My motivational Inspiration for the day! (Hopefully)

tinamarie6624

I was thinking this morning and I am hoping this might help other people in regard to motivation.

I was thinking about how far I’ve come in less a year and it makes me feel empowered to have made this huge accomplishment in my life. On the flip side, I also started thinking about how I would feel if I had not started this journey in January 2016. I would be feeling the same as I did a year ago. To give you more of an understanding as what that would feel like I have encapsulated my story here for you.

I am 49 years old and on January 2, 2016 I was 378 Lbs. I was my own worst enemy. In 1997 I had lost 130 Lbs and arrived to my goal weight with the help of herbal weight loss products. Once I was done losing the weight I was involved in a relationship and I stopped doing the things that had helped me lose the weight. I didn't exercise on a daily basis and I thought I could go back to my old eating patterns. In 1997 I was 115 Lbs and slowly gained it all back and more. I would try dieting again but nothing helped and I would always get to the "what the heck" stage when I didn't lose as much as I thought I should have or when I ate something I shouldn't have. For years my family tried to get me to lose weight but as evidenced by my increasing weight I would not do anything to help myself. I didn't realize at the time but I must have been in a depression that even I couldn't get myself out of. I wouldn't go anywhere, I wouldn't see friends and family and I got to the point where I could barely walk to the bathroom without getting winded. I was at the point where I was afraid I was going to get stuck in my tub because I was so fat.

Just to be clear, the only person who was responsible for my weight problem was me. I had an excuse for everything, why I couldn't exercise, why I couldn't diet or the old favorite "I will start my diet on Monday or after the holidays or my favorite "It's too late to lose the weight by summer so what’s the point."

I don't know if I can pin point a time where I thought, "I need to lose weight". But on January 2, 2016 I decided I was going to try to eat better. That was all. I started working on my diet and about a week later a friend told me about MFP and I've logged faithfully since then. I lost some weight and I started to feel better about myself but I began to think about the journey that I was beginning and freaked myself out because I suddenly thought it will be about 2 or 2 1/2 years before I can eat anything I like again. I started to panic and I felt like I was suddenly out on a ledge and ready to fall. I calmed myself down and made a deal with myself that if I wanted something to eat, I would eat and deal with the consequences later. If I wanted to eat pizza or have a nice steak dinner, I would. It might take a little longer but I would get to my goal. For some reason that helped to get my head on straight and I've lost 141 Lbs in just over 10 1/2 months. I am now at 237, I feel much better and over the summer I got out and did active things like taking a walk at the beach, going to amusement parks and hanging out with my family and friends again. I am so much happier now than I was before and I don’t know if I express the complete feeling.

I started exercising in about March when the mood struck me. I started with 10 minutes of just stepping in place and I felt so good afterward that I did another 15 minutes. In April, I started going for walks and setting better physical goals for myself. I now exercise for at least an hour and a half a day and walk every Saturday for about an hour or so. A couple of weekends ago, my family and went for a hike for 3 hours, up hills and down. It was hard but I did it and it made me feel so empowered.

Early on in my dieting, I told myself that I was only going to eat foods that tasted good to me. I follow through with that to this day. My dinner portion is very small but good. I eat a lot of fruit as a supplement. I've done this the right way this time, nothing but my own will power and motivation. I must admit, I still have to talk myself off the ledge every once in a while when things seem to be going badly but I'm doing it.

As far the exercise goes, when I first started, I would ask myself if I felt like exercising. Truthfully, the answer was never yes and so I stopped asking and my new outlook was born. I don't ask if I feel like it, I just do it not excuses. When I eat something that I probably shouldn't have, I just deal with it the next day. Funny thing is that I've never had to eat a pizza or go out for a nice steak dinner. I just know the option is open if I ever need it.

I still have 122 Lbs to go but I know I'll make it because I just do it - no excuses. I have found in this year that I am so much stronger than I ever thought I could be.

I don’t think it matters how much weight any of you have to lose but think about what it would mean to you in 3 months, 6 months or a year to have made progress in your weight loss goal.

I hope this helps and know that anyone who wants my help just has to reach out and I’m more than willing to encourage, talk, commiserate when needed and find joy in your accomplishments.
Tina Marie Noel