If you can read this, you have succeeded.

It is okay to struggle. It is okay to struggle for a day, a week, a month or even a year, but make progress in your struggle. Sure, I could have lost a lot more weight or reached my goal if I was an awesome, hard working, healthy machine, like some of the people I read about on myfitnesspal, but that is not for everyone. I sometimes become depressed, stressed, or just plain lazy. That is okay. I am human, after all. I have been stalled and eaten a lot lately, but if I have gained anything at all it is merely a 0-2lbs, though my tummy wanted 10lbs. I have times where I struggle and feel tired, but I know how to splurge when I feel I want to and not ruin all of my hard work. I replied to a post about BMI, just now. What was my BMI when I started? It was 31-32. What is my BMI now? It is around 27. I have lost at least 4 or 5 inches on my waist, 5 or 6 in my hips, plus a few everywhere else. I realized that it doesn't matter when I made progress, but it matters that I have not ruined the progress I made.

I have lost 30lbs. It doesn't matter when or how long it took me. I have succeeded. Even when I was off track, I have not forgotten my goal for one day. That is not the mind of a failure. Someone who gives up, forgets everything they want to be and loses their self in all the things they want to overcome. Remember this, the next time you eat a cake, instead of a slice. Remember this, the next time you don't exercise for a day, a week, or a month. When the scale goes up one lb, it would have been ten if you didn't control yourself. You succeeded. Even the small choice of not to eat the fourth slice of pizza (or whole pizza!), when you should have stopped at two, makes a difference. You succeeded even though you went over your limit because you thought about your actions and your decision to stop there made a difference. You will succeed if you want to succeed. You are here because you want to succeed. That is all you need to improve yourself and your lifestyle.

So, the next time you are beating yourself up in your mind or crying over eating the whole gallon of ice cream, stop. Remind yourself that you are doing more than you once were because you actually care about it now, instead of eating the whole gallon like a brainless, sugar addicted zombie. Even a one lb loss in a month is success because it is better than where you were last month, no? Myfitnesspal is about creating a better self, inside and out. Sometimes we need to be reminded that our success isn't in the size of our jeans, but in the strength of our hearts and our minds.