The Math Equation

I used to think that I could track myself to health…count this, count that, add this, subtract that and that somehow this equation would result in the outcome I wanted. I could eat X (amount of calories) and subtract Y (amount of exercise) and end up with Z (weight loss). Following this formula, I would calculate exactly how long it would take to lose the right number of pounds and by such-and-such a date, I knew I would be lean and healthy. It would work for awhile and then after awhile, when it didn’t work, it was because I did  something wrong. Math equations are always right, right? So, I would adjust the formula, jump right back into it…and fail again. It was all my fault…

BUT, it was never really all my fault!!! This belief that you can track your way to wellness isn’t truth and believing it lead me on a depressing, destructive cycle! I would get frustrated, blame myself, do something destructive and then derail completely until I could get back in the game, usually a few (or more) pounds heavier. And after awhile, those periods of derailment got longer and longer. Eventually I wanted to give up completely.  Maybe you can relate?

But stop and think about it – even if we had the willpower to continue to cut calories lower and lower, we logically know that we can’t diet ourselves down to nothing.  Our bodies would prioritize and preserve. After all, they’re smarter than we are! They want to survive; they need to survive.

The truth is that we are highly-complex individuals and we are so much more than a math equation!  What we eat, when we eat, how we eat and a whole bunch of other things, matter. In fact, they all probably matter just as much, if not more than how much we eat and exercise.

Give yourself space to believe this. Add it your math equation and you’ll get much closer to the “right” answer.