(First post. Second post. Third post. Fourth post. Fifth post.)
I know very well that it’s possible to get focused on the habits that keep me steered away from the old days of gluttony.* I did it before, so I can do it again.
I’m reluctant to use that argument to tell myself, “I lost weight and maintained it before by developing habits X, Y, and Z. I developed those habits before, and so I can do it again.” In fact, I’m pretty sure that’s a dangerous line of thinking.
My life is in a different place now. Can I transplant them into new soil — those specific habits that worked for me so well in another place? Will they take root? Will they bear fruit? I won’t have an idea until I think through it, and I really won’t know until I try.
But I am confident that I can solve the problem from scratch within the new parameters. The point is to keep from sliding back into gluttony, after all. The weight maintenance is supposed to be a pleasant side effect of non-gluttony. Rooting out the gluttony is the point. I need to remember that, and what’s more, I need to act like I really believe it’s true. That is the thing that I did before, that I can do again.
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Among the things I am sure I can transplant, here’s what does help me:
- Thinking critically and objectively of the meaning of “gluttony” so I can identify it when it tempts me.
- Making a plan of habits to try.
- Trying out each new habit carefully to see if it sticks.
- Blogging openly about the strategies I’m experimenting with — specifically.
- Talking about my successes with my husband.
All that, I can do. And — I will.
More later.
*[Editing note. Years and years later, I wish I’d done a better job distinguishing gluttony from other problems with food, like clinical eating disorders and other kinds of compulsiveness.
I want to emphasize that, whereas I identified some behaviors in myself that probably qualified as self-centered gluttony in the technical sense, I am not and never have been qualified to make that distinction for anyone else. I touch on what I’m talking about a little more clearly partway through this post.
I hope to add some commentary to all the posts that have this problem as I find the time to review them. Here’s a more recent post where I acknowledge some of the problematic material I wrote and set new ground rules for myself going forward.]
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