I'm pretty new to this forum, and to be honest, I visited it for a few months before I decided to join. I THOUGHT I knew a lot already, and I wasn't sure how much I'd get out of a weight-loss forum.
I took 3 years of college physical activity classes, including general health classes, sport classes like racquetball, weight-training, and even bowling (the only C I ever got in undergrad was in bowling /facepalm).
I get gestational diabetes with ever pregnancy and my OB makes me chat and keep in touch weekly with nurses and dietitians.
I love to read and I read online articles all the time about health and have already made a bunch of changes due to the GD and just trying to stay healthy while I nurse my babies.
HOWEVER, I am SO happy I joined this site! Its been more helpful to me the last few weeks than I ever dreamed it could be, in just simple little things!
SO, just in the last couple weeks I've learned from this site:
1. Nobody can actually figure out women sizes! (I use to think I was the only one, and everyone else had it all figured out!)
2. simple discipline like weighing myself at the same time of day consistently to keep track of my weight
3. helps remind me to make healthier choices, I've re-incorporated oatmeal back into my diet regularly
4. Just checking in here 2-3x a day has helped me maintain my goals overall and keep the end in sight, and helps me not to forget and not to cheat as much, EVERY calorie counts!
5. Persistence is more important than Perfection (someone's siggy I LIKE!)
6. get over the "unfairness" of being only 5'3" (as there's people shorter than me) and get over my dumpling chubby genes and work with what I have without wallowing self-pity!
7. I LOVE the inspirational before/after pictures and stories! Helps me so MUCH when people share and gives me hope!
Anyways, those are just a few things off the top of my head, that I was thinking about this morning. And I was like "I'm really happy I decided to join that site after all!"
Just goes to show, when you think you "know it all" there's always more to learn, its only your attitude that stops you!
I was stumped at around 165 before I joined here and now I've started to consistently and slowly lose again.
I appreciate all of you and thanks for being here!
What have you learned from all of your experiences that helps you reach your goals?
that just because you have gone off track or off plan does NOT mean it's the end. You can learn something from every single experience...
BINGO! This for me too.
I joined this sight after I had lost around 60 pounds, and was really needing some support. Since joining I have lost an additional 133 pounds PLUS have now kept it off for almost 14 months. HUGE for me, considering EVERY "diet" I had ever been on ended with the first binge. After reading here, it was unbelievable to me that people actually fell off the wagon, and jumped right back on. All the successful losers/maintainers had many a bad day. They weren't perfect all the time, they had their slips and sometime big a$$ land sides, but they immediately climbed back on and held on tight.
I adopted that same attitude. It is so awesome to know that I'm not a failure because I broke down and ate a Health Blizzard. I'd be a failure (at maintaining my weight loss) if I let that be the end of my healthy lifestyle.
I'm pretty new here myself, but there are a couple things I'd like to share...
1) I am not the type of person (but many are) that can totally eliminate foods from their diet. I've tried in the past and I have always failed because of it.
2) No matter how bad things are... no matter how frustrated or upset or in pain I am, there are people on here that absolutely CARE, and I feel like I have a support team/coach/therapist just a fingertip away. It's a fantastic feeling, and motivates me to keep on track.
I have learned:
Everybody loses differently, at their own pace, sometimes regardless of effort. Persistence is key.
Weight loss is as much about patience as diet and exercise.
Weight loss is 80% diet and 20% exercise.
You CAN feel amazing way before reaching goal!
I visit this site within a few hours of starting my day and it is like my daily pep talk to stay focused and do my best.
I have learned...
*That I didn't try to really change my lifestyle all these years because I was fearful of failing. It wasn't until I had to face real life or death fear unexpectedly that it dawned on me that's what REAL fear is. We can't control death but we CAN control the quality of the life we choose to live till then.
*You are the only person you can truly count on to get you to your goals. Your best friend doesn't want it for you bad enough, your spouse doesn't always understand the importance and your family will tell you it's okay to pig out on Christmas. If you depend on anyone else to hold you to the fire , to be your workout partner, and to keep you on track. You will be let down. You are responsible for yourself and when you learn to be accountable to yourself you get to take all the credit for a job well done.
*Changing your life with diet and exercise will change your relationships. This one is the biggest surprises to me. When you have be the funny chubby person all your life and you make a drastic change people aren't always accepting. They comment on and sometimes make hurtful comments like I miss the old you or call you obsessed. When you think they will be proud and happy for you it sometimes brings out jealousy. If you are a people pleaser by nature its takes awhile to get used to the sometime negative feelings.
The best thing I've learned since coming to 3fc's is that maintenance looks exactly like losing only with more calories. I really wish I'd known this sooner!
I've learned that when I don't come here daily, I can't stay on plan for some reason. If I skip a day or so, I"m fine, but if I go a few weeks then all bets are off.
And I learned all the above things, and I learned that part of a healthy lifestyle is being kind to yourself when you make a mistake.
And I learned that I'm not THAT special. (Hear me out!) There are TONS of people on here that deal with the same demons, the same cravings, the same stumbling blocks, the same emotions, but they persist and meet their goals. It's not harder or more impossible for me. If they can do it, SO CAN I!
Things I've learned thus far
