This time it feels real.

georgeinthecord

It's hard to post this because this time feels real. Like, I may actually reach my goals and it's scary. Also because I don't really open up about this subject. Ever.

I've lived my entire life hating the way I looked.

A few years ago I lost 99lbs. I was 1lb away from my giant goal of losing 100lbs and I woke up and weighed and looked in the mirror and still hated, HATED, the person I saw. You see magazine ads about people losing 20lbs and looking like supermodels. Well, I lost almost 5 times that much aaaaaaaand, I was still gross. I just couldn't handle it and gained a lot of my weight back.
I tried lifting weights. I tried running. I tried a combination. It was just the same outcome. Lose some, hate who I saw, and quit. It's a hard cycle to break. Everything out there just tells us how flawed we are.

After attempt 39473626, I decided it was now or never. I'm either going to buckle down and do this or I am going to get weight loss surgery. Anyone who knows me, knows that is the LAST thing I wanna do. I have no limitations... it's a giant cop out.

Around this time, I saw a post from @nourishandeat (Instagram!) that said "if hating yourself could have made you happy, you would have gotten there already. Try something different." And something just clicked. It just changed my perspective on everything.

I still am not crazy about how I look, but I am incredibly proud of the work that I've done. That I did. No one else did it for me, I did. I was the one who was getting up at 5am to run. I am the one who joined a weight management clinic and a gym totally out of my comfort zone to improve myself. I am the one who is skipping the not so great food to eat something healthy. (Although I legit still eat too much bad stuff, but it's a process, right?

I'm fighting through my emotion and posting this because this makes it official. The negative self-talk has gotta stop. I wanna succeed. I deserve to succeed. And I will succeed.

And just in case someone who is struggling is reading this, you deserve it too.



(if it matters to anyone, the comparison pics are an 82lb difference.)

BlondeButtercup127

I'm so happy you posted this!! It's so inspiring and will help someone today....

AliNouveau

Amazing transformation. Congrats. Hope you're learning to love yourself a little more every day and I'm sure your words will inspire many

MysticGoalie

Fantastic

Zac1644

Bro that's awesome! Great work!

natajane

You are worthy of this, of being happy.

Also, you are really good looking too! At both weights as well, you've got a proper cheeky, lovely smile. What you see is not what others sees. Stay strong! You're doing fab.

*Cheeky in the UK means fun/mischievous! Don't know if that's a global term ha.

HeidiCooksSupper

"if hating yourself could have made you happy, you would have gotten there already. Try something different." And something just clicked. It just changed my perspective on everything.{/quote]

Good for you. It took a lot of co-pays for psychological counseling and reflection to finally get to the point of accepting that I was the only one who made my choices of what to think about me. If I choose to be happy, I can be. No one is stopping me.

I think you are cute as a button in both pictures. (I can use expressions like cute as a button because I am at least old enough to be your mother.) That smile is killer. The dimples, too!

WildAngelJoy

George...I am proud to call you a friend and an inspiration!! This post will touch many people...so many of us hide the way we feel, hate the way we look, feel we don't deserve happiness. We are out own worst critics!! We need self love before we can turn things around (it is a process) and we DO deserve happiness. You look fab in both pics but you know what?? In the "before" pic, I see a forced smile. In the "now" pic, I see a smile with REAL happiness. I'm so proud to be a friend along your journey, you deserve the best and you've done hard work. Blessings to you and your beautiful family Joy

Syneea

Great progress, physically and otherwise! :-)

Nmarine1996

You look amazing!!!!

EJBarner

George, you are looking fantastic -- and most importantly, you look HAPPY. Congratulations on your progress so far, and on your perspective shift that got you here! That moment of changing perspective really is worth its weight in gold. Well done, you!!

25agirard

This post is amazing. It actually resonates with me sooooo much. I went to the beach with my family today. I didn't want to go when my husband suggested it because I didn't want to be in public in a bathing suit. I reluctantly went. I spent much of the time observing how many women were wearing bikinis. "I'm definitely way bigger than her" "Maybe she's not that much bigger than me?" "She has to be smaller than me if she's wearing a bikini?" I've yo-yoed my ENTIRE adult life--down 30, up 40, down 30 up 40, down 30 up 40, up 10, up 10 more,....it's honestly been awful. I hate it so much. I have really focused and committed myself this time. My family just ate pizza for dinner.... didn't even have a small piece. I had salad, I was happy with salad....I want to do this and you just gave me a serious dose of motivation. I know you weren't talking to me--but it felt like you were. Thanks for the motivation! I'll hope to come back and thank you someday with my success story!

georgeinthecord

I am so excited people are actually responding! It is so different to think about how far you've come than to continually only focus on how far you have to go. I am trying to enjoy the journey everyday. Yesterday at my gym class I was able to do a full wall walk and my next goal is a kick up handstand against the wall

Obviously I wanna weigh less, but having goals like "fitting into a shirt that I couldn't button" or "kick up handstands" or "insert goal here that doesn't have anything to do with a number on the scale" is great.

