Honestly I am sick of dieting.

I just want to live my life. But I cant do that the way I want to in this body.

I have been dieting since I was about 14, on and off for 10 years. Where did it get me? Well here I am bigger than I have ever been at 315 lbs. I will do really well at one thing or another for about a year, then just get tired of having to worry about everything and 6 months later I am heavier than I started. I am sure so many of you can relate.

So what am I gonna do? Give up? No way never. I just need to change my thinking. It's not a diet, it's a lifestyle. I know this, I learned this years ago but I never believed it.

So here I am starting at phase one with an extra 50 lbs to lose than before. I just have to take it one step at a time.

...thanks for listening to my rant :)

MissDana,

I think once we embrace that...that is this NOT a diet, this is a lifestyle change, it really does make things easier.  It's no different than a drug addict or alcoholic.  Our biggest obstacle is that food is necessary to live, drugs and alchohol are not.

And being 20 years your senior, do it now....omg it is so much easier than when you are older.

We are here for you, so glad you are part of our group and I hope we will be hearing more from you and seeing less of you!!

MissDana,

It is so nice to meet you.  I'm glad you decided to change your life for the better.  You start now.  If there is any help that you need to get started or even if you just need to talk, give a shoutout.

I think most of us have been where you are.  And we fear we might go there again sometime.  But all we can do is go one day at a time and trust ourselves to keep on keeping on.

I know, I lost 70 lbs 3 yrs ago only to gain it back +20 when my hubbie was diagnosed with cancer.  I ate like there was no tomorrow.  then this summer when he got a great check up I suddenly came to myself.  I was worse off than when I started.

We can walk this way together.

We are definitely here for you! sammarie is right though - it is a complete lifestyle over haul forever. It isn't just to get to a certain weight and magically be able to disregard any nutritional information or just order anything at a restaurant that you know would taste so wonderful and eat it all or party with friends and drink and snack or take a second piece of birthday cake only to turn around and sit on our ass being inactive.

Using the food log here is SO helpful. I am getting where I can guess the caloric information of about anything anymore. I can look at things and know about how much they weigh (but I still <3 my food scale) - and these are the things you will need forever. And of course the analysis tool I should be the official endorser for it I love it so much and also tell everyone about it.

And exercise... this is something you will do for the rest of your life in some form or another. A couple hours a week. I really dont like thinking about that aprt, but i have accepted it. As much as I would be perfectly content never going to the gym again - but thats what helped me get here - and now i will never be content sitting on my butt doing nothing every day, because i know that's not what is best.

Never give up, never back down. Like texmom said, we are gonna make this walk with you.

Hi Miss Dana,

We're all here to help each other out..Just hang in there..Whenever I need a boost of motivation, I come here to this site and listen to my CC friends, like Texmom, Sammarieob, Kdh..We're all going through this at the same time and it helps to have the encouragement.  We will do it.

Today - for the first time in forever it seems - I went down a shirt size..Yea !!those xxx's are getting smaller..

Lyntex,

You got a smaller shirt, congrats!!!  I haven't bought any new clothes yet (except panties).  My reward to myself when I reach my 50 lb off mark is 2 new bras.  I should be able to go down one size around.

Hey Miss Dana, 

We've all been/are where you are, you're in a good place and it sounds like you have the right attitude.  Dieting sucks and doesn't work,  the only way to get healthy and stay healthy is to make a lifestyle change.  They don't come easy but it's definitely doable.  

Like KDH I love the food log, the tools here are great, but the community is better.  We're all here for you and we all understand where you are. 

Dear Miss Dana, I soooooo know how you feel.  My mother dragged me to a doctor to be put on a diet at age 7 and it hasn't quit since then. 

 But here is the thing.      &nb sp; If you want to be on your last diet ever, then you do have to do the lifestyle thing . And with that comes some things that we have to ACCEPT.  You will have days that you are sick and tired of not being able to have what you want when you want it.  You will have to do what you need to do even if you don't feel like it ....and then the big one, you will have to ALLOW yourself to CHANGE.   OUCH!  I know, not fun right. 

