So what is it that some succeed and others fail?

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13

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  • tonyberwald
    tonyberwald Posts: 22 Member
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    beckacrafting wrote: »
    For me it just clicked one day. I woke up and thought it's today or never and haven't looked back. That was over four months and 60 lbs ago. I've tried countless times before and failed. I'm not sure what makes this journey different. Maybe it was being told I was prediabetic. Maybe it was the fact I couldn't make it up a flight of stairs without heavy breathing. Maybe it was not being able to do anything with the kids because I was constantly tired. Maybe all that together just compounded into a more powerful pull than pizza had over me. Whatever the reason, I'm thankful for it. I can now run a mile, stairs no longer scare me, I'm a new person who may still have a long journey ahead but the goal is a lot closer now and everyday I succeed is just that much more motivation to continue to reach for that goal. There may be bumps, stalls, or temptations but they are not as strong as we are, we just have to find out just how strong we truly are and hold on to that strength as of our life depended on it because it indeed does.


    This is what it was for me. It clicked. I cannot say why...other that I decided one day I'd had enough and that 2016 was going to be the year of change.
  • amusedmonkey
    amusedmonkey Posts: 10,330 Member
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    I got diagnosed with prediabetes and I was sprinting towards full blown diabetes. Diabetes means watching your intake, so I thought to myself: if I'm going to be watching my intake anyway, why not do it without all the health risks that come with diabetes? I was hoping weight loss would help me lower my blood sugar and it did. I haven't tried to lose weight before this so I don't know if I would have succeeded or failed on a different attempt.

    It just clicks for some people for whatever reason causing them to keep working at it. I find it intriguing but I don't really understand why it happens.
  • lindarpolk
    lindarpolk Posts: 70 Member
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    I read this book that helped me a lot. "Thin for Life: 10 Keys to Success from People Who Have Lost Weight & Kept It Off" By Anne M. Fletcher, M.S., F.D. (1994) It's not about a diet or exercise plan, but lots of information from people about what worked for them. I see it's available on Amazon.
  • SerenaMcD43
    SerenaMcD43 Posts: 20 Member
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    For me, it was a mixture of things. I was just so sick and tired of 'dieting'. I have successfully lost weight numerous times, losing 2-3 stones in about 3 months but never keeping it off. I have constantly chased after the quick fixes. I know what it's like to lose weight on a 1200 calorie diet and on a 2000 calorie diet, but always with 'rules'. I started listening to podcasts, and in particular, Alan Aragon. I can't even say why everything fell in to place for me; maybe I was just finally ready to listen to evidence based information and not headline grabbing stuff. Slow and steady wins the race :)
  • soufauxgirl
    soufauxgirl Posts: 392 Member
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    Developing diabetes and feeling sick and tired were my defining moments. Choose to live or choose to die.
  • STEVE142142
    STEVE142142 Posts: 867 Member
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    ItsyBitsy246 wrote: »
    It's a mental shift. Don't know the psychology behind it, but in my case triggered by sheer and utter disgust with myself.

    I totally agree with you it's a mental shift. I've been on Plenty of diets lost and put the weight back on. I've been miserable during that time.

    This time something is different. It just clicked and it was so easy to do and I wasn't miserable I actually had fun. Like anything else in life it's a mindset and once you get the mindset nothing can stop
  • IremiaRe
    IremiaRe Posts: 801 Member
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    I am back for the 2nd time - not because I gained the weight back - but because after losing 100 lbs, I felt so good, I got lazy, and when life intervened, as it always does, I dialed back on the activity and ate whatever I wanted. Fortunately, I didn't lose a lot of ground that way - only 10-15 lbs.

    The FIRST time, I woke up one morning, (at 367 lbs) and really said to myself : *KITTEN!* If I feel this awful at 40, what is it going to feel like at 60? or 80? I decided then, that I didn't want to feel bad and then worse for the rest of my life and did something about it.

