I’ll start tomorrow morning was always my refrain whenever I thought about starting my newest diet or crazy weight loss plan. I put off starting an eating plan more times than I’d ever want to admit to. Sometimes friends would ask me why I didn’t just quit trying since I always seemed to be complaining about having to begin a new diet. I’d laugh at them and say I HAVE to start again or I’ll never get going. But unfortunately, the starting day never seemed right for a variety of reasons.
♥ A holiday was just around the corner
♥ Someone’s birthday was soon – it counted even if it was a distance relative. 
♥ I was tired of trying
♥ I really couldn’t afford the $9.00 weekly fee. (But I could afford to spend quadruple that at McDonald’s every week.)
♥ I liked chocolate too much.
♥ I hated setting myself apart from other people.
♥ I was going out of town – someday soon.
♥ We were having company.
You see it really was always tomorrow for me. And I’d guess that for a lot of you too. There were probably several times throughout your weight loss career where you felt like putting off starting your program for various reasons.
Here’s my question for you today, and I’m SO curious to see your responses. What was different this time around for you?
What made you say: This is my day to start. Diane
Next Monday has always been my starting date. And the weekend before was the time I eat more irresponsible than normal. I would even buy chocolates which I never eat under normal circumstances. Then a cake which is also never in my list, and I wouldnt finish the cake and then decide to start when its finished…LOL
.-= Mbini´s last blog ..Something Buggy =-.
For me it was the realization that I’m not “starting”, but evolving. It made all the difference.
It was the day I finally GOT the fact that this was not a diet, but a new way of eating and that the courage to change had to come from within and NEVER depend on external circumstances. There will always be birthdays, parties, chocolate, grocery runs, restaurants, Sam’s samples, vacations, lunches with friends, etc. The only way to avoid those external temptations is to withdraw from life and although that would sometimes make it easier, it’s neither practical nor wise. Is this easy? Absolutely not, but accepting it was a huge step for me and has helped me relax in to a new mindset and stop looking for ways OUT of situations I can’t control.
.-= Sharon´s last blog ..Day of Rest =-.
This time around I started my push to lose weight a week before Thanksgiving. In the past I would have waited, probably until the entire holiday season had passed. I can’t even tell you what was different this time. I haven’t figured that out. I just had this sense that if I didn’t start right then and keep on, then I was never going to do it at all.
.-= Desert Agave´s last blog ..Pride and Shame =-.
GREAT question! My answer…I decided to LIVE! my life instead of surviving it!
.-= Jules – Big Girl Bombshell´s last blog ..REAL GOALS™ =-.
I did not do too many start & stop & start things… but once I started, it was just going to be.. I was tired of being the fat girl….
Many people do this: TOMORROW IS THE DAY THAT THIS DOES NOT GO ON ANYMORE AND I KEPT LETTING THE TOMORROWS GET AWAY FROM ME…….
Today is the day to not let that happen! “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing year after year and expecting a different result.”
.-= Jody – Fit at 52´s last blog ..Reinventing Ourselves =-.
I spent a lot of last fall making excuses. I had been at my goal weight during the summer, gained some back, and just could not get motivated to do what I needed to do to start over. Holiday, events, etc. I wish I could tell you exactly what made me start on December 28. I know that our family holiday party was done. And I know that New Year’s Eve, traditionally a big snacking night, was just around the corner. I had lots and lots of candy and baked goods sitting on my counter from the holidays. My favorite chocolate. But I started fresh. I told my husband and kids to eat the chocolate and junk or I would throw it all out. I went to bed early on New Year’s Eve. I was glad that I started that day. I could have done a lot more damage waiting and eating all that was in my house.
I love this post because I think too many of us have the same reasons to put off starting again and again. Maybe today just one person (or more) will read your post and the comments and be inspired to start.
.-= Karen@WaistingTime´s last blog ..Life is Good =-.
For me it was first realizing that maybe I just didn’t want to lose weight…and then wondering, why the heck not??
.-= KCLAnderson (Karen)´s last blog ..Figuring Out How To Be Angry…And Be Okay =-.
My journal is filled with new starts and new ideas for dieting only to have a few entries later record my failure yet again. Each failure bringing a sense of self-loathing and regret. Recently, I have realized that I will always be able to come up with a reason to postpone or abandon a diet. I just needed get started. Your blog has given me a lot of encouragement and good ideas: not going on a diet (and then going back to “normal” eating when the weight is lost) but rather making permanent lifestyle changes that define a new me; not throwing in the towel if I make a mistake; and setting myself up for success by planning meals, snacks and eating out. You’ve been a real inspiration, keep up the good work!
Back in 1997 when I started on my fitness journey for the “last” time what got my attention was how fat I looked in my wedding pictures. Also at that point in my life I was emotionally ready to change and do the hard work of losing the extra weight and getting into shape.
Last fall facing a hysterectomy and menopause I decided it was “time” to finish what I had started and get all the way down to my true goal weight. I’m proud to say I am just 10 pounds away from it right now:)
Good question.
For me, I think it had a lot to do with finally taking honest and personal responsibility for why I looked and felt like I did. Once I realised that where I found myself was down to me, and me alone, I stopped making excuses and ‘tomorrow’ turned into ‘now’.
It seemed to click that the only person with any power to be able to change anything was also me and I knew a ‘diet’ wouldn’t do it for me. There had to be a fundemental change to my life.
