Outside Influences and How They Effect Your Goals- Maintaining or Losing

hippo421

Today I wanted to cover something that I’m sure all of you on your journey may be facing or may have done yourself. It is something that made me avoid social situations in the past and makes me nervous for the upcoming holidays. It’s that dreaded coworker, family member, or acquaintance that tells you that you aren’t fat and that you should eat that piece of cake, or the many delicious 1000 calorie things laid on the table at a gathering. Sometimes that same dreaded person that talks about you like you have it so easy because you aren’t overweight. I remember specifically a coworker talking to another like I wasn’t standing right there saying “we all can’t be as lucky as that Lindsay” . “Ehem… I’m right here people and guess what? I work hard for this!!!” . What many people don’t understand, and what after gaining 80lbs that I came to conclude, is that some of us, in order to stay fit, have to always be consciously making good decisions about eating and exercise or we are doomed. Maybe it’s because of our genes, maybe it’s the delicious foods, or the emotional attachment to food that-in our culture, rewards and celebrates in all it’s sugary greasy glory. How do we celebrate a birthday, a holiday, a weekend, a promotion without 10,000 calories? I have yet to really figure it out how to change the culture, so in turn.. I know I need to change myself. I have a love for food, and I mean I LOVE FOOD. Please don’t give me a hard time if I decide I am not going to eat that slice of cake, or that delicious looking cream cheese dip. I may not be like you. I can not take one bite, one slice, one spoonful. If it is as good as it looks, I WILL struggle with stopping myself until it’s no longer in front of me. I am someone that will stand second in line at a buffet and have anxiety that there may not be enough food left for me. I know myself, and I know what I need to do to get and stay fit. Please let me eat my bag of almonds from my purse, the veggie tray and maybe some chicken and leave it at that. Please don’t judge me or others because you don’t know what battles they face. Please don’t make someone feel as though they can’t go to a party because they will get ridiculed for not eating cake! With the upcoming holidays, I wanted to stress this. I find it is much easier to munch on my bag of almonds now that am overweight and people understand that “Oh, she is just trying to lose weight”. But when I was fit, people didn’t understand that I fought that same battle to maintain my weight. And sure, I occasionally ate a slice of cake- maybe even half a pan. And it’s okay to sometimes indulge, but it is also okay to “Just say NO” in order to stick to your goals. There are many events coming up that will probably fill every weekend and many weekdays loaded with deliciousness . Fit people and those of us overweight alike- don’t avoid the situations because of these people. Stand up for what you believe in. Let them know that you are trying to live a healthy lifestyle and that you do sometimes indulge. Let them know that heckling you or anybody else is wrong and that what you need is support. Most importantly, support one another and try to keep in mind, that we are battling our own demons.
How do you feel outside influences you on your journey?

GiveMeCoffee

hippo421

Only positive support please :-)

Dragonborn79

I try to save up my calories for events like that. One big change though, before I would have eaten something that I dislike to be nice or whatever. But now if I don't like something and it's not healthy, I just won't eat it. Like for instance, cake with white frosting has never done much for me, so I don't care if it's someone's birthday, I just won't partake. If I'm going to eat horribly I'm going to enjoy every bite, dammit! haha I get a little bit of hell, but not too much. I still have weight to lose though. I MIGHT disappoint someone by not eating something they've made/brought but if I eat it without wanting to it's GUARANTEED that I'll disappoint myself. And since I have to live with me, I'm going to do what I want to.

roz112

Thats exactly how i feel! My family always makes fun of me for trying to eat healthier as they call me obsessive even though i think of myself as just conscious. Good for you! Dont let others change your mind or influence your goals. Its especially hard during the holidays and when your constantly surrounded by food, i like to put my focus on spending time with loved ones as oppose to just thinking about the food even though im always looking forward to what will be served for dinner lol

hippo421

I know what you mean roz! I think about food 24/7.. haha.. I don't need anybody reminding me! Dragon- good for you! I like to ask myself "Is it worth it?" before I decide on whether or not to eat something. Sometimes it's totally worth it, others, it's like "Meh... I could do without that and the calories".

GiveMeCoffee

hippo421 wrote: »

Only positive support please :-)

Well I would positively like to see paragraph breaks.

hippo421

I'm new do doing this and just copied and pasted with breaks and didn't realize they didn't carry until after the fact. I guess I'll say something that my second grade teacher probably said and that's "If you don't have something nice to say, don't say it at all". Best of success to you on your fitness journey Coffee..

Dragonborn79

Yes, Roz! There are friends who ask what I've been doing to lose weight. Once I tell them that I've been counting calories, working out, and no foods are off-limits though I try to make better choices, I swear, their eyes glaze over. People don't want to hear it. They say it's too restricting, obsessive and that I'm depriving myself. Whatever. This is the only thing I've ever been able to get actual results from and it's easy. Unlike every diet that I've tried, I'm not just waiting for it to end. I can do this for the rest of my life. Learning to cook with better ingredients has helped a lot. And bad days (like this weekend!) don't mess me up that badly. I just overestimate when I'm not sure and get back on track. I love it.

And yes, hippo, "Is it worth it?" has been an excellent weapon against all kinds of bad decision making lately. haha

SonicDeathMonkey80

You have suffered 11 damage from Wall of Text

hippo421

Ha! My favorite was when I would say I had a headache or something and my coworker would say "Maybe you need some meat or something.." LMAO! I'm not even a vegetarian. People just tend to be very critical of others and I'm sick of it. If course, I won't support some one who is dangerously underweight starving themselves, but someone making good decisions for their body and health I am all about! I really think that many people are just projecting his or her own insecurities on others.

hippo421

Thanks, Sonic. I am already aware of that. Have a good day, now!

SonicDeathMonkey80

hippo421 wrote: »

Ha! My favorite was when I would say I had a headache or something and my coworker would say "Maybe you need some meat or something.." LMAO! I'm not even a vegetarian. People just tend to be very critical of others and I'm sick of it. If course, I won't support some one who is dangerously underweight starving themselves, but someone making good decisions for their body and health I am all about! I really think that many people are just projecting his or her own insecurities on others.

Criticizes people who are being critical, for being critical of others. Circle is complete.

hippo421

You make a good point, Sonic. That is not my intention. It is just very frustrating when I am trying to lose or maintain my weight and I wanted to see if others shared the same struggle. My intention of this post was to ask others to be supportive of one another, see if others relate, and let people know that we all our fighting our own battles.