Thank you so much everyone! I'm flattered that many of you are interested in more specifics as to what I'm doing to lose the weight. First and foremost, the most important thing I've learned in my few weeks at 3FC is that everyone is unique and that one person's diet plan doesn't fit all bodies.
One thing that makes me unique is that I started treating my Attention Deficit Disorder just before starting my diet. Before that, I could NEVER interpret what my stomach was telling my brain. If you asked me if I was genuinely hungry, I would automatically say yes, because my ADD brain was always hungry for seratonin, which I got by eating.
Seratonin
So, treating my ADD has been a big part in losing, since I now have impulse-control, and can interpret my stomach's "hungry" and "not hungry" signals.
Other than that, I've been focused mostly on diet rather than exercise. I count calories, zigzagging through the week to get an average of 1200. And zigzagging is not for everyone, but my body has a natural cycle of hungry and not-so-hungry days (which I've just found out recently), so I'm working with my body. When I tried to eat 1200 calories every day, I would be frustrated because one day I'd have 300 calories left and forcing myself to eat, and the next day, I'd be at 1300 calories by 4 in the afternoon and ravenously hungry. Don't work against your body.
I keep myself motivated by reading the journal entry I made on the day I began my diet. The day I began dieting, I had read my journal and in 9 months, I had sworn to lose weight on three separate occasions. "And this time I mean it!" I read all three times, and I became SO discouraged. So I made a commitment, and wrote a journal entry that wouldn't let me forget my commitment. I'm going to go ahead and post part of my journal entry, which will make this post even longer than it already is, but I think this might be able to help some people as much as it has helped me:
Quote:
I don't work hard at life. I coast through with enough intelligence and talent and luck to keep from having to push myself towards things I want. If something is too difficult, I stay away from it. I accept mediocrity to keep from working towards greatness. Greatness is too hard.
Attempting to lose weight is one of the few difficult things that I approach in life... I go at it with zeal and intensity, and some time later I find myself exactly where I began. I then convince myself to accept my physical mediocrity. This effort is reflected in EVERY goal I attempt to achieve in EVERY area of my life. Zeal, followed by recognition of failure, then rationalization of expecting nothing better.
Right now I have the desire for greatness in more than one area in my life. My willingness to approach these issues is almost imperceptible. Personal history shows that failure is likely, and while many would say "Attempt it! THIS TIME you will succeed," it's not so easy to forget the echos of the past ("THIS TIME, I really will lose weight!").
If I have the ability to discipline myself, the ability to break habits, the ability to make myself into a better person day after day, I have the ingredients to achieve greatness in anything. If I can lose weight, I will show myself that I am capable, and that failure is not an inevitablity when I attempt to tackle difficult things that I would otherwise ignore.
I'm not being overdramatic about this issue. It has affected me deeply enough to branch into every part of my life which means that right now, with this post, I'm finally giving it the recognition that I have denied it.
What if I fail again? This is not an option. I refuse to let myself think for even a moment that I cannot achieve this ONE goal. If I cannot spend twelve weeks working hard toward something I desperately want, something I need, something that is so influential to the rest of my life... If I can't do that then it will be an indicator of something more serious going on.
I will not reread this post and cringe. I will reread it, smiling, realizing that this was the turning point, this was the first of many attempts at greatness that ended with success.
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Every time I reread it, I smile. Even if I've had a bad day with eating, I know that I weigh less than I did when I wrote it. I'm reminded that with the help of friends, family and (most importantly!) God, I CAN achieve my goals, no matter what they are, and if I can do it, so can you!
. You are doing great and you put your ideas into words beautifully. Thanks for sharing! 
!!! Congrats on the weight. I hope to see the same results soon
. Keep up the good work!!!