    THIS time, I realized that I had lost that 15 pounds I gained back by ACCIDENT because I was more physically active due to helping my husband after he was injured. I realized if I could lose the weight by accident, just by moving a little more, there was no reason on this Earth that I couldn't do better than that on purpose. It didn't hurt that my Doc told me I was pre-diabetic... that was a motivator, too... My annual checkup was when I realized I had lost that 15 lbs - so the combination of those two things brought me here. That whole, "I did it before and I can do it again" thing is working for me.
  • Machka9
    Machka9 Posts: 24,884 Member
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    goal100determined wrote: »
    Thank you all for your response. It made me think a lot. Living in a society where instant gratification is the norm, we have forgotten to live like natural beings. I realize that I had associated losing weight as pain because I failed so many times. I must change my perspective and look forward to what I will gain and not look back at the past failures. Just one day at a time. Not giving up. Not to compare with others but focus on what works for me.

    For me ... what I gained from losing weight was being able to do the cycling events I love again. I could have still done them if I lived in a flat part of the world, but my husband and I moved to a very hilly part of the world, and I couldn't haul all that weight up hills. It made me sad to think that I just couldn't do it anymore. But I lost the weight ... and I can do the rides again! :)

    Sometimes it helps to focus on something other than the weight. Focus on fitness goals, or travel goals or something. And don't wait until you reach a certain weight to start working toward those goals, start now. :)

  • StealthHealth
    StealthHealth Posts: 2,417 Member
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    HippySkoppy wrote: »
    StealthHealth wrote: »
    The people who are successful got all their failures out of the way early.

    I don't know about this at all.....life can be fraught with failure. One can never see the future but those events don't have to derail you.

    Success is driven by the individual for the individual IMO, there are so many examples here in the wonderful responses that show how wide and varied we are at what drives us on to try and make the best of our life, improve our health and be the best damn us we can be.

    That said though, in response to continuing the success into years of maintenance is being able to apply those skills of identifying what makes us tick and give our all even in the face of illness, injury, mental stress and depression, loss of job etc etc.

    The ability to be flexible is key IMO, again.

    The dreams I had when I first reached goal weight were to get as strong and fit as I possibly could but I only got so far then a sudden, life long change in health had me dead in my tracks and my previous dreams were dashed.

    Yes I did grieve but I did realize my first lot of dreams weren't the only meaningful ones for me. I changed my goals. Found fulfillment via other means, I didn't lose sight and regain the weight, it was bloody hard and is still a daily struggle that throws me curve balls a lot but I have learnt to bounce.

    I think that anyone who believes that they are going to slay all their demons or problems at the beginning and never have to face any other challenges is setting themselves up for probable disappointment and failure due to failure to plan.

    I agree with all this. My post was a quick thought dashed off rapidly and so lacks subtlety. I think you said what I was thinking much better - that someone who is apparently successful now has probably made mistakes and overcome problems in the past and learnt from them and will/can use that experience to overcome obstacles in the future.
  • Elaina291
    Elaina291 Posts: 87 Member
    edited July 2016
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    Tara4boys wrote: »
    Change happens when the pain of staying the same exceeds that of making a change.

    This.^^^

    When I began my weight loss journey (6 years ago) I didn't take it nearly as serious as I do now and its mainly because I hadn't seen the pain of what being obese does until a few years ago and thats when I decided to truly put my all into this. Now 2 years later and 70lbs down, I feel like I will get to my destination this time. 70lbs to go!
  • mittenswillet
    mittenswillet Posts: 697 Member
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    only you can make yourself exercise and watch your calories. No one else can do it for you. Once you realize this, then you are on the road to success !=)
  • Scorpio8402
    Scorpio8402 Posts: 554 Member
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    What do I want and how bad do I want it? Finally just clicked for me and keeps clicking...most days!
  • 1stgardengirl
    1stgardengirl Posts: 34 Member
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    For me it was the right food plan combination (along with exercise/strength training) that actually worked. Every time I tried before, I hit a plateau at about 180 lbs and couldn't get off it, regardless of what I did. For me CICO by itself did not work. I discovered, because of my daughter's celiac diagnosis that I, too am gluten intolerant. That had been a huge stumbling block in my weight loss. Once I went gluten free, adhered to a basically clean food plan, the lbs came off. I lost over 100 lbs in 10 months - no plateaus. I'm in maintenance at 128 lbs now, and not having trouble keeping it off.

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