What is your biggest hurdle????

[DD Diva]

When it comes to weight loss, what's your biggest hurdle???
Is it a certain food, or is it ALL foods???
Is it portion control, trying to gauge how much is enough or how much is too much???
Is it your obsession with (or dislike of) exercise???
Or maybe it's mental hurdles ie. finding it hard to stay focussed or motivated???
Come on now, you know the ol' saying, a problem shared is a problem halved!!! So let's play "share bears" I'm listening....what seems to be the problem???!!!

[Blitz]

I think I had two problems.

The first was a lack of sense urgency. I could always lose the weight sometime in the future. There was no need to do it now. It was only when I began to understand that my body was no longer copying being overweight (well past the time I should have noticed may I add) that a sense of urgency in the matter started. When people asked me why I lost the weight I would reply "it was time" but that didn't mean anything to them so I started telling people reasons that they could understand (true reasons - but minor ones).

The second was the reluctance to change. I knew that losing weight would meaning changing lifestyles.
I liked eating rubbish. I liked not exercising. I liked how I spent the time on the things that I did.
I knew that change would put all that to jeopardy...and it did!
What I didn't know then but what I know now is that this change was all for the good.
I exchanged a good life for an even better one!
So why did I finally change? I knew that the lifestyle that I was leading wasn't sustainable. It was leading to death. It also wasn't giving the best I had to those I love. It was well and truly time to step up and be the man I ought to have been all along.

Kim

[DD Diva]

I think I had two problems.

The first was a lack of sense urgency. I could always lose the weight sometime in the future. There was no need to do it now. It was only when I began to understand that my body was no longer copying being overweight (well past the time I should have noticed may I add) that a sense of urgency in the matter started. When people asked me why I lost the weight I would reply "it was time" but that didn't mean anything to them so I started telling people reasons that they could understand (true reasons - but minor ones).

The second was the reluctance to change. I knew that losing weight would meaning changing lifestyles.
I liked eating rubbish. I liked not exercising. I liked how I spent the time on the things that I did.
I knew that change would put all that to jeopardy...and it did!
What I didn't know then but what I know now is that this change was all for the good.
I exchanged a good life for an even better one!
So why did I finally change? I knew that the lifestyle that I was leading wasn't sustainable. It was leading to death. It also wasn't giving the best I had to those I love. It was well and truly time to step up and be the man I ought to have been all along.

Kim

Thanks for that Kim, yes I can relate to both of those. The first of your hurdles I evidenced each time I fell off the wagon, I'd use the excuse "oh well, I'll start again tomorrow (or Monday)" The second, was more about lack of confidence (in myself). Change for change sake was/is never a concern for me; I'm always ready to embrace it because with change comes the opportunity for learning!! However, with regard to my weight, well that was another story.....for me it was more about not fully comprehending the personal health benefits change would bring for me, having been overweight/obese for so long and living with the health issues, and pain which I'd grown accustom to!!!

For many people change is a scary thing because it encompasses uncertainty, and you have to be honest with yourself; putting your own values under the spotlight all of which can be very confronting!!! The way I see it, those that are most opposed to change are generally the ones who need to change the most!!!!
But once I got the ball rolling, I was so glad I got started!!!

[Blitz]

I heard a lovely story this week at a bible study. There was a mature thirteen year Russian girl who came to the study for the first time and said the following in her wonderful heavy accent: "My grandmother told me a story about a store that was at the end of the world where those who travelled there could buy wishes that would come true. There you could buy a wish for a good job or a wish to marry the boss's daughter. All kinds of wishes. But each wish was a different price and each wish had to be paid for in full."

There is always a price for the things we wish for...and if we want it to come true - we have to be prepared to pay the price.

Kim

[DD Diva]

I heard a lovely story this week at a bible study. There was a mature thirteen year Russian girl who came to the study for the first time and said the following in her wonderful heavy accent: "My grandmother told me a story about a store that was at the end of the world where those who travelled there could buy wishes that would come true. There you could buy a wish for a good job or a wish to marry the boss's daughter. All kinds of wishes. But each wish was a different price and each wish had to be paid for in full."

There is always a price for the things we wish for...and if we want it to come true - we have to be prepared to pay the price.

Kim

What a clever girl!! Wise for her tender years!!!
Very true, and in many ways a good thing, after all anything worth having doesn't come easy (well, generally it doesn't) and just as well because it makes you appreciate it more when you finally have it!!!

[CronicBadger]

My hurdles were that same as Blitz: a lack of a sense of urgency, and an unwillingness to change. I guess it was a lack of honest y when looking at myself and my future. A "she'll be all right" attitude doesn't work when encountering brutal reality. Fortunately those were overcome.

Now I have the hurdle of food cravings, mostly bread and biscuits topped with lashings of margarine and cheese.

[Blitz]

Maintenance is about keeping it honest.
Set the markers in your life and keeping the standards - daily.
It's all about reality. Keeping ourselves honest and facing the reality of our lives.

Kim

[DD Diva]

I have since discovered, that my greatest hurdle was not the food, but fear of change!! It was much easier to be grossly overweight and not have to make an effort, but the price it cost me was far more than my health, my sense of worth and the humiliation of feeling judged every time I went somewhere; it affected every part of my life and drove me into a deep depression!! People didn't see my sorrow, it was masked underneath my jovial persona but it was there alright, as real as the layers of fat!!! But no more!!! I am "reborn" for want of a better term!!! I've got confidence oozing out of every pore, and (not just a spring, but a full blown sprint) in my step and I buzz around like a blowie in a bottle most of the day!!!

