I know I've stumbled so many times...

Sometimes I feel like it's a never ending battle but somehow I get up, dust off and get back on track. I know that I can never give up, even after years of trying, one thing I can not do is give up.

It's not easy. I've lost and regained weight several times. It's not fun.

Desire to be good looking and healthy keeps me going.

What keeps you going?

Knowing that it is not a quick fix. Every pound fights to stay on so I have to take what I can get and not get discouraged. I am always one choice away from eating on plan, if I've eaten badly I know I need to wait a bit and then get back on - not wait a day but wait until I get to hungry again. The diagnosis of diabetes this past summer was a huge wakeup call for me. I have messed up here and there but in the long run I know I'm making better choices.

It's fate that I ran across your post just now. I went to the kitchen and passed the "treat table" on my way to get my apple slices. First thing that popped into my head "oh, just have one...NO! Go get your apples and get back to your office!"

What keeps me going is knowing that I have already lost 24lb...and it didn't come off easy. I've done this so many times before, I don't want to have to do it again.

I love fashion, so knowing I can wear things that I couldn't look good in if I gained weight.
Also, I am just happier when I'm slim. I hate being fat.

I know that if I don't keep going then I will gain weight. Since my primary goal is permanent weight loss, I have been working on a eating plan that I can follow forever.

Maybe it is because I am a guy. Maybe because happily married. But looking better is so way down the list.

But boy can I answer this. My wife and I tried to have a child many times and it didn't happen. Then we, like many, tried various treatments. But before the really intense, expensive ones we decided to adopt.

We wanted to adopt from foster care. We did foster to adopt which means a placement can go back to family or even family friends. Which happened to us after we fell in love. Eventually we were able to adopt.

Last year when I was 47 I realized I would be 60 when my daughter turned 15. I was also taking care of an uncle with dementia who was 71 and did not have the best diet but was always THINNER than me.

I had a break point moment when I couldn't fit into a suit jacket I wear once a year. Not close. But underlying it were these other concerns.

I said enough. I started exercising that week and have done 5 to 7 nights of at least 30 mins of cardio every week since last May. Then I started on changing my eating lifestyle.

In any event just 20lbs down I felt AWESOME. Just plain awesome. Movement was so much easier. Energy and mood and thinking were way up. It was the BEST thing ever. So how could I not want more?

Now I feel even awesomer....I am running which I never thought possible. I have 220 because that was a long time goal. When I reach that I will revise to under 200. But first things first.

Do I miss my fast food, candy bars, potato chips, ice cream? Not particularly. I still go out to eat, I still have yummy food. It is just way simpler food. And your tastes change. I had a carrot and a bell pepper as part of my lunch today. Not kidding they tasted fantastic.

I use to think Gwyneth Paltrow was super stuck up saying nothing is worth how good being healthy feels. You know what? Nothing is as good as healthy feels. She was right.

AND, AND. I am virtually hunger free now. How awesome is that? So what keeps me going is how blooming awesome it feels. And it felt that since 20lbs down. You don't have to get all the way to goal to feel awesome.

Yeah I said awesome a lot. Because getting healthy is...yep you know. So I was motivated by my daughter but now each moment of each day is so much better that is way more than enough to keep me going.

I also have to say it gets easier which is also big motivation to keep going. My daughter watches Daniel Tiger. There is this great song.."keep trying you'll get better'. We get better at walking, reading, learning to use computers and new technology, our jobs. It would be kind of freaky if getting healthier got harder as you go on,

It doesn't, at least for me. Now months from any fast food it is much easier to keep going than the first few weeks. Running is SO much easier. My appetite is more under control now. I am not saying any of this is easy. Just that it gets easier. At least that has been my experience.

I'm a regainer/loser as well, feeling so much better is what keeps me going, not gaining it back in 2013 helped me believe this is the last time having to lose it, that keeps me going.

me, too PreciousMissy me too

Best to all