Are You A Low Carb Survivor?

My son and I watched “Survivor” this summer. I used the show to discuss various aspects of human nature and social politics with him. I found it fascinating, and I think we both learned a lot.

One thing had me stumped, though. Why did everyone keep referring to Richard Hatch, the ultimate winner of the competition, as “the fat guy”? He didn’t look fat to me! He looked normal. Not fat, not thin – just normal. I kept thinking, “Did I miss something on one of the episodes I didn’t see? Where is this “fat guy” stuff coming from?

As it turns out, Mr. Hatch started it himself. He mentioned it in an interview with TV Guide Online. You’d never know from looking at him now, but less than three years ago the man weighed 360 pounds. Before competing on “Survivor” he lost 100 pounds, then went on to lose an additional 30 pounds or so while on the island. According to the interview, he’s lost even more since returning home.

So what does this have to do with low carbing? Mr. Hatch was asked by the interviewer how he lost all that weight. He said that he limited potatoes, pasta, and “those types of carbohydrates that were problematic for me.” He ate lots of salads. He went on to say that he did not limit how much he ate, but rather concentrated on the kinds and quality of the food he consumed. OK, perhaps he isn’t a strict low carber, but he understands the adverse role that certain types of carbohydrates can play in our diets. He is, in a sense, one of us.

It goes beyond diet, though. Mr. Hatch was the ultimate survivor on the show. He walked away with a cool million dollars. Mr. Hatch didn’t win just because he lost weight, but because he had a goal, he had a plan to reach that goal, and he never wavered in his determination to reach that goal. I’ve given this some thought. We all can learn a lot from Mr. Hatch.

Set A Goal

Mr. Hatch came to the “Survivor” island with a goal: to be the final survivor. What’s your goal? Is it to be a certain weight or fit into a particular size? Is it to attain a specific body fat percentage? Is it to alleviate symptoms of a medical condition that you have?

What’s your goal? Sit down, really think about it. Analyze what you want and why you want it. Write it down. Underneath, write the reasons you want to achieve it. Be specific. Be honest. Without knowing your goal and the reasons you want to achieve it, you’re just drifting. Drifting doesn’t help you get where you really want to be.

Understand Why You Want To Reach Your Goal

Well, duh! You want to reach your weight loss goal because you want to be thin, right? OK. Now, think a little harder. Why do you want to be thin? What is it specifically about the way you are right now that you don’t like or are uncomfortable with? What will getting thin accomplish for you?

Mr. Hatch began his diet because his son was overweight and he wanted to help the boy overcome it. Mr. Hatch had been overweight all his life, and he knew just what types of teasing and unkindness his son was having to endure. Mr. Hatch felt that he couldn’t help his son with weight issues if he himself was fat. So before he even discussed weight problems with his son, he lost weight himself.

I’ll ask you again. WHY do you want to lose weight? Write down the reasons. Use two columns, one for the reasons you are unhappy at the weight you currently are and one for the benefits you will get from being thinner. Think hard about it and be scrupulously honest with yourself.

Keep the list. No one else needs to see it unless you want them to because no one else matters. Post it on the refrigerator or slip it into your bedside drawer. Fold it up into your wallet or tuck it into your purse. Keep it. It is your promise to yourself and your touchstone.

Determine What You Need To Do To Reach Your Goal

I believe that before Richard Hatch went to whatever bitsy island they sent all the Survivor cast to, he thought about what he had to do to win the contest. I can’t prove this, but he came to the island proclaiming that he was going to be the winner, the ultimate survivor.

A lot of people didn’t like him for that. They called him arrogant and abrasive. They said he was conniving. I never saw him that way. I saw him as a determined individual who had a goal he was bound and determined to achieve. He was honest about his intent and his determination; he didn’t lie to anybody about it. He was there to win, and I believe that he was the only one of the cast who actually thought about it honestly and formulated a plan.

Do you know what it will take to achieve your weight loss goal? Think about it. Make a list of strategies you can use when your weight loss stalls or when people (sometimes your nearest and dearest!) place obstacles in your path. Without a plan, you’re drifting. Drifting won’t get you where you want to go.

