I am doing this for my kids this time. I know that our children learn from us and I do not want my children to learn from my unhealthy habbits. I am also doing it for myself I have never been heavier in my life and I had a wake up call while on the phone with my friend and we were talking about weight. I gained the weight over 2 years and if I kept going this way I would be over 330 and then 430 and so on. The next day I went to the gym, and have continued going everyday since then. with 15 lbs gone it has given me even more motivation to loose the other 75lbs
I'm not quite there yet but I'm well on my way. Here's why:
1.) Moderation and sustainability. I could do this forever. I'm not depriving myself of things I like, I don't beat myself up over small slipups, and I still eat dessert.
2.) Regular exercise. I've developed a routine for the week and enjoy working out. I've replaced my prior addictions (nicotine, carbs) with an exercise addiction.
3.) 3FC and online encouragement. Being held accountable by strangers works well for me. 3FC is the best healthy living/weight loss forum on the Internet for sure!
4.) I'm super vain and determined to weigh less than my mom and wear a certain clothing size.
5.) There's no going back once you know what healthy living really feels like!
Honestly, this site is what's different for me this time. I've always been very private about weight loss attempts in the past, and I still am. Whenever I've hit stalls, or gotten frustrated, I would typically slowly phase out of whatever plan I'd been following and return to my old eating habits. This site gives me an outlet for frustrations and a source of inspiration and advice. It also has created a daily habit for me, almost an addition...a need to read the boards, drop in my own two-cents on occasion, update my signature when my weight cooperates, and overall, keep a positive mindset. Thanks so much to all of you for giving me the sense that I can do this.
I will be successful this time because:
1) I have discovered that water really is terrific!
2) I don't let anyone or anything get in the way of exercise, NO MATTER WHAT!
3) I don't have any junk food in my house whatsoever
4) I track every single morsel of food that goes in my mouth
5) I have read almost everything I can get my hands on about nutrition, health and the human body
6) I truly push myself while exercising. I pretend that Jillian Michaels is right in front of me, screaming at me to realize my potential, and so far it has worked.
7) For me, sugar and carbs are my enemies and I stay away from them.
8) But, most of all, I will succeed because I am almost 47 y/o and I will not enter my 50s as a fat, frumpy, lumpy, lazy old lady. I will be fit and healthy!!
Krampus, I'm going to borrow your number 1, word for word. Moderation and sustainability! I have finally, after trying my whole adult life it seems, managed to find a plan that I'd rather do than not. I have never felt better, and I'm still almost 300 lbs!! I feel better now than I have at much smaller weights, because I am nourishing my body properly. And knowing what I know now about how that makes you feel, I don't envision ever deciding it's not worth it.
Another biggie for me is that I know what 350 lbs feels like, and for me, it felt like death's doorstep. I will NEVER feel that way again as long as it is within my power not to. Let's say I hit my rock bottom there.
I believe i will be successful because, for the 1st time;
1.) I watch what i eat and stay away from junk foods.
2.) I don't overwork myself to lose weight, i have settled for a daily exercise pattern i can stick to.
3.) I am determined to stop being categorised as 'FAT'.
I will be successful this time, mostly, because I have tossed the all or nothing mentality. I don't have to be perfect to lose weight, and I'm no longer giving up just because I fall down once, twice, or twenty times.
Not letting the scale dictate my actions. Similar to Eliana's "stick with it for one year plan", I was determined to track my calories in and out and count my "success" by maintaining a healthy average calorie deficit.
I know the majority on here are daily weighers, but tracking my actions rather than checking in with the scale has made all the difference in my success.
Why this time will be different from previous attempts:
- I'm refusing to punish myself because I don't deserve to get bullied, not even by myself. I would chew someone's face off for telling me the kind of mean-girl things I sometimes tell myself, and I'm not going to stand for it any more.
- Being kind to myself doesn't mean making excuses for myself. Some things are simply non-negotiable: half an hour of daily exercise, five servings of vegetables and fruits per day, mindful eating. This is who I am now--a person who does things, a person who enjoys her meals, a person who eats in color.
- I realize that maintenance, healthfulness, and sustainability are more important to lasting weight loss than speed. The scale is not the ultimate arbiter of my success; I pay attention to all the other positive aspects of weight loss like more energy and better-fitting clothing.
- My husband is tremendously supportive and is a wicked good cook. I love that man!
- I no longer see an arbitrary number as the dividing line between success and failure. In previous attempts, I would set myself a calorie (or carb gram or fat gram) limit and believe I'd "failed" if I exceeded it even slightly, leading me to set the whole plan aside. This time, I'm viewing the number as a target to aim for, not a cliff from which to tumble.
- Instead of losing because I hate my looks/my body/my clothes, I'm losing because I love stuff I can't currently do with ease. It's more positive to run toward something than away from something else; this time, I'm running toward spending a whole day at the zoo, trotting up the ramps at the Superdome to watch a Saints game, and wearing gorgeous vintage clothing instead of styleless schmattas.
- This time, I'm losing weight because I like myself, not because I don't.
(1) I have enough past experience to know what kinds of diets don't work for me (e.g. low-fat) and to know that I can lose weight on moderate calories with a moderate low-carb approach.
(2) I was emotionally ready to commit to this for the long term. There's only one time in the last 1 year 10 months when I did something I'd classify as "emotional eating", and I got right back on plan fairly quickly.
(3) I worked to eliminate "habitual eating". It used to be that I'd snack heavily on car trips and when watching TV. I still sometimes eat in those situations, but it's out of my food allocation for the day.
(4) I walk a mile and a half six times a week, every single week. That's fairly moderate, as exercise goes, but it seems to be enough to let my body know that everything is OK and it's OK to continue to burn fat.
I expect to be successful in maintenance because
(1) I know that my "diet" will never be over. When I was younger, the thought of being on a diet for the rest of my life was terribly depressing, but now it doesn't bother me at all. I expect to maintain for now on 1750 calories a day, which I may have to reduce as I get older. But I'm not finding 1400 a day to be burdensome, and I find it much less stressful to count calories than to try to eat intuitively (something I don't know if I'll ever be able to do).
(2) I think I'm in the right "headspace". I've been interested to read posts from long-time and recent maintainers discussing the ways in which maintenance can be *more* challenging than the weight loss phase, and I think I'm mentally prepared. Time will tell, I guess.
. The next day I went to the gym, and have continued going everyday since then.
with 15 lbs gone it has given me even more motivation to loose the other 75lbs
