Hello

Hello back atcha from (probably) somewhere else in Michigan. (I'm in the middle of the palm, more or less.)

Weight loss is possible. In 2015, I was obese, and had been overweight to obese for around 30 years by then. By 2016, I was at a healthy weight, and I've been at a healthy weight ever since.

I'm not a big believer in "motivation". To me, "motivation" implies doing hard things. As a hedonistic aging hippie flake, I'm not even remotely good at doing hard things . . . at least not for very long. Losing any meaningful total amount of weight is going to take quite a long time, months at least, maybe even a small number of years, realistically. And after that, we want to stay at a healthy weight forever, right?

To me, that puts a premium on finding relatively easy and enjoyable - at minimum tolerable and practical - new habits . . . habits that can continue almost on autopilot when other parts of life get challenging, because they will. That's a whole different mindset from "lose weight fast".

The new habits need to encompass eating and activity. To make them sustainable, that means finding ways of eating that are pretty filling, and involve food we personally find tasty. On the activity front, it means finding ideally enjoyable (at least tolerable and practical) ways of moving more. It can be intentional exercise (any of dozens of kinds, not just gym stuff), or it can be daily life things (think gardening, redecorating/remodeling projects, whatever - anything that moves more).

This time around, when I committed to lose weight, I decided I wasn't going to do anything to lose weight that I wasn't willing to continue permanently in order to stay at a healthy weight, except for a sensibly moderate calorie deficit until I got to a good weight. I needed to figure out how to include holidays, social events, the occasional indulgent meal . . . because I wasn't willing to give those things up forever. Maybe that's not the right approach for everyone, but I feel like it's worked well for me.

Being at a healthy weight triggered many quality of life improvements for me, some of which I'd never expected. It was also more achievable than I'd expected, once I got real about what could work and be consistent with a happy life (during loss as well as after).

This may not resonate with you, I don't know.

Regardless of how you decide to proceed, I'm cheering for you to succeed: The results are worth the effort. Best wishes!

Greetings jjansinski,

Nice to hear from a fellow Michigander. I'm just started here on MFP, too, & would be happy to join you on your journey.

What are your goals and your plans to achieve them?

I've been carnivore for awhile now and feel great!😊 I've lost my sweet tooth (mostly) and had some issues clear up, but haven't lost weight. 😟 I think I may be enjoying carnivore so much that I'm overeating!!!! Adding some exercise might help, too. But I need a gazillion jolts of motivation to do that!

If you would like to journey with me, I'd be delighted to be your friend and cheerleader!