I like telling this story about motivation

Aesop101
Aesop101 Posts: 762 Member
edited September 2024 in Motivation and Support
First let me apologize if it sounds self absorbed. I'm really not like that in person. In fact my friends on MFP will attest that I reach out. Sometimes too much and sometimes too much in real life.

I started studying for the CPA exam in 2009. When I started I weighed 330 pounds. Now some folks have accused me of being lazy my whole life. I suppose based upon my weight. Those who really know me will tell you quite a different story. I was laid off in late 2008 and I knew I had to bring everything I could to the table to get a job, hence studying for the CPA exam.

The first books I used were dated 2006 that were given to me. I figure what can change in 3 years. Well let me tell you enough so you won't pass the CPA exam. What's that they say, Penny wise, pound foolish. I didn't figure it out until I was studying for the 4th test, regulation, after failing the first 3. At that moment it was too late to order a new book. So I supplemented the book with information from the web. That would include the IRS code, business law, and Financial Accounting Standards Board website. Then I had to work on my writing skills. Since I failed the first 3 exams I was given a letter indicating my writing skills were weak on the written portion of the exam. The next test I wrote them a story the graders will be reading to their kids at night. At one point mom said "Are you ever going to pass!" Uhg!! I had been studying up to 20 hours per day. It was the only thing! Well that and eating it seems. I gained another 20 pounds during the period. My belly now touched the steering wheel of the roomy jeep.

Some how I passed regulation. After that I ordered 3 new books and clicked off the tests one after the other after that. So I was 4/7. Enough to win any World Series so I tell prospective employers. I had passed all tests by August 2010 and received my Congratulatory Letter the first of October, 2010.

So towards the end of my studies I started thinking if I put this much effort into losing weight I should be successful. Well for some reason I wasn't quite ready for that big step. In celebration after receiving my Congratulatory I ate big. I mean really big over a weekend shortly after passing. I ordered a large pizza and ate the whole thing. The next day I made apple dumplings and ate 3 of those huge things with ice cream. The following day I went over to mom's for dinner and pigged out. Then ate another apple dumpling with ice cream. I was miserably stuffed. I was miserable for 2 days after. I called a friend and told him about my glutenous experience. Helppppppp! I was desperate. He gave me the name of an app for the iPhone to track calories. I couldn't find it but I did find MFP.

Now I hated to log my weight on MFP. It was embarrassing. I was so heavy I had to weigh myself at the gym initially. Of course that's much better than at a meat locker (Not much). My scales only went to 330 pounds I think. So I scanned the boards to see if there were any others like me. Well there were some close. I saw losses of greater than 100 lbs. Yet here I was needing to lose 165 pounds. I was a tub and a half of lard.

To be honest I wasn't sure if I could lose weight. I only knew I had to try. My life was so out of control. Every aspect of it. So I signed up and posted my outrageous weight.

What scared me the most was will I be hungry. Well duh! Yeah! However it wasn't prisoner of war type hunger. I found that I was only really hungry at night. Of course the folks at MFP gave some solid advice, "Go to bed!" Uh okay. One other thing I did was start planning for late night snacks. Instead of eating pizza or tacos I started having some sort of fruit. All within my allowance. Then of course I drank more water and the biggest thing, I ate breakfast. One last little mind trick was to tell myself I was only a few hours away from breakfast.

Now if you can't tell by the way I studied for the CPA exam I'm not one of those folks who needs to hold hands or receive group hugs. I'm self reliant and pretty much still am. Still though I started becoming emotionally intertwined with the folks on MFP. Their support means so much to me. I hope my support means something to them as well.

After passing the CPA exam and losing a good amount of weight I started saying "Success seems to build upon Success. Though, mixed in within that success are times of failure. There always is, it's necessary.

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