Disadvantages-
I have been overweight for 8 years and have attempted to lose weight many times.
I am not the primary grocery shopper so I do not control what goes in and out of my house.
Advantages
I have a very supportive family.
I live with my parents so I have little responsibility.
I am studying for my board's exam and it actually gives me more time than if I were working a full-time job.
I can tolerate long periods of exercise and I actually kind of enjoy it.
I am motivated to lose weight for many reasons but I especially so I can be a better dating candidate.
I am pretty and that is surfacing more every week.
I have the confidence to lose this weight.
Disadvantages: Or maybe a small advantage? I still eat some sugar everyday. It's been 7 weeks & 21 lbs of loss so if I'm losing I don't care. I substitute often (Truvia in sauce for broccoli slaw today) but if I want a snack size Kit Kat, I'm having it.
Advantages:
1. I walk 1 1/2 hours a day minimum. Yesterday it was 2 1/2 hours. I walk everyday no matter the weather. The dogs don't care about the weather unless it's extremely hot. Those days we get treadmill time in the cool basement. I burn some serious calories (which I eat back) w/all the walking.
2. I eat vegetables at lunch & dinner and add salsa at breakfast on my eggs. I'm eating a lot more since I exercise more (1600-2000). Helps that I have a large organic garden so no excuses for not eating my veggies.
3. My family is supportive. When we go out for meals we go to places where I can find out the calorie count. A meal last week at Bob Evans rocked: grilled chicken tenders & sides of steamed broccoli and green beans. Total 235 calories. We also eat at the local hospital (posts nutritional info) which serves such excellent food that the public regularly eats there w/o an excuse of visiting a patient.
4. I'm self-employed so I have the time to dedicate to myself, finally.
5. I have finally stopped emotionally eating while listening to the woes of family & friends. Always thought that the "I'd don't care what people think of me anymore" would be harder to drill into myself than the emotional eating. If I can be sympathetic w/o eating for these people!
Advantages:
I'm tall, so I can eat more
Supportive husband
I'm the primary shopper/cook
I have lost before, so I know I can do it
Disadvantages:
I love baking and cooking, so it's hard to reign that in.
I keep some junk food around for my husband, so that's a temptation.
I'm a stay at home mom, so it's not easy for me to make it to the gym (no childcare).
I hate veggies.
Disadvantages -
I have Rheumatoid arthritis, lung disease, and severe IBS
My kids and husband are willing to change a bit on what they eat, but still plenty of no-nos around the house
Busy schedule, so hard to fit in fitness (but think I have it figured out now)
2 of the 3 kids are disabled, so have super special needs we have to accommodate that don't always mesh with what I need
I hold a desk job, so barely even stand in a 9 hour time frame
Advantages -
Though DH isn't doing this himself, he is super supportive knowing it's what makes me happy
I am ADHD (I know... actually not a disadvantage in this case though, lol), so I mix up my routine regularly to keep interest (and that serves a dual purpose to keep my body guessing, lol)
I am a 110% or nothing type person, so I have immersed myself in getting healthy and learned a ton along the way... knowledge is power - including knowledge to not have this all happen again
I LOVE exercising! It allows me a release for pent up emotion
Disadvantages:
I work in an office with tons and tons of chocolate, chips, bars, anything you can imagine. Additionally, we have all sorts of office parties with lunch brought in and a lot of food everywhere. I still have too much sugar in my diet because I love it, even though I've reigned it in. I have a desk job which makes me sedetary most of the day.
Advantages:
I do my own shopping. I have roommates but we do not share food. I can lose weight without a BF wanting to go out to eat all the time. I have a good friend who lives a mile away and she loves to hike, power walk, be active, so I have someone to come exercise with me. I love fruits and veggies. It's cheaper for me to buy healthy food such as lean meats, fruits and veggies than when I ate lunch out all the time.
- I live in a tiny town, there are gyms but they are very expensive.
- Extremely TIGHT budget
- Depression and anti-depressant meds make losing weight hard
- Motivation comes and goes
- Migraines knock me on my butt several times a month
- Little money prevents me from buying the right types of food
- I LOVE CHEESE!!!
Advantages
- I actually WANT to lose weight.
- My two kiddos
- I do the cooking and shopping
- No money for junk and fast food.
Old thread I know, but it still makes a good point about assessing where you are in the weight loss journey.
Disadvantages: I am hypertensive, I have a wicked sweet tooth, I have never before watched what I ate or legitimately tried to lose weight beyond stating that I was going to exercise more. My husband is a saboteur with words and actions. Shyness and clumsiness keep me from engaging in fitness classes and the " gym culture." I have no support system as I am a transplant to my current city and a shy introvert.