 Well do you remember that post I started      (which i can't find by the way, can anyone help me to find it, i am still so new here)........well i asked why everyone wanted to lose weight, what were the advantges?  To me that is not just some silly thing to do.  As i mentioned before, i am reading judith beck's book and one of the things she asks you to do is make that list, put the reasons on small index cards and read it several times a day.  it helps to re-program your brain, keep you motivated and keeps your mind focused when the "diet" part of change gets tiresome and boring and you are sick to death of it. 

You go on to just make the life decision that whether you feel like it or not, you will do this for yourself.  She has lots of other things you must be willing to do too.  One really helpful is what she calls a list of distractions.  Things you do when the craving comes to distract your mind and helps you wait out the craving.......her goal is that this will be your last time to diet because you are learning the skills that will help you keep the weight off and you practice them ever day.        ;   For me , reading that list of advantges to losing weight is a motivator....i think sometimes i can't do this one more minute, i read them and think, " yea, i really do want this for me",  and it helps me hang on.   There are many reasons we eat.  Got to find a "firewall" for all of them.

Ibeck,

That thread is in Rant Away.  It starts "to motivate.....

thansk, i wanted to read it...i was gone for a 3 day weekend, was a trial to stay with plan but did ok....yea!

Ibeck,

Staying on track while you are traveling is very difficult.  Congrats.

Thanks for all the input guys. I just realized I should have put this in rant away, sorry!

Aloha Miss Dana,

I too have been on and off diets for my entire life.  It started with my mother putting me on the prune juice diet at the age of 8 and it's been me riding the diet roller coaster ever since.  That was until I threw up my hands about 3 months ago.  I knew there had to be a way for me that did not involve indulging in that "all or nothing" mentality.  I started seeing a nutritionist who has experience working with people that have been dieting and using food inappropriately for a long time.  It's only now, after three months of a strict "no diet" rule that I'm looking to lose weight. 

I used those three months to learn how to be aware of what I'm eating without being obsessed with it.  I kept a food journal, but didn't focus on calories or Points or anything like that. After a while, it started to feel like my entire nervous system was unclenching after the prolonged stress of the dieting lifestyle.  I worried that I would gain more weight by not working some kind of plan, but that didn't happen.  I may have gained a little in the first month, but by the end of it, I hadn't gained or lost anything.  It felt good to finally put food in a healthy place in my life.

Bottom line is if you've been doing the diet thing as long as you said, you know what a healthy choice is. 

It's a perfect time to let go of diets, plans and all the scaffolding that we think we need in order to lose weight.  Embrace awareness and some basic goals of what a healthy lifestyle means for YOU.  Every so often, tweak those goals to fit some new twist or turn that your life is taking. 

It's amazing how much more energy you have for other things in your life when you stop dieting.  Good luck!  You will do it!

Moxiemaxey,

Hello, so nice to meet you.  I am still struggling with this concept.  I've been losing weight since late June and am still in a diet mindset.  I am realizing that I have to change the way I think and the way I eat and the way I act in order to make a change in my body that will last.

Making wiser choices about what I eat is easier than I thought it would be.  I just have to be AWARE of what I am doing and not just blindly eating whatever I am DESIRING at the time.  I cannot eat double cheeseburger with mayonnaise and french fries and vanilla milkshake whenever I want and stay in a smaller body.  Not anymore, I'm not an active teenager anymore.  I'm an older woman with lower metabolism in a sedentary lifestyle. 

So lifestyle change it is.

OK.  I appreciate your comment.

texmom52 - I think you make a good point that with awareness comes some not so easy choices.  You know that saying, "Put your big girl panties on and deal with it?"  Well that's in essence is what I have to do with myself sometimes when I struggle to make the choice that will best serve me and my health goals.  Awareness is the beginning and then turning that awareness into actions that you know support you is the next. 

Moxiemaxey,

That is a great picture.  Tell me you're the gal in the headband, not the green person!  LOL

Texmom52 - That is me.  It was a charity bowling event with a superheroes theme.  Good fun!

Hi Miss Dana

I swear I  dieted my way to morbidly obese. I lived on diet sodas and low fat treats and was only fooling myself.

