Hi all. I've been lurking this sub since 2015.
About me. 38 M 6'3 ( 190 cm )
Starting weight: 378 lb ( 171.46 kg )
Current weight: 356 lb ( 161.48 kg )
Goal weight: My goal is to stay focused on today and feel better than before. See below.
My weight loss journey is kind of the story of my whole adult life, even before. As an adult working a physical job, I was around 250 and pretty active outside of work. Once I started my career which involves basically no moving and a lot of sitting I shot up 45lbs to 295 lbs. I got married, but it turned out pretty rough in not a lot of time, and my weight kept creeping up. Around January 2015 at 24 lbs, in the depths of a stressful job and marriage I threw myself once again at trying to get my weight and health under control. I was met with great success, and lost over 100 lbs. In the summer of 2016 I ran a quarter marathon, something I never dreamed I would be capable of. However, I had mental health issues that I didn't fully deal with, and my year and a half long health kick also enabled me to ignore the pain and stress of my marriage. Things eventually fell apart. I separated from my ex-wife in 2017. This was ( and has been, in some ways ) both liberating and very stressful and my weight continued to creep up. In March 2019, I was on another health kick, but by then back up to 325 lbs. COVID happened, of course. The lockdowns had a severe impact on my mental health. At one point I hadn't seen another human being in person in six weeks. In 2021 I was diagnosed with type two diabetes. I hit my all time high six weeks ago, of 378.
That brings us to today. I've learned quite a lot over the years. I've known how to eat properly and exercise since I was a teenager. So it's not really about all that.
1 ) I've learned everyone needs a healthy support network of family and friends. My younger self was apt to shut people out when I wasn't doing well. I feel like men especially turtle up when things aren't going the best. Stiff upper lip and all that.
2 ) Therapy is good. Embrace the process wholeheartedly. Prepare for change, and sometimes some pain while you get your mental health in order. Prepare to leave behind habits and behaviours that may have helped you survive in the past, but are hindering your ability to thrive now.
3 ) The magic is in the getting there. Goals are fine. But I can't count how many blowouts I've had due to "I'm not happy with my progress on goal X". If you're like me, the goalposts are always moving, if you're waiting to cross the finish line to pat yourself on the back, stop it. Right now. Every day you don't sit on the couch and eat an obscene amount of tendies is a huge win. Let yourself feel gratitude and accomplishment for everything you do, even if it seems it barely registers next to your gigantic goals. You eat an elephant one bite at a time, same as everything else. Be mindful of today, and keep your focus here as much as possible.
4 ) "Slip ups" are fine. It's OK to occasionally sit on your ass and eat an obscene amount of tendies. Now I like to say to myself "Perfect is the enemy of good". It's OK to have slip ups, or off days, or cheat days. It's better if you do, no one can be 100% vigilant. It ends up sucking, and it inevitably ends in burn out. You can have cake at your sister's wedding, or drink a bunch of beers with the boys or whatever. The rest of the time you should be doing consistent good for your health ( but not necessarily perfect! ).
Anyways, I really think that now I have the "mental scaffolding" for more long term success in place.
I love the non-zero day ethos.
I really recommend the book "Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones" by James Clear. Fantastic book, I carry bits of it around in my memory. Among other things it's helped me get to where I am today.
Anyways y'all keep your chins up. Tomorrow is a new day.
[link] [comments]
from loseit - Lose the Fat https://ift.tt/tZDicxg
No comments:
Post a Comment