OK so this is probably old news to some of you, well most of you. But I just had a serious epiphany/revelation.

My whole adult life I have been fighting with my weight. And actually because of my parents, most of my pre-adult life too. (Not that I was fat, but they made me feel that way hence the body image and food issues that are a topic for another day HAHA)

Anyway, I just now, for the first time right this minute, identified my weight, weight loss and gain, and dieting issue journey and struggle as exactly the same journey and struggle an addict goes through. Ups and downs, starts and restarts, and completely giving up and hitting bottom. There is for all of us, that one thing that makes us either change and turn it around, or kills us. Everyday is a decision to live or to die, there are temptations all around us, there are triggers that make some days harder than others. But at the end of the day, all we can do..is take it a day at a time.

WOW. I know it should have been obvious before,but it just was not so I had to share.

I know what you mean. I've also battled weight all my life since I was a little girl. There are so many emotional reasons for why we are overweight and working through the deeper issues really does help. I am finally losing the weight for the last time (in my heart I just know). It has been a long journey of self discovery!

Revelations are wonderful, aren't they?

Beautifully stated! One of my struggles is getting back up after a bad day.
Sometimes, it takes me weeks. I need to remember that I make a decision every single day to live regardless of what happened yesterday.

Kristi-I know in my gut (pun intended HAHA) but more importantly in my heart that this is the last time. I am fully and completely dedicated for to long run, not just the short term goal. One of my biggest motivators this time was a friend at work. She had weightloss surgery and went through six months of **** before, and during and still after, and she was and is excited about it. For her it is the "magic pill" but I watch her everyday, with the bad eating habits, and not following her doctors advice at all. She is eating her feelings and not changing her behavior, because she is not addressing the triggers. Sure she knows they are there, she makes those comments like "give me some chocolate it has been one of those days" But she does not connect with the problem. I was considering surgery until I watched her. That was when I really realized that I needed to not look for a magic pill but address the issues. Not that surgery is not a viable option, it just is not for me.

ophelia-yes. One day at a time. Anything else is just sabotage really yanno? I mean we all start with these huge ideas and expectations, but if we try to do too much at one time, we quit and fail and start on a horrible downward cycle that just makes us feel worse which causes worse decisions. You see where this is going. Just always wake up every morning with a fresh day and a fresh start. And if a day is too much at a time, take it an hour or two hours. Heck, some days I take it five minutes at a time!

Sometimes all I can handle is one meal at a time!! I loose very slowly so it's hard sometimes to work so hard all week for one measly pound. I have to keep my eyes on the TOTAL prize.

morton-OMG you are so totally right! I am there today. Let me tell ya. I am bad bad and I get on the scale everyday. I just cannot handle not knowing! I also hate christmas and birthdays for the same reason HAHA.
Anyway, scale went down a whole whopping .2 lbs since yesterday. Which is good. I KNOW this is good, but for whatever reason it still feels like a disappointment. Oddly enough, I have to watch myself, because I can see myself having the opposite kind of weight issue, swinging from obese to anorexic fairly easily.

I know what you mean about food being an addiction just like a drug or alcoholic addict. I think weight issues will be with me my entire life unless I make a complete lifestyle change and deal with my emotional eating in healthier ways. Even then, it is something I always have to be aware of and make sure I'm not bingeing or keeping off track if I go off the plan for a day.

It sounds like the lightbulb has clicked for you, lazylioness. I hear you for sure. I don't like weighing myself everyday because weight does fluctuate so often. I'd rather just weigh in once a week and not get obsessive over it. I figure it took me this long to put the weight on, so it'll take me a long time to take it off.

I also had a cousin who had that gastric bypass surgery and I would never want to lose weight that way. Mostly because these people cannot eat a lot after that or even eat what they want. I figured they'd have to deal with the root cause because if they continue eating a lot they can become sick.

Best of luck!

Yeah. I am buying what you are selling! It has to be a total lifestyle change, and for me (and in turn the rest of my family) it has been. I can never "relax" about it, because well, then I get lazy. One of the things I have caught my finacee doing is this, throwing a bit more cheese on something, or having a handful of nuts after the evening snack. I call him on it and he says "its only ^fill in the blank^" I have to remind him that we both "its only'd" up to 300+ lbs!

As for the daily weigh in, it is totally not for everyone, and I do not encourage anyone else to do it. I have to remind myself not to ask the kids or the hunny daily, as not to cause issues! But it is how I monitor what I need to do. I know that if I have gone up a few ounces from one day to the next, I can track back what I did (or did not do) and it sets me up for the day.

My biggest reason for not wanting gastric is because I like to eat and I like to eat well! I got fat because I was raised in an Italian family, full of pasta, bread, and good meats and cheeses, topped off with a glas (or bottle) of red wine! HAHA. So if I had surgery, those days were over. This way, I can once in a while at holidays or whatever,have that meal, that makes me believe in a higher power HAHAHAHA.

No but seriously. We all have our own reasons for the choices we make, and the tapes we have running in our heads. I have not gotten to the bottom of mine there,but recognizing that there is a bottom and there are triggers has helped so much.

I think weight is never solely to do with food, we just have to recognise what emotions we're stuffing down along with the cake. Glad you recognised this, knowing is half the battle