So apparently you all didn't abandon me. I'm not sure if it's Facebook, iPhone, or what but for some reason none of my posts were publishing to the public eye. I suspected a few times that something may be up when I posted adorable pictures of my son on his birthday and nobody liked them, not even his grandparents, but I couldn't find anything wrong. Here I was getting all offended that nobody was following through and nobody had seen the message that I'd started!
I will eat my words and apologize for cussing you all, but at least it got the word out and now the group is almost to 40 members! You all are awesome and I'm so excited to see where this journey takes us.
Now, onto the business of the whole point of this, my 'method' as I like to call it. Here is my theory, most people reach a breaking point where they finally realize that they've put on some weight are are sick of it and want to lose it. Sometimes it happens when you put on a pair of jeans and have to suck in to button them. Or maybe you had a full body picture taken of you tagged and posted on Facebook and you want to die of humiliation because you hadn't seen yourself in a while. Whatever the reason, you get fed up and decide enough is enough. You get super motivated and tell yourself this is it! THIS is the time I am making it happen and the weight is going to come off. Maybe you bought a famous DVD work out program, perhaps you've bought a book about a particular diet that your best friend's mother's cousin lost 75 lbs on and swears it's a miracle. Maybe you browse Pinterest for an hour and pin a bunch of different work outs and meals. THIS is the time it will happen.
One week goes by, maybe two if you're lucky. You're hard core into the game, passing on every slice of pizza and piece of candy that comes your way. You are ROCKING it. Maybe you've lost 5 lbs. Wahoo! And then.....you hurt your foot in your work out, or your anniversary is coming up and you always go out to an amazing dinner, maybe it's been a hell of a day and the house is a mess and you haven't had two seconds to pee alone, never mind chopping up vegetables and cooking a meal. So you order pizza and have a slice, then two, then three. Or you hit the drive through and get the bacon cheeseburger, large fries and a soda, because that's your comfort food, your "I'm not thinking about what I'm doing" food. You eat it and it tastes delicious. Then the next morning you wake up and wonder what the heck you did. You just blew your whole diet. Then maybe you have a donut because you already screwed up last night, so what does it hurt to have a little something this morning. That turns into "I don't have time for my work out because......" One thing leads to another and you are right back where you started. I know this because I've been there, done that, about a hundred times in the last ten years. You get SUPER excited and make a ton of changes all at once to try and swoop out your old life style and it's just too much. Too overwhelming when push comes to shove and so you let it go.
This is what I don't want happening to you. I have no statistics on this, but I would dare bet it happens to almost everyone who starts a new fitness program or diet. You put all you have into it and it's just too much to deal with long term. The diet is too crazy restrictive or exercise program too time consuming and so you quit.
What I believe is the key to long term maintainable weight loss is slow changes. I'm not going to tell you to get rid of all of the processed food in your house and never eat out again. That's absurd. It's ideal, but most people can't and don't live that way. I also don't believe in one size fits all programs. EVERYONE is different. Everyone has strengths and weakness and different interests. What's going to keep the weight off is finding out what works for you and going with it. If you hate to run, then choosing running as your exercise program is stupid. If you hate fish, then trying to force it into your weekly menus won't work.
What I want to do is help you figure out what works for you. What changes you need to make and the steps you need to take to make it happen. And make no mistake, changes DO need to be made or you would already be at your goal weight. The only way the weight will stay off for good is if you change from the inside out. Anyone can follow a diet program and work out plan and lose weight if they stick to it. The difference in those who keep it off vs those who don't, is the ones who find what they love and keep doing it.
It is a SLOW process. It's taken me nine months to lose 70+ pounds. I've averaged about 5 lbs a month most months and gained weight back and had weeks upon weeks where I didn't lose anything. I swear to you though, if you make changes and eat better and exercise, it DOES come off. I'm living proof of that.
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