It's been a long time since I have posted here. It's been a long time since I've tried losing weight again. I feel like I know a whole lot. Calories in, calories out, exercise, water no sodas, watch sugar and carbs, etc. And I want to lose weight. I want to be healthy. I'm tired of being left out of life because of my weight. But something is keeping me from really committing and doing this. In all honesty, I've never really gave losing weight 100%. I have a treadmill, I have the support of my family, I have lots of exercise dvds, but it's like I'm waiting on something to take that first step, to get going.
Do any of you know what I'm missing? Could it be just simple motivation?
Hitting rock bottom...that's what you're missing. That's happens to alcoholics and drug addicts...and I think a lot of people here would say the same. You just hit a point where you'd rather die then live like this...that's when you change.
Oh my gosh, justjill, that is a great answer! I certainly hit that rock bottom, and that is why I know this time is different than any other half-hearted attempt I have made in the past.
Of course rock bottom is different for everyone, mine was pretty dang far down. I don't know what I or anyone else could say to you, Kelleigh, to help you make changes NOW and spare you the misery that my life was before I started making my changes. I guess all I can say is that it is not going to stay the same if you keep doing what you are doing. If you aren't happy with your weight now, trust me, it will continue to get worse until it starts to get better.
So why not save yourself some time, misery, and heartache and get going NOW! Be one of the smart ones who doesn't have to have things get BEYOND worse than they are now to figure it out.
Jill said it perfectly, and Shannon did too. Take charge and get your lifestyle under control now, so you can avoid that 'rock bottom' moment. Trust me, you'll be SO glad you did. Good luck!
Hitting rock bottom...that's what you're missing. That's happens to alcoholics and drug addicts...and I think a lot of people here would say the same. You just hit a point where you'd rather die then live like this...that's when you change.
In my case I hit a point where I seriously thought I was dying. I thought I was on my way out...and I wanted to live. By the grace of God, I made it, and that's when I made the commitment.
I did not have a 'rock bottom' moment this time - I've had them in the past, and have had both mental breakdowns and health scares, but those did not compel me to long term success. Once the rock bottom moment had passed, my motivation went with it.
This time, I just went into it with a whole different attitude. This time, I told myself there was no going back, there was no more waiting, that I needed to do this and give myself the life I wanted and deserved for so long.
I'm not sure if hitting rock bottom is necessarily the reason.
I think it *could* be that, you think it's impossible to do. That you're not capable of it.
Well if that's the case, I'm here to tell you that it most definitely IS possible and that you ARE capable of it. It IS something you CAN do. I too never gave it 100% in the past, till this one last time. And when I did - weight loss success! 165 lbs lost and kept off for over 3 years.
Or it could be that you feel adhering to a healthy lifestyle is some miserable, unenjoyable way to live and too difficult.
Well I'm here to tell you that adhering to a healthy lifestyle is a WONDERFUL way to live - waaaaay more enjoyable than being super morbidly obese. Is it too difficult? No, no, no. It is a joy and a blessing. It's no prison sentence whatsoever. Just the opposite. It's a key to freedom.
What is difficult? Getting started. Getting past the initial, temporary, discomfort stage - where you have to break the old, bad habits and learn the new, healthy ones. There is no way to get past it, you just have to get through it. And you will. You will. You've got to hang on tight till the rewards start to outweigh the sacrifices.
Perhaps you think that you will *miss* all those high calorie/high calorie foods that you are currently eating and start eating some boring, bland, tasteless foods. But again - trust me- you won't miss them - eventually. You must discover healthy, delicious, LOWER calorie foods, ones that taste really good AND are good for you. They're out there. You just haven't found them yet.
Stop waiting for that certain something to come along, it may never. COMMIT to doing this right now, this very minute, once and for all, no matter what and permanently.
Perhaps you've always dreaded the changes that need to be made in order to make this happen, when you really should be looking forward to them and be excited about it.
Motivation gets you started, commitment keeps you going.
I actually had forgotten until now, what I always said last summer (when I was doing really well, as opposed to my current stall): treat weight loss like your job. You don't always feel like going in, but you go anyways because it's what you have to do.
I discovered that losing weight meant a lot of things to me that I wasn't prepared to deal with. Once I started dealing with those things, I had the motivation to lose weight. I still have my moments but in general, I am thinner because the things that held me back were no longer there.
For me, it was health issues as my rock bottom. Of course prior to that I had *tried* (heh, right) to lose weight and just kept re-gaining and adding new fat cells to my already bulging belly.
When I turned 23 I finally went and saw a doctor just to have bloodwork done and have a routine checkup since I only ever went when I was sick. Was told I had very high cholesterol and was way too far into the obese category..pretty close to the morbidly obese category. Weight loss surgery and all that started to come up BY MY DOCTOR!! I said there's no way in he** I'm going through that at 23, so I put my butt in motion.
I lost a little, and still wasn't *quite* in gear. So a month later, I start having major IBS symptoms, and my bowels were screwed up! I had a colonoscopy; everything came back fine. My GI doctor said, everything's fine for now, but with your diet and the fact you are getting older, things inside will start messing up and causing complications. OK!!! That got me going! Shocker, he was right!! Ever since I got my diet right, my bowels have never been so clean and predictable! So here I am a year later, down 58 pounds (77 pounds from my all-time high) and still marching towards my goal of 135!
I agree with the bottom. For me it was something that was said that made me just go - man I don't wanna be like this anymore!! I want to change and make it stick. Something that comes from within even if it was said by an outside source - yanno what I mean???
Thank you all so much for your insights and comments.
I began anew today. So far so good. Not a drop of soda, all water today. A friend has talked me into trying zumba with her tonight. Yikes! I don't know if I can keep up, but I can try!
Back again and I have a question
Good luck!
