In Tory Johnson’s The Shift is about more than weight loss, I shared the first part of my notes from the Shift with Tory event in New York that I attended as a media guest. (During the live event Good Morning America contributor Tory Johnson shared about her popular new book The Shift: How I Finally Lost Weight and Discovered a Happier Life.) After her conversation with Barbara Fedida, she cried for a while. Then Tory made a silent vow to herself that she would change. She was scared because she didn’t know if she could do it or how long it would take, but the decision was made. Below are five steps that helped Tory to change once she decided to do something about her weight.
Step One: How fed up are you?
Sam Champion, the weather anchor on Good Morning America, made a positive comment on air regarding Tory’s weight loss. That was 9 months after Tory had started working on changing her weight. After his comment, viewer questions about her weight loss started to pour into the station. Tory emphasized that it was not about a diet. It was about a shift – completely changing her mind. She summoned her inner anger and inner strength as she reflected on all of the moments that she had missed due to her weight. For one thing, she hadn’t gone to a doctor (for a physical) in 10 years – which was pretty selfish – especially because she had kids. She started to think about the kind of role model and legacy she wanted to leave for her kids. Tory encouraged the audience not to wait for the perfect moment, because there isn’t one. This moment is “good enough”. “My moment is now. Now is my time.”
Step Two: What are you willing to give up?
For Tory, Cadbury Eggs were a weak spot, so she had to let them go. She realized that her connection to food had to change. She was willing to walk away from various things including food that was sent to her; places (i.e. movie theaters) where she made poor food choices and such. Even when she traveled, she said no to things. As Tory said, “The mission (i.e. to lose weight) stays with you.” She also had to say “no” to people who wanted her to eat like she did in the past. It was all about choices: preference or priority? can’t or don’t?…
Step Three: What is your plan?
For Tory, she had a three-step plan: 1. Eat less 2. Choose smarter 3. Move more. Tori noted that she doesn’t talk a lot about what she ate. The shift was more about her mindset. She did share a few practical tips that helped her though:
-She used the Calorie King app.
-After noting that she snacked a lot at night, “nail polish saved her”. (She would give herself a manicure in order to make her pause before grabbing food to eat.)
-She didn’t give herself any cheat days, because they derailed her efforts. As she said, “Cheat days are like alcoholics rewarding themselves with alcohol.” She just gave up the foods that put her in a place where she didn’t want to be. Rather, she rewarded herself in other ways.
Step Four: What is your daily accountability?
Tory weighed herself on a scale every day so that she would be aware of fluctuations in her weight. She also used a fuel band and put overweight photos of herself on the home refrigerator to remind her to step away from the food. Tory encouraged the audience to find what motivated them whether it was negative (i.e. overweight photos) or positive (i.e. your ideal weight photos) reinforcement. “The goal can’t change based on geography,” Tory shared as a reminder of how important it was not to go off your plan even during special events.
Step Five: Embrace patience and celebrate victories
Two things that Tory chose not to do was to set a deadline and to aspire to be a specific amount of weight that she wanted to lose. One day in Banana Republic, she noticed that a size 10 pair of pants was loose on her, so on a whim she asked for the size 6 along with the size 8. She was so excited when she was a size 6! So far, she has lost around 70 pounds in the 20 months since she made the mental shift to lose weight.
While all of that was exciting, Tory was most excited when she finally went to visit the doctor and the doctor said that she was healthy. (Her father had died of pancreatic cancer three weeks after being diagnosed…in part because he was “too busy” to visit the doctor on a consistent basis.) Tory was happy that she is now able to show smart self-care.
Tory closed by sharing a thought from Gretchen Rubin, author of The Happiness Project:
We tend to over-estimate what we can do over a short time and under-estimate what we can do over a long time, if we make consistent, small steps.
As Tory said, “There is no pill, plan or potion to make things happen quickly. Patience and perseverance trumps it all.”
(In my next – and last – post about this event, I will share my personal thoughts about Tory’s words and the “shift” that I decided to make after attending the talk.)
