I've been floating in and out of this forum for over a year. I lost 40 lbs but recently gained it all back, except for 12 pounds. I now weigh about 220. I've always wanted to lose weight for vanity reasons but I went to the doctor last week, and she gave me new reasons:

-I have a hiatal hernia
-I have a diverticulum

She said they don't usually see these problems till people are in their 50's, I'm 37! Talk about making you feel unhealthy. She said that to get rid of the hiatal hernia (besides meds), I needed to lose weight.

I've attempted so many times to lose weight. You know, it's funny, I know all about how to eat right and about dieting and how to lose weight but I have problems sticking to it. I am an all-or-nothing person, so if I screw up for a couple of days, I am apt to just quit all together.

It's sad that it takes serious health problems to get me motivated to lose the weight. I've been doing pretty well the past week or so. I am eating new veggies that I've never tried and eating more fruits and veggies. Instead of eating out on the weekend, we made a really healthy and delicious meal as a treat.

Hopefully I can stay on track this time, but it is so discouraging to know how many times you've fallen off the same wagon...I'm starting to get bumps on my noggin' from it!

Hey, at least you are heeding the wake-up call! Best of luck to you and remind yourself of why you deserve to be fit, healthy and happy!

That sounds like good advice. Thanks. It's so hard, I am so hard on myself and angry that I've let myself get so unhealthy. It was never supposed to come to this.

Chris, I know about that wagon and falling off it. If losing weight were as simple as "knowing how", a lot of us wouldn't still be struggling. One thing that helps me is to keep looking for motivation wherever I can find it. You mention the "all or nothing" thinking. Look at it as the primary thing you need to work on for a while. Later another aspect of losing weight might be more important to work on. Learning how to deal with this hang up is a big thing. I am working on that myself. Best wishes for success in reclaiming your health!

I'm sorry for the harsh wake up call That is my greatest fear.
I do not have a major medical insurance right now. When I was telling someone this a year ago, his response was 'You mean you don't have diabetes or blood pressure problems?' He was shocked- due to my size. I was embarrassed, and also oh so thankful that I do have good health.
Best of luck to you- for that 37 yo body to transform to a 30 yo

Chris, I just realised you are really close to where I live! If you ever want to get together for walking, a cup of tea, support etc. just let me know. I have tried to connect with other local girls and they're all too busy but I figure hey- we gotta exercise so we might as well exercise together, right Send me a PM if you feel like it

It's not pleasant to have to deal with the damage that's done to our bodies, but I think that for alot of us, it's the final straw. Some wake-up calls are beneficial, if we truly listen to them. I know I've posted this personal example before, but this thread really made me want to share my story again. It makes me cringe when I think about what could have happened...

A little over a year ago, I had a hysterectomy, along with some repair work that came from having little muscle tone plus having three children. The next morning when my dr. made his rounds, he told me that when he was taking a peek around the area, he caught a glimpse of my liver, and didn't like what he saw. His exact terminology was 'adiposis', which translates to 'fatty'. So I went home, concentrated my energy into recooperating, but that stayed at the back of my mind. So January rolled around, and I made an appointment with our family dr., to talk to him about it. He gave me a copy of a diet plan based on the American Diabetes Association recommended diet, which is very similar to Weight Watchers in that you have exchanges that you choose from each category. (I am not diabetic, but the dr. said this diet plan is very good for anyone). For the first two months I very strictly stuck to that diet plan, and lost a little over 25 lbs. I made sure to replace all sugary, fatty snacks with low fat ones, and ate lots and LOTS of fruit. After that point, I felt comfortable with altering the diet to allow more flexibility, and other than a little blip in September, when I went on a 7-day cruise, and then came back to hurricane Rita, I have steadily decreased, and you can see below what I've lost.

Now, there were no outward signs that I was having health problems, other than I was heavy (size 16, and even those getting tight). But I was on the verge of turning 40, and I knew it was time to do something, and I used this as a catalyst. My MAIN issue is self-esteem, which I have battled all my life. It is ever-present, but when I look presentable, my state of mind is so much better, and I'm able to function at such a higher level. So I would say, whatever it takes to get the ball rolling, go with the flow! But DO NOT expect this to happen overnight. Who cares though, because one day turns into the next, life goes on, and you'll look up 6 months down the road and be so happy you did this!

Health scares are very good motivators to change. I kept telling myself that I wasn't hurting anything by being a little on the plush side of a healthy weight.

My doctor informed me differently a couple years ago. I had been having problems off and on with my knees and lower back spasms. I saw the doctor in early Jan 2003, she informed me I had high blood pressure and a lot of arthritis throughout my body.

She was very nice about it, but basically told me I was too young to be having all these problems. She felt that if I stayed the weight I was they'd be replacing my knees by the time I turned 50, if I hadn't had a stroke from the high blood pressure. She painted such a dire future for me and acted like she really cared that I left her office in tears with a referral to see the nutritionist. It really changed my life!

The some of best advice I got from the nutritionist is:
Choose a diet that you can live with for the rest of your life because you are changing how and what you eat permanently.

Do something physical everyday. Don't say "I"ll try to do this" Say "I will do this today."

A great book that I'm sure people are getting tired of me touting but has been so inspirational for me is "The Thin Commandments" by Stephen Gullo. We discussed it on a different forum recently. http://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/showthread.php?t=61359


Unfortunately now that my blood pressure is normal and my arthritis isn't hurting I've sort of lost the motivation to continue to lose. But, I haven't gained any back which is good.

Good luck and make the permenant changes now to lose the weight and get fit.

Sarah

On the all-or-nothing thinking ... I think every single person with chronic weight problems has this mindset. It is the flip side of compulsive overeating for some of us, and it is damned difficult to overcome because it is so ingrained. Yet I believe it is the single greatest thing that causes us to (a) become overweight in the first place and (b) continue to fail to lose the weight.

I highly recommend the book The Thin Books to help deal with this issue. It opened my eyes to how my attitudes were different from people who did not have weight problems, and how I could start to turn them around.

Yes, your motto -- small changes every day -- will help you lose weight and keep it off. If you make small changes, and work on them for a long time until those changes become a habit, then you'll keep on being successful, rather than gaining all the weight back as soon as you've slipped up. It's hard not to go all-or-nothing when the weight loss is slooow and you want all the weight gone yesterday. But going slowly takes your mind off the minor mess-ups and helps you keep up a change in lifestyle.

Sorry to hear about your health problems. Thanks for sharing your story!

Use whatever motivates you!!! Our wake up calls come in many forms and directions. I know far too many people that have disregarded a diagnosis, continuing an unhealthy lifestyle. Make this a positive rather than a negative.

Chris, I'm sorry to hear about your diagnosis and wish you the best of luck with staying on track this time. Seems that many of us fall into the all-or-nothing category - me included. I think I've lost and regained hundreds of pounds over the last 15 years or so, and it's always one small screwup after weeks of "perfect" behavior that brings me down.

I am going to try small, gradual changes this time. Replacing bad habits with better ones, and trying not to let mistakes throw me totally off track. While it wasn't a doctor's warning that got me shook up - rather, it was hitting 200 on the scale and breaking a zipper on a pair of size 18 pants, in the same day - I'm sure medical problems are not far off for me if I don't start living a healthier lifestyle.

Hang in there!

I wish you well another great book is winning by losing by jillian Michaels it is a no nonsense approach to healthy living

Finding out I had health problems was the final straw for me. (Diabetes)

Now that I'm started loosing weight I'm glad that at least something got me motivated before I got even more health problems!