What motivates each of us is different, and what motivated us then, and now may also be different.

Fairylaw33

Go back to 2004 with me. I was a sophomore in high school, and I was fat. Not pudgy, overweight, or out of shape, and certainly not big boned. FAT. Like most people, I decided that I did not want to be fat anymore. The reason doesn't matter but we've all been school kids, so we all know it was because fat kids are rarely popular unless they have some sort of outstanding talent or redeeming quality, which I did not.

So I did what any determined young man would do and I joined the wrestling team as well as devoted myself to cutting weight at all costs. I would eat one small meal, maybe not even 500 calories, every day. I wore trash bags under my sweats at practice to drip out as much as I could afford. I ran, and I ran, and I ran until my legs were about to fall off. I listened to the coach berate me, tell me I'm just a fat kid who would never be anything but fat unless I shaped up and became a man. I got my *kitten* beat every single day on the mat by guys who weighed what I weighed, but pure muscle. It sounds pretty awful doesn't it?

Lets fast forward to about 8 months ago. There I sat, at 30, some how a beached whale again. How did this happen to me? After all the pain and suffering I went through 15 years ago to become who I became, how, HOW could this happen? Well, it doesn't really matter how it happened now does it? I got to work, back to doing the only thing I knew how to do, except at 30 I couldn't handle it. I got so sick and so sore that I couldn't work out anymore and when I told myself to quit being a little *kitten* I just got sicker and weaker until I broke and spent several weeks eating everything I saw, as often as I could. I knew I couldn't handle High School Wrestling practice anymore, but I had to do something.

Now, here's the part where everybody thinks they know what I'm going to say, but listen to me loud and clear. I wouldn't trade the time and pain and suffering I spent in that gym (and away from it) for anything in the world. And it has nothing to do with learning from experiences or anything like that. It's the most simple and logical reason you could ever imagine. I wouldn't trade that experience because it worked. I lost weight and I kept it off for a decade. Like it or not, it was effective, and it made me a much healthier person.

But the thing is, now I can't do that anymore. So this time around, I started counting my calories, timing my exercises, and just saying "no" when tempted by friends and family. I weighed 296lbs when I started, and I am currently in the 240s and still working consistently every day to reach my goal.

We get on here every day and we post and reply and everyone is so quick to tell someone that what they are doing is "wrong" and that they should do it a different way, but the thing is, when you say all of those things you don't have the slightest idea who you are talking to or what will work for them. 2004 me would not have been the least bit motivated by slow and steady wins the race and 2020 me can't handle quit being a little *kitten*.

The only thing that matters to a person who is trying to lose weight and become healthier is whether or not what they are doing is working. Just because negative reinforcement shuts you down and makes you quit, doesn't mean that the guy you are talking to doesn't need it to push on.

So to everyone reading, for just a moment, stop worrying about anyone else and go have a look in the mirror. Ask yourself, is what you are doing working for you? If it is, carry on. If it's not, then don't be afraid to figure out what does, despite what everybody who thinks they are being helpful might tell you.

SisterSueGetsFit

You have a very positive attitude! Good luck.