Falling off the wagon

taristaf

Several years ago, when I was still in high school, I decided I was going to start to lose weight. It was difficult for me to start my first fitness journey, especially since I had always struggled with my body image and self-confidence. I was also forced to quit the sport I loved my entire life, swimming, due to a shoulder injury that never healed correctly. I kept eating like the athlete I used to be without continuing a workout regimen and was gaining weight fast. I was too shy to run out in public or join a gym or workout with friends because I constantly feared the possibility of being negatively judged. That all changed when my mother was diagnosed with breast cancer. In her desperate efforts to fight her illness, she began to eat a very clean diet and exercised regularly. I began to join her and within about a year I had lost 15-20 pounds. Looking back, I believe I looked great, but at the time I still wasn't good enough. My 'healthy eating' and constant exercise turned into an unhealthy cycle of restricting and binge eating. Once I realized what was going on, I stopped everything. I stopped restricting what I ate, counting calories, and lost my enjoyment of exercise. Two years later and I have gained almost 50 pounds. The stress of moving to two different colleges away from home, having difficulty settling on a major, and my loss of my overall sense of direction and happiness took a large toll on my health. I flat out had just stopped caring about my health, and now I find myself in a very difficult situation now that I've finally gotten my life back on track. Although I have found a love for yoga, I've found that making my own healthy meals that taste good is hard and I don't really know what I'm doing despite whatever recipe I use. I'm tired of constantly being discouraged by my appearance and the continuous rise and fall of my motivation. I want to be healthy again and I want to lose weight the right way, but I fear that I'll revert back to unhealthy habits of severe calorie restrictions. If anyone has gone through any similar situations, I would really love some advice, thank you ❤

Kevindagul

The past couple years I had worked a job where I found myself making the kind of money I never thought I would ever be able to make. I was constantly travelling across the country, living hotel-to-hotel (I was working away long enough that I didn't actually have a place of my own. One time I was gone for a whole year and half before I got to see my friends and family), eating out every meal, getting very little to no exercise and I hated it, but just stayed for the money. Like you said, my overall sense of direction and happiness took a toll on my health. I tried a couple times to lose some weight but it seemed like not too long after I would loose all motivation.

I have recently started this journey and a new job and have gone down 30lbs in the last month and a half. I feel like what has changed is the way that I look at everything. I go into the gym and I just don't give a damn about anyone else, I'm in there for me! I'm constantly researching and more aware of the foods I'm taking in. I've also kind of turned this into a challenge for myself . We can't wish for anything, we've gotta actually work hard for it.

Best of luck to you!