How do you do it, especially those who have lost so much

bumblebreezy91

I don't think I'm in the 'lost so much' category... yet... but I can relate to how you're feeling. I need to remind myself on a daily (hourly..., minutely..., secondly!) basis why I want to lose weight/get healthy. Lots of the time I listen to myself... Sometimes I don't. What others say may help inspire me and keep me going or get me back on track, but it's me who has to do the hard work of making good choices. And it is hard. But the more often I listen to my own good advice and the good advice of others, the better results I see and the better I feel. And that helps me to persevere.

Lessons I'm constantly reminding myself of in my daily challenge of getting healthier (and hopefully thinner):

~ It's a damned slow process. But I didn't get this way overnight so shouldn't expect to undo it all over night. 1-2lbs per week is a reasonable expectation for me. If that means I only lose 5lbs in a month, I have to be okay with that, and pleased with my achievements. There is no such things as a magic pill.

~ Whatever I do has to be sustainable forever. If I 'diet' by cutting all sugar, or all baked goods, or if I live on just white and green foods, I will lose weight. But as soon as I re-introduce the no-no foods, I'll gain the weight back. And probably a few extra lbs too as my body's way of saying "Take that for depriving me!". My new normal way of eating (reasonable portion sizes, lots of water, much lower amounts of 'junk food', a lot more healthy foods, within a specific daily calorie limit) has to be something I can do for the rest of my life.

~ Tracking my food and exercise makes me a lot more aware of what (and how much) I'm eating. It also makes me think twice about how I'm going to spend my calories. Yes, I think of my daily allotment like an account with limited funds in it that I need to make last for the whole day! Being accurate is very important. Overdrafts are costly (to my goals and my self esteem). For me, no foods are off limits, but if my goal is to be healthier, I will reach that faster by making better food choices. I'm more likely to make bad choices on days I don't track my food and exercise (or more likely to not track if I eat poorly or don't exercise). So tracking is important.

~ While weight loss is 90% about what I eat, exercise will help make me feel better. And if I feel better, I'm more likely to make better choices. But, again, the activity I do has to be something I enjoy, something I can do easily. Otherwise it's too easy to talk myself out of it. It's nice to exercise with a friend, but I can't rely on friends for my motivation. I have to motivate me and make a commitment to myself in order to reach my goals. If I can help friends at the same time, yeh!

~ While I'm entitled to have a stern word with myself when I mess up, I can't beat myself up and use it as an excuse to give up. I have to do my best to learn from my mistakes and then put them behind me and start over again.

Persevering to achieve a weight loss goal is difficult because it's hard work. Change is almost always hard. Even change for the better. But when that hard work starts to pay off, and your changes are paying dividends, it's sooo worth it!

:drinker: