I've done something very similar. You will do it this time! Just go for it and believe in yourself. Most people who lose weight make many attempts before things sink in. Good for you for coming back.
Well you are back on here so that is a huge step in the right direction! Yay!
Congrats on starting your weight-loss journey!
I started less than a month ago, so I'm just starting as well!
Hi Annie!
Don't feel like the Lone Ranger - so many of us have lost weight only to gain it back ( and more) - no looking back, no beating yourself up, just moving forward - the support you need is here.
Glad to have you back with us! As you know, there are lots & lots of different groups and forums - I'm sure you'll find some that will keep you motivated, inspired and entertained! I like all info and first hand advice on different eating plans and exercise to help get through the ups and downs.
There are bunches of people here with more to lose and some with less - the bottom line is that we all have to do it a day at a time. The good thing is that we'll have lots of company along the way.
I've only been here a few months myself, having NEVER been part of an online forum. What has been so eye-opening is how much it has helped me. Whenever I feel overwhelmed or defeated, I just log on and read some of the success stories, complete with their before & after photos - or read about others still dealing day to day with their challenges - and before I know it, the time has flown by and so have all the thoughts of cheating or giving up.
So welcome back- you're in the right place - jump back in by inspiring us and being inspired!
All the best - good luck with your goals - 2010 will be our year,
Lee
Welcome back! As Leeway said, you are certainly not alone; many of us have lost weight in the past only to gain it back. This time can be different, though, if you decide that it will be.
I wouldn't necessarily assume you weren't ready. I can't tell you how many times I've been told in my lifetime (I've been obese since age 5 - and have been dieting more often than not, ever since) that "you'll lose weight when you're READY," (even when I was little, I knew the person really meant I was choosing to be fat, because I was stupid, lazy, selfish, crazy...).
Personally, I think it's one of the most common, and most damaging myths about weight loss. I spent most of my life trying to figure out why I never succeeded at long-term weightloss - why wasn't I ever ready?
For a while I detoured into fat acceptance (where the prevailing theory was that fat people did not fail diets, diets failed fat people - it was dieting that caused, not cured obesity).
For several years I refused to diet (and I did stop gaining weight - I never lost any, but I never gained any either - maybe there was something to this theory). I also stopped bingeing (without any effort or conscious change - the gorge-fests just stopped). Now, wait a minute - if I was bingeing because I was "crazy" then how had refusing to diet suddently cured me? It obviously didn't, so why did I stop gaining and bingeing, when I stopped dieting?
There are a lot of theories about weight loss, but a lot of them are garbage (if I'm honest with myself, I have to admit mine even may be - at least for anyone other than me). It's possible that for some people, that state of "readiness" has to come first. I think though that there are also a lot of people who are spinning their wheels - failing to lose or maintain their weight because the methods are counterproductive. They aren't failing their weight loss plan, the plan is failing them - because it's the wrong one.
I learned (after more than 35 years of attempts) that crash dieting has contributed far more to my obesity than it ever did to weight loss. I learned that high-carb diets especially (no matter how low in calorie - or how high in volume and fiber) contribute to insane hunger that makes weight loss near imposible. I learned that I did better when I concentrated on eating the foods I felt best on, than when I obsessed upon what I was or wasn't eating/doing to lose weight - or judged, and punished myself for failure.
I'm "not ready," but I'm losing weight anyway - because I've found a food plan that works for me - and I follow it just enough to maintain my weight - and lose weight very slowly. If I'd quit trying to prove to myself that I can eat a high carb diet, so long as I control caloies, I'd be losing weight much faster (but it has nothing to do with being ready).
Maybe you're not ready. Maybe weight loss just isn't that important to you.
Or maybe you just haven't found the plan that works best for you. Maybe you failed your plan, or maybe your plan failed you, or maybe your experiment just wasn't successful (which is not the same as failure).
It reminds me of the story of Thomas Edison's view on failure (there are so many versions of this, I don't know which is accurate - or if Edison ever said any of them, but it's still a good illustration of success and how to define it, no matter what you're attempting).
After Thomas Edison’s seven-hundredth unsuccessful attempt to invent electric light, he was asked by a New York Times reporter, “How does it feel to have failed seven hundred times?” The great inventor responded, “I have not failed seven hundred times. I have not failed once. I have succeeded in proving that those seven hundred ways will not work. When I have eliminated the ways that will not work, I will find the way that will work.” Several thousand more of these successes followed, but Edison finally found the one that would work, and invented the electric light. Failure is an attitude, not an outcome.
I've experienced the same thing... it happens. It's never too late to start again. I was actually supposed to start a new program this morning, but I was eating chocolate by noon. Justification: it was Christmas candy, so I had to go ahead and eat it. After I ate it, I logged on to this site and chatted with a few people. Now I feel more motivated than ever to get back on track this afternoon and tomorrow morning.
It happens to the best of us, but you can do it.. and so can I!
Have a great day!
Location: First star to the right and straight on til morning
Posts: 26
S/C/G: 260/260/150
Height: 5'8"
Thanks so much everyone. I'm looking forward to making friends and finding support that I need so much. I quit smoking 6 months ago when I originally signed up on 3FC, that was a goal I thought I could never accomplished, but I did it! I am at a time in my life that I feel I'm in a hole of despair with no way to climb out of it. Weight loss is just one of my many issues at present time. So the support I'm sure I will get from this forum is so needed and appreciated. Thank You.
I wasn't ready!!!
Good for you for coming back.
Happy Holidays!
