Day 10 (Dukan quote)

The pounds you have gained that you now want to get rid of are a part of you that you may want to deny, but they are nevertheless a part that is a reflection of your nature, of your psychology, and therefore of your identity.

The extra pounds you carry have as much to do with your personality, emotions, and feelings and your own particular way of using the pleasure from food to deal with life’s small and large problems as they do with your genes, a family predisposition to put on weight, or the way your metabolism works. That is to say, the problem is not as simple as it seems, and it explains why so many others, and maybe you too in the past, have failed. To struggle against a force as powerful and ancient as the need to eat obviously cannot be based simply on rationally learning about nutrition, or on the hope that you will achieve self-control on your own.

Dukan, Pierre (2011-04-19). The Dukan Diet: 2 Steps to Lose the Weight, 2 Steps to Keep It Off Forever (p. 39-40). Random House, Inc.. Kindle Edition.

Picture from: http://socialtimes.com/files/2011/03/esteem.jpg

I had to share this quote from Dukan's book. It's so true!!! The habits that have lead to our weight problem are usually NOT just restricted to the realm of food- they penetrate all areas of our lives. If one tackles "only" the weight issues- it's too easy to gain the weight back, once the goal has been reached. It's important to understand the underlying issues that cause us to put on the pounds. What are the triggers? The diet teaches us discipline- in food- and in life.

I can tell you from my own personal experience that the changes I've made have motivated me to change other areas of my life as well. I mentioned in an earlier post that I have a flex schedule, as I'm doing my Masters. So I lacked structure to my days. Well- being on the diet, I have to make sure I wake up early- have breakfast (~9am) afternoon snack (12pm) then lunch (~3pm) an afternoon snack (~5pm) then dinner (no later than 9pm).

Also, I've taken on the task of going back almost 15 years of "stuff" that's somehow ended up in my parent's house from years of moving from place to place. Somehow mom's house always ended up as the storage unit for my brother and I. So, I'm trying to go through everything and throwout/donate what I can. There are some other things I'm focusing on as well. For me, the diet, and the success from it, has given me the motivation and courage to tackle the past and the issues that I probably ignored, and probably made me turn to food...