Don’t Let Anything Stand In Your Way

It takes a certain kind of ruthlessness to be a winner. I don’t mean this in a negative way. People who are winners have the determination and will power necessary the accomplish their goal. They have to have tunnel vision to a certain extent so that they don’t become sidetracked by inconsequential issues.

Why do we like winners so much and yet often abhor the personality traits it takes for someone to be a winner? Strength of purpose and individualism used to be the backbone of this country. Why isn’t it anymore? Is it because winners make us feel like losers? Is it because winners make us uncomfortable because they separate themselves from the flock to achieve their goal?

If you want to be a weight-loss winner, you will have to be as determined about your diet as Mr. Hatch was about winning the “Survivor” challenge. Are you? Are you willing to tough it out and bulldoze your way through the obstacles that will be placed in your path? Are you willing to do whatever it takes to do what you want to do?

I didn’t start out determined, but I became determined as time went on. When that happened, I stopped being quite so nice, and I’m not ashamed of it.

When I began low carbing, my husband was in the habit of bringing a bowl of ice cream or cookies and milk to bed to munch on while we watched television. For weeks I suffered from the cravings that having him do this induced. Often I had to leave the room to keep myself on the straight and narrow. Then, finally, instead of thinking “poor me” one night I got angry, and turned to him and said, “That really looks good. It’s very hard for me when you bring that kind of thing up here.”

“Do you want me to go downstairs?” Rod asked.

“That’s up to you, sweetie,” I replied. “It depends upon whether you want to live to see the dawn.”

He did and took his sugary slop downstairs. Eventually, we worked out an agreement. If I was already in bed when he wanted his goodies, then he would eat them downstairs. But if I came upstairs after he had already begun his sugar marathon, I would turn around and go back downstairs until he was done.

Was I nice? Probably not. I don’t care. I did what I had to do to stay on the diet. Sometimes we have to be self-centered to survive.

Recover From Your Set Backs

Very few of us (probably none of us) sail through our weight loss regime without setbacks. Almost all of us fall off the wagon at least once. If we let our momentary weakness continue for a prolonged period of time, then we are going to fall back into our old bad nutritional habits and lose the control we’ve established over our lives and our eating habits. We’ll regain the weight, and then when someone asks us if low carbing works, we’ll say “No.” If we’re honest with ourselves, though, we’ll realize that it wasn’t that low carbing didn’t work for us, it’s that we didn’t work hard enough at low carbing.

When Rudy Boesch lost out in the next-to-the-last round of “Survivor” did he consider himself done? Not by a long shot! Mr. Boesch wants to be on the next “Survivor” segment in October. He’s not giving up and he’s actively looking for a challenge. Our current challenge is losing weight. Our next challenge will be to keep the weight off. Like Mr. Boesch, we shouldn’t give up.

No Excuses

We should emulate Rudy Boesch as well as Richard Hatch. Neither man offered any excuses for his behavior, and neither one blamed anyone else when something went wrong. We shouldn’t either.

On the final “Survivor” episode, Rudy Boesch lost the last immunity challenge and was voted off the island by Kelly Wiglesworth. He lost the challenge and he lost the chance for the million bucks. Afterward he said, “It was my own damn fault.” No excuses. He didn’t say he was tired. He didn’t say that he’s 50 years older than Miss Wiglesworth. He said, “It was my own damn fault.”

Instead of saying, “Oh, it’s my mom’s/sister’s/coworker’s/husband’s/wife’s fault for buying the cookies,” we should be honest with ourselves. We should say, “It’s my own damn fault,” and then we should move on and get back on track.

No one is responsible for making us stick to our diets but us. While people can certainly make it harder, no one can “make” us go off plan. Consequently, when we reach our goal weight, no one can take the credit away from us either. We did it, we did it essentially by ourselves, and we deserve every “Bravo!” and “Congratulations!” we get.

Well, Are You?

I’ll ask you the question one more time. Are you a low carb survivor? Only you can answer yes, and only you can vote yourself off the island. Which is it going to be?

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