How Losing Weight Can Be as Easy as Driving a Car

I was talking to a client the other day and she made this comment: “I take better care of my car than I do my own body. Why is that? I know how to care for it and depend on it to get me places safely. It’s fun to drive. I expect the same things and more from my body, but I don’t treat it as nicely.”

So we went with the “our body is a vehicle” theme to begin revving her self-care up a notch. We came up with this list of ten rules for the road.

Then we changed the name because neither one of us likes to follow rules.

Ten Tips for the Trip

Fill up before hitting Empty.
Skip the deprivation. Fill up when you hear those first whispers of hunger. At this point you still have enough fuel and time to find a good filling station for your tank. If you get too hungry, it becomes difficult to make wise food choices and you settle for junk food at the first open dive on the side of the road.

Topping off the tank is unnecessary.
Honor your body and don’t over fuel. It’s kind of like letting the gas run down the side of your car and onto the pavement. You’d never do that on purpose, would you!? And the thing about over-fueling your body is that it doesn’t hit the pavement, it hits your hips.

Use the right fuel for your engine.
Putting the wrong kind of fuel in your body will result in sputtering, pinging and, possibly, stalling out. Use high grade fuel foods 90% of the time and your engine should run at optimum performance. (That 10% allows for pure joy food. A little joy ride never hurt anyone!)

Check your fluid levels & tune up regularly.
Drink enough water. Practice preventative care. Enough said.

Drive at a safe speed.
Deprivation dieting for quick results won’t get you there more quickly. It often backfires and leads to detours down binge boulevard. Go at your own sustainable pace and you’ll end up getting there just as fast (or faster) than the guy weaving recklessly all over the place. (Note that he might not get there at all if he crashes & burns!)

Exceed the speed minimum.
There are Minimum Speed Limits in places for a reason. Set a minimum baseline for movement each day. If you cruise too slow, it’s dangerous and ife tends to pass you by in the fast lane. Put on your walking shoes or dance. Find a way to play. And if you don’t move out of the garage at all… well that’s just no fun. Your car’s made for driving!

Be wary of hitchhikers.
A fad diet sounds like a hitchhiker to me. You never know if they’re good for something or nothing at all. Listen to your intuition and play it safe. Don’t take risks with your health.

Pay attention to the road.
Notice that you constantly adjust the wheel as you drive, keeping the tires between the lines. You don’t just point the car forward and let go or let someone else steer. You move forward, evaluate progress and adjust – over and over again. The road isn’t always smooth or in a perfectly straight line. It’s a series of constant small tweaks that get you from where you are to where you want to be.

No trip is a success unless you’ve done at least one U-turn.
At least that’s my motto. Even with the best planning and maps, there are times when you encounter an unexpected detour. Expect and look forward to it. We learn the most about ourselves, and the scenery around us, if we make a wrong turn or two take the scenic route. Go gentle with yourself. Notice when you’re off the path, adjust and move on down the road.

And last, but not least…

Relax your grip on the wheel!
Relax period. Lean back, loosen your grip and trust your own internal wisdom to lead you to your final destination. If you fuel up, tune up, drive safely and navigate around the rough patches, you don’t have to stress over whether the car will get you where you’re going.

Maybe this is a simplified approach. Maybe “simplified” is your answer for sticking with it this time and not ever turning back. Once you really tune into how your motor runs most efficiently, my hunch is that you won’t want it to get out of alignment again.

As the old saying goes:  It’s not the destination. It’s the journey that brings en-lite-enment.

Did we miss anything obvious and fun?  What are your tips for the trip?