Re: weight loss commitment

[Guest guest]

Hi group!

I am happy to report that I lost 6 pounds this month! Down to 282 now. My

total loss so far is 52 pounds and I am still going strong. My attitude and

resolve are much better this time, as opposed to other times I have lost

weight......so I am hoping it is permanent this time!

My goal for December is 8 pounds. To 274.

Thanks for all your help and inspiration. I get so much out of this list!

Happy Holidays to everyone!

Love,

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 12/2/2003 7:09:34 PM Eastern Standard Time,

Ljmayor@... writes:

> My attitude and

> resolve are much better this time, as opposed to other times I have lost

> weight......so I am hoping it is permanent this time!

>

Hi ,

I believe your weight loss will be permanent this time. Just think of the

fun you will have shopping for skinny clothes.

hugs

Eunice

[Guest guest]

Actually, Sharon, that sounds very sensible to me, too. I think we are

more used to setting weight loss goals because that is how everything is

geared in our culture. I can't much control what my body does, but I can

determine to go to the workout studio three times a week!

I don't count calories per se, but I follow the diabetic plan I was given

by the Diabetes Lifestyle counselor (dietitian) as closely as is humanly

possible, so in effect I am on 1300 calories a day, give or take, if I

follow the servings of carbs, protein, and fats she assigned me for three

meals a day (and a snack, thank you very much!).

Terry Lawler Early

--------------------------------------------------------

Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely

in a pretty

and well preserved body, but rather a skid in broadside, thoroughly used

up,

and totally worn out, loudly proclaiming, " Wow! What a ride! "

Sharon Bolton writes:

Not generally a big fan of Dr. Phil, but in regard to weight loss he said

something that seems quite sensible. Setting a goal for a specific

amount

lost isn't a great idea, because it isn't something you control. You

only

control (a) the amount and type of food you take in, ( the amount you

exercise, and © your medications. What your body does with that isn't

under your control. So it makes more sense to say that instead of a goal

of losing 5 lbs this month I will:

1. Eat 1,500 calories per day and avoid high GI foods

2. Exercise 30 minutes 4 times a week

or whatever your personal plans are. Then your success is determined not

by something beyond your control, but by whether or not you met the goals

that were within your control.

Sharon

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 3/6/04 7:09:45 PM Eastern Standard Time,

zoomama@... writes:

> Setting a goal for a specific amount

> lost isn't a great idea, because it isn't something you control. You only

> control (a) the amount and type of food you take in, ( the amount you

> exercise, and © your medications. What your body does with that isn't

> under your control.

I agree. That's why I don't do it anymore. It seems to work for some people

but for me it is a set-up to fail. I " decide " that I want to lose 10 pounds

in a month and before I know it I have a calendar out and have figured up how

many months it will take me to lose 150 pounds and I find myself penciling in

on the end of each month where I " should " be by that point. Well, when I

don't reach that goal, even if I have worked very hard to stay on my food plan

and

exercised... I feel like I have failed because I did not meet that goal. Dr.

Phil is right that all we can do is make the healthy living changes and

eventually our bodies will be smaller and healthier... it their own time.

It's the same with scales. They have been SO important in the past that I

would stand on them first thing in the morning and no matter how well I had done

with my food or how much I had exercised the day before and taken care of

myself, the scales told me if I was worthwhile or worthless... a success or

failure. At the end of last summer I got so obsessed with the scales that I

grabbed them up one right in a moment of frustration and took them out in the

driveway and backed my SUV over them. I am normally a peace-loving person

but

they deserved it. Trust me. Now I weigh in only once a week for

accountability purposes only. However, I do not let the scales tell me who I am

anymore.

It has been a good last 6 months and I think what has made it better has been

that it took me about a year and a half after being diagnosed before I

started to see that this really is a journey... a lifestyle change, not a diet

that

will get me to the point that I won't be diabetic anymore. That's what I

wanted in the beginning... a way to beat the system and not to have to deal with

being a diabetic.

But that isn't going to happen... but what CAN and IS happening is that I am

doing what I need to do to get better and I AM better. My A1C is at 5.9 and

it was MUCH higher 2 years ago. I can remember wishing I would see a number in

the 100s... even 199 but couldn't stop eating or WOULDN'T stop eating... so I

rarely saw it there. This morning I got up and my blood sugar was 97.

Anyway, I think when I relaxed and accepted my diabetes as something that I

could live with and realized that it actually was a blessing in many ways

rather than a curse, then I started to get better. I was 20 pounds away from

400

pounds when I got diabetes... or at least when they discovered I had it.

There's no telling how long I have had it actually. But I believe I would still

be

bingeing and would probably be 500 pounds by now or dead. But I am not... I

am below 300 and moving on down... slowly but consistenly and one day I will

be at goal weight, I feel sure. But I don't live for that moment anymore

because I really do understand that this is a journey and that I will not get to

eat differently when I arrive there than I eat today. It will just be another

day of doing what I need to do to maintain my blood sugar and health as well as

I can. That's all we can do... Do our best and go on and live our lives.

Personally, I have missed a lot of my life being preoccupied with food and diets

and being angry over what I couldn't have or didn't NEED to eat... Life it

too short and I am just grateful to be alive and have my feet and legs and the

opportunity to lose some weight and possibly keep getting healthier. A lot of

people find out too late or drop dead without even knowing what was wrong.

So in my opinion, we are all blessed. At least we have a chance.

Shirley Jean