Thanks to all of you for posting and sending me all of this positive energy!

RenaTX

You are great looking guy! Thank You for sharing your success story and so true!

IAmTheGlue

Congratulations! Not just on the weight loss, but your change of mindset, your new healthy attitude, just everything. Good job!

timtam163

Legit! I love this quote. I've tried self-loathing as a way of getting healthy... wonder why it never stuck! You have to keep being proud of the progress and you have to feel you deserve what you've worked for in order to create lasting change, and self-loathing undoes all that. Love trumps hate always... hate eventually runs out of steam

bluets2011

So good to read this today. I don't take my pictures often and dodge them as often as I can. I know how daunting it is to post publically. I did it and felt kind of good. You look great in both pictures, in the second one you're shining with happiness! Well done!

Panda8ach

Congratulations ) I needed this today too. Inspiration. Awesome life change, well done

smudge521

I think you are extremely attractive both before and after!!! Thank you for sharing your very personal struggle. It is always amazing to find out what someone is thinking when you would never have guessed it. You should be really proud of your accomplishment. Yours is a very inspirational story. Thanks for sharing.

kattgirl1998

Wow, amazing post! You look sooooooooo good, however your change in mindset and the joy that is clearly on your face and in your eyes is what is most inspiring. Your struggle resonates deeply with me as I am terribly hard on myself, too, as you well know. :-) I am constantly fighting the negative self talk, too. I will think I am fat and gross and get frustrated with my plateau and sometimes it is debilitating. I think you are incredibly strong and brave to share and I am glad you did. Thank you for the incredible inspiration to keep trying no matter how many times we fall. So proud to be your friend in this journey and don't know what I would do now without your inspiration, kindness, positive attitude and support. You're the best!

georgeinthecord

I will say that a lot of the joy in the picture is because I just finished having dinner with my bestie. hahaha

MyLovesMyLife

Great job! I too feel like this time is different. If you don't mind me asking what kind of clinic did you join? I visited a nutritionist a few times and though she was helpful to an extent she thought I was crazy for trying to lose weight while being a mom to 7. Like I should wait 20 years until they move out lol

georgeinthecord

MyLovesMyLife wrote: »

Great job! I too feel like this time is different. If you don't mind me asking what kind of clinic did you join? I visited a nutritionist a few times and though she was helpful to an extent she thought I was crazy for trying to lose weight while being a mom to 7. Like I should wait 20 years until they move out lol

I joined a place called Carolinas Weight Management here in North Carolina. It's through one of our local hospital systems. So far on the non-surgical path I am taking, I've met with a general doctor, fitness trainer, and registered dietician. They also did a metabolism test. The general doctor and fitness trainer didn't do much for me, but meeting with the RD was great. She let me know that it's okay to not be overly restrictive and to not be so black and white/hard on myself. Then we had a 5 minute conversation about Ben & Jerry's. hahaha!

And good luck! 7 kids! It is hard to have 2 kids and 2 dogs. hahaha

everher

You're amazing!!!!

MyLovesMyLife

georgeinthecord wrote: »

MyLovesMyLife wrote: »

Great job! I too feel like this time is different. If you don't mind me asking what kind of clinic did you join? I visited a nutritionist a few times and though she was helpful to an extent she thought I was crazy for trying to lose weight while being a mom to 7. Like I should wait 20 years until they move out lol

I joined a place called Carolinas Weight Management here in North Carolina. It's through one of our local hospital systems. So far on the non-surgical path I am taking, I've met with a general doctor, fitness trainer, and registered dietician. They also did a metabolism test. The general doctor and fitness trainer didn't do much for me, but meeting with the RD was great. She let me know that it's okay to not be overly restrictive and to not be so black and white/hard on myself. Then we had a 5 minute conversation about Ben & Jerry's. hahaha!

And good luck! 7 kids! It is hard to have 2 kids and 2 dogs. hahaha

Lol thanks I have 3 dogs and 2 cats too but the cats are easy!

km1ll27768

Great job! It's a big encouragement for me!

JeromeBarry1

I also am not crazy about how I look, dressed or naked. I can't stand how I look. I look horrible. To me.
And you know what? I don't matter. My looks are my presentation to everyone else in the world and some few of those have said, whether it was a polite lie or not I can't say, that I look ok. So, I let that be. You look ok, dude.

snickerscharlie

Kudos, George, for the weight loss and the honesty.

honeybearwarrior

You're very handsome and a big inspiration. Thanks for sharing.

bbell1985

You're handsome AF! Great work!

tabletop_joe

Wow! I have to say that I find it weirdly comforting to learn that a person as attractive as you (you're just about as cute as they come!) struggles with self-image. As in, maybe a lot of people do and it's not just me! I also feel bad that you've gone through all that because I know how it is.

Good work on your weight loss goals!