So you just woke up one day and...

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  • newheavensearth
    newheavensearth Posts: 870 Member
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    I have accepted this is going to be an everyday effort for life if I want to avoid gaining the weight back and avoid the killer diseases that are plaguing my family. My weight loss increased my confidence and self respect. I stand up for myself more, and people respect me more.

    I didn't wake up and say "This is the day". It took several years of disrespect and name calling from friends, loved ones, coworkers, strangers, and finally a doctor leaving me in tears by telling me to "glue my lips shut or get surgery" to wake up. I was in denial with that "I'm just thick and curvy" business but truth was I was obese and prediabetic.

    To start I took one step after another. I started exercising first because I loved music, dancing, and it felt like it was the only thing I could get right at my size. I got gratification everytime I finished a set or a dvd or did a few extra pushups. Then I started studying about nutrition online, in books, joined Weight Watchers, saw nutritionists, and my daughter introduced me to MFP. I'm still moving forward since I set another 10 lb weight loss goal.

    You can do this. 1 lb a week is 52 lbs a year gone. Even .5 lb a week is 26 lb year gone. Wouldn't you rather be rid of it than still be with it or have more? 5 lbs a month is great.
  • AspenDan
    AspenDan Posts: 703 Member
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    I'm coming up on 100lb lost soon..what got me motivated was the doctor telling me I needed to get on to some blood pressure meds at just 27.
    Keep trying, and remember that this is a marathon..figuratively..well, actually running a lot will probably help too =P
  • trjjoy
    trjjoy Posts: 666 Member
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    I got tired of being fat. So I logged back into my MFP account for the first time in months, if not years. And I have done very well so far.
  • whmscll
    whmscll Posts: 2,254 Member
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    To the OP, thank you for starting this thread! I really needed to hear all these experiences from others who have hit bumpy roads. I hit goal a couple of years ago. Gained some back, lost it again, and then gained 10 lbs back again. Now back on here logging everything for 6 days only so far. Today I messed up and felt like giving up. I mean, it's only 10 pounds, and this *kitten* is hard, so why bother? But after reading about everyone's mess-ups and determination, I'm ready to continue on tomorrow.
  • Orphia
    Orphia Posts: 7,097 Member
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    whmscll wrote: »
    To the OP, thank you for starting this thread! I really needed to hear all these experiences from others who have hit bumpy roads. I hit goal a couple of years ago. Gained some back, lost it again, and then gained 10 lbs back again. Now back on here logging everything for 6 days only so far. Today I messed up and felt like giving up. I mean, it's only 10 pounds, and this *kitten* is hard, so why bother? But after reading about everyone's mess-ups and determination, I'm ready to continue on tomorrow.

    @whmscll Good for you! Yep, you might as well keep trying, because the time will pass anyway.
  • CollieFit
    CollieFit Posts: 1,683 Member
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    Look at how some people give up smoking for example. Some never last more than two days. Some get nicotine patches and succeed eventually. Some reduce their cigarettes gradually. Some just stop one day and don't go back!

    I guess the same variations are found with managing your food / exercise balance.
  • xtina315
    xtina315 Posts: 218 Member
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    Girl I will tell you. I have struggled for four years now with being at my heaviest weight I started at 220. I know how difficult it is. What made it different for me this time around, is I was tired of feeling the way I did. I got angry this time at myself, and what better way to get back at myself would be to lose the weight. I have just started my journey, and I am much more determined than ever to lose this weight. I look back at my old fit self, maxing pt tests while in the army, and I look at myself today, and I do not want to be this way ever again, I want to be healthy and in better shape!
  • ToraLaBora
    ToraLaBora Posts: 7 Member
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    I'm a food addict, plain and simple. And I guess with any other addict i had to really want it and hit rock bottom before I woke up and realized I was killing myself with food. I realized we had eaten out 6 times in 8 days and I was disgusted with myself. Been at this for 10 weeks and lost 26 lbs and I'm never going back, even tho I've started and stopped so many times I know something is different this time. Something clicked.
    I finally love myself more than I love food. It hasn't always been easy, but the best decision I ever made.
  • jenring3
    jenring3 Posts: 44 Member
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    A big key is not focusing on the losses, but on the actions. Celebrating the small victories of things you DID and CHOICES you made that were better than the things you did previously or the choices you made previously. Giving yourself credit for those things. Realizing that motivation and willpower are finite resources. Nobody 'feels' that way all the time. It comes down to learning how to navigate choices and finding strategies for those things that challenge you the most and just doing those things over and over again. Once you find a little success and you realizing that those changes in habits are helping you move forward - regardless of the pace - you can't help but continue. Progress, not perfection and NO EXTREMES! Extremes of any kind are not sustainable. One of the most valuable lessons I finally learned was not to do anything to take weight off that I wasn't willing to do for the rest of my life to keep it off. Set up your environment for success (if you don't have it, you can't eat it). I think 'being ready' is overrated. I work in weight loss as well as having been through it and I didn't start super motivated. I was just feeling super defeated and new I didn't want to be where I was anymore. I didn't start feeling more committed to change until I set short term goals to stick with something and then I SAW change. Once the scale started moving - even if it was slowly - I made the mental connection that what I was doing was worth doing. It wasn't all weight loss all the time. There was slip-ups. But learning not to throw in the towel for one small slip was huge. Realizing that my commitment level ebbed and flowed was easier to live with than feeling all in or all out. Think about it, if you break an egg while cooking do you throw away the rest of the carton? Nope. Start where you are, forget about the numbers and focus on one positive change at a time. Master that and add to it. Pretty soon, it's a whole new you. You can do this!!
  • brower47
    brower47 Posts: 16,356 Member
    edited March 2016
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    JenniferLynWhatx wrote: »
    So all you successful people just woke up one day, started eating less and working out, and never stopped? I go on again and off again, never manage to lose any weight, and it's extremely discouraging. I've always been big, but then one day my thyroid was like "bye Felicia" and it was like I woke up HUGE. I managed to log every day for over a month. Lost barely 5 lbs... And then, just like all the other times I've tried in my life, I stopped. How do you just wake up one day and change everything forever?

