Giving up too soon

Lost_Zen · May 2014

Bump...

Bonny619 · May 2014

I think everyone should read this. It certainly helped me tonight.

Wakeup2014 · May 2014

One of the most amazing posts I've read here. Thank you!

stephe1987 · May 2014

Thanks for posting this.

It's important to remember that MFP is more than just going on a diet, it's a lifestyle change. A lot of us have problems with food. Eating too much and not exercising enough. Not keeping track up how much we eat and we end up eating way too many calories. A lot of foods we like are very high in calories. But we need to recognize the problem and make positive changes in our lives. It does take some getting used to but the health is worth it. My back and knees feel better already and I still have quite a bit more to lose.

amflautist · May 2014

Resonates. Especially the part about continuing to log for the rest of my life. Thank you, OP, for a beautifully written message.

ChaplainHeavin · May 2014

A 19 year old friend on MFP posted today that she was ready to give up. She tired of counting calories and went so far as to say, "Recently I'm just thinking I'm gonna die in like 70 years time and who the hell cares about eating healthy all the time, I don't need to be the thinnest girl on the beach and I don't wanna waste my life eating 1200 calories every day...duh. Already squandered five years of my nineteen alive. Also I haven't weighed myself in like almost a month, and I need some curly fries."

I responded to her post, but I believe that my response may be needed today for someone else who is thinking about giving up. Here is my advice to the teenage who doesn't realize what she is giving up.

"I am 69 years old and have lived most of my life on the other side of the 'curly fries'.

I spent my 20's in low 200's. I starved for one year in my mid-30's just to get to 170 pounds and immediately went back to eating like it didn't matter. So, I got up into the 240+ range and just kept growing, until I was in the 280's after age 50. I finally got up to 290 pounds and spent years in a wheelchair, because my knees could not bare my weight any longer.

Sure...It doesn't matter, if you want to eat without concern for calories. You could be just like me in fewer years than you could imagine. Along with the food will come a horrible price. In your 20's, you may give going to the beach, because you won't want to let anyone see how fat you look in a swim suit. You will probably start making jokes about yourself and your weight to cover up the pain. You will begin to see yourself as "fat, ugly and unworthy of love". You will not care, if a man disrespect you, because you will have lost respect for yourself.

That's how I wound up with an abusive husband that I didn't love. I thought, "Nobody wants me...fat Sue, so I might just as well marry him, a man I don't even love." 22 years later, I was divorced, alone and fatter than ever.

Today, I weigh less than I did at age 19, because I lost more than 110 pounds in past 14 months. My health (not just my appearance and self esteem) was destroyed by carrying more 250+ for most of my life, because food was all I had to make me happy.

You have to make your own choice right now. Do you really want to give up your life to food, before you have even had a chance to live it? That is just a few words of experience from someone who has lived a life squandered on 'thoughtless eating'...letting food be more important than life and real happiness.

It is worth it. My health was destroyed by carrying more than 250+ for most of my life, because food was all I had to make me happy. You have to make your own choice. Do you really want to give up your life to food, before you have even had a chance to live it?

That is just a few words of experience from someone who has lived a life squandered on 'thoughtless eating'...letting food be more important than life and real happiness. Stay strong, little sister. It is worth it." :flowerforyou:

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Bumo

ChaplainHeavin · May 2014

I was asked to bring this post back up.

I am glad that so many folks have found this post and the matching blog helpful to them.

I work at a college campus. I wish I could bring you to work and speak One on one to some of the students and co-workers. Students who arrive as freshmen who have long surpassed the freshman 15 and have now reached the freshman 25 (that's 25 pounds gained in one semester). Men and women in their 20's, 30's and 40's who have tried every diet gimmick or miracle pill rather than learn to eat sensibly, practicing self-control and moderate exercise, such as walking and taking the stairs. I had one co-worker tell me, "You know, I used to make fun of you always walking around campus on your lunch break saying, 'That will never be me,' But after I had my heart attack I don't say those things anymore."

I would like to suggest you bump this post every month. Who knows, you may just keep someone from giving up and throwing in the towel.

nerchk · May 2014

i need to keep this post close.

egrusy · May 2014

Beautifully said!

messiahs · May 2014

This is so important.

psych101 · May 2014

:flowerforyou:

zahid222 · June 2014

Thank you!!!
:happy:

psylvester1 · June 2014

bump

traceywoody · June 2014

I add my thanks and appreciation for your post. We all need to read this when the "too hards" hit.

SweetMaryAngel · June 2014

this is beautiful and so motivating. As a 19 year old I know how the girl feels to want to eat bad food. But luckily I've never had problems with my weight and just wanted to get more fit and a slimmer. It's still definitely a journey. there have been times when I've thought of quitting, but after seeing this I'm even more motivated!