"on the wagon" , "off the wagon"... there is no WAGON!

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  • Railr0aderTony
    Railr0aderTony Posts: 6,804 Member
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  • keepersmom8
    keepersmom8 Posts: 42
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    This is fabulous!!!!!
  • jiggy_gibby
    jiggy_gibby Posts: 197
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    well put!
  • Lmezz11
    Lmezz11 Posts: 619 Member
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    Thank you. I needed to read this. :heart:
  • Alatariel75
    Alatariel75 Posts: 17,959 Member
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    applause.gif
  • ezzirah
    ezzirah Posts: 4
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    NICE! Well put!!!
  • HodderAL
    HodderAL Posts: 358 Member
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    Wise words! I hope many people read this.
  • Robin_Bin
    Robin_Bin Posts: 1,046 Member
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    Excellent post!

    (Just read another post about foods people considered "cheating", which is very similar to the "off the wagon" concept, I think. And I really don't understand who they think they're cheating or why someone would want to cheat himself or herself?)
  • RhonndaJ
    RhonndaJ Posts: 1,615 Member
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    I like your post, but I view 'the wagon' as something a bit different than I think you perceive it.

    When I 'fall off the wagon' it doesn't mean that I've failed or done something horrible or painful. It just means that I've consciously stopped working towards the goals that I've set for myself. Nothing more nothing less.

    Running to catch up with my wagon? That's just the struggling effort I go through at times to get back to steadily working on my goals.

    And getting back on or being on the wagon? That just means I'm going through a streak where I'm keeping to my goals fairly easily and I can sit back and enjoy the ride.

    The problem isn't in the phrase, it's where a person's head is.

    As I said, I like your post, I think it's a good point to be made, but I like the phrase and I'll be continuing to use it as it fits in my life.

    Respectfully,
    R
  • mcfc4tony
    mcfc4tony Posts: 107 Member
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    For the last week I have been seeing posts everywhere about this stupid wagon.

    Some are getting back on it, others claim to have fallen off it, yet others can't seem to catch the wagon to fall off of just to climb back on it again.

    THERE IS NO WAGON!

    You can't fall off something you refuse in the first place.

    Do you really want to ride this wagon the rest of your life? Just to fall off and hurt yourself. Because from my point of view here, if you keep telling yourself you failed Or "fell off the stupid wagon" you are never going to find what it is you are trying to find.

    There is no wagon.

    There might be an off meal or a treat meal, or an I'm so exhausted I got take away Chinese food. But there is no wagon.

    I've learned quite a bit here lately about living to the fullest. Watching people you love die slowly will do that to you.

    My weight may stall for months on end, it may plateau. I may eat cake, I might eat Chinese, I drink.

    But I have not fallen off any wagon. The whole notion just sounds painful.

    Find some peace with your body. If you haven't reached goal, if you have reached goal or just midway to it. Make peace and LIVE without regret. LIVE and EAT with the people you love. Tomorrow is so not promised.

    Tomorrow morning they could be gone, forget about the wagon and enjoy the food you ate that was made with love or shared with love and chopsticks over a DVR'ed TV show.

    One meal, one day in such a structured world we live in with counting calories will not kill you. I promise.

    I am in theory 19 pounds away from where I ultimately desperately wanted to be.

    My body however has had other ideas, this has taught me where my Maintenance level is.

    45 pounds lost is hellishly good to where I was this time last year.

    If another pound doesn't drop off. That's fine. I didn't chase, ride, fall or otherwise involve wagons in the process.

    It is what it is.

    But I have found where I can comfortably eat to keep those 45 pounds away for the rest of whatever life I have through some of the worst stress you can go through.

    But please back away from the wagons, there are no more prairies to cross with that wagon. You are enough as you are. Leave the wagons alone, they just seem to cause a lot of anguish.

    Eat, and live and realize it's one meal. It's not going to kill you or magically make you regain all the weight you lost or undo the work at the gym.

    Be at peace. It's nice to find, and comes when you leave the stupid wagon alone.

    Bump
  • tj1376
    tj1376 Posts: 1,402 Member
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    LOVE THIS POST!
  • Iwishyouwell
    Iwishyouwell Posts: 1,888 Member
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    A zombie thread that deserves a BUMP OF LIFE!
  • jen_zz
    jen_zz Posts: 1,011 Member
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    Nice reminder.
  • Smamfa
    Smamfa Posts: 139 Member
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    Brilliant post!!
  • Danilynn1975
    Danilynn1975 Posts: 294 Member
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    An update to this post:

    Since I made this thread nearly a year ago. I have been in maintenance. That's really cool.

    In this year since I have buried a very special member of my family. She lost her battle to cancer on July 21, 2013. She was my mother-in-law and she was a second mom to me. I was blessed to be loved by my husband's mom. We took care of her at home to the very end. She drew her last breath just as the sun rose on a Sunday morning. We were with her for it.

    This happened less than 2 weeks after her 67th birthday. We made a chocolate sugared pecan cake with fudge icing for her. I ate a huge slice of that cake with her. We shared the plate of it and the fork. She was so weak by then we had to feed her. The only way she would eat was if you ate off her plate with her.

    In that moment of cake sugar high, my thoughts were not on calories, they were not on losing, maintaining weight or anything other than the woman I shared it with. They were on her and the smile she had, and the way she could barely hold my hand. That is what means more in life than size or weight.

    Not long after we buried my mother-in-law, I found out more devastating news. My momma has lymphoma. Caught early.

    So far she is doing well on the chemo.

    But if my mom makes me food or wants to go out to eat. I go and I enjoy every bite and laughter that goes with it.

    Tomorrow is not promised, being thin doesn't matter if I have no one I love to enjoy life with.

    Please think about that. Life is fragile. Never pass an opportunity to live it well and fully with the PEOPLE in your life. They can be gone so quickly. Live with no regret it steals today's joy from you.

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