[avi0903]

I've had so many false starts with dieting - something happens, I say "this time I'm doing it!", and then, I don't.

What event led you to say I'm doing it for real this time, and that time you really did?

I need some inspiration - thanks in advance!

[therecoveringfatchic]

I'm still on my journey... but this time is different than every other time I have tried. It just feels different. I have more drive, the food choices have been easier, the weight has come of more steady than before.

What was my turning point? I just decided I wanted to change. I don't want to keep missing out on all the fun stuff everyone else is doing.

I wish I knew how to describe the difference this time...

[cleancowgirl]

I have started so many times it would make ones head spin. Most would last only a few days and will power over sugar would kill it.
This time the big event was me. I was always tired, feeling horrible on a daily basis and went to the dr and finding out my bp was seriously high at 184/104. Doc wanted to start meds, I told him to give me 30 days to make a change before we started meds. That day walked into the new planet fitness near my hospital where I work and met the head trainer and joined .
Josh my trainer put me on a clean eating program. We started cardio and strength training with weights and got me started in the right direction. I work out with josh once a week but work out 2-3 times at the gym on my own and walk daily. I could barely make 1/2 mile in june and now am walking/running 5 miles a day.
I still got a ways to go but today is my 5 months anniversary from walking into that gym and I feel so awesome. Bp is 122/84. Amazing what you can accomplish when your life is on the line.

[thewalrus0]

I have tried so many times it's crazy! Of course, I can attribute that to repeatedly trying the same strategy over and over, although it wasn't working.

Just recently I did a lot of research on the current ideas surrounding health and it changed my whole thought process regarding food.

However, I spent a few months in a rut. I was still researching and learning but ultimately kept putting off any big changes, although I wasn't happy with where I was at. Eventually the scale reached almost 300lbs and that's when I kind of woke up and said, what the heck, I know what I need to do so why aren't I doing it?

And now I'm doing better than I ever have!

I've been trying not to worry too much about 'failing'. I can't say I haven't been worried during the past few months about this being another 'try and fail', but it hasn't happened yet and I don't see it happening in the future.
It's already been longer than any other attempts in the past few years, so I'm pretty sure I'm onto something, and eventually things do become habit.

[lanabug]

For me it was less of an event, and more of a timeline. At the end of last year I entered my twenties, and by the time New Years Resolutions rolled around, I was horrified and completely depressed that for as long as I can remember, "Lose weight" has been at the top of my list, and I never thought I'd still be looking like I did at 20. I realized it wasn't something I'd just grow out of eventually, I had somehow deluded myself as a kid into thinking that when I grew up, I just wouldn't be fat anymore.. ridiculous, but I believed it! Instead I gain gain gained and started this journey for the million times just over 300lbs. I've never lost this much weight in one go before, and I haven't been under 250 since middle school - it feels SO good, and I will NEVER go back!

[FickleHearts]

It wasn't really an event..... I started the whole journey in January and at that time it was to lose weight to start a family. Then life sort of happened and plans got shuffled around.

Now.... I suppose the blood test we had to do at work snapped my attention back to the fact that I wanted to lose weight to be healthy more than anything else. I hadn't really gained much back so I didn't feel as if I was starting over this time around. I'm setting some short term goals and going to work my butt off to accomplish them. I'd like to be close to the final one by May for our trip to Sandals, but I'm not going to push it. It'll come off eventually if I just keep at it.

[LaurieDawn]

I am only on the first week of having any success at trying "this time." To be fair, I have "started over" two or three times a week every week for months. This time, I am being very strict for one week, then reevaluating at the end of the week. Yesterday was my first day completely "on plan," though I have done fairly well at being mostly on plan. Well enough to count those days as successes. But here's the thing I'm telling myself -- every day, every meal, every time someone brings donuts -- is an opportunity to make the decisions that will bring me closer to my goal. And I can make "mistakes" and I can plan for events where I want to eat "normally" without doing too much damage, as long as I am on goal 80% of the time or so.

I don't know how well I will succeed this time. But right now, I am focusing more energy and commitment into success. For example, I committed to come here every day and post, even if it is a rambling, relatively unhelpful post. ;-) I trust that it will make a difference.

[GirlyGirlSebas]

No single event here either. The more weight I've gained, the tougher normal life activities have become. Cleaning house is tough. Yardwork is tough. Going up and down our stairs is tough. Shopping with my daughters is tough. I have zero stamina. My knees hurt. My back hurts. My hips hurt. I'm pre-diabetic. My blood pressure is borderline. My cholesterol is borderline. I'm falling apart! I'll be 50 next summer. Do I want to spend the next years sitting on the couch and watching life pass me by? No!

[avi0903]

Thank you all! And Rhonda, you are right to get healthy now. I am in my 50's and already been on cholesterol/blood pressure meds for years.

Thank you LaurieDawn. That is the only way to look at it, and I need daily reminders. Every decision in the right direction brings me closer to my goal.

I think my problem is that I don't believe I can actually achieve my goal. But I need to try.

Thanks!

[PreciousMissy]

I think for me, it's more of a mindset than an event. Before I would hit the weight loss hard. Major restriction, major focus!

And, I would always drive my self batty and give up.

This time (while being thinner would be fantastic) I'm really focusing on trying to learn better habits with eating, not just how much, but also what I'm eating.

[jayavery]

Mine was an event. A separation. I was so unhappy with myself it was projecting into my marriage. I had started and failed so many times. 15 years ago I lost 40lbs on WW's. I gained it all back and then some. I got "too" comfortable. My knees ached. I had no energy. No drive. Would be out of breath climbing a simple set of stairs. I felt completely unattractive I decided "well...It's just me so that is my new hobby. Me" I went from a high of 245lbs and now plateauing at 160. And my husband and I are back together. I just had a complete physical with blood work and my doctor says for a 43 year old my health chart is rather "boring." I will take boring.

[Lisa LeapYear]

I was feeling great about myself - hair & makeup. I went into a boutique - for earrings. A beautiful, svelt woman, my age, was assessing a cute dress. SHE was concerned about the aesthetics. I would have known not to even grab the hanger as nothing in the boutique was my size.

I have been on an eight month run ever since.

[BuffieLynn]

For me the event that sparked my currently process was falling now my front steps and breaking both arms!

I had lots of time to think and I felt being obese was the cause and I needed a change! Besides, I will be forty in February

[LaurieDawn]

avi903 - I think sometimes we focus far too much on "the goal." I was losing pretty consistently from about June 2012 to December 2012, and then maintaining really well after that until about May. Since then, I have had a slow "creep."

But I never hit my goal. I never, in fact, got under 200 pounds, though I was down as low as 203 in December/January. But - beginning in June 2012 and lasting for a year, I felt great about my health. I was only rarely eating so much I made myself miserable. I felt strong and healthy in the gym. I even got impressed comments from the "testosterone boys" when I was lifting weights. I could keep up with my kids playing basketball or football. And I want to be back there again. I would love to be about 150 pounds. But there are so many rewards that I know being on plan will give me far before I hit that mark, and will keep giving me even if I never achieve that mark.

[Mozzy]

I woke up one morning and realized if I didn't do something, I'd be 300lbs. For whatever reason, that number scares the crap out of me!