Advantages: this is a big birthday year and I am going on a cruise to celebrate my mother's even bigger birthday so I have decent motivation. The gym has childcare. I have gotten positive feedback with calorie counting so it is easier to do it.I like how accomplished I feel once I break a sweat and I look good in active wear. I have been able to compensate the fresh baked cookie reward with massages and new clothes for the smaller me. Two children under five limit my desires to eat out.
Last edited by Aunrio; 03-27-2012 at 01:02 AM.
Reason: Justification for rehashing an old thread
~Sugar is my crack. Not that I've ever done drugs, but I can't imagine being more hooked on something. I've successfully given up both smoking and drinking, but sugary goods are available everywhere and are much more difficult to completely cut off.
~I'm a bad, lazy cook. I can fix simple and healthy meals for myself, but my husband prefers to go out to eat so he can have steak.
~Genetics don't seem to be on my side. Obesity runs all over the place in my family.
Advantages:
~I'm doing this for nobody else but me.
~I'm focusing more on my health than fretting over an imaginary ideal body I'll never obtain.
~I have a good grasp of what I need to do as well as the support of my husband.
~Unhealthy, high-calorie junk rarely enters the house and when it does, I have no problems avoiding it.
~I'm armed with the nutrition info of any restaurant I enter and have the power to make good choices.
I have a husband who not only makes enough that I can stay home with the kids but also affords me a gym membership (which his insurance will cover HALF of the dues for the year!)
A new "no excuses" and "high priority" mentality to weightloss.
Disadvantages: Husband is verbally supportive to me and gives me the financial freedom to lose weight to a degree. But he also is rude about other overweight people (so when he talks about them I feel like he is talking about me) and I don't feel physically attractive around him because of this. Also he brings foods into the house that tempt me off my diet.
I am not much of a cook. I can follow recipes but the effort to shop and prepare these recipes is not only time consuming but boring. I'd rather go to the gym than go food shopping. That means my husband does the majority of food shopping and he doesn't make the best choices.
I have a new advantage: new motivation!! Since I started this thread I had a baby. Now I am motivated to stay strong and healthy to take care of her.
I also have another new one: my husband! He is on board with getting healthier and that helps me a lot. I don't have to do all the research, recipe planning, cooking, and workouts myself anymore. It is a lot easier as a team!
Also, I discovered the Insulin Resistance diet and this is helping a LOT with my sugar cravings.
Disadvantages:
I'm short, and apple-shaped. It's very hard to show progress when your waistline takes forever to shrink enough that you need new clothes.
Boyfriend is kind of a picky eater and it's annoying to make two different meals for dinner.
I love, adore, and crave savory foods. Herbed roasted potatoes, blue-veined cheeses, chicken....I could easily eat three dinners in a day just because I love the food so much.
OTOH:
I am muscle-packed, and I put on new muscle very easily. So much so that people constantly guess my weight to be up to 30 pounds less than it actually is.
I am starting to rediscover the effective workouts that I enjoyed in my fitter days. Boo expensive gyms, hooray pushups and plyometrics!
I love, love, LOVE salad and I don't actually crave sweets that much, even during my TOM.
I am 30 now, and everyone says it gets harder at 30, but I feel more like I'm still a little girl in my twenties. I love to play and run around and be silly, and I adore dancing. I just haven't done as much of those things since I got fat.
I hear ya on the apple shape...Even though I feel smaller elsewhere my waist is so big looking at it is discouraging. Makes it really hard to be motivated over the long haul.
Disadvantages
No health insurance - if I injure myself working out, I'm really, really screwed - especially if that injury prevents me from going to work.
Shift work - I'm on call 24/7 and sometimes I'm awake for 40+ hours straight.
BUSY schedule - since my husband is a full time student and a full time manager, I'm the primary caretaker at home despite my unpredictable work schedule. When life gets too hectic, I'm prone to say 'screw it, let's just eat x'
Past eating disorder - the temptation to binge and purge is still very real for me, even though I haven't thrown up food purposefully in 8 years.
Advantages
Ridiculously supportive husband. I'm the primary cook, but when he makes food he asks what measurements I need, what ingredients he should use, etc. He's also 100% willing to eat all the same OP foods I'm eating, so there's no 'temptations' in the house.
New smart phone! It makes tracking my food and looking up restaurant info SO MUCH EASIER. Thanks, Mom!
Past job in the produce department of an organic co-op - I discovered SO MANY new foods I loved working there and it was easy to learn how to prepare them.
Tower Grove Park - I live right across the street from this huge gorgeous park, which is great motivation to get out and run/walk!
