. Funny how intelligence and knowledge fly out the window when it comes to changes in our own body.

However, in my 4 1/2 year journey, I have come to learn to TRUST THE PROCESS. I really concentrated on making sure I was getting in good quality food choices and did whatever I could to steer clear of the scale at the gym (the only place I weigh). I promised myself I would not weigh for the first 6 weeks after I started this new aspect to my journey. I was going to go by the way my clothes were fitting and if I noticed they were getting snug before then, I would re-evaluate my situation.

Six weeks went by and I was shocked to see that I actually lost 2 pounds. Huh? Well being the skeptic that I am, I decided that I would weigh the following week just to see if this was a fluke. Lo and behold I was still 2 pounds down. I have remained the same weight for 5 months now and yet I have lost another 1% body fat (via skin calipers done by the trainer at my gym) and I am still eating 1,500-1,800 calories a day.

So to make a long story short, while it is fearful embarking in a new direction, I have learned to let go and TRUST THE PROCESS. And if what you are doing isn't giving you the results you expect, be willing to try something new, what's the harm.

Have you found yourself fearful to change even though what you are currently doing isn't giving you the results you expect? How long would you be willing to try something new before deciding you need to re-evaluate your situation?