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Old 09-22-2012, 09:10 PM   #1  
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Question WHY do YOU want to lose the weight?

I've been struggling lately and met with the manager at my center last week to get back on track. I talked about stress, family life, work stuff - and just not having enough time for me to prepare foods on program.

She has asked me this question: "WHY do YOU want to lose the weight?"
Sadly, I could not come up with a great answer. And maybe that's the root of the problem as to why I'm not staying on track.

I started gaining after college and can't remember even being a size 10. I've been an 18 for so long now. My husband has only ever known me at this size - or a size bigger even. I just know that I'm tired of being fat. I'm tired of shopping in the plus size section. I'm tired of trying on cute, trendy things and looking frumpy in them. I just turned 40 and I don't want to be this way anymore.

I've never liked to exercise and maybe that is part of my challenge too.

So I thought it was a good conversation post to see if others can identify the real "WHY" in your journey.
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Old 09-22-2012, 09:22 PM   #2  
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For me. it is to be healthy.Looking good and wearing smaller sizes is a bonus to the improved health.
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Old 09-22-2012, 09:55 PM   #3  
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Meazie, i'm struggling right now, i've been on the plan since july 16th and i've only lost 15 1/2 lbs but had lost 8lbs before that using my fitness pal, but this weekend i went off plan big time for the first time, im just so tired of the same old foods!! I want to lose the rest of my weight and reach my goal but sometimes it's so hard. This plan is suppose to be life changing and your body is suppose to adjust but what about our minds! I do so good thru the week but weekends are so hard! i guess i need to talk to my counselor and see what i can do, i'm taking so many pills it's overwhelming! But they keep telling me they are great and will help, but so far i haven't lost any lbs since last week. just discouraged! Thanks for listening
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Old 09-22-2012, 10:09 PM   #4  
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I want to loose the weight because I'm tired. - I'm tired of not liking what I see in the mirror, not being able to do the fun things with my family because I don't have the energy, not wanting to have my picture taken and not being able to find clothes that I like.
I want to be healthy, feel healthy and look healthy!
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Old 09-22-2012, 10:09 PM   #5  
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Well, of course I want to be healthy, but I also want to be able to wear cute clothes and have them fit. I want to be comfortable going to the beach or swimming if I want to. I guess I already feel 'beautiful' as a person (like everyone should!!) but I want to feel hot, too :P

I can't stand working out. I mean, I do it and everything but I don't enjoy it until it's over, then I feel amazing.

Oh, and I want to be strong. :] So many people don't take proper care of their bodies and they have NO idea what they're capable of if they train certain parts of themselves, so being strong and aware feels like a superpower to me And I've always wanted a superpower.
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Old 09-22-2012, 10:12 PM   #6  
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I'd like to share something that I wrote on April 29, 2012:

Why Lose Weight?

Why am I losing weight? It seems like an odd question to be asking myself three months into this gig but I read an article on another site that encouraged people to examine their motivations for losing weight. The article suggested that examining and understanding why you want to lose weight will help you be more successful throughout the process. The idea is that when you have those moments of depression, despair or angst which cause you to shout out, “WHY AM I DOING THIS?” that having that answer written down can help you retain and/or regain focus.

I’ve come to realize that I signed up for WW out of fear. Sheer, gut-wrenching, primal fear. When I saw the scale in my doctor’s office register 302 pounds, I panicked. I thought of my mother and how being morbidly obese for most of her life robbed her of quality of life. I thought about all the pain she suffered, all the surgeries, all the illnesses and all of the problems she had with her knees and how almost every single thing that was wrong with her was due to her weight. I thought about the end of her life, in a nursing home, unable to walk, in almost constant pain, without any meaningful means of escape or enjoyment, of how she turned so bitter due to the loss of her independence and ability to even use the toilet on her own. I thought of what a strong woman she had been, what a kind and loving mother, what a smart lady she was. But in the end, she was left with little but pain, the loss of any kind of independence and life-crushing weight.

