Recovery is a wonderful thing,
even partial recovery.

My arm-wrist-hand-fingers are not yet "normal", but have
recovered enough for me to return to making my recipe videos.
I've posted a new one today, Vinaigerette Dressing,
here at DietHobby, in RECIPES, Mealtime.

My eating habits are also not those of a "normal" person,
but have progressed to the point that I am in the "normal" weight-range,
and for the past six plus years, I've remained there.

My body, my mind, and my character are not perfect,
and can always use improvement,
but for this minute, at this time,
I know that I'm good enough.
So are you.

You can spend all your life on a diet,
but if you're not content with the person you are
it is a waste of time,
because you're still going to be the same person
whatever size you happen to be.

Self acceptance doesn't mean you stop growing,
changing, and evolving into the best you you can be.
It just means you forgive yourself your short-comings,
you relinquish guilt and blame.
You accept that you are human and humans make mistakes.
You accept imperfection.

For those who are following my "Ask Grandma" videos,
click to see my latest one: "Cosmic Panda is a Bear too"
which is located in DietHobby under RESOURCES, Videos, Ask Grandma.

Learning to love ourselves as we are
is important for our mental peace,
and often helps us move forward successfully in life.

Body image is what one believes
about their physical appearance,
and how one feels about their body.

When body image is healthy, it is positive,
appreciative and reasonably accurate.
Negative body image involves inaccurate self-perception,
shame and negative self-judgment.

So what can one do to improve one’s own body image?
The diet and fitness world has many suggestions.
Some of these were helpful to me,
and some were personally unhelpful.

While I was obese, I implemented many suggestions that I found personally helpful
and found that, indeed, doing this did improve my own body image.

I’ve spent a lifetime yo-yo dieting,
with a lifetime high weight of 271,
so I’ve been up and down, fat and less-fat many times.
This created many appearance problems, temporary and permanent.
 I’ve been maintaining a normal weight for almost 7 years now,
and despite the fact that my body does indeed have many flaws,
I feel very good about it, and I feel I have a very positive body image.

One of the things I found helpful …starting while I was still fat….
was to surround myself with large and full-length mirrors.
and look at myself frequently. I did it fat, and I do it now.
I found this to be an extremely valuable tool in my quest
to improve my own body image.

I put a full-length mirror on the door at the end of my hallway,
where I see myself anytime I travel toward the bedrooms.
I have another on the side hallway wall where it intersects with my kitchen,
so that I see myself when I enter the hallway.
I have mirrored sliding closet doors in my bedroom;
other large mirrors in my path toward my bathroom;
and large counter-top-to-light-fixtures mirrors in my bathroom.

 I look at myself in the mirror inside my own home wherever I go.
This has an added side effect in that it causes me keep myself well-groomed
and dressed attractively, even if I’m not going to see another person
all day long, because that is the reflection that I prefer to see in the mirror.

Every day I dress in comfortable clothing that compliments my figure,
clothing that covers flaws and is styled to be flattering to my body type.
I do this because that’s the image of myself that I like to see.
I do this for me…starting when I was morbidly obese,
through the present time… at normal weight.

Every day, when totally unclothed and alone in the highly lit bathroom,
I look at my body in the mirror, and see the reality of what is there, both good and bad.

As a part of this experience, on a daily basis,
while I acknowledge the negative aspects of my body,
I focus on the positive aspects of my body.
There is no substitute for positive self-talk, for gratitude, and positive thinking.

Rather than judging my physical shape or size, I consider 
what my body does for me, and why I am fortunate to have it.
I see the fat deposits, loose skin, wrinkles,
but I also see attractive skin color, my feminine body shape,
and the other aspects of my body that I find attractive.
When I find myself involved in negative self-talk, I counteract those thoughts
by telling myselfpositive truths about my body. I remind myself of all the things
about my own body that I am grateful for.

