But in terms of LOOKING BACK.... do you ever find yourself longing for a time in your life when things were different? Are are you good at LEARNING from the past?
I had a time when I was finally at a very good weight and looked great. At least that is what I think now when I see pictures of myself from that time. But then I was still fat and ugly in my mind and did not appreciate myself. Now I am looking back and am amazed at how stupid I was then.
How about this thought? Instead of sitting there longing for what "could have, should have, might have been".... what do you LEARN when you look back at your healthy lifestyle journey? Even if that journey only started 10 days ago, there is SOMETHING to be learned. Share what you have learned in your look back..................P
I have learned that giving up is never going to get me where I want to be. I also learned that I need to find a way that works for me and that I can keep up for a long time (possibly always). Taking these two things together, I have learned to be patient as I will never get to my goal by being impatient. I have come to terms with the fact that I will never be the person who can acchieve a 10 pound goal in a month. I am struggling with my 2 kg per month already (a little over 4 pounds). But as long as I weigh less at the end of the month than at the beginning, the month was successful in my book. I might not be at goal sooner, but I know that the journey to get there is important for me for setting myself up for long term success.
Mostly I have learned that my mind is a liar! It tells me to eat when I am not hungry, it tells me that I can't run at this weight, it tells me that everyone is looking at and judging me, it tells me to "eat that delicious treat" and then beats me up for it when I do, telling me that I'll never change.
I had to laugh at this, but it is so true!! The good thing is however, that you can teach your mind to be more truthful - or at least become better at detecting the lies it is telling you!
I have learnt to try and see people for who they really are when they show it to you (as there are always signs in retrospect that we may have dismissed or thought we could live with/change) e.g. trust that inner voice about people, that even if I don't log a chocolate or 2 it still counts and will show on the scales! lol, the mirror lies to me - it makes me look better than I really do, having an active lifestyle is important - being naturally thin in my early years with no effort at all set me up for difficulty later in life/post kids when I had not developed the skills I needed to maintain a healthy weight, whilst getting of the rails with your health might be easy - there is no easy fix it takes planning, motivation, support and determination, I am stronger than I think most of the time, I can get up early for exercise after all lol.
So much here! And I am absolutely with you on learning that I can get up early for exercise after all! I went for a run this morning and was marvelling at myself that I was doing this as I would not have been able to imagine that I would run half an hour at 7am in the morning just a year ago!
I have learned that small changes have a positive impact on my health in ways I wasn't anticipating. I didn't have "health" problems associated with my eating habits (no high blood pressure etc) so it went against my logical mind that I should have to switch to more wholesome food - after all - a calorie is a calorie, right; it shouldn't matter if I eat 140 calories of chips or 140 calories of fruit, but when completely substituted fruit and vegetables for my standby lunch sides (chips, crackers, cookies), I noticed fairly quickly that my hair became healthier - shinier and much less fall out/breakage. I can only attribute it to my diet since my hair care routine has stayed the same.
This is a great one! I have started to eat nearly exclusively whole wheat (or rye) products at home and have cut down on empty carbs very much. It makes such a difference in my general well being, especially my energy levels, that it makes it so much easier to make reasonable choices, because I know that I feel better.
I really try not to look back. I lost my mother very young and I used to watch old home movies of us together and I would cry boatloads and really longed for that time when I was young. When my mom passed, she was living abroad and had been battling cancer for 5 years (my parents divorced amidst her cancer battle - she was stronger than I even realized to be honest) and a few days prior, I happened to be at WDW (it was my 2nd and last time, actually). I was a teenager and was trying to get off the phone with her so I could go to a park. I had no idea it would be the last time I ever spoke to her. Out of that tragedy came a LOT of learning. I used to be riddled with guilt knowing I was rushing to get off the phone with her all for a dumb day at a park (sorry, no offense to WDW or anything). I have learned to never take anyone or anything for granted but to also enjoy small moments.
It ties into my weight loss journey. Every little victory is a step in the right direction. I so appreciate the fact that my life is relatively good and healthy. Anything else good in my weight loss journey is just icing on the cake for me at this point. Do I want to lose a bit more weight? Yes of course. But my body image is so much more important than a number on a scale.