    Don't base it on motivation. Motivation NEVER stays with you consistently. You have to keep plugging away even when you have zero desire to do so.

    My thyroid sais bye Felicia too. I've lost 15 more since the day it made the grand exit from my neck. My doctor keeps me hypothyroid with the meds I take for the replacement hormones and some days it's hard to be motivated to do the necessities of life like taking care of my kid, working, doing school work, etc, let alone get some sort of deficit or workout in. I still do it because to hell with giving up. It's my body and no one can change it but me. If I have a bad day, it's just one day and the next I'm right back to it.

    You get to decide when you're ready to stick with it no matter the variety of excuses you can take advantage of.

    I could use dozens of the legitimate excuses available to me every day. If I did, I'd still weigh nearly 200 lbs. It's been 3 years since I stopped thinking like you. I've had hickups along the way but I've never given up. I'm done with giving up.

    When you're done with the excuses and done waiting for the motivation to keep you strong is when you'll finally stick with it and get it done.

    Good luck.
  • orange_hoodie
    orange_hoodie Posts: 65 Member
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    This is a great thread! Cheers to the original poster and all who have replied, I'm sure many people will find your posts helpful.

    One of my favorite quotes so far:
    yesimpson wrote: »
    But as long as the sum total of your choices means you are moving in the right direction over time, that's the important thing.

    My journey has not been about waking up one day and changing everything; it's been about waking up each day, listening, learning, trying new things, and sticking with what works for me. Incremental changes. Nothing's been fast, that's for sure! I feel better than I did a year ago, that's a bigger measure of success for me than any number.
  • melissa6771
    melissa6771 Posts: 894 Member
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    clhoward6 wrote: »
    Annnnd..we have some more "tough Love" type posts. Empathy people, empathy!!

    I have been through years of "f**k it, pass the pizza, because I didn't care enough. Now there are some things I care about and I had to face up to it. Last year I was ill for four months and then developed a bad back. I had to tell my friends no to so many things and became almost a hermit. I haven't recovered yet (although its a bit better now) but hopefully as the weight goes it will help a bit.

    I have to plan any outing meticulously to ensure I can park somewhere close to where I'm going because I can't walk far without being in unbelievable amounts of pain. I don't want to tell people this because I'm embarrassed so I end up not going. I had to ask for an extender belt on a plane last year because I've now got to that point oh how embarrassed was I? Well, I'm 38 years old, I'm single and I don't want to spend my life just working or being on my own all the time. Being fat controls everything I do and is constantly in my thoughts. It has way too much control over my life and that is my motivation.

    I would recommend you really face what the extra weight does to your life. It will be very personal to you, but you have to be honest with yourself. Then you might find that reminding yourself of these things helps to keep you motivated for the long haul.

    Also really log everything accurately, even if you have gone well over your target for the day. Its worth it to know what you're eating and to be able to put a number to it, it might help your decision making process.