I became aware of how uncomfortable I was in my own skin. I was, ironically, on vacation and was doing a lot of walking, lost a few pounds and I decided to capitalize on the momentum and I’m so glad that I did…
.-= ‘Drea´s last blog ..Im Willing To Move On If You Are =-.
Letting go of perfection has been huge for me. Thinking I have to stick perfectly to some plan always sabotaged me, sometimes before I even began. Real life is not a straight path, it has all kinds of ups and down, curves and bumps. If I wait to become a healthy eater until everything is ideal, well, I’ll never get anywhere worth going.
.-= Cheryl´s last blog ..Slow and Steady =-.
For me the light bulb finally lit up that said, “If you’re going to do it, just do it already!” so I started immediately – not on Monday, not even on a new day but at that moment. No announcements, no setting a day in the future which for me always resulted in a “farewell to chocolate” tour and probably an additional pound or two. The other thing which really helped me start was staying in a hotel with a digital scale (it showed 0.2 pound increments). I lost 0.6 pounds over the few days there because I was so active and I realized that I probably had sometimes lost weight at home in my various attempts but my ancient scale (with a needle pointing at the weight) wasn’t very precise and so didn’t pick up small increments as I lost them – and it’s all small increments. Seeing those losses on a day to day basis made all the difference to me in staying on plan. I can stick to a modest dinner because I’m thinking maybe the scale will show a loss tomorrow – so I can look forward to my morning weigh-in.
I woke up one morning and knew this time I was going to lose the weight once and for all and started that day and have not looked back.
I have started and failed too many times in the past, I now know what to look out for…never going there again.
My karate instructor telling me, “Dr. J, you are getting fat!”
.-= Dr. J´s last blog ..The Sleeplessness and Overweight Connection- It’s Enough to Keep You Awake Nights =-.
Those “tomorrow diets” really suck. For me, the diet usually started and ended on the same day. (If not the same morning!) The difference now is that I’m “dieting,” but for longer and longer periods. When I do have an off day or meal, I start eating healthy again with my next meal or sometimes tomorrow. I guess tomorrow isn’t so bad as long as I really do start tomorrow!
.-= Jenn´s last blog ..Before- During and Now =-.
For me it was the incident where I “woke up” and saw that change needed to happen. Before that moment I was lulled into complacency by a wall of so many other issues that i could not find my head, let alone what my body or anyone else s body was doing. When that wake up moment hit, the change was instant, dramatic and saw no excuses.
.-= Diane´s last blog ..Wednesday =-.
I was too busy laying on the couch eating fried shrimps to even think about starting. But once I did, jumped right in without hesitation.
.-= Yum Yucky´s last blog ..Woman Shows Symptoms of Canoeing While Crazy =-.
Thank you for putting in there the line about not being able to afford the fee but spending more eating out. That was always my excuse for WW, the gym, healthy food.
I decided that I was tired of being tired and just wanted to be me. And now every day is a new day even if I overdid it yesterday.
Besides being the highest weight I’d ever been without being pregnant, I was 32 years old and felt so much older because of the pain in my knees and the size I wore. I said to my husband, “I’m too young to feel this old.” and I knew my weight was the problem that had to be remedied.
.-= Leah´s last blog ..Let Freedom Ring- – Day 1 =-.
I’ve given up saying I’ll start tomorrow (usually it was I’ll start Monday). I’ll try to do my best every day and if I have a bad day I don’t look back but just move forward.
I have the exercise down, but I am still working on the eating. It’s just clicked in my mind that this is not a diet, but a lifestyle and I really want to be committed to this for life.
.-= Shawnee´s last blog ..Leftovers-Pantry-Freezer Week =-.
I saw a picture of myself with my cousins. The majority of us were at least 20 lbs or more overweight with belly pudges. I was rather depressed at the sight. We all grew up riding horses and were pretty fit as youngsters. In our adult lives we have really let our health go to pot. While it wasn’t the next day that I started hard core, I did start to make better choices until I really threw myself into it.
.-= Stacy´s last blog ..Baby stuff =-.
I’ve had 18 years of tomorrows. In November of last year, I read something that said “today is the tomorrow that you worried about yesterday” and something clicked with me with that statement. I just have to do it. It’s not really an option.
I sure wish it would happen faster though!
.-= Julie Lost and Found´s last blog ..The Self Fulfilling Prophecy =-.
Life isn’t going to stop so I can lose weight, there will always be a party, vacation, bad day, good day, something to celebrate or mourn – it’s just life.
Getting laid off from my high stress job was what did it for me this time. Past successes were started with that mythical switch being flipped but I didn’t know how to find it again after it got switched off.
.-= MB´s last blog ..Challenges =-.
My skinny doctor whom I love, told me at a physical that I was healthy but FAT and I was “on the verge” of high bp, cholesterol, etc. Something that day… clicked, and I started WWers on my own.
18 mos later we were at the bedside of my father-in-law and she said, “You look wonderful!” I told her it was because of what she had said. She apologized for using that F word and then said how grateful she was to see the change in me. She said, “as a doctor, I get discouraged because I don’t really make a difference in people lives with pushing pills and surgery. Motivating you to get healthy is what really makes my job worthwhile!”
It’s amazing how many of your posts I go “that’s me”.
It took 3-4 months of starting tomorrow to get at it and New Year’s Day was the last tomorrow thankfully.