Posts by imlosingw8

Original Post by rosegus:

It's your HUMOR that keeps me coming back to read what you're going through.

Well then, let me shine some on you...

One thing I forgot to mention in my most recent flurry of posts was the fact that while I was shopping at Wal-Mart last Friday, I couldn't help but sneak over to the Men's section, where after a little fantasizing and a little consternation, I found myself face to face with the belt rack.

I did a 360 around it, looking high and low, not just looking at the newest and hippest styles that the peeps in your nearby trailer will be wearing this Fall, but looking at the numbers, mostly in the 30's and 40's....much like your local singles bar. After a lap around the rack in each direction, I saw it - the belt. I had one of those reactions that Davy from The Monkees had every time he saw a cute girl...we locked eyes. (Okay, belts don't have eyes, but just go with it...) My eyes started to get thin and beadie, just like The Grinch, as I looked in all directions, crouching my head into my neck...and I figured why the hell not? So I took off the belt with one hand, while holding up my pants with the other...after all, I didn't want to give the security cameras something to focus in on...though they wouldn't have needed to zoom in very far, if you know what I'm saying. Anyway, I put THEE BELT on. Damned if that thing didn't fit....yeah, it was barely buckled and the metal parts of it were screaming for mercy, but dammit, it fit!

So I bought it...even putting it in its own bag, like one of those $3 fish you get at WallyWorld, and put it on the front seat for a bird's eye view on the way home. Why not...it was the first belt I bought in over three years....it was a special occasion...and I swear I heard the belt say "shotgun" on the way to my car.

When I got home, the existing belt came off, and is now semi-retired, living a life of semi-luxury, and the new one went on, where it will now be the container for my ever decreasing girth, until it breaks down, or is put out to stud for a smaller model.

Oh, and did I forget to mention that the new belt is ten-mutherfriggin-inches shorter than the one it replaced? (I hate it when I overlook the small details...)

@rosegus - So, how'd I do?

I know what you mean....am having a brief but tawdry affair with Nutella at present...

Original Post by dreamscape:

There is such a thing as reading the right thing at the right time, and for me ... this is so about what you wrote. You have touched my heart, and I think something finally got through to my brain.

Thank you so much for sharing your story so candidly with us.

In all honesty, it's less about being so candid, and more about putting the thoughts of so many of us (as I perceived them) into words. The first one who can do that gets the lion's share of the credit, but those of us who can act upon them and leverage them into results are the real inspirations...

Bump in the road:

http://caloriecount.about.com/need-help-advic e-reassuring-ft204304

Tres cool! Hope you are enjoying your lovely monster...losing weight, but having to spend money for new clothes.

In 15 months, I've gone from 4x+ to 2x-, so I know the sensation quite well. And being headed for M myself, there may be a few tears from this corner before it's all said and done.

In fact, if I put on the same pants I wore when I started my diet, I can now hold them out in front of me like one of those "before and after" weight-loss ads, as I've lost nearly a foot from my waist. On the surface, it's great to see the results with your own eyes, but your emotional side is where it really hits home, and where it means more than you can imagine.

I think we're somewhat alike. I've been called every euphemism for fat or overweight you can think of throughout my life. And every time I  heard myself being called yet another name, I tried to ignore it, but when alone, it hangs over you like a black cloud.

The thing is....on the surface, you'd think such episodes would be the perfect motivation for losing weight, but it's just the opposite. It makes you question your place in life and causes you to wonder if it's always going to be like this.

Treat this situation like love...my mom always said that it comes along when you least expect it. Don't try so hard to anger yourself to action...it only wastes energy and makes you feel worse. Let it come to you...it will happen. You'll have that moment of clarity where you'll "get it", and that'll be your cue to get going. It's vital that you go into this with a positive attitude, and not a despondent one.

Save the taunts and insults for when you're close to the end, when you need that extra push across the finish line. Tell yourself that "I'll show you who's a guy and who's not" (or something to that effect), and use that kind of self-satisfaction to emotionally carom yourself to your victory.

Remember, lose the weight for yourself, not because someone tried to shame you into losing it. The difference in losing for revenge's sake and losing for your own self-worth and self-confidence is larger than you can ever comprehend...

Congratulations on your weight loss to date!

Just because you can see it doesn't mean it's not happening. Unless you're a contortionist, it's virtually impossible to see every surface of your body, so you may very well be losing in an area that you can't see (back, inside the thighs, neck, feet, etc.). With me, I had trouble seeing it at first, until I could start to see the veins in the top of my foot again, and feel a muscle on the inside of my leg that I never knew I had, and the fact that hats (with elastic headbands) that were snug when I began dieting, are so loose now, I can't wear them, as they'll fly off my head with the slightest breeze. A lovely monster...

Let's face it, in our results-driven society, honestly, the first two places we look at when seeking a measuring stick, are the waist and the face. And aren't we overly critical (as well as overly sensitive) about those two areas? Subconsciously, we demand that losing weight, no matter how much or little, should be directly tied to a change in appearance. When we don't think we see a difference, the self not being the most subjective person in the room, we think we have failed, and only bad things can come of such thoughts.

