Senior Member
Join Date: May 2005
Location: San Diego
Posts: 6,192
S/C/G: 190/140/135
Height: 5'7"
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I can only speak for myself.
For 20 years, I started and stopped, gained and lost and gained some more. I could stick to it for a day or a week or a month or even 6 months, but never forever.
Finally, in July 2004, I really thought hard about why I kept stopping. I had proven over and over again that I could lose weight, but I could never keep it off, I ALWAYS gave up and gained all the weight back and more.
In my own very critical self-analysis, I realized that for me losing weight meant a purposely short period of restriction and then I wanted to eat "normally" again. I would be very "perfect" very low calorie, exercise every day, plain chicken, lettuce leaf salads with lemon juice, apples for snacks. I could maintain this perfectly for a short time. Two things always happened:
1. I would get so hungry, bored, restless, deprived, I would binge. Then I would feel like a loser and I would give up, go back to eating normally.
2. I would reach some goal weight and stop and go back to eating normally.
I realized that my NORMAL made me heavy. How I liked to eat, my "normal" was what made me fat.
For the first time, I didn't think about how to diet and lose weight, but how to keep weight off forever - I had to change my normal.
After that, after that moment of perfect clarity it was simple for me. I decided to change how I ate forever, in a way I LIKED (I had to LIKE it), it had to be sustainable. I made some tough decisions (I could live forever without fast food, sugary soda, packaged baked goods) and some changes I could stick to (complex carbohydrates vs. empty carbohydrates, packing lunches, eating almost all whole foods, meal planning, food journaling, portion control) and then jumped in with both feet, full throttle.
It has been an exhilerating ride - at no time did I EVER think I would stop or fail. The weight came off, I went from a tight size 18 to a comfy size 6. I went from a 42DD to a 34D, I lost 10 inches off my waist. I gained confidence, energy, I learned to love myself.
When I ate "normally" I ate whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted but I wasn't happy. I was heavy, miserable, depressed and endlessly fantasized about being thin. Now, I eat very consciously, at least 90% of the time. I like the foods I eat and I am happy, energetic, love shopping and pictures of myself and getting dressed in the morning (and undressed at night, if you know what I mean).
You can do it. I used to be the pastriest eating, pizza loving, chocolate bar hoarding bad eater in the universe. Today, I started the day with whole grain toast with natural peanut butter, snacked on some strawberries for snack. I brought my own spinach, dried cranberry, grilled chicken salad, had an orange and sugar free cocoa and a baggie of chopped vegetables in the afternoon. Tonight, I am going to Mimi's for dinner and I already know I am having a teriyaki chicken salad (it comes with a muffin and I will split it with a friend). I plan nearly all my meals - in my opinion, it is IMPOSSIBLE to eat healthy by accident.
If I can do this, anybody can do this. It has nothing to do with motivation. I know what has to be done, and I do it. Just like getting the oil changed, brushing my teeth and paying bills.
Last edited by Glory87; 12-07-2007 at 09:11 PM.
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