I wanted to say how sorry I am for your loss! Sending a big hug!
But I am happy that you were able to learn something from it! The ability to enjoy small moments is so important and I feel so many people are missing it because they are busy worrying about the big things!
I am really going to try and not feed my emotions today. I have been very emotional lately and can start crying at the drop of a hat. I am pretty sure this is all coming from my son turning 10. I had tears dropping him off at schools today. It was like when I dropped him off at Kindergarten. This is also his last year at this school. He moves up to a school that is set more like middle/high school. He is only going to be in 5th grade. Lots of emotions over this for the next few months. He is an awesome kid. He is very smart and sensitive and very patient with people. He loves helping his sister with homework and is very good at teaching her and not just giving her the answers. I can see him following in his Nana's shoes and being a teacher.
Sorry for the long sappy message. Tomorrow I will be back to normal, I hope. I hope everyone takes the full advantage of the day and make the right choices for you today!
Don't worry about the sappy message - everyone is welcome to share here! Your son sounds like a lovely young man!!
I learned I like eating bad food... and eating a lot of it.
I watch the weight loss shows or hear others talk about how something in their past has led to them weighing as much as they do... and I'm not disagreeing with them... but for me, none of that applies. I like eating burgers, doughnuts, cake, pizza, cookies... it really isn't anything more than that. And when you add that to sitting behind a desk or on the couch all day, you get the results that I got. I learned that I got to get my butt up and moving each day, get at least 30 min of a sweat going, and stay away from all the junk, and I'll be just fine.
I once read something about how we are genetically programmed to love the combination of sweet and fatty. Because our genes still think that getting nourishment is difficult and we needed to store energy for the next famine. Sweet and fatty is the best thing to store lots of "energy" (i.e. body fat) quickly. The problem is that in the first world, famine just isn't to happen and the food industry is very good at playing with that sweet and fatty preference by giving us the stuff that we crave. That is one of the reason why you will find that most processed food has suger added to it - we find it tastier! And the tastier something is, the more likely people are going to buy it. I think your conclusion is actually a very smart one, because it enables you to think about what your choices are.
And while I know that for a lot of people some underlying emotional issue helps them gain weight (I even count myself amongst them because I first gained a lot of weight when I was 10 and we moved to a new town and I was very unhappy at the new school), ultimately it is not the emotional issue, but the way we react to it. For me it was eating my sorrows and buying candy with my pocket money. I started to treat myself with food when I felt bad - with food I enjoyed eating. So, even when the emotional issue has gone away, that does not change the fact that I like bad food a lot and still have to deal with not eating a delicious burger, pasta with cheese sauce or a schnitzel every evening.
No - I do not look back and long for things in the past because they have made me into the person that I am today. It may sound funny but if I hadn't been depressed, weighed 215 pounds and unsatisfied with my job situation three years ago --- I wouldn't have gone back to school, progressed forward into the job I have today, and I wouldn't be running half marathons and lost 70 pounds. Because of who I was back then, it's made me into the person I am right now. I wouldn't change any of that for the world.
I like reading your story, because you were able to really turn a lot of negativity into something very positive! That really is very inspirational!!
To answer the QOTD for myself, I'd have to say one thing I've learned since logging everything is that there are a lot of "good" choices that aren't necessarily the "best" choices. Right now, I'm just doing MFP and logging everything - basically just trying to stay below my calories every day. Well, I've found that even though Fazoli's isn't the best option, I can still go there and eat what I want to eat if I just eat more reasonable the rest of the day; or only eat half of the order of pasta (which is more than enough anyway). Or, if DS picks Steak and Shake for dinner, when you look up the calories on MFP, they aren't always as bad and you would think and you can fit it into your day. I've learned that planning really pays off!
I very much believe that a healthy life is not about being perfect. Perfect is going to be unacchievable for nearly everyone. So, your way of figuring out a good choice, even if it is not the perfect choice is a great example of how to actually make a healthy lifestyle sustainable!
