[muguet]

I'm not sure if you guys can relate, but lately I've been realising that the more I think negatively, the more I eat and want to binge (sounds like a nobrainer now that I'm typing it up, but I swear it wasn't for me). Ever since joining a couple of weeks ago, I've started to police myself and it's done absolutely no good. I want to eat right so bad that I start being negative on my choices and needs which only lead me to give up and reach for something that makes me feel worse.

Today I've had a great food day. Not perfect, but great. I felt satisfied and met most of my food goals. And honestly, I think it's because I calmed down and told myself, "You look fine. Be thankful". I call it eating like my skinny self because that's how I want to feel when I reach my goal. And why wouldn't I be allowed to feel like that before then?

If you guys have gone through something similar at the start (or at anytime) of your journey, I'd love to hear how you changed your mindset.

Take care everyone

[tinneranne2]

For some reason it took a stupidly long time for me to realize that anything that isn't permanently sustainable isn't something I'm going to do. I always thought I would diet "until" (also that i'd start tomorrow. lol). I used to think I would lose the weight and then go back to normal life.

The change in mindset came when I finally realized that starting healthier, permanent habits was more important than losing weight. Realizing losing weight is a side effect of being healthier has let me be more consistent with my efforts, because being healthier isn't a goal that you can fail at if you're trying.

There is no reason we should reserve treating ourselves nicely for when we reach goal. Reaching your goal, despite being immensely satisfying, is no more impressive than working towards it. Every step is equally important and should be celebrated.

I'm glad to hear you had a positive day today, and hope tomorrow is more of the same for you!

[muguet]

tinneranne2 I completely agree! I recently read an article by Canadian doctor Yoni Freedhoff. "Aim for the healthiest life you can enjoy, not just tolerate" was the title. I have to agree with him. I think that right now I'm just at the point where I'm figuring out what that means and how to make it work.

[Dottington]

Yes to everything tinneranne2 said!

There is a member on here, kaplods, and she inspired me so much when I first started and I realized I should not do this without truly evaluating every change I made and if I could sustain that change for my entire life. So my changes were very slow from the get go and I thought about them A LOT. I also made it my goal to live like the person I wanted to be. I think a lot of us suffer from insecurity and I know I still struggle with thinking I don't deserve to live the life I want. But trying to live like the person I wanted to be really helped with my happiness and making life long changes. By envisioning the person I wanted to be and trying to live that way, treating this as a gift to myself, and small thought-out changes I lost the majority of my weight and although I'm not quite to goal yet I have absolutely zero fear of regaining. It's been a slow process, but focussing on the mental aspect and taking it slow is what worked for me.

[muguet]

Dottington, thank you so much for this. Seeing your ticker in combination with what you just wrote was super inspiring to me. I also have a vision of the person I want to be. There are days where I feel that there's no way that I can even reach that. I'm trying to quiet that voice down and do exactly what you did. It's a really hard process because I feel really impatient and still have a lot of negativity. I'm happy that I took a step forward and that at least I can recognise it and move on a little quicker.

Thanks again to you both