We Can't Hide Body Clutter
I was deeply touched by Marla and Leanne’s courage to be honest with us about the issue of their body clutter. It’s embarrassing to admit to being in denial on a subject as personal as our bodies. As clutter goes, there is nothing with which to compare to our body clutter. We can’t stash it like we can household clutter; we can’t store it in the attic, basement or some storage facility. We can try to move it around by wearing control top panty hose or tight jeans or try to cover it up by wearing loose fitting clothes while we stay in a state of denial, but eventually we have to face a moment of truth.
I am just like Leanne in that over my adult lifetime I had lost and gained the same twenty pounds at least eight times (I’m older than Leanne). That’s 160 pounds I’d lost before I faced my moment of truth. I had 35 pounds to lose. My denial caused me to go three years without facing my body clutter and had I continued in my mode of 
denial I could have gained 70 pounds in six years. It took holding a five pound bag of flour in my hands and feeling the weight of it to wake up and realize I was carrying the equivalent of seven five pound bags of flour around. Today, if I could somehow strap seven, five pound bags of flour to myself and try to wear them for a day, I wouldn’t be able to do that. Yet my little body had carried that burden until I woke up.
Eight almonds and a lot of denial
Marla told us she figured out this last weekend that she had gained about nine pounds each year since she and
Leanne wrote Body Clutter six years ago. I have a question for you; how many extra calories in a day would a person have to consume in order to gain 54 pounds in six years? You will be shocked at the answer! To gain nine pounds each year for six years a person would only consume 86 calories a day more than what she needed in order to maintain the weight she was six years earlier. That’s approximately eight almonds a day! That’s how gradual we gain weight; eight almonds and a lot of denial.
The statistic today is that two thirds of American adults are overweight and healthcare providers are trying to figure out what is wrong with them. I find it interesting that about two thirds of the healthcare providers I know are overweight too. It’s called denial. Once we have the courage to face our body clutter we have truly done the hardest part of this thing called losing weight.
Our problems provide a window of opportunity for us to get to know and love who we are. I had a woman email me last week and say she was sick and tired of hauling around her “past behavior.” Our body clutter gets us stuck inside a prison of past behavior. It’s behavior that does not reflect the love and respect we want to have for the miracle that we are. The decision to change our behavior is the easy part. We get excited about a new diet, a new book, a testimonial from someone who has lost their past behavior and that’s great, however changing the behavior that put on the weight takes a new mindset.
Get to know that part of you.
Guess where you can get a new mindset? From you. You hold the answers. Take just a little time to think about what makes you behave in unhealthy ways. Get to know that part of you. After diving head first into a block of cheese, Helga, one of my Mighty Mouth Trappers posted on her fridge, her Tantrum Emergency Plan:
- drink some water while fixing a cup of herbal tea
- if that doesn't work, fix a couple cups of broccoli or other yummy veggie, sprinkled with herbs and a little pepper - max flavor, min. calories
My prayer is that if you are in a situation like Marla and Leanne and you have stepped out of denial and are ready to join them on May 1 that this time you will go into this project with gratitude for the problem. Let this problem teach you about you. Let this problem show you what an amazing woman you are. Let this problem lead you to new ways to take care of you. Before you know it you’ll be in a body that reflects the past behavior of the nurturing, loving person you are. It’s time to love thyself as thy neighbor.
P.S. If you are really serious about losing weight....no matter how many times you have failed in the past...learn more about my book The Mouth Trap: the butt stops here.