One of the most important things I've learned, and this is thanks to my new WW leader, is that the only way to make a true lifestyle change is to flip your negative thinking into positive thinking and start doing what you want to do. Eat really delicious food that you will really enjoy, not something that is just so so. Find an activity that you truly love to do -- whatever that may be. Make your choices and own them. Have fun every single day. Use the time and effort you used to spend beating yourself up or regretting your choices to continue to craft your healthy lifestyle. It is so much easier to say yes to yourself over and over than it is to say no to yourself over and over.
I love this! And you inspired me to get out a cook book and come up with a few new things to try over the weekend! Thanks!
I had my first Pilates session this morning and it seems like exactly what I need, so I'm pretty excited.
I am happy to hear that you liked pilates! I am really bad at it and I know that this is a reason why I should try to do it. I know it would be something that I need very much. I guess I should look into a class! Thanks for the inspiration!
Well. Flash forward to not even 6 months after the wedding and we are both back to engagement photo weight. I'm devastated, to be 100% honest. I know what caused it. Depression + stress + lack of control + lack of caring. Eating out all the time. Sitting on the couch all the time. Eating feelings plus just loving food. But I'm so angry at us for being in this place again. I'm so angry that all of the cute clothes I bought last summer because I could finally fit into them don't fit this summer. I'm so angry that I can't buy any of the cute things that I've seen this year, not only because we're broke, but because I am back to "they don't make this in my size". I'm so angry and don't know what to do to get us back to where we were, because I don't know what got us there in the first place, and the things I thought worked then don't work now.
So I guess I've learned that something has to change. I just don't know what to change it to.
Sorry that you are feeling so lost!! If you want to, maybe we can come up with some ideas of what to change to? If you tell us what the things are that you thought worked and which don't work now, we might come up with some suggestions. There is a number of people here who do have quite a bit experience. None of us is a qualified dietician or so, but I would think that as a group we have a pretty good understanding of weight loss and the different ways to acchieve it.
In the past, I would have grabbed a milky way on the way out of the store, telling myself I needed to eat something. Today, I preplanned and had a chocolate milk in my gym bag, which didn't fill me up, but I knew I had "refueled" with a good balance of carbs and protein.
I have read people talking about chocolate milk a number of time and I am always baffled by this. Maybe chocolate milk in the US is much more low in calory, but here a chocolate milk would bring 384 Kcal. In my book that is nearly a full meal. And it still comes with a lot of sugar. So, what is the benefit of it?? I am really curious, because here in Germany nobody would consider chocolate milk a healthy choice!
Flossbolna... The jury is still out on Texas, as I didn't have any big ah ha moments or feel a deep connection to any place I visited. I did come away knowing what a big change it would be to execute, both in getting there and settling in. I do feel more deeply committed to being where I am and making the most of what I have, so that's a very good that not.
It sounds like the visit was definitely helpful to visit there!
Checking in for the week.
No weight loss.
0/4 lbs lost for the month
Completed two more couch to half marathon session. 2/3 done
Sounds like you are doing well with the training! I have noticed that in periods where I increase my phyisical activity quite a bit, I often stall in the weight loss (it often catches up later), so that might explain your not so great success this week.
It was awful. But I'm officially over my gummy-life-saver cravings, let me tell you that. Feeling lots better today but now I'm trying to make up for the day of absolutely nothing yesterday. 
I have a long torso so one pieces would never be my first choice, tankinis don't always cover me enough, and bikinis - not happening. But, part of why it looks the way it does is I have lost the weight I gained and then some. Although I am still a ways from my goal weight, I am lower than my pre pregnancy weight. So it was my hard work and good decisions that got me there. What I learn looking at my past from a weight loss perspective is when I really put my mind to it, I can absolutely accomplish what I want. But for me it has to be very clear what my goals and plans are. I need to track diligently and exercise regularly. I need to keep certain things out of the house. I can't have cartons of ice cream or I'll eat half at a time. I buy proportioned ones instead. I'm a planner by nature, and I need to make a plan and stick to it for things to work. Good news is, for nearly two weeks now, I have felt like I am totally rocking my plan. I think giving up on a weight goal for now and working on re-ingraining old habits is a great step for me.
I love it - its just so truthful. You are not alone there!
celebration dance for you - so happy for you.
Aren't CM friends quite wonderful. I am very lucky that we know a few CMs and thanks to them we were able to share some great benefits (like the Wild Africa Trek with a 50% discount).
