Monday, January 2, 2023

No Junk January Weight Loss Challenge: Replacing Fattitude with Gratitude

 Hello friends! This blog looks at how I lost 100 pounds and all that goes into weight loss. I've started this No Junk January challenge to mark my 10th anniversary of weight loss and to hopefully lose weight that I've accumulated over the last year. Part of how I lost 100 pounds originally was to replace unhealthy "fattitude" (what I call the obesity mindset) with an attitude of gratitude. 

First, what is fattitude? It's the unhealthy thinking that got me overweight in the first place. Fattitude includes negativity, poor body image and low self esteem but also the self pity, blame-shame game and weaponized incompetence of self-defeating behavior. In short it's what Alanon calls stinkin thinkin. We see it clearly in shows like "My 600-lb Life" where gastric bypass hopefuls demonstrate their path to obesity in unhealthy behaviors and dangerous mindsets. But every one of us who is dangerously overweight has exhibited stinkin thinkin and fattitude. 

So, to overcome fattitude (especially the whiny self pity and weaponized incompetence and "helplessness") I'm working on an attitude of gratitude. Instead of dwelling in negative oh-woe-is-me stinkin thinkin, I'm counting my blessings. And they are multitude. For example, since giving up junk food this No Junk January, stinkin thinkin would tell me to bemoan what I can't have. "My 600-lb Life" gastric bypass patients who do this almost always sabotage their own weight loss even after bariatric surgery. 

Gratitude is rejoicing not only in what I can eat but in how great it makes me feel! And actually, it's not that I can't have junk food. Fattitude feels sorry for itself, that some big meany is preventing me from having the goodies. But in reality, it's a choice I'm making and the goodies aren't good for me! I'm grateful that I can choose to eat more mindfully and bring about positive impacts in my life. 

And I give thanks to God for helping me to demilitarize my own self-harming behaviors and move forward. 


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