These things are individual to each of us, but as an example,
…whether I am fat or thin…
I am grateful for my “petite” build; for my small wrists and small ankles;
for my relatively small waist, for my tendency toward an hourglass shape,
for the pinkness of my skin, for the shape of my relatively small breasts
and my broad hips; for my small neck and individual face and hair.
I am grateful that I can flex my hands and wiggle my fingers and toes,
that I can move my arms and legs, up, down, and around. I am grateful
that I can sit and that I can walk; that I can open and close my mouth;
that I can wiggle my nose; that I can blink my eyes; that I can nod
and shake my head.

 I take responsibility for myself ..both how I treat myself,
and how others treat me. I exercise my choice not to associate
with “friends” who place an emphasis on negative physical standards,
or judge me on my size or appearance. The people that I allow to be
in my circle of friends support me and love me for who I am.

I have chosen a husband who loves and admires me,
and yet I take responsibility of fostering his positive image of me.
He is one of my mirrors, and I see my reflection in his eyes.
 
It is my choice not to walk around in front of him totally unclothed in bright lights,
and during our romantic encounters, I choose to use low lighting and highlight
my “best” parts. For me, this practice is not due to shame, but due to my
own self-respect, and my choice to give the gift of visual pleasure
by presenting myself in the best light possible to my loved one.

This is my personal choice based on my own values and preferences.
In my opinion, most older women, even those who have never been fat,
and have always maintained a normal weight, are more attractive in modest dress.
Movies show that even Jane Fonda looks better...at present...with her upper arms covered.

I believe that the above-mentioned behaviors have helped me 
develop a very positive body image, and that they can be helpful to others.
My body is an valuable asset to me whether I’m fat or thin.
It carries the marks of time as a testimony of my life experiences.

Despite the propaganda of the modern media, …although I have the right
to choose to attempt to surgically alter my body’s appearance,…
it is acceptable…and even a good thing...to be and to look old.
I don’t need to look younger or thinner, or more fit.
I have no duty to surgically alter any part of my body and suffer
physical pain in an attempt to look younger or more shapely to others.

 I am alive, and have been living for quite some time.
I’ve been fat, and I’ve been normal weight.
This is simply a fact of my life, like my height and my age.
I like my height. I am happy to be my age.
I like being normal weight.

  I like how my body looks and feels at normal weight, and
….even thought I have the same greed for excess food that I’ve always had...
I choose to work very hard every day to make certain
that my behavior with food keeps me at a normal weight.
This is what I do at DietHobby. It is why I’m here.

There is no one-size fits-all approach to maintaining weight-loss.

I’ve been working hard for the past six plus yearsto be one of the 5% of “weight-losers”
who manage to keep it off over time. and the one thing that I can say for certain is the above-stated Truth.

 The challenges of weight management involves both biological and psychological factors.

While it is true that some people regain weight simply because they eat a little more and exercise a little less, sometimes almost without noticing it, there are quite a lot of people around…like me…who have taken the idea of a “permanent lifestyle change” to heart.

Like many people, for me one of the biggest and most difficult challenges of keeping the weight off, is the fact that my body thinks I have lost too much weight, and is determined to put some or all of it back on.

Those who have always gained weight easily, have a history or obesity, and especially if they’ve had to struggle with weight plateaus, food cravings, and increased appetitive, should expect that keeping it off is going to require a great deal of special attention.

 The body of a reduced obese person easily puts back on lost weight.
It accomplishes this with a complex set of metabolic adjustments that will cause one to gradually gain weight, even though one is maintaining what should be –on paper—a balance between calories ingested and calories expended.

40,000 years ago, such a person would have been one of the “lucky” ones whose genes made them a lot more likely to survive hard times. But in the present days of supermarkets and fast food, it becomes a liability.

 The mind of a reduced obese person is also an important issue.
It tends to use often unconscious, assumptions when we explain to ourselves why we do what we do, and why we get the results we get.

We can help ourselves by watching how we talk to ourselves with things go wrong.  Being unkind to ourselves isn’t helpful.