    I agree with just about everything she said. I could've written it. Being fat is again controlling my life. I am Embarrassed to go to parties or clubs and people see me looking like this. I also have a bad back and a bad knee, I am in pain a lot of the time. I am single again and feel like who would ever love me like this? There are so many things than can screw with your head. At some point I would probably be upset at 5 pound a month loss too. Feels like a lot of work for not enough payoff. Just chalk it up to a bad day, put your head up and move on. It took me over a year being unhappy and thinking about losing the weight this time to make myself ready to do it again. Down is better than up.

    Progress not perfection.
  • Duchy82
    Duchy82 Posts: 560 Member
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    The process is very simple and this is why you read a lot of eat less move more on the forums.

    Is it easy no, I've lost track of how long it has taken me to lose the 29.5kg so far around 3.5-4 years? but sometimes life gets in the way. I have had 2 quite major abdominal surgeries in that time, a cancer scare and some serious hormone treatments which will all 'eat' at your dieting resolve. I have probably lost 10kg extra in that time too after regaining and then losing it again but at the end of the day I'm still net down and the goal weight I set when I started is in sight with 4.5kg to go.

    Consider it this way it may be 'only' 5lbs but it's 5lbs closer to goal.
  • bezza666
    bezza666 Posts: 730 Member
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    Become a Buddhist
  • jwcanfield
    jwcanfield Posts: 192 Member
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    JenniferLynWhatx wrote: »
    malibu927 wrote: »
    Five pounds in a month is a great loss, at a bit over a pound a week.

    I told myself that it was going to take a long time. I figured eighteen months to my goal at the time. In reality, I've been at this since January 2014 and have been off track for the past 8-9 months, so I'm only now buckling down. But I've learned what works for me (moderation) and what doesn't (restriction).

    Have you read this thread? https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1080242/a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants

    None of that is new information for me... Honestly I don't think there is any "new" information. 5lbs a month isn't enough for someone at my size.

    I obviously just don't care enough about myself to do better.

    5 lbs. per month isn't enough for someone at your size? Losing is certainly better than gaining 5. And has the thyroid that you mentioned as bye-bye been medically confirmed? What are you trying to moderate? Sweets? Beer? Potato Chips? Just moderate one major thing if the whole kit and kaboodle is too much, then move to the next.
  • amusedmonkey
    amusedmonkey Posts: 10,330 Member
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    Basically yes. I took the dog for a walk one day. Usually someone else does. I could not breathe 5 minutes into the walk. I was distressed.. When did I let it get to this? I had no problems with the way I looked, but to take away from the things that I can do was unacceptable. I dieted for a couple of days, then buckled and decided not being able to walk comfortably was an acceptable compromise to not having to limit my food. A week later I was diagnosed with prediabetes, and that's when it all sunk in. I was destroying my health and I needed to do something about it. If freedom of food was important to me, then not changing anything would lead to lifelong food limitations due to diabetes.

    Tried a few diets here and there, nothing worked, yoyo'd for a few months, until I discovered calorie counting and that I would be able to lose weight simply by organizing my intake and portions rather than limiting it. Lost a bunch of weight at first, then got burnt out and focused on maintaining for a while. Since then I have been doing bouts of losing and maintaining. Losing 20 pounds a year is better than not losing at all, or worse yet, gaining. Hit a bump in the road a couple of years in and regained some of the lost weight, but not all of it. It was disheartening, but I kept positive about it and learned a lot from it. Yes, I regained some but I was still in a better place than the day I started. Any loss is better than any gain, even if it's just a pound a month. That my BMI started in the super obese category had no bearing on how much I considered enough loss. I was happy with any loss at all. It's all about mindset.
  • wizzybeth
    wizzybeth Posts: 3,573 Member
    edited March 2016
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  • Machka9
    Machka9 Posts: 24,944 Member
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    JenniferLynWhatx wrote: »
    So all you successful people just woke up one day, started eating less and working out, and never stopped? ... How do you just wake up one day and change everything forever?


    I woke up one Tuesday morning a year ago in February, went on my diet and started logging everything.

    For 4 months I stuck with it and lost enough weight to reach my first goal.

    Then I took a break.

    Then I returned to my diet for 4 more months and dropped to a weight I haven't seen since the early 2000s.

    So no, the diet isn't forever ... it just continues until I lose the weight.

    As for working out ... that I've done pretty consistently since ... well ... since I could crawl. I've always been active.



  • wedgeinthedoor
    wedgeinthedoor Posts: 10 Member
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    Hey 5lbs is 5lbs I'd be happy with that :smile:. I lost alot of weight when I first decided to lose weight. For me it was seeing an old school friend who use to be the same size as me, needless to say he didn't weight 325lbs when we bumped into each other.

    Atm 5lbs is around what Im losing in a month, sometimes 2lb. Find something that works for you and I'm sure that you will be able to reach your goals, and believe in yourself YOU CAN DO IT

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