If those around you know that you're actively dieting, you'll have to accept that they'll play nice by complementing you on your appearance or asking if you lost weight...they mean well, even if you don't see it that way.

We're always our own harshest critics when it comes to matters of the self. With all the weight I've lost, I find it hard to see the difference in pictures from 2005 and hose from two weeks ago...and I hate pictures of myself! But I looked hard side-by-side, and saw some of the more subtle changes (neck, the disappearing "raccoon eyes", thinness of the face), despite the fact that my gut still hasn't retracted yet. I choose to revel in the successes, and accept that the gut will eventually shrink, 'cause they say you save the best for last, no?

Celebrate the fact that you're losing the weight from somewhere (right?), and don't let your critical self derail you from that truth.

Original Post by nekko_cat:

Original Post by imlosingw8:

Maybe from my perspective, it's too easy, but two things I've learned (of the many in the last 15 months) are that, first, success breeds success, and second, once you've established a new behavior long enough, it gets to a point where you no longer feel like you have to fight yourself. I no longer think of how much I'm going to eat, but how little I can eat. That comes from changing the way I looked at food, and what the true function of food really is...a fuel for the body, nothing more...nothing less.

Once I did that, and was able to focus my energies elsewhere, I was halfway home.

 Thank you so much for the inspiration!  I am working to cultivate new behaviors and have them become habits.  I like the idea of changing your perspective towards food; thinking of how little you can eat.

Seems strange to say this, but I truly believe that weight-loss is all in our heads.  The mental aspect is what leads to success or failure.  Our bodies want to lose weight, we distract and befuddle them with our lack of self-love, self-confidence and dismorphia.  I'm working on those aspects and am trying to envision my success through self-acceptance.

But, strangely enough, there has been one mantra that I started to use lately.  It's from Nike:

Just do it!

Thanks for validating what I'm thinking. Although I don't claim to have cornered the market on dieting knowledge, but as someone who has tried and failed so many times, I think the reason we fail is that we try so hard to lose weight by putting way too much effort into eating less or exercising more. We put so much effort and energy into trying to lose without really thinking about why we want to lose weight, or who we're really losing weight for.

Of course, for many out there, it's not difficult to put forth such an effort, but I feel most of us are here because we've failed so often, that we don't know where to turn, or what to do next. So we look for that panacea or elixir that allows us to go in a new direction.

When I was in college getting my marketing degree, I kept hearing this phrase that, at the time, I gave less and less credence to as time went on, simply because I couldn't wrap my head around it:

"Work smarter, not harder..."

Who knew it would take dieting to figure out that the saying makes perfect sense?

If you go into any kind of a battle blindly, with all your weapons and all your soldiers at once, yes, you may eventually win, but you're likely to pay an incredible cost in so doing. But if you prepare, and develop a strategy, and condition yourself to believe that you can win, and be prepared for any contingency that arises, your chances for victory increase exponentially, costing far fewer resources, and doing so in less time, and with less effort.

If you've ever read books like "The Art of War", or "Who Moved My Cheese?", you'll understand ideas such as the power of thought, the concept of preparation, and the willingness to open yourself to change. If you haven't yet do so, try reading either book, or even both. I guarantee most of you will pick up something, no matter how small or insignificant, that will be a fulcrum to jump start your efforts.

I'm not suggesting you become immersed in ideas like NLP (neuro-linguistic programming) or become a Tony Roberts disciple, but if you approach something from a different angle or point of view, your aspect may change just enough to make a difference. Even a concept like seeing a glass as half full instead of half empty can be enough to trigger a change from being a pessimist to becoming an optimist.

I agree with Tina (I usually do!) - losing weight and keeping it off is not simply turning a switch off once you've reached your goal weight. I've conceived and planned my diet so that I'm not just dieting, I'm changing how I eat and how I think about food, ingraining that new behavior, seeing success breeding more success, and now I'm at the point where food is not a major (or for that matter, a minor) focus of my day. I've been doing this for so long (15 months and counting) that there's no "effort" anymore; it's natural to eat less and eat smarter. And that kind of behavior is what I want to carry through long after I reach my goal weight.

Give yourself a lot of credit for catching this early and having the strength to ask for help, before things get completely out of control. Maybe that 115 pound weight loss taught you to exercise that "safety switch" when you see the pendulum swing in the wrong direction. Something to be proud of, and a good jumping off point for righting the course...

Congratulations are indeed in order! Remember that success breeds success. The desire to lose weight is like a flame that burns inside of us that no tsunami can ever extinguish...don't fret over the lower rate of weight loss - your body is so shocked with delight at your efforts that it doesn't know what to do!

Seriously, if weight loss was one long downhill ramp, it would be pretty difficult to travel down. That's why God gave us stairs...so we have a landing spot where we can regroup before the next step...