It is counterproductive to assume that we have a personal flaw or a characteristic …like weakness, incompetence, lack of willpower, self-indulgence, etc….. that is responsible for the problem; or to assume that this personal flaw is permanent, something that can’t be changed through education, practice, or personal growth; or to assume this personal flaw is pervasive – that it affects all areas of their lives rather than just the immediate problem.

 In such situations, we need to interfere with the negative things we are telling ourselves, and began practicing positive self-talk. One way to choose what kind of things to tell oneself, is to use a simple guideline: If one has an emotional reaction to the saying (positive or negative), or if one finds oneself responding to it with disbelief or scorn, it is probably just what that person needs to be telling themselves every day.

Self-belief is important. One needs to believe that one can do what is required
in order to achieve an objective.

Self-Monitoring is important. One needs to accurately observe and interpret one’s behavior
and learn how to use those observations to modify one’s behavior and attitude.

Support is important. We need support from experts; and from others who have
“walked in our shoes”; and from those who are now traveling a weight-loss path.
It is almost impossible to lose weight permanently on one’s own.

 My primary reason, at this point, for involving myself with DietHobby, is to give and to receive support.
in my own personal weight maintenance journey. You are all very important to me, and each one of you who reads articles or watches videos, or makes comments here at DietHobby…whether you know it or not…is providing support to me in my journey.

Hunger is a need for food.

Appetite is an interest in food.

Cravings is a desire for specific foods.

For those of us who have difficulty controlling our food-intake,
it is important to stop and examine why we want to eat something.

Hunger is a signal from the body that it needs food for energy.

Our stomachs and brains will provide cutes that tell us to eat.

Signals from the stomach could be growling, an empty,
hollow feeling, or hunger pangs.

The brain’s signals can be a headache, trouble concentrating,
irritability or fogginess

Some people experience physical fatigue.

Hunger doesn’t go away over time. It only gets worse.  
...(An exception exists when you are several days into a water fast.)...

Any food will satisfy hunger and take the hunger signals away.

Appetite is not the same thing as hunger. It actually refers to an interest in food.

Cravings are very different than hunger, but are very similar to appetite.

To crave means “to long for; want greatly; desire eagerly”.

Usually the foods one craves are not a necessity, and don’t serve
a life-sustaining need.

Cravings, unlike hunger signals, will change over time,
even over a period of 10 minutes. They are usually triggered
by emotions like stress, boredom, sadness, etc.

Unlike hunger, where any food will quell the sensation,
only one specific food will satisfy a craving.

Hunger, Appetite and Cravings are all a normal part of eating,
and have a place in a healthy diet. However, we need to learn to satisfy outselves
in a controlled manner to keep from overeating, especially since the majority
of the foods we crave are high in sugar, salt, fat, or some combination of the three.
Those of us who have difficulties with our weight need to work to make conscious decisions.

Some people find a “Hunger Scale” (such as the one below)
useful to assess their hunger levels.

Hunger Level Sensations and Symptoms
1 Starving, weak, dizzy
2 Very hungry, cranky, low energy, a lot of stomach growling
3 Pretty hungry, stomach is growling a little
4 Starting to feel a little hungry
5 Satisfied, neither hungry nor full
6 A little full, pleasantly full
7 A little uncomfortable
8 Feeling stuffed
9 Very uncomfortable, stomach hurts
10 So full you feel sick

I think the ideal weight-loss or maintenance eating goal would be to acheive Number 5 at mealtimes.
IF one is eating in response to body signals,...rather than specific mealtime schedules...
one would eat when feeling a Number 2 or 3 hunger level... but only eat until one is Satisfied,
and no longer Hungry, but not actually Full.  

I've always found assessing and responding to hunger levels to be an extremely challenging task,
and personally, I tend to fail at it far more often than I succeed.  That is one of the main reasons 
for my personal choice to record all my daily food intake, and count my calories.