My family is obsessed with creating and sharing playlists. Whether it's a holiday, a road trip, or a casual get-together with friends, they often scramble to build a playlist. The lists are posted, others contribute, and it becomes a blend of shared melodies.
On a recent road trip, an old Elvis Presley tune belted out, and we laughed as we each wondered aloud, "Who added that?!" We often end up with an eclectic mix of sentimental favorites, peppy new songs, and others that appropriate for the day. Shared music helps frame the journey. We belong to it, and the journey belongs to a collective us .
In addition to shared playlists, I keep my my own. One is titled "Music for Moving", which I often use at the gym. "Thinking of my Husband" includes some of our favorites throughout the years, and I also have playlists for each of my kids.
But the list that plays the longest and the most frequently? That's one I didn't even know I was creating. It loops throughout my days and sometimes into my nights, menacing me with fears of inadequacies and, at times, paralyzing my actions. The criticism has its own rhythm "You're lazy! You should have finished that work weeks ago!" "Why are you bothering to write, no one will read it." "This project won't help anyone. It's too superficial and embarrassing. Your ideas are dumb!"
Sometimes the tune turns toward my physical appearance. "You're still fat!" or "You're getting old. Look at all of those wrinkles!" and in spite of my weight loss, I struggle with "The loose skin is horrific. You can't wear shorts!" or even "You could lose 30 more pounds and your hips would still be as wide as a transfer truck!"
Yes, those tunes are stuck in my head worse than Baby Shark do do do do da do. Even when I deliberately change the playlist, it's there looping in and out of the background, blaring with full bass when my confidence falters the most.
I thought I was alone in this endless stream of self-doubt and insecurities, but in his book, Elephant in the Room , Tommy Tomlison aptly describes it as USUK FM. An award-winning writer, he too, often fears that he has nothing worthy to say.
When you're tuned to USUK FM, it's increasingly easy to add to the playlist. It gets longer and louder the more you listen to it.
When you're tuned to USUK FM, it's increasingly easy to add to the playlist. It gets longer and louder the more you listen to it. Like the playlists my kids create, it frames our journey. We belong to it. Sadly, the journey often belongs to a collective us, especially those of us who struggle with weight, body dysmorphia, or disordered eating.While it's true that others have added a diddy or two to my USUK playlist over the years, I know that no one has contributed more than I have and that others can add songs to my playlist only with my permission.
Thankfully, there are also people helping to create another playlist for me, UROK FM. The people who love, respect, and appreciate me fill that playlist, the one that says, "Hey, you're okay!" They reassure me that I'm funny, worthy, valuable, even when I can't be assured of it myself, especially when I hear the lyrics and can't believe they are written for me.
The playlists I built for my children and my husband celebrate the best of them. Grace is my "Brown-eyed girl" and Jonathan will always be part of my "Happy," with "All of Me" dedicated to my husband. For them, it's UROK all day every day. Wouldn't they play UROK for me too?
If we can play UROK for others and others play UROK for us, how do we change our own playlists from constantly streaming USUK to UROK at least occasionally?
Join me to create a new playlist! In our 5 Weeks of Keto with Kristie, we'll work together to help you change your tune. UROK tells us we can succeed even when we're not exactly sure how. Over the 35 days of the program, you'll be empowered to believe that UROK with daily emails, meal plans, and medically reviewed information you can trust.
If you're a Diet Doctor Plus member, you can also join the Diet Doctor Facebook group, where the playlist never includes USUK. It's thousands of members from all over the world creating a new playlist, together.
Join us! Together, we can build a playlist that builds us up while celebrating our own unique, but shared, keto journey! Let's tune out USUK for good. There's nothing good on there anyway.