Recapping Weeks 9 and 10 of Kathie J. and Larry’s weight loss journey

It’s Not Just About Weight Anymore

Week 10 is one of the most important weeks because it gives you a mindset shift to prepare for a forever way of living.

We’re starting to connect this lifestyle — how you’re eating, moving, thinking, and engaging in life — with something that’s super important to you that’s not your weight. This is your life purpose.

You can start to hear this in the way Kathie J. and Larry talk about their journey. It’s not just about the weight anymore. They’re talking about their activity, how they’re thinking about themselves, changes in their thinking, and where they want to go. You can hear so much more empowerment in their voices.

Remember in Week 2 when I talked about peeling the onion? That’s when we talked about your little why; that outer layer of motivation. Now, 10 weeks in, we’ve peeled your layers of motivation, and we’re getting to the very core of the onion, or the very core of you.

How Do You Spend Your Time That’s Super Important to You?

To identify your soul’s purpose, as yourself, “How do I spend my time that’s super important to me?” That’s the key: It’s important to you. Someone else might say, “This is my big why,” and you might say, “I don’t get it.” That’s because it’s not your big why.

When does time stand still for you? When do you find yourself doing something and you don’t notice that hours have passed? That is a clue.

Just as importantly, start thinking about how you’re spending your time that isn’t important to you. Are you just going through the motions of life, or are you really thinking about what’s giving your life meaning?

You have to tie your motivation to something other than weight loss for it to stick in the long-term. Weight loss alone is rarely enough, in my experience. If you like how your life is going, tie this lifestyle with how you spend time that’s super important to you, then you will do that lifestyle not because of your weight but because of something that has that intrinsic motivation. That keeps the fire going because this is who you are at your best self.

Embrace the Gray Zone

In my experience helping people lose weight, I’ve seen a lot of “all-or-nothing” thinkers. They have that mindset of, “I ate one cookie, so I might as well eat the whole box.” In State of Slim, we try to get you to change that way of thinking because it is the key to keeping the weight off. We’re teaching you to not go off the rails when you’re not perfect.

In Week 9 of State of Slim, we start Phase 3. At this point in the Colorado Diet, you’re still losing weight while you allow a little more food into your diet, including half of another indulgence meal.

For one indulgence meal, you get to eat whatever you want — anything and everything — for one, planned meal. For your other meal, you get half an indulgence meal (it says two in the book, but if I could write it over again, I would say 1.5). This meal is not 100-percent State of Slim-friendly, but it’s not a complete indulgence meal either. It’s a meal that’s in the gray zone.

That means you still eat mostly healthy, with food from one of the three phases, but you add a little something extra. Maybe you add a glass of wine or your chicken is breaded, or you have a little extra rice. It’s not a full indulgence meal where you eat whatever you want.

Your Takeaway:

Practice being in the gray zone with your eating. Practice eating meals that aren’t perfect and be okay with it. See how it feels. Get used to it. Trust me, this is a skill you will need.

Secondly, start thinking about your big why. You might feel like you don’t have time to do that, but you have to make time for it. Get quiet and ask yourself, “How do I spend my time that’s super important to me?”

If you would like to go through the State of Slim program, sign up for a small group class or join State of Slim Everywhere, our online program for people who don’t live in Colorado.

Follow and support Larry and Kathie J. The more you connect, the easier your journey will be.

Learn more about the State of Slim at the CU Anschutz Health and Wellness Center