For me, seeing that scale register 302 pounds slapped me upside the head with the realization that I was heading down the same path. While I am actually healthier than my mother was at age 48, I have realized that I am on borrowed time. I am much too young for my right knee to be as bad as it is. I was becoming increasingly sedentary and pain was becoming a specter that overshadowed everything. I was starting to have trouble doing routine, minor things. Even cleaning myself after using the restroom was becoming problematic. A year ago, I stopped shaving my legs because I was worried about falling in the tub and bending and stretching to shave was painful and difficult. The realization that routine hygiene was becoming increasingly difficult placed all kinds of alarm bells in my head that went off in a raucous cacophony the day I saw 302 pounds on a scale.

Shortly after I joined WW, my eldest sister slipped and fell in her tub. She broke her left shoulder and her left knee. She is also morbidly obese. Ironically, and I didn’t realize it at the time, she fell on my mother’s birthday. Her injuries are such that now, even three months later, she is confined to a wheel chair. She cannot sleep in a bed; she must sleep in a recliner. She is currently in an assisted care facility. Her shoulder is healing, albeit slowly. Her knee is, well, I can’t use the kind of language here that I want to use to describe her knee. I’ll simply say that it must be replaced. But they can’t replace her knee until her shoulder heals and she can use a walker. My sister has a very long, very tough row to hoe. She is 59 years old.

My sister’s fall augmented my fear with a grim determination. I will not end up like that. I will not! I hope.

Determination is all well and good but it isn’t sufficient. Fear is neither well, nor good, and while it is a powerful motivator, I don’t think that it is enough for long term success. Neither fear nor determination help me very much when I’m sobbing alone in the dark for my mother, for my sister and for me; for all that could have been, but wasn’t. It doesn’t help to ameliorate all the pain and waste and hour upon hour of joyless depression and exhausting anxiety. Fear and grim determination cannot be my touchstones for success.
So, what other reasons do I have to lose weight?

The facile answer for me is that I’m losing weight to get healthy. But what does that really mean? What defines a healthy person or a healthy lifestyle? I think the answers will vary from person to person. As I examine this thought, I realize that being healthy, at least for me, isn’t just physical, it’s also emotional. So now, I want to change my answer to I’m losing weight for better physical and emotional health. But what does that mean?

Well, I’m not sure I have all the answers right now. I may never have all the answers. But I do have some answers to the question “Why lose weight?”
  1. To slow down the degradation of my knees. There is no doubt that my right knee will have to be replaced, but maybe I can save my left knee.
  2. To make that eventual knee replacement less traumatic and decrease my recovery time.
  3. To increase my agility and my stamina.
  4. To reduce the risks of stroke or heart attack.
  5. To avoid diabetes.
  6. To have cholesterol and triglycerides in the normal range.
  7. To avoid high blood pressure.
  8. To improve the quality, and possibly, the quantity of my life.
  9. To learn new eating habits that will last a lifetime.
  10. To understand that while I need food to live, I don’t have to live for food.
  11. To move from fear and grim determination to calm acceptance of a new lifestyle fueled by a cheerful determination and the enjoyment of each success, no matter how small.

Yes, there. Right there are motivations that I can live with. Right there are touchstones that I can reach for when I’m alone in the dark. Yes, right there. And, perhaps, I can add this one last thing. My success at losing weight would have made my mother very proud and happy. While I understand that I must do this for myself, the thought of her lovely smile can be my beacon in the dark.

Update: My sister has recovered better and faster than any of us expected. Her shoulder has healed and she has come through knee replacement surgery with flying colors. She is now at home and back to work part time.
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Old 09-22-2012, 10:14 PM   #7  
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Quote:
Originally Posted by skelley331 View Post
Meazie, i'm struggling right now, i've been on the plan since july 16th and i've only lost 15 1/2 lbs but had lost 8lbs before that using my fitness pal, but this weekend i went off plan big time for the first time, im just so tired of the same old foods!! I want to lose the rest of my weight and reach my goal but sometimes it's so hard. This plan is suppose to be life changing and your body is suppose to adjust but what about our minds! I do so good thru the week but weekends are so hard! i guess i need to talk to my counselor and see what i can do, i'm taking so many pills it's overwhelming! But they keep telling me they are great and will help, but so far i haven't lost any lbs since last week. just discouraged! Thanks for listening
I am with you completely skelly. It is so hard. The food choices are so limited. I've been on the program for a month and had lost 11 lbs but gained 2 this last week. I'm wondering if I can make it for the full 17 weeks I've signed up for. I want to lose weight so I look and feel better but I don't know if I can do it like this.
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Old 09-22-2012, 10:26 PM   #8  
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Oh, oops! I didn't realize this was a diet-plan specific thread. Sorry, y'all for intruding.

