In which I find what really motivates me

This hasn’t exactly been the easiest of summers. I mentioned some of this a couple of weeks ago. I also mentioned a few weeks ago that I was embarking upon a six-month journey with Shaklee’s Cinch Inch Loss Program.

I’ve discovered a couple of really important things about myself that I probably knew already, but was able to nail down and name this summer. One of these things is that I really am an emotional eater. There have been multiple times this summer when I truly didn’t feel hungry, but the enormous burdens I was carrying made me just. want. to. eat. I can’t tell you how many times this summer I laid in bed at night crying over things that were really worth crying about, but also whining because I wanted to make the pain go away with some french fries. Seems silly, but it’s true. When I’m struggling, I turn to food.

But the major difference for me this summer is that, while perhaps experiencing some of the biggest burdens I’ve ever been asked to experience thus far, I had one bigger motivating factor in place – I signed my name to a contract saying I would participate in this program for a full 6 months. So when I was really tempted to throw in the towel and drink my sorrows away in the form of a peppermint shake from Braum’s, I had that contract floating in the back of my head and knew I couldn’t do it. I still can’t. I signed a piece of paper that said I wouldn’t.

This may not seem like much to you, but in a world that gives so little value to what it means to make a commitment to something by signing on the dotted line, I have to believe it means something. I really believe it does.

So the good news for me is that during a summer when I would probably really have gained an additional ten pounds because of emotional eating, I’ve actually lost eleven. That’s pretty motivating as well.

As for the Shaklee Cinch Program, here are some honest observations of my first 6 weeks. I didn’t lose ANYTHING for the first three weeks. Nada. Zilch. It was at this exact time the summer started falling apart too, so I had a double whammy of demotivation, but I kept following the plan anyway. Combine these zingers with the fact that out of a consecutive 30 day period in June/July, we were gone for 22. Raise your hand if you know how hard it is to follow a diet while traveling? Yes. It’s super hard. But I took the shakes and bars with me, along with a portable blender, and I followed the program. I followed it really faithfully for the first three weeks and in spite of my best efforts, I lost nothing.

I also realized I was struggling to consume an entire mixed up shake and feeling TOO full in the mornings after drinking one. When week 4 hit and I still hadn’t lost anything, I made the decision to cut my shake consumption in half. Even half still makes for a pretty hefty amount. Take a look at this:

According to the measurement on my blender, this half-shake still made two cups’ worth. Trust me, it’s been plenty enough for me. So just that simple act of cutting the shakes in half seemed to kick start some actual weight loss.

But here’s the other piece of truth – my next shipment of the program was supposed to arrive while we were in the middle of a 2-week trip. I knew I wouldn’t be able to follow the plan exactly as I was supposed to because I would run out of supplies. I purchased two additional packs of meal bars on my own and had them sent to my in-laws’ house so I wouldn’t be completely out of supplies by the end of our trip. This worked fine except for the fact that once we got home from our trip I discovered that UPS had lost my next shipment. It took another ten days or so to get that sorted out, so I’ve been winging it for a while. Nevertheless, I was committed to the weight loss plan, so I was just super careful with what remaining Cinch supplies I did still have and I was super careful with all meals.

I’m now fully loaded on Cinch supplies again and, armed with the knowledge that for me, half a shake is what I need, I’m ready to keep it going. It helps that I’ve actually still been losing weight (slowly, but surely) over this whole time.

Combine all of this with my Couch to 5K running plan. My hope to do this with all four of my girls hasn’t materialized, but I do have one daughter who is still in the game with me. We are both officially registered for the Hot Mamas Run in Edmond, OK on September 30. I decided I needed to go ahead and pay for it so that I would complete the training necessary to not pass out three minutes into the race.

So far I’ve completed through week 6, day 1. I’m slow, but I’m getting there. I’ve moved from a 15:52 minute mile at the very beginning (doing very short walk/run intervals that I thought were going to kill me) to now doing a 14.28 minute mile with much longer running intervals and, in fact, included one day of a straight 20 minute jog. I really thought I was going to die. I still might. I think from here on out, there are no more walking intervals and I’m going to have to just buck up and jog the whole thing. I guess that’s what you do when you sign up for a 5K.

Okay, so now for my 6 weeks results check-in. I really hate posting these photos, but here I go:

Since the beginning of the summer I’ve lost 11 pounds. Since the beginning of the Cinch program on June 18, I’ve lost 8. I’ve lost a total of 16.5 inches so far.

I don’t think I’m going to hit my initial goal of losing 20 pounds by the end of August. Unless something amazing happens, I’d have to lose another nine pounds in the next four weeks. It’s possible, yes, but I’m not expecting that right now. I think if I can get to 15 or 16 by the end of August I will be happy with that and prepped to go into September to complete my first 20 pound goal.

The bottom line here is that life is always, and I mean ALWAYS going to present an obstacle to making good choices. Travel plans will tempt us, a family health crisis will tempt us, our own lack of will will tempt us. We have to find deep down inside what it is that is going to actually motivate us to stick to the goal no matter what.

No matter what.

I am being given the products and support to complete this program for 6 months for free in exchange for my honest evaluation.  All thoughts are and will continue to remain my own. I keep a proper disclosure statement available here.

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