Losing Weight the Right, Wrong, Hard + Easy Way

"You lost weight the right way."

I received this compliment the other day, from a co-worker. And all I could think of saying was ... "You think you know, but you have no idea!" Prior to that, she was belittling another woman in the office who has lost over 100 pounds, following bariatric surgery. That apparently was "not right." I felt the need to ask her to elaborate her stance on the "right" way, though. When doctors, professionals and experts clash on the terms of effective methods of weight loss ... it's safe to say, there is not going to be a clear-cut answer, relative to such subjective beliefs. Let's break it down though - in a nutshell it seems:

Right/Hard: self-designed regimens, exercise, clean-eating
Wrong/Easy: starvation, pills, meal replacement shakes, processed food diets, surgery

Now for some transparency (I've disclosed all of this before):

1. I started my journey with the The Master Cleanse. 10 pounds lost. Sue me.
2. Insert a bunch of non-remember-able diet pills ... 8 pounds. SMH
3. I lost 5 pounds, following the SlimFast plan - replaced 2 meals with shakes, ate a Lean Cuisine frozen entrée for dinner.
4. My next 40 came off by committing to the Fat Smash Diet® and its awesome 'real food' principles.
5. Even as a Weight Watchers® dropout, I lost 20 pounds counting those beloved POINTS.
6. Oh, and the latest? Clean-eating and working out. A method that I plan to continue on with.

So, all that to say - my current attitude and decisions towards weight loss, did not happen overnight. It was a process. Admittedly, I turn a side-eye at many angles to diets - yet I try my best to not be judgmental, because of my past. Despite the programs/pills/crystals I shade here, frequently, I've probably been there in some similar fashion. But, it's like Jay-Z said, "Hov did that, so hopefully you wouldn't have to go through that." Yes, I just quoted Hov.

I'm no martyr, but I'd much rather help someone leverage their understanding of getting to the reality of long-term weight loss and better health, than dogging them because they're doing something in my eyes as wrong or the "easy way out." Yeah, I lost some weight through many silly methods (some very cringe-worthy) - only to find out that not all were sustainable; meaning - my life would be hell if I had to do that for the rest of it.

I've grown and I'm proud of that. The testament of my journey's success may superficially be what's on the scale - to others. But to me, it's about my path to understanding. It's about learning. It's about my evolved lifestyle. Taking those bumps and bruises and then finally seeing "the fitness/nutrition light," has been highly beneficial to the choices I make today. I can only hope that my efforts at weight loss aren't devalued, because everything I did to achieve, wasn't "right." Yet some most of us have to experience trial and error, before we finally get it.

Now, if your objective is just weight loss - I mean, is there a "wrong" way? If your mission is prolonged wellness, energy and strength - with weight loss merely being the result of lifestyle changes ... then, that might be another discussion.

While I strive for it, my journey has never been and will never be ... perfect.

I love that about it, though.

~PC