I decided one day that I had to learn to eat like normal person. I needed to eat "real" food. I plan my meals now, avoid processed foods for the most part and drink water instead of sodas.

My mom was not heavy, but always obsessed about food. She spend a fortune at weight watchers over the years. She dieted herself to an early death. I don't want that to happen to me.

Flirtin mom,

I think you have the right idea.  Avoiding "fake food"  (processed)  HAS to be healthier.  I know sometimes I just stick to a simple protein, a steamed veggie, and a fresh salad.  Sometimes boring, maybe.  But I am also not afraid to add some flavor with healthier fats and even a pat of butter from time to time.  If we eat pure and  simple MOST of the time, the SOMETIMES, it's ok to have that little treat. 

I think mostly when I eat out, it is really hard to know what you are really eating, so eating your food in its purest form at home becomes really important.  My mom was also a big dieter, even though she wasn't more than 10-15 lbs overweight her whole life.  She drank cartons of diet-rite cola, "cheese puffs" for snacking (she claimed they were mostly air, haha) and she also crunched alot of ice.  She also dipped ice cream and hid chocolate.  Food is such a personl thing and so particular to each family.  It is humorous sometimes what kind of "food quirks" we learn growing up.  I know I hated veggies the way my mom cooked them....boiled to a pale mush.  Today they are one of my favorite things.

  When I was little, the 60's  signified the age of processed food.  It was cool if your mom would buy tv dinners, snack foods, and pepsi and rootbeer.  If you are my age you will remember that Jiffy Pop popcorn was way more cool than anything homemade.  I hope we are getting smarter, but even the government can't seem to decide what is the healiest and stick with it. It is no wonder I was a fat kid/fat adult.  I really did not learn to eat healthy until I was diagnosed with diabetes.  I hope others are not as unlucky as that.  Take charge of what goes into your mouths, make the best choices you can.  After a lifetime of not even thinking health, making choices based on "sick" cravings, I was not in control of me at all. Became such a slave to the food.  I wish I could have "woke  up" earlier.

For me, common sense says keep it simple, stay away from the fake stuff, don't eat refined carbs, and if you breathe then you need to move everyday.  At our best we are in charge of our own health and I think we should be thankful we have that choice.

Hello Miss Dana!

I'm new to this group but certainly not new to dieting...I started this diet in January of 2008.  By March of 2009 I had lost about 30 pounds, decided it was time for a life makeover and the first thing to happen was a shift in my thinking.  No longer do I diet, I eat healthy foods in healthy portions.  I no longer eat until I'm miserable, I eat until I'm satisfied. Full usually shows up 15-20 minutes later. I dedicate more time to working out and to going to the gym.  I make room in my excercise schedule for running around and having fun with my dogs or tossing the ball with my nephew.  And I attempt to eat as little processed food as possible (the GOD diet: if God didn't produce it in the garden of Eden, then we don't need to eat it. Lots of whole grains, fruits and veggies, lean proteins, water and green tea. However, the one thing I do that doesn't figure in is my protein shakes. I know these are pure science but they really work for my body.)  I figured out that refined sugar (particularly candy) is a trigger food.  Once I start, it's like I've flipped a switch that is hard to turn off.  And once I start eating processed food more, I feel like I'm hungry all the time.  Sticking to a more regimented diet seems to work better for me, I've just learned that instead of a bland piece of chicken, I can add salsa with greek yogurt. Or homemade chili with a very little cheese. There are many ways to add excitement, and I think most exciting to me is the exploring and the learning.  Hang in there (sounds like a 70's poster, doesn't it? LOL) It will get better & you will be glad you didn't go back.

In grade school we were taught to eat white bread, red meat and whole milk!  OY!

I actually hate white bread, its too mushy and gross. the grainier the better. My 14 year old calls it bird seed bread.

I still love my beef. But make wiser choices now.

And I don't drink milk or eat any dairy (cept cheese on pizza). I should I am a farm girl, raised on a dairy farm and work in the dairy industry, but my tummy cannot handle any of it.