by patbarone
As I celebrate my 15th anniversary of sustaining a 92-pound weight loss, I feel unimaginable sweetness in my life.
My journey to my own sweet spot began as a tiny girl when my grandmother and I would sneak candy as a secret.
I couldn’t admit to my mother I had developed a taste for candy, cookies, cake, pie, brownies – the list was endless – because my grandmother was diabetic and was not supposed to be eating sugary things!
Not only did I get the message that sweet things weren’t good for you, it had to be hidden. It was shameful!
As I developed a serious sugar addiction, I felt an outright fear around sweet foods – I craved them and I loathed them – quite a double message – and I hated myself for loving sweet things so much.
(more…)
by patbarone
Working out at the gym today, I heard a personal trainer tell her client, “If you want to lose weight, you just gotta learn to deprive yourself!”
Oh, brother!
I used to be surprised when a “fitness professional” said stupid things. Now, I don’t even blink. (more…)
by patbarone
Hard Truth: The more we focus on losing weight, the more we gain. It’s true – dieters regain at an average rate of 108%.
Today, there are more “diets, “fixes”, “cures”, “pharmaceutical relief” and “apps” for weight loss than ever before in history. But our society weighs more and has MORE health problems associated with weight too.
It doesn’t add up, does it?
(more…)
by patbarone
It’s been a busy few weeks. I’ve been on the road a lot, training and teaching people about permanent weight loss. I absolutely love meeting new people and hearing about their challenges and perspectives.
On this trip, I was confronted with two very different angles on weight loss – particularly my weight loss, which is nearing the 100 lb mark. Roughly 74 of those pounds are soundly in the column labeled “permanent weight loss” (measured at 5 years), since I’ve sustained that loss for over 11 years now.
Perspective One
A doctor approached me after a training session (Before I train the coaches in an organization, I host anyone and everyone in the organization who’d like to know more about permanent weight loss. It may seem crazy, but many healthcare professionals still talk “diet” and don’t understand permanent weight loss.)
This doctor had a quizzical look on his face, and I assumed he needed clarification on something I had presented to the group.
Get a load of this!
(more…)
by patbarone
It’s been a couple weeks since I posted a blog! This is always a busy time of year as my son starts school, and I usually begin another enLIGHTen Your Life! mastermind course.
This year, I have two classes beginning at once! Double fun!
It’s also an interesting time because my birthday falls in September too. That, combined with telling my weight loss story to my new classes, has directed me to a more introspective perspective on my journey than usual.
Losing weight permanently opened up my whole world on so many levels. I gained confidence. I took risks I’d never taken before. I began to chart my own destiny in terms of work, relationships, parenting, creativity.
I literally found myself under the layer of insulation I carried for over 20 years.
Perhaps it was my birthday, but I recently thought about what I found when I lost weight from the inside out. What was hiding underneath all that fat?
This is what I found:
I believe this photo was taken on my first birthday because you’ll notice I’m standing by the ice cream churn! My mother used to make homemade ice cream on our birthdays.
No doubt I am waiting for ice cream! Maybe I’ve been churning and I’m taking a break. But this is what I see: (more…)
