You can try all the dieting fads you want. But the best way to motivate yourself to lose weight is to break out the old photo albums for a trip down memory lane.
At a recent family dinner, while thumbing through a few random images from the past, I got quite the reality check. It’s been almost 11 years since my wife and I got married and I couldn’t believe what I looked like at my engagement party. Not to toot my own horn, but I looked pretty damn good. I was thin and well dressed, my hair seemed to fall perfectly into place and my skin looked, well, young!
I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. If not for the evidence in my hand, I’m not so sure I’d believe I ever looked like that. What a way to bring down an afternoon.
I know my body’s 10 years older and things aren’t working as well as they did when I was 26, but damn it I’m just not ready to go up another pant size. It was bad enough being a chubby teenager, I refuse to return to that world of chub now that I’m a grown up.
So what can I do to lose weight?
I suppose I could wire my mouth closed, but I’d figure out a way to get food in. I could try those diets where you have to eat what they tell you, but that would cost too much and not really solve anything.
So I’m trying something different. I’m hanging that picture of me looking like a Hollywood superstar prominently on the refrigerator. Being the most popular room in the house, it’s impossible not to notice the more physically-fit-me first thing in the morning, as soon as I get home from work and right before I go to bed.
Maybe that imagery will help control my brain from this constant state of complacence I’ve adopted and help me lose weight. Or at least stop me from munching on that left over chocolate cake sitting in the fridge. Hey it’s worth a try, right?
So the next time you’re looking for a little motivation to lose weight, I suggest you pull out the photo albums and look at yourself 10, 15 or 20 years ago. You might just be in for an unpleasant surprise.
Ellen Degeneres once said, “You have to stay in shape. My grandmother, she started walking five miles a day when she was 60. She’s 97 today and we don’t know where the hell she is.”
