Registered User


Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: nashville
Posts: 3

S/C/G: 230/230/130

Height: 5'6"
I need a little help from some friends-

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Even friends I haven't made or met yet-
A little introduction? I'm not sure if this is the right place for this-tell me if it's not-
I turned 50 this year-I've been seriously overweight for 13 yrs. At least that's the last time I remember being able to wear clothes from the regular ladies dept. I'm 5'6", 222.6 lbs. according to weight watcher's, which I rejoined Mon. for about the 50th time. My mom is 24 yrs. older than I am and in a long term care facility with the body of a 95 yr. old,the mind of a 73 yr. old and a 'butt the size of Montana'. I don't want to be where she is in 24yrs.
Every morning I get up and resolve to 'be good', to 'try' & sometimes I make it thru 3/4 of the day before an emotional snafu makes me stick a muffin in my mouth. I know I cannot go on like this-I've been to my 1/2 way point before but it's been a long while. Anyway-I remembered something I read somewhere or saw on Oprah. It was suggested that you put the amount of wt. you need to loose in front of you in some concrete form. So Monday I went to Walmart & bought 16 bags of 5lb. flour. The cashier asked me if it was all right to put 2 bags in each sack? Instead,I found a discarded box, put it in my cart & put the flour all in there. Of course when I got to my car I could not lift the box out of the cart. It was only 80 lbs. I thought I could lift that much if I had to. But I had to take quite a few sacks out befor I could wrestle the box out of the cart & into my car. I got them home, wrestled them into the house and put them in a duffle bag. I could not have lifted the duffle bag & moved it very far if it hadn't had 2 wheels & a pull strap. I put 1 5lb. bag into a lunch cooler with my weight watchers point keeper to carry around with me to help reinforce my resolve. When my husband got home I proudly told him of my plan to keep my focus on the seriousness of what I needed to do. He was incredulous-What was I thinking? What were we going to do with this duffle bag around the house? yadayadayada. My 17 yr.old daughter however thought it was quite cute. The duffle bag is now beside my bed, and the lunch cooler goes with me in the car and into work.It is an awesome amount of weight-dead body-like! I am once again writing down what I eat & assigning a point value. I think I am going to get awfully sick of looking at that duffle bag-it is such a long way to go. I figure every 5 lbs I lose-I'll take out a sack and put it in another 'weight-lost' duffle or give it or throw it away.
What do you think? Has anyone ever tried this method before?
Of course, I have problems with depression, impulse control & negative thinking-how else would I have gotten myself into this situation.
I'm hoping this is the right forum for me-I really need to do this for the last time........

I think your duffle bag full of flour is a marvellous idea. It is so concrete; so absolutely, solidly, visible. Also think it was great that you got the flour in 5 lb bags. That's a perfect size. Everytime you lose 5 lbs, you get rid of one bag. It will be so great watching the duffle shrink. Take a picture of the whole pile. Then take pictures regularly as the pile shrinks. Most of us usually have trouble looking at ourselves in the mirror and recognizing the improvements because it is so natural for us to focus on our faults rather than our improvements. This way, because the flour is an inanimate thing, you will see past yourself and actually be able to see the losses so much more easily.

Thank you for a great idea Sue . . . I'm going out to buy a bunch of flour tomorrow. You have a great evening. I'll be looking forward to seeing 'lots less of you, lots more often', now that you've found us.

Thanks for your kind words-the duffle bag is right next to my bed-my husband bumps into it occasionally & cusses, but....
I am glad to report that in 2 wks. I have lost 1 5lb. bag & put it in a 'weight lossed' bag. They caught me taking off my shoes at WW the 2nd wk and I almost had to add the bag back, but it turns out I just lost .8 lb 2nd wk-I am a stress eater, and have fallen off the wagon quite a few days, but there the duffle remains... How are you doing?

I think the bags of flour is a wonderful idea also! And great job on losing one of the bags!!! I'm sorry that you've fallen off the wagon for a few days, but I'm sure you'll be back on track in no time. Just take it one step at a time and do the best that you possibly can.

What a great idea! I love visual motivation and I do it too: I have a dress hanging out in the open to remind me that I want to be thin enough to wear it. As far as off days go, it's totally normal to have them-- they're only bad if you let them pile up on you and make you feel like giving up. Good luck on throwing away lots and lots of flour!