I've overcome my biggest hurdle (my fear of change). I've ditched the unhealthy behaviours (well mostly!) traded them in for better choices, shed the layers and completely turned my life around!!! And if someone as unmotivated as I was can do it, ANYONE CAN!!!

[Rocca]

I have since discovered, that my greatest hurdle was not the food, but fear of change!! It was much easier to be grossly overweight and not have to make an effort, but the price it cost me was far more than my health, my sense of worth and the humiliation of feeling judged every time I went somewhere; it affected every part of my life and drove me into a deep depression!!

Hmm DD, you've really got me thinking. Here I was all ready to say "My biggest hurdle is junk food. It's all the chocolate's fault." But I know I haven't properly tackled my weight before because it was "too hard". It's so much easier to do nothing, eat what I want, and not care about myself. So maybe I fear the change too...? Maybe it's scary to think I can't eat what I want. That I'll have to put aside time to exercise. And that I'll have to do it for the rest of my life.

Maybe since food has been such a big part of my life and a lot of my time has been spent eating, that it's unsettling to think it will be gone, and something else needs to fill its place. I hope, like you, I will find myself at the other side of this hurdle, feeling all the wonderful things you are. I feel like at the very least, one food has left the ground. I feel empowered to be in control and not at the mercy of food. I'm excited to be free of something I have emotionally "relied" on for so long. The only thing my body relies on food for is fuel, and that should be the reason I eat it!

[Blitz]

A very perceptive post Rocca. This is what it is all about.

Those that have come through to the other side (or have nearly made it there) understand that all the things that we had feared would happen (not eating what we want/exercising for life etc) really don't matter - that the picture is far bigger and brighter than we could have possibly imagined (which is why I'm always banging on about a better future).

On your side, you are scratching your head about things that are still unknown. How can my world possibly be a better place with doing hard exercise (you are yet to discover - it has it's own joy) or not eating what I desire (you are yet to discover - you can...just that your desires have changed)?

The fear of change is based on the comfort of what you know and the worry of the unknown future may not deliver its promise. This fear is based on ignorance (it is understandably so). What is required is a step of faith based on desire for something better than what you have now. That is why the head has to move from wishing to wanting and finally into a faith leap (turning it into a must).

In a sense we echo what the Apostle Paul wrote in an evangelical context...

I reckon everything as complete loss for the sake of what is so much more valuable, the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord.
For his sake I have thrown everything away; I consider it all as mere garbage, so that I may gain Christ (Philippians 3:8)

...which may be why we can get so evangelical about this cause as well!

Kim

[DD Diva]

Hmm DD, you've really got me thinking. Here I was all ready to say "My biggest hurdle is junk food. It's all the chocolate's fault." But I know I haven't properly tackled my weight before because it was "too hard". It's so much easier to do nothing, eat what I want, and not care about myself. So maybe I fear the change too...? Maybe it's scary to think I can't eat what I want. That I'll have to put aside time to exercise. And that I'll have to do it for the rest of my life.

Maybe since food has been such a big part of my life and a lot of my time has been spent eating, that it's unsettling to think it will be gone, and something else needs to fill its place. I hope, like you, I will find myself at the other side of this hurdle, feeling all the wonderful things you are. I feel like at the very least, one food has left the ground. I feel empowered to be in control and not at the mercy of food. I'm excited to be free of something I have emotionally "relied" on for so long. The only thing my body relies on food for is fuel, and that should be the reason I eat it!

Ahhhhh self pity that's phase 2 of the grieving process!! Sorry Rocca, I'm "having a lend" don't take that comment seriously please. I'm wanting to point out that bad habits like eating junk food (and A LOT of it) for extended number of years, and inactivity for equally as long, makes it mark not only physically by way of leaving fat deposits but psychologically, in that we convince ourselves that unless we have a free fall licence to eat everything and anything in abundance that we are deprived!!! WRONG!!! We can eat anything and everything, but in MODERATION!!!

So don't feel bad, you can still enjoy the junk food but in limited quantities, as an occasional "treat" rather than an everyday staple. And if you exercise a little more on the days that you indulge in these "treat" fests you should be able to negate much of the damage they have the potential to cause. The REAL KEY is not the food you put in your mouth at one sitting but the food you CONTINUE to put in your mouth over the period of a whole day or (worse) a week!!! The body generally can accommodate ONE smallish binge, but to extend that into anything longer will definitely be hazardous to your weight loss.

FWIW my food intake each day is 99.99% healthy and 1% pure indulgence!!! I still have chocolate (sugarfree mostly), the odd ice-cream, and so on. I just make sure not to overdo it, or get carried away (and believe me, you can ask anyone in here.....I have done that many times throughout this journey)!!!

Nevertheless, you're doing a great job there Rocca; I'm very proud of you!!! Keep at it, you'll be where I am in next to no time, and we'll both be where Kim is eventually too!!!

[Blitz]

Nevertheless, you're doing a great job there Rocca; I'm very proud of you!!! Keep at it, you'll be where I am in next to no time, and we'll both be where Kim is eventually too!!!

I agree with Josie...you are doing a great job.
You are dealing with the tough issues of weight loss head on - all power to you for it!

Kim