Pam, I need help. I am having issues with my cholesterol and weight. I have the can, will, but not the done. lol I can't get going. How did you get started?
The question, “How did you get started (with losing weight)?” was part of a conversation with a work colleague who had seen my before and after pictures from the Don’t Gain Weight at the Super Bowl Party! post.
Are you ready for the answer?
None of what I did to start losing weight had anything to do with me changing what I ate or by me exercising.
My road to losing weight started when I took a good hard look at myself.
This post is part of a series of posts dedicated to people like my colleague, and perhaps like you, who have struggled to get going with losing weight and struggled to keep going. Come along for the journey. Subscribe using the form to your right to keep up with the rest of the series.
Take a good hard look at yourself
The photo above was taken on an anniversary trip to San Francisco. I had gained weight after returning home from our previous trip the month prior. That meant going shopping, again.
There was a time when I enjoyed clothes shopping, but shopping for larger sizes didn't bring me joy. The going big girl shopping at Lane Bryant and other stores of the like made me quite sad, in fact. Sadly, never quite so sad that I did anything about it. At least not anything that lasted.
It is true, you are what you eat
While we got our share of exercise by doing a lot of walking, especially up those San Francisco hills, we also enjoyed our version of a foodie life. We probably enjoyed ourselves a little too much.
On our first night there, I enjoyed one of my loves, which I mentioned in the Don’t Gain Weight at the Super Bowl Party! post. Pizza!
For our anniversary dinner we went to 1300 on Fillmore. I was fiending for another one of my favorites, chicken and waffles. I had to settle for fried chicken and biscuits. Don't you just love how I was helping my cause? NOT!
At a lunch down at the San Francisco Fisherman's Wharf, I had bisque for the first time. I had Dungeness Crab Bisque in a huge bread bowl. I said I love pizza, but whatever is greater than love, I have that for bread. I swear, in my family, our babies come out of the womb bread-a-holics. That's right, blame things on the family genes.
I had become what I was eating – not good for me.
Things got real
As I looked back at photos taken of me while in San Fransisco, I found myself snarling with disgust, self-loathing, and embarrassment. My smile was its always beautiful self, but that is not how I felt when I saw the photos of me. That is when things got real.
I had to do what I had known for a long time. If I was going to feel better about myself, I needed to change. That was the easy part.
The hard part was figuring out how to start losing weight and keep it off, FOR GOOD!
What happened next?
After taking a good hard look at myself, more change happened when I assessed what was going on in my life and in my head.
In Part 2 of this three part series, I break down my journey in my quest to lose weight. We will focus on the components of assessing what's going on in your life and your head.
- Dig deep into your “Why?”
- Embrace the cold hard truth.
- Face your obstacles.
- Identify your excuses.
Start the discussion: What transformation has happened to you when you took a good hard look at yourself? Comment and share in the comment section below, on Facebook, or on Twitter.