Beyond Willpower

What are we really saying? So I was reading a thread on a message board/support group for weight loss that I belong to online. Someone was bemoaning a little weight gain and damning their diet of choice, and overall I knew how she felt. I feel that way sometimes too. Sometimes I feel like I can't stick to anything, or, I was on plan and exercised but I'm secretly beating myself up for not drinking enough water. It's always something, and 'good' is never good enough. One of the women told her that as long as we're trying, we're moving forward, that no one/no plan, etc, is perfect and that we waste an awful lot of time and energy trying to be perfect only to end up feeling awful in the end. Or something like that. Taking your own advice Anyhow, it got me thinking...we all say "It's progress, not perfection." On that board. I've read it more times than I can count. I think we aren't paying attention to what that means. Progress is l...

Looking back over the last six months is interesting. I started on plan on October 19th, I went gluten free and vegan shortly after. I remember days of binging at the chinese buffet...who am I kidding? Weeks. I remember never drinking water, and napping all the time, never being active, expending the least amount of energy possible. I remember that I ate out about 5 days a week - sometimes more than once a day - and there were days of appetizers (one for me, one for joey) a meal with a salad and dessert, milkshakes, etc. I would go to bed after pigging out and lay on my side and it felt like my heart was going to beat out of my chest. Frequent heartburn, weight bearing pain in addition to my fibromyalgia pain and shortness of breath at the least sign of exertion. I remember this misery Now, it's 6 months later, and I can't imagine how much better I will feel in another 6 months. I feel so much better now, doing laundry and carrying my basket up and down the steps is easier...

I have some amazing friends. Most are currently my diet buddies, one or two I want to be my diet buddies, and still others I wish were still my diet buddies. For those who I'd like to follow me on a path to good health and for those who used to and I wish would come back and for those who are frustrated endlessly by their supposed lack of "willpower", I feel the need to acknowledge that it will only come when they want it to. When they wake up one day and staying fat is more difficult than losing weight. When I was at my heaviest (299 lbs) I was pretty miserable. I thought for sure that I would never be able to get myself out of the mess I'd gotten myself in to.  Me at 299 lbs I thought in my most desperate moments,  maybe I'd get "the surgery". My bf was so against it though, and honestly the statistics were not that impressive. I couldn't afford to be one of the huge percentage of people who regained their weight after going through the ...