Defining normal

Anne suggested yesterday that perhaps I need to define what normal is for me. Maybe I should have gone a little more in-depth when I wrote that sometimes I just want to be normal.

What I really want is to be a normal weight, the perfect number for my age and height. To be a normal weight would mean I could:

• Run faster
• Wear clothes comfortably
• Get more stuff done without running out of energy

I have learned, beyond a shadow of a doubt, how to maintain my weight. I’ve been maintaining my initial South Beach Phase I loss for about four weeks now. Maybe six. The way I’ve been maintaining this small (eight to 10 pounds) loss is by making less-than-stellar food choices and not exercising every day.

In rereading yesterday’s whine post, I am struck that I listed two things I don’t want to continue doing. Redefining my goals, as I did today, I wrote in a more positive voice.

I know that my body likes to hold onto fat; it won’t release it easily. It takes effort on my part. It certainly is normal to work hard to achieve goals. Normal-weight people get obsessed about their aspirations as much as I am about mine. They make plans and follow them. Sometimes they reach them, sometimes they don’t.

I want to be one of those people who reaches the goal, not stops short of it. I’ve done it before. I feel very strongly that I’ve dieted myself into a physical/metabolical state that makes losing weight much, much harder for me now than it was the first time I successfully shed a significant amount of weight (1973). Or even the second time (1997).

But as I’ve proven to myself, it’s not impossible for me to lose weight. What has worked already is pretty simple. Not a lot of fun, but simple:

• Eating lean protein and lots of vegetables
• Staying busy
• Making time for daily exercise

That’s what it takes, that’s what’s normal for me. When I finally hit that magic number, only then can I redefine normal.