This is my first time "dieting" (I don't like calling it that, since it was a lifestyle change, not a temporary diet), and ever getting serious about losing weight. I was always so intimidated by the whole thing that I never tried it. I thought losing 10lbs was a huge goal, and I knew I had more than 10lbs to lose. I thought dieting meant starving myself, always being hungry, etc. So I just accepted my overweightness.
Well now that I'm doing it, I have to say the whole process is kind of fun. Maybe not fun, but exciting. I like setting the goals for myself, thinking of rewards for mini goals. I like getting the rewards for mini goals. I like planning meals for the week, and I am proud of my grocery cart when it is filled with healthy food. I like when people ask if I've lost weight, I like looking at myself in the mirror for once and thinking "yep, I look good!" It's exciting when my clothes are starting to feel baggy, and I pull at the slack on my loose jeans that used to be my skinny-day pants. I like that I need to go buy some new jeans because mine are just too big. I look forward to weigh in day to see my progress, and the feeling of a good weigh in is amazing, it gives me confidence for the whole week. Even disappointing weigh ins just give me a challenge to plot and scheme on how to lose more next time.
Sorry to ramble with a list, but there hasn't been much about this process that has been negative. Sure, I miss some old favorite foods sometimes, but I realize now that my excessive junk eating was sooooo not worth it. I am not starving on my "diet," and I'm not miserable. I personally think weight loss is fun. Anybody else have a realization like this?
I've learned that much in life is what you make of it. To a large degree, you get to choose. Fun or boring? You decide.
I've always been able to make some parts of weight loss "fun," but it's also been hard to override and resist the social and cultural messages that weight loss is supposed to be miserable.
I think some part of me believed that if I wasn't miserable, I wasn't doing it right. And when I felt I was doing it right, I was so miserable that it wasn't long before I'd give up - because who wants to be miserable all the time?
This time around, I'm consciously choosing to have fun rather than be miserable (even if it does mean slower weight loss for me). I'm more willing to challenge not only the "common wisdom," but also my own beliefs and values as well. When I find that I'm making myself miserable, I have to ask myself "what's the point? Is misery really serving a purpose here. If so, what do I change to make the misery disappear? If not, am I choosing to be miserable because I think that's how I think I'm supposed to feel?"
Yeah, I know what you mean. Overall, the process hasn't been as difficult as I thought it would be (like you, I haven't "dieted" before).
The only time I thought, "This sucks! I hate this!" is when I went to lunch with my coworkers for the first time after starting WW Online. I sat and watched them eat my old favorites (burger and french fries) and I had broccoli. lol!
Anyway, after that it got easy and it IS kinda fun. It's almost like a game of sorts. Zig zagging calories, watching the scale go down, trying on old skinny clothes to find out they're too big, having everyone say how great you look, buying new clothes and KNOWING they'll look great on you...etc etc. Yeah, that's fun! I almost mourn no longer having the decades go down on the scale. I look forward to more toning now.
Oh my gosh, it's not only FUN, it's the most fun I have EVER had! Maybe my wedding/honeymoon would have been more fun if I were not fat, maybe prom would have been fun if I were not fat, my graduation, my college days...I might have thought they were fun if I were not fat.
The MOST fun about losing weight is that I can NOT use my weight as an excuse to not have FUN!
I totally agree. I love getting on the scale and seeing where I am. Even when I gain a little, I love knowing that I can beat it back down and I'm in control.
I have three different graphs that I keep track of my weight on and I love seeing the 4 month decline. It's very motivational. It really does make it all worth it and honestly, I don't crave the bad food nearly as much anymore!
I could have written this myself! I had never really tried losing weight because I always imagined that losing a huge amount of weight meant going to a specialist and starving myself etc. I actually can't believe I didn't start it earlier. I would absolutely call it fun. I love feeling good about my choices. I love how I feel after a workout, I love how I feel after eating a delicious healthy meal, I love figuring out new ways to eat yummier and healthier, and I love finding new things that I can do now that my weight isn't holding me back. And, of course, I love looking in the mirror and seeing what an incredible difference MY hard work has made.
...maybe prom would have been fun if I were not fat, my graduation, my college days...I might have thought they were fun if I were not fat.
The MOST fun about losing weight is that I can NOT use my weight as an excuse to not have FUN!
This is EXACTLY how I feel. I always used my weight as an excuse to not have fun, which is why I did not enjoy my college years or the ensuing years. Losing weight is fun for me b/c I'm reclaiming my life with every lb I lose. I am actually looking forward to doing things like running my first 5k and half marathon this year. I enjoy jogging 3 miles early every morning with my dog Zachary. I enjoy eating healthy foods. I always did, actually; I just used to eat too much of them, mostly to quash bad feelings and emotions I did not want to feel. Little did I know, letting myself feel all of those emotions, both good and bad, is very empowering.
Realizing what I am capable of is the most fun thing about losing weight of all. For years I always thought I couldn't do it, that it was possible for others but impossible for me. I would lose 20 lbs max and then gain them back. Not anymore. This time I feel different. This time it is permanent.
Above all, this journey has taught me to not underestimate myself or sell myself short. After growing up in a household where my father tried to demean me every chance he got (and still does to this day), this is an important lesson that I am glad to finally be learning.
But there are difficult moments & times I grit my teeth & search desperately for distractions & call up friends & write furiously in my journal.
I want to honor those difficult moments because I honor myself for having gotten through them.
And if someone came to me earnestly seeking my advice, and I cared for that person, I would not describe the whole project as "fun."
It's just life in a microcosm. That's what it is. No more, no less. Sometimes it's fun, empowering, even elating. Sometimes it feels like a lifelong sweat session for very little reward, since I'm mortal & will age anyway. (But I'll age ***healthier,*** even if unable to forever maintain to accepted standards of physical beauty.)
It's taken plenty of commitment, and the ability to white-knuckle my way through some challenging times, but, yes, overall, it's been a LOT of fun. Not the kind of fun I want to have to go through again, mind you, but so much fun. The transformation has been great, the lifestyle change has been awesome, and even though one part of me thinks I am currently caught up in an incredibly silly, shallow, vanity-driven phase where I am almost constantly enraptured with my new physical appearance, the other part of me thinks I've earned it, and I should be enjoying it to the fullest. I'm sure I'll settle down, but right now, I am walking around with a huge, happy smile on my face most of the time. It's been great, and it's only getting better.
Definitely, I love the feeling of losing weight when I'm actually losing weight. But I have a way of starting off strong and then plateauing and I've never made it past the slow down. So it's a yes and a no for me. It's frustrating when I work my rear end off and get nowhere.
But this time I'm focusing more on the fact that I want to see where I'll be a year from now. And recently I've added fitness goals which always makes me feel really good about myself. I liked bragging last night that I've signed up to do a consecutive 100 push-ups challenge.
The journey has its ups and downs for me, but I'm also not new to this...at all.
I could have written your post. I think it is fun. It is a challenge to figure out what will work for me. I am never hungry on WW so that def. helps me stay on track.
I love losing weight, I mean there are days when I just want to eat whatever...so I eat whatever and then get back on plan the next day. I LOVE the feeling of looking in the mirror and knowing my body is constantly changing. Or seeing people who are amazed by my weight loss, and most of all I love feeling lighter! In a way I've started to value myself more, I don't feel the need to hide behind my loudness, I am who I am - I'm not perfect but I'm getting there slowly and surely!
xx
Anybody else think weight loss is kind of....fun?
