It’s is a hard journey isn’t it? Not all the time of course. I haven’t met a single person who has said that their journey to lose weight and get more healthy has always been easy. Of course there are varying degrees of ease with which people lose weight, but overall, the journey isn’t always a “walk in the park.”
It doesn’t matter how much weight you have to lose, there are inevitably hard times. I know there were for me. I struggled with:
♦emotional issues
♦times I didn’t feel like exercising
♦feeling left out when other people were pigging out
♦weight loss burnout
♦frustration over perceived expectations
♦complacency
Quite frankly there were several times during the 14 months that it took me to lose all my weight where I just wanted to say, “That’s it. I can’t do this anymore.” But I never gave up and am so glad that I persevered and finished up losing all my weight.
I remember one time in particular where John and I had been to a church dessert function. People in our church could make good desserts! I had lost about 100 pounds at this point and was feeling pretty good about how I looked in comparison to where I had started. At the dessert party I looked over the tables and didn’t see anything I had to have. I saw a lot of things I would have eaten in the past, but nothing I’d be sad to do without. At the same time though, I remember feeling a little frustrated that I couldn’t just fill my plate with cupcakes, brownies, and cake like everyone else seemed to be doing. NO, I had to stand here holding my water cup while other people wiped chocolate from their faces.
After we got home that night I thought about how I felt and realized that even though it was a little frustrating to not be stuffing my face with desserts, it was also a little bit of a victory. In the past I would have been the one going back to the tables for seconds or thirds. I would have had to be careful sitting in chairs so I didn’t break them. And I would have gone home feeling guilty.
When times get hard for you, and you feel like you are alone on this journey, I’d encourage you to remember where you came from. Remember all the little victories you have had over the course of your weight loss experience. And remember that you are worth every effort it takes to get healthy – no matter how hard it is.
Question: How do you keep going when you start to feel like it’s just too hard? Diane
Recently a fellow member of SparkPeople asked how do I prevail during the “down” times when one feels “bleh” or “blah” and motivation has flown out the window.
I got to thinking while on my treadmill about my own experience and how have *I* been able to prevail during these tough times.
For me the more I can PUSH myself toward any / all of the following factors the better I could bounce back to where I wanted to be:
Movement + Music + Light + Nature + Touch =
Being More Fully ALIVE IN THE WORLD!
Don
you are so right, this is a life-long journey. i think that is how i have kept going. i know it is not a quick fix or temporary change. it is a lifestyle change. i have embraced that and know i will be making healthy food choices and exercising until, well, my body won’t let me.