HOPE stands for...

snowsflake · January 2011

Hearing Other People's Experiences...that is why I feel it is so important thing that we share our experiences, and that we get to do that here. Remember that what you post or comment on may help someone from "giving up" or "giving in" THAT day. I have to remember that getting healthy is all about taking action. I eat better and workout - I start feeling better, begin to lose weight and gain self confidence. I start eating crappy and stop working out - I start feeling sluggish, my clothes are fitting tighter because I start gaining my weight back and then my self-esteem starts to go down again. But I have to remember that this is a process AND it takes some trial and error to figure out what works for me.

This journey has had its ups and downs and I can learn from the downs if I let the guilt and shame go...I'm only human. I AM going to make mistakes. I will eat pizza and ice cream again BUT a 3-4 month period may go by before I do.

My journey started off like this...I was a heavy kid and teenager and I lost weight before my senior year in high school. I was on a ton of diets before I lost weight the first time...unfortunately I was so scared to gain anything back that I barely ate, only thing with that is eventually it really got to me and I started eating EVERYTHING and I went on to gain 173 pounds over the course of 14 years. During that time I tried every diet that came out and I failed at each one of them. After I had a small success I would gain it all back and more...because nothing changed. I didn't change, my habits didn't change...but during the course of this journey I HAD to change.

The changes did not come all at once, they couldn't...it would have been too much to handle all at once. This has really been about changing my life for the better. About living a healthier life. About starting to free myself from the self-sabatoging thoughts and actions that kept me down. Today I feel so good and so alive...

Kate_UK · January 2011

What an inspirational post! Congratulations on your loss so far:flowerforyou:

bluiz13 · January 2011

thank you for sharing.....perfect example of someone who has finally realized this is a JOURNEY!!!!!

baypathgradLyns · January 2011

What a nice post! I love reading and hearing about other people's experiences. I am only a month and a half into my journey, and feel like losing 100+ lbs is a distant dream for me, but hearing from everyone keeps me pushing. I am officially addicted to MFP...