Long-term weight loss

[Mollum]

It's been a while since I logged on to NF but I think the general principles I learned here have helped me so much even if I haven't been actively tracking changes.

 

This time last year, I went to a family wedding. When the pictures from the wedding went on facebook, I was kind of horrified. I looked terribly fat, and I was really shocked because I had not realized I had gotten so fat. I had been working out on and off with my dad but it did not seem like it had made much difference. That was when it kind of sunk in that I was obese.

 

So as soon as I got back home from the wedding, I signed up for the gym, and started working out, and I think it was February when I found NF, which really helped me because it helped me look at my efforts in terms of making my body my own, instead of losing weight for other people. I exercised relatively regularly for about three months, and then it kind of went back to on and off, but I did continue making diet changes. I stopped eating out so much, stopped drinking so often, and part of that is a new job that does not allow me the chance to do that stuff during the week because of the intense timings, lol, but part of it is a sustainable shift in behavior.

 

And I guess I did not feel like I had made significant changes, and until last month I was kind of depressed over a whole year lost and no changes made. These last couple of months, especially, I haven't been able to do any exercise at all since I have graduate school apps going on in addition to an intense two months at work. But then I stepped on the scale after a while and realized that I am now a whole twenty pounds lighter than I was last year in December.

 

And then we had an eightieth birthday party for my grandfather a few days ago, and the entire extended family flew in, and I got plenty of compliments on losing weight, and I feel proud of myself, especially because it has happened so slowly that it really feels like sustainable change. And the pictures are on facebook now and I can see the change!!

 

I am not where I want to be yet - I think I have about twenty more pounds to go - but it feels possible now!

 

So, here's one good thing that happened in 2k16

[Guzzi]

That's fantastic. It's the slow steady changes that stick with us long term, not the all-or-nothing-fanaticism of the new-year-resolutioners that peters out after 3 weeks. Well done, and I hope you can keep it up  

[LadyMonk]

Way to go! It's the lasting changes that make the difference.