ME..just for me.

That was posted in June of '07. Here I am, right on schedule, a month late (which is on schedule for me in that time frame.)

And reading this brought a tear or two to my eye. That's pretty much nailed it. I feel so grateful towards myself that, at my heaviest, I was willing to hope and try and do what it took to get me this far along the path.

Revelation: I want to give my `future self' the same gift that I gave myself by trying again, something only I can give. If I don't persist, I'll never get that. So, Self '10? Same time, next year? I don't know where I'll be, but I want to continue to put forth effort on my own behalf.

This probably reads a little strange, but I get it. Totally.

I get it too Kathleen!!

Here's another aspect of it, Judy, that I think you might get as well.

Ten pounds and a few months ago, I didn't want anyone to notice that I'd lost weight --and now I'm a little *little* hurt if it's a friend whom I haven't seen for a long time, and he or she don't notice. I'm a bit concerned in writing this that it comes across as shallow, but I think there's a lot of value in being honest here, even when it's not too flattering. I'm really enjoying the `wow!'s right now.

But the irony is that it's pretty easy for me to stay on plan now. Why wouldn't it be? My body has beautifully adapted to this WOE; I have the energy and motivation to put in the (very little) effort required; I have credibility now if someone wants to give me a hard time about how I eat; I get positive reinforcement daily from the time I open my eyes in the morning until I go to sleep at night.

The compliments and kudos, I think, really should have come in those first long months when I was trying to get the ship under sail, because at that point, it was a voyage of faith and hope, especially during that white-knuckle beginning. I may be remembering wrongly, but I think it took almost 20 pounds before even I began to believe I would make it, and another 30 before others started to notice. (A much-esteemed co-worker was a great source of encouragement during this time, which helped a lot.) It's almost as if I were twins, or something closer than twins--two different people w/shared experiences. That's how different life feels right now. And it's as if I am getting the WTG's that this other self earned for us. So to speak. This is very muddled and tangled. New ground. Is this resonating for anyone else?

Anyway, not that I mind, or am obsessing about this. I still love the compliments most of the time. It's just that when I see newbies here trying, I wish they could know how brave and capable I think they are, how worthy of acclaim their fight, how any effort on their own behalf is heroic. That's the tough time, at the beginning, when it's all of the work and very little of the payoff. And it can be so hard picking up the ball and trying to run with it one more time, after all the hits they've taken. Want to say: Just keep up the good fight; it's so worth it.

I think that this will make sense to those on the forum who stepped in and gave that encouragement to me on my restart, again and again. You believed in me when I had more hope than faith; you knew that days, strung together, turned to weeks, then months, then years, encouraged me to keep going.

Thank you.

I have often pondered this problem too. At the beginning, there is hardly anything you can point to as a daily success. The scale is not reliable because at our weight, even .5% of water or error would be pounds. Inches the same way. Improvements in mood are more gradual, same with improvements in movement.

Easily. And if a person is a slow loser, say 2 pounds a month - 25 months before you can see it? wow

me too. I think any super sizer who has not given up or does not kill themselves today, is truly heroic.

I think that the freedom from practicing our addiction is something that helps. Another is that we start to feel better from the improvement in nutrition. I think it helps to start strong, or hit bottom hard, because that initial momentum has to sustain us for a long time. That's one of the values of this community, because we give one another the strength to carry on through that dry season.



I remember seeing a study quoted somewhere that said that obese people were less likely to commit suicide than others. I remember a response to that study in a forum: "obese people have a higher rate of suicide; they just take longer than other people to do it."

Ouch.

Your welcome Kathleen!!

Just looking at the picture of myself when I was my fattest, can't wait until the day where I don't need the motivation anymore so I can destroy all evidence of me being 150 pounds overweight.

I hope that by the time you hit goal, we'll have convinced you to be proud of who you were at 370 lbs.--a very courageous young man who had the strength to take on a battle like this and win. Please, if you must, seal those pix and measurements, and put them in a safety deposit box--but don't destroy them. It's part of your history, and someday you'll wish you had the data.

Just consider this, okay?

100% agree.

-j.

I might actually get IN FRONT of the camera more often instead of behind it. That will be a big motivation for me.

I won't say this time of doing LC is easier, but kinda. Instead of feeling deprived, I'm looking for new ways to enjoy my food. Instead of eating the same things over and over, I'm not bored with food this time. Instead of trying to do LC at the same time with my DH, I'm doing this on my own for myself whether he jumps into LC again or not (he jumped back in Monday. lol)

I keep telling people that 40, the age I'll be in October, is just a number to me. I don't feel 40. But on the other hand, it is me getting older and I don't want to be overweight the next 40 years. I WON'T be overweight the next 40. That is my main motivation.

DH and I are getting into our later years of children and work. Our kids will be moved on and out within the next 10 years. We want to travel more. I want to have the stamina and energy to walk and tour a lot where ever we go.

I want to enjoy my life more, weighing less.

I want to have a baby soon

I'm 27 (28 in October), and I'm starting to get the maternal itch, lol

I can't imagine adding 30 + pounds to what I already weigh. I know I would feel terrible, and if my morbid obesity caused any harm to my baby, I don't think I could live with myself.

I want to give myself and my baby (hopefully!) the best possible chance at a happy future

(Oh, and I'm sure I'd have a better chance at conceiving if my weight were lower, as my cycles are very messed up)

I read the first page of replies, and it may be because I am not that overweight, but my motivation to be thin is for other people. I would be fine ignoring my weight if cute Christian guys would. My body and looks have never been one of my major interests. There are many other things that hold my attention much better. Unfortunately, the guys I would accept won't ignore my body.

Ok, I probably should just keep my mouth shut, but couldn't let this one go by. Coming from a "cute Christian guy" (feel free to disagree, but my Mom wouldn't ) this reply just got on my nerves. First of all if you are getting this back from "Christian guys", well then you may want to re-examine their faith. You apparently are placing importance in that in your search/dating which I applaud, so if someone rejects you because of a few extra pounds, then I question the strength of their faith.

I agree that there will be benefits in getting thin. Alot of discrimation is directed to those overweight, but to choose one who discriminates to be with, is just setting the relationship up for problems.

Ok, off of soapbox now. I do like this thread, it keeps me motivated as I am on this long journey, to know others are having the same dreams/goals as I am having.

Wow, I was just re-reading this thread, and finding many of the posts so interesting.



Nah, that's what Fairy Godmothers are for. I keep waiting for mine to visit so that I could request "a healthy, strong, lean body that would never struggle with eating and weight" as one of my three wishes. Surely I'm not alone in that?



, talk about a trip down memory lane! I remember my *mother* buying me boxes of Ayds when I was a teenager, and at a lower weight that my current goal, but not skinny in the "Twiggy" fashion that was in vogue back in those days. I didn't lose weight but the Ayds didn't taste too bad.




Yeah, I can sort of understand that. There are plenty of days I don't feel like coming here because I'm not losing weight and it's depressing me, and I worry that my depression will spill out too much and make me sound bitter, and bum other people out too, and really I don't want to do that.

But I try to keep coming back because I think it helps keep me accountable, which is why I decided to seek out an online community in the first place.