Perspective

SteveK279

I stood on the scales a couple of weeks ago and saw the number - 208.6. It shocked me - even though I'd told myself I would allow fluctations to 210 (15 stone) and although I was still under it, I felt fat. I'd seen 193.8 in December, so I was up 15lbs and this in itself felt like a failure.

There has been a lot going on and many reasons for the gains - the month in Australia, the drinking, the parties, the takeaways, depression, ankle injury, the cancer that attacked my aunt (she & I are very close - I even left my parents and lived with her for a few months when I was in school), but at the end of the day, these are all excuses. The only person to blame for the bad choices was myself. I wasn't taking it seriously and although I did log in here most days, I wasn't logging my food. Deep down, I knew I was screwing up and didn't really care. Some of my friends from MFP knew I wasn't trying as hard as I should have been and did encourage me to get out of my funk.

I looked at the number again, 208.6 and went to the spreadsheet with my weighins - the last time I was that weight was almost exactly a year previous, so in reality I had essentially maintained for a year. Yes, there are arguments to say I wasted a year of progress or potential progress, but it's better to accentuate the positives rather than focus on the negatives - I was still down over 63lbs from my starting weight in a little over a year and a half and determined to break back in to ONEderland.

Three weeks on, I'm back running & walking - slowly at first of course, and short distances. I can't do a 5K without a little walking right now, but I can still do it under 30 mins - I've no dreams to be an athlete, but I'm definitely able to run for a train / bus or whatever I need to really. The scale is responding in kind & now shows 203.0 and is decreasing all the time. Hopefully the lessons have been learnt, but I guess only time will tell.

It's easy to mess up and have setbacks, but we need to put them in the perspective of the total journey - what seems like a failure can be a minor hiccup and with perspective, changed into a different achievement that can motivate us to eventually succeed.

oedipa_maas

You're absolutely right. I think acknowledging our set setbacks while also keeping an eye toward the big picture is crucial. It help prevents all or nothing thinking, which for me is a one-way ticket to giving up my goals. Getting going again after some difficulties is almost harder than starting in the first place. I found your post really inspiring.

Dhemeyer

What a great post! Thanks for sharing. Your thoughts are much appreciated