Determined To Succeed

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T.G.I.F.! Wow, it seems like this week went fast. Doesn’t it? It seems like just a week ago I was saying T.G.I.F. And yes, that is supposed to be a joke.

As I sit here writing today’s blog I realize how little I’ve been joking. I also realize, well, agitated I’ve been sounding. It’s true. There are many time I believe that weight loss feels like a battle, scoring victories against those pesky ounces in a war that never ends. Hell, even these last ten pounds are what I call “the battle of the final ten.” But on this Friday it’s time to take down my tone a few notches and be Zen about weight loss. After all, you can’t run on DEFCON 1 all the time. Like me, you’ll go a little crazy if you do that.

When I was in grammar school at Murray Language Academy in Hyde Park I studied Japanese, not just the language but the culture, too. And both are beautiful. Mizuno-sensei (my teacher, Mrs. Mizuno) made sure we received both language training (something I sooooo need to start up again if I ever hope to go to Japan and truly appreciate it) as well as an understanding and appreciation for the culture, people and “feeling” of Japan. I was so thankful for this. It breathed life into something that could have very easily been just another class for a fourth-grader to take.

I may not have kept up with the language but I did carry the teachings with me throughout my life, including how you can appreciate the beautiful aesthetics found in the Zen art of the traditional Japanese garden. The principles of Zen have many lessons for us even for weight loss. Below are just a couple of design-related principles that govern the aesthetics of a Japanese garden I have related to our weight loss journey. Perhaps they will get you thinking in a slightly-less nervous and anxious way about your own weight loss challenges.

Kanso – Simplicity or elimination of clutter. This principle can remind us of two things in particular. One, to remove the “noise” and keep focused on the harmony of the goal. I sometimes think of clutter when too many things come crashing into my brain, usually when I am tired at night. I can’t think straight. You get that feeling at work. Too much to do. Not enough time. Too much going on. We will get to our goal. The snack aisles and their many choices represent noise. We have the power to shut that off. In the Kevin Costner baseball movie “For Love of the Game,” his character, a major league pitcher, illustrates this Zen principle beautifully when he turns off the crowd noise by saying “silence the mechanism.” This allows him to focus on the goal – getting the batter out. We can also eliminate “clutter” by getting rid of bad foods in our pantries and replacing them with fruits and veggies.

Kanso also reminds us to get rid of things like fat clothes that can distract from the journey. I have always thought this is important anyway. Why potentially sabotage a journey by giving yourself a way to go back? Remember, concentrate on the goal and let go of the past including the clutter of bigger clothes. We will get there.

Enso Fukinsei – Asymmetry or irregularity and Shizen – Naturalness. Enso Fukinsei is the Zen idea of controlling balance via irregularity and asymmetry while Shinzen is the absence of pretense or artificiality. The enso (”Zen circle”) in brush painting, for example, is often drawn as an incomplete circle, symbolizing that imperfection is a part of existence. In other words, at least to me and as I said last week, our bodies are beautiful. They may not be the perfect things we see on TV or in the movies, but they are beautiful in their own unique ways. Weight loss will bring down our weight and closer to our size goals, but if things aren’t just right (like the loose skin here and there – and yes, I, too, have loose skin) it’s O.K. And it’s also O.K. to find your own way to lose weight. What works for you may not work for someone else and vice-versa.

Datsuzoku – Freedom from habit or formula. Escape from daily routine or the ordinary. This principle describes the feeling of surprise and bit of amazement we feel when one realizes they can have freedom from the conventional. That it is possible to break your old routines and find a new way to do things. For example, I didn’t “have” to have those McDonald’s breakfast sandwiches every day, or more recently, I don’t have to have a Coke when I think I get a “taste” for one. Weight loss is about a change in lifestyle and yes, about breaking with old patterns and finding newer, healthier ways to still enjoy foods but make them better for you.

Seijaku – Tranquility or an energized calm (quite), stillness, solitude. This is the one I need the most, especially when I go off the rails and feel obsessive over every single bloody ounce. Weight fluctuates every day based on what we eat, activity, and so on. While it’s important to moderate what we eat and not make treat foods every day foods, if we gain a few ounces we will re-lose them by bringing our activities back in alignment once the bad eating situation is over. Make sense?

Weight loss is just as much about the mind as it is the body. Our mind wills us to do things, like exercise, making good and better food choices, etc., and that’s cool. This may seem a bit touchy-feely to you but I think it’s worth it to remember. Just a few short weeks ago I was dreading weekends, remember? I was so worried I’d go on a huge food drunk every single weekend and wreck whatever progress I’d made during the week. Sometimes I did but sometimes I didn’t. It’s all balance, and once I got my mind right and focused on what I needed to do, therefore “silencing the mechanism,” I was OK.

God, I hope this makes sense to you guys. It does to me. Yesterday reminded me (in more ways than one) that life does have balance. There are things going on in the world – oil spills, flooding, money issues, mean bosses at jobs – that really make you appreciate the life you have and what you’ve accomplished. And when I go off the rails like that I lose sight of the forest through its trees – that I am living the path of weight loss not fighting it all the time.

How’s that for Zen?