After a long period of just giving up, I'm back, but feeling pretty shaky. I was laying in bed this AM thinking "you don't *have* to do this; you can decide to stay just as you are." However, the thought of just accepting myself at this weight (50 lbs overweight) was 't working. I don't want that! I want to be thin, healthy, active, in-control!

Here's the catch...I can't seem to get my 'wanting it' together with actually doing it. The first little challenge (going out to eat, etc...) and I simply give up on the program. What's with that??!! Ugh!

Any hints, tips, advice, strategies out there?

Here is to a happy, healthy new year to everyone!!

Holly

Lyontamer,
Glad to see you're back. You're right. You deserve to make those fifty pounds go away and never come back. You know what to do: baby steps--drink the water, count your points, plan and prepare, get good food in the house, toss what is tempting you too much, work exercise in when you can (I'm still working on that one LOL), and stop thinking about *trying*. Yoda and Mousie say *do it*. Don't give yourself the option of thinking of trying this. Honestly, just do it. You'll be amazed at how this little change of thought changes your whole attitude. Then when a tricky moment comes up and you want to go off program, you'll say to yourself, "No, I'm doing WW and I'm not going off."
Count your points, give yourself little food rewards if that helps you. Remember that you don't want to give up what you want forever for what you want at the moment. I hope this isn't too strong a response, but it's so great to see you posting again and these are the things that help me in my struggle with weight.
Good luck! We're all in this together./
Here's a smilie to help you turn it around and be happy.
234/208/199soon

Itryharder - Thanks for the quick response and great words of encouragement! It does feel good to be back

I'm going to get back to basics, toss the excuses, and get back online regularly for some support. (Of course, I have to face the scale at Thurs meeting, too ) Holly

Lyontamer--here's another way of thinking about "accepting yourself" at this weight. Don't look at it as "great, now I'm expected to actually like being 50 pounds overweight?" Instead, approach it from the direction of, "this is what my weight is right now, and I accept that this is the form my experiences and choices have taken". Take good care of yourself no matter what weight you are, and try not to say mean things to yourself in your head. In time your weight will change, and you'll appreciate that. For right now, accept that you are this way *now*.

Holly:

You've gotten some great advice here and I'm pretty much a newbie to 3FC. Keep getting encouragement from others that are doing the things you're finding a bit difficult to do and take baby steps. I'm glad that you gave yourself the choice of doing this or not doing this and you made the decision to get those 50 lbs off. Believe me, those 50 can turn into a 100. As everyone has said, take baby steps and keep coming here. You'll be doing it in no time flat!

Michelle

Holly:

You can do this. One thing that caught my attention was where you said that "The first little challenge (going out to eat, etc...) and I simply give up on the program."--Well, I have always done that too, but I have learned that I can't be that hard on myself. If I slip, I slip, but I pick myself back up(wipe my mouth off) and GET BACK OP!!!! I was like you, 45 lbs overweight and wanting to take it off, but not really in the right mindset for it. And like you I made up my mind to do something about it so I joined ww and in 5 weeks I lost 16lbs. That was all the encourgement I needed to op. That and all the support I get here and at my meetings.
YOU CAN DO THIS, HOLLY

You guys are great...thanks for all the words of encouragement :-). It's definately time to dust of the 123 materials and get busy. HL

I am new to this forum also and am signing up for Weight Watchers this week at work. I am struggling with signing up and sticking with it also. I know it works but I get weak and eat things I am not supposed to. I have 30 pounds to lose and know I need to do it but just need to get motivated! Thanks.

Hi,

One of the best motivators for me was when I realized that this is a journey. No one is going to come and arrest me if I falter along the way. I never will reach my destination because goal weight is merely a time to adjust the program, not to stop doing it.

That realization has given me the freedom inside my head to do whatever I need to do. I have not started and marched straight to my goal weight without taking some detours. Like most people, I have lessons to learn and skills to develop. By allowing myself to do that, even if it slows down the process, I've been more successful than ever before, speaking long-term.

I've kept off over 30 pounds during the last three years. That sounds so slow, but I took some breaks in attempting to lose due to stresses in my personal life. My goal during those times was to maintain. That's a skill I need to develop, too. So I don't consider that a waste of time.

Mainly, I've let go of the impatience. The expectation and desire to get it off quickly. I've learned to focus on just doing the part of the journey I need to do today. To get up and get back OP when I slip. To let my body decide how fast and when it will give up the weight. And it is giving it up, albeit very slowly.

I tweak the program to account for PMS and other factors that affect whether or not I lose weight. But as long as I keep losing, I don't worry about the speed. That's made all of the difference for me. Since I'm not in a hurry, I can enjoy the program and my life and still progress toward my goals.

Lin

Lucy - I'm back to meetings on Thurs (tomorrow), and am OP again beginning today. (I needed some "warming up" days between my first post and actually *doing* it ;-)!) I wanted to send you this post so you know you're not alone in making the step back to meetings this week :-).

After many days of excess, I'm struggling (but not quitting!) to stay OP. It is late afternoon, and I feel like I need to be chained down so as to not devour all the leftover holiday goodies. After I'm offline, I will clean out the kitchen and get my husband and son's goodies out of sight/out of mind. (A giant bowl of choco candies is just stupid for me to have sitting out.) I'm also practicing the "winning outcome" of visualizing (sp?).

Have a great day all! Holly

P.S. -- Lin, thanks for the reminder that this must be a lifestyle change to work. It is an easy concept to think about, but a hard concept to put into practice. If I want to keep the weight off, I won't be able to toss sensible eating every time a challenge comes up any more than I should do that while I'm trying to lose the weight.

Holly -

It's good to "see" you here again. Congratulations on getting back on track. I'm with you - after so many days of eating whatever, whenever, I'm ready to eat my desk. I know you can do this. 2002 will be our year.

Stop by the Weigh In at Home when you have the chance.

Carla