Last edited by Garnet2727; 09-22-2012 at 10:26 PM.
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Old 09-22-2012, 10:26 PM   #9  
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Garnet2727 View Post
I'd like to share something that I wrote on April 29, 2012:

Why Lose Weight?
Wow, Garnet. That was extremely powerful to read. And so brave of you to write. You really dug deep down and found the real reason.

Thank you for inspiring me to do the same!
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Old 09-22-2012, 10:27 PM   #10  
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Oh, oops! I didn't realize this was a diet-plan specific thread. Sorry, y'all for intruding.
Don't be sorry at all! I thought after I posted it that it might belong in a general area. I'm glad you saw the post and chimed in.
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Old 09-22-2012, 10:30 PM   #11  
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Thank you, meazie. *hugs*
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Old 09-23-2012, 08:58 PM   #12  
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I am with you completely skelly. It is so hard. The food choices are so limited. I've been on the program for a month and had lost 11 lbs but gained 2 this last week. I'm wondering if I can make it for the full 17 weeks I've signed up for. I want to lose weight so I look and feel better but I don't know if I can do it like this.


desp2lose: I know it is hard, i went off plan this weekend big time, i will admit is was nice not to worry about having everything right, weigh my food, etc. I didn't really eat bad foods but i fixed homemade chilli and ate that once, fixed homemade sausage potato soup and ate that once, unfortunately i gained 2.2 lbs but it felt good. Tomorrow i'll be back on track but go weigh in on friday so i doubt that i will have any losses, i didn't go weigh in this week because i wasn't able to so we'll see what happens. I have 7 wks left to get to my goal weight, i wonder what happens if you don't reach it when they say you should? I will do my best but yes it is very hard. I have friends who are on myfitnesspal.com and all they do is watch their calories and they lose weight, my one friend has lost 40lbs since january. I don't know what to do, i would like to reach a goal weight at least once and then try to maintain it.

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Old 09-23-2012, 09:23 PM   #13  
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To be healthy; I was given one body and I want to be healthy and strong.
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Old 09-24-2012, 08:39 AM   #14  
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So I am only on my second week of this diet so I understand those of you who have been on it much longer are feeling very frustrated but I would like to share with you what a co-worker said to me on Friday. We must stay positive, we must tell ourselves we CAN DO THIS!!! Skelley it seems that the negative thoughts about not losing and being discouraged is not helping you at all. Keep telling your self YOU CAN DO IT!! YOU DON'T NEED THAT BAD FOOD. OUR BODIES WILL BE BETTER IN THE END BECAUSE OF IT. .. I hate to preach because I need to do the same exact thing but I keep trying to be positive and telling myself I will lose 3 pounds a week and I will enjoy the food and I will love each step of the process. Just a thought.
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Old 09-24-2012, 09:08 AM   #15  
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So I am only on my second week of this diet so I understand those of you who have been on it much longer are feeling very frustrated but I would like to share with you what a co-worker said to me on Friday. We must stay positive, we must tell ourselves we CAN DO THIS!!! Skelley it seems that the negative thoughts about not losing and being discouraged is not helping you at all. Keep telling your self YOU CAN DO IT!! YOU DON'T NEED THAT BAD FOOD. OUR BODIES WILL BE BETTER IN THE END BECAUSE OF IT. .. I hate to preach because I need to do the same exact thing but I keep trying to be positive and telling myself I will lose 3 pounds a week and I will enjoy the food and I will love each step of the process. Just a thought.
Thanks Cassie143: What i don't get is that i've never been able to lose more than 1 1/2 lbs a week, i see so many others who lose 2 1/2 to 3 lbs and i've always done everything perfect until this last weekend, i only have 7 wks left to reach my goal and still have 18 1/2 lbs to go which means i need to lose 2.6lbs a week, i'm not sure what they do if you don't reach your goal when they say you should.
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