Living The Lifestyle Thursday 01/12/2023

imastar2

This is a thread for everyone. If you're new to GoaD, or to weight loss, your questions and comments are always welcome. If you're maintaining, or a long-term loser, your thoughts on the topic may be just what someone else needs to hear. If you're reading this, join in the discussion!

Each weekday, a new topic is offered up for discussion.

Monday - crewahl (Charlie)
Tuesday – Flintwinch (Tim)
Wednesday - misterhub (Greg)
Thursday -imastar2 (Derrick)
Friday - Wildcard

Today's Topic: COMMITMENT
It's early in the year and many people set goals, in many areas of their lives striving to reach some pinnacle or mountaintop and many times never making it through the first month.

So not discussing goals or hitting the mark or anything along those lines how do you stay committed during your weight quest for maintaining, losing over the longterm.

imastar2

Commitment to me is not giving up. After deciding on a course of action such as losing weight and the particulars of that endeavor then I commit. Once I've made that decision to lose then the commitment to make it happen begins to take charge. If I'm truly committed to something it doesn't matter about the obstacles it just a matter of driving forward.

The above statement seems easy enough to acomplish but without commitment I'll fail for sure. There's obviously a lot more to the story than that but there has to be a starting point somewhere.

crewahl

I’m not trying to reach a pinnacle or mountaintop; at this point in my life, I’m just trying not to fall off a cliff. 😊

Similarly, I’m not sure losing or maintaining weight is about commitment or about not giving up. For me, at least, it’s about having a set of priorities and measuring decisions against those priorities. Would I rather have Chocolate Dream Cake and domestic bliss, or would I rather weigh less and have an argument? (See Friday Weigh-In thread.) Would I rather avoid Mexican food and weigh less on Thursday, or have “Mexican discipline” and limit myself to ten tortilla chips, knowing I may be up on Thursday? In each situation, it was about choosing how to balance competing priorities.

The reason I said it’s not about not giving up for me is because in each of those situations - and really, at every food choice - I have to give something up. I gave up having all the tortilla chips available in favor of a more limited impact on my weight. I gave up pizza last night after weighing in and chose something less impactful on my weight. The point I’m trying to make is that every decision to do something - indulge and have domestic bliss, have the small meatball sub instead of half the pepperoni pizza - is also a decision, conscious or not, to give up something. Unless and until we’re willing to give up some things, I don’t think any of us can have long-term success.

Or I could just be talking out my butt . . . 🤷‍♂️