LAZY ME!

It's hard to feel hungry if your belly is full of water. Make sure you are drinking AT LEAST half your body weight in ounces (example: If you weigh 200 lbs, drink 100 oz of water daily).
Don't buy junk food. Keep only healthy snacks around. That way if you do binge, you're not really hindering yourself.
Take the long way home so that you avoid fast food joints.

You are probably in the post-honeymoon phase. The first 20-30 lbs feels great, then it's like you've been married 20 years & don't appreciate it as much. Losing weight is not as "exciting", but if you REALLY want it, you'll stick with it and MAKE IT WORK (just like marriage, right? )

Don't give up now, just keep thinking of your goal and how you will feel when you reach it. That sense of achievement there is nothing like it. Imagine how you will feel when you go shopping for a new outfit and try it on and look in the mirror! Keep that image in your mind and keep working towards it. We will get there we just need to stay focused on it. I felt like you the last few days but i've managed to pull myself out of it with the help of my MFP'S i've had good work outs last night and tonight so i'm feeling much better. Start out slow and keep building. If i can do it so can you. Once your back into it you'll be flying!!

OK, first of all, let me explain that I did this same thing, over a year ago. I was doing great, then took a break while company visited. I stopped and never got started again. I ate healthy, and over the summer, stayed within a few pounds of where I stopped in the spring. Then, over the winter, I was less active and gained a bit more, but not a lot. In all, I put on about ten of the pounds in a years time. This spring, I joined up here and jumped back in. It took me a year to get motivated to do it right again.

Why? Well, first of all, the company. Who wants to miss out on all the fun, the eating out, everything? Second, with summer just around the corner, I reasoned that I would be more active, I didn't need to go to the club everyday. Should I go on? No, they were all the same, excuses. It took me that year to realize I was living my life with excuses. Lazy? No, not any more than what is human nature. I don't mind hard work, in fact, I feel good when I've put in a full days work. But, I fell prey to justifications.

I could, and did, justify many of my actions, for many years. It's easy, just find a good argument and you can talk yourself into or out of anything. It's easier than thinking and using reason, and it's more fun. Well, more fun for an instant. The over time results, however, aren't very fun. Not when you don't look good, don't feel good, can't do what you enjoy, etc... Again, one can live in denial, just find a good excuse and believe the false instead of seeing the truth.

Of course, over time, we do see the truth, and soon push it away again with more excuses, more justifications, and after enough of conning one self, we get to add guilt. Guilt, now, is as evil and devastating as stress. How can a person feel good about them self if they are guilty of how they treat them self? Are you getting the big picture? Guilt leads to more excuses, more falseness, and this builds more guilt. A big circle of avoiding being honest with self...

So, how do you stop it? First, you have to give up the guilt. It's over, it's past, and it's time to move on. Guilt about the past only ties us to the past. Sure, it was bad, we messed up. So what, we all mess up. Accept it! From time to time, we will fudge it up. Second, look at who you are. Not what you've done, not what you want to be, but who you are. Recognize yourself and make friends with you. Your not going anywhere until you can like yourself as you are. Sure, we all have things we want to change, but we have to accept them before we can change them. It starts with being happy with who you are. Finally, you have to actually want to make a change. No one can make it for you, and it's going to mean making some sacrifices to change. Make a list of what you want to change, write down all the reasons why, and put it where you can see it everyday, as a reminder.

Remember, you like yourself, so now you have motivation to make those sacrifices. Think about it, what would you give up for someone you are in love with? Well, you are your own best friend, so give them up for you. Remember, you will mess up once in a while. How many times have you forgiven someone for messing up? Yea, a lot! So why can't we forgive ourselves? Guilt, remember?

Yea, you messed up. Yea you gained a few pounds. But, don't forget, your here, your asking for help, your wanting to make change. Your on the right track, but you need to forget those four pounds, forget and move on. Do it for you, because your a beautiful person, you deserve it. You want motivation, go look in the mirror. See that beautiful woman looking back, she needs you, do it for her...

Thanks. I'm looking forward to us making this journey together. We will all stumble from time to time, the important thing is to get back up, and carry on. Now, if we could all just get together for a daily workout...