misty Y.
Extreme makeover: weightloss edition inspires!
Aug 06, 2012
I don't know if any of you watched Extreme Makeover: Weightloss Edition last night but I LOVE that show!! It really is inspiring seeing these people work SO hard at losing their weight!! And I love the honesty at the end of the show where they talk to the contestant about life after the show...and the contestant almost always states how difficult it is to maintain the weight!! How LIFE gets in there, REALITY sets in and trying to keep the good habits and struggling with bad habits creeping in!!
Although I'm not quite at the "maitenance" part of this journey, I'm still a LOSER! lol....I still sometimes struggle with those old habits creeping up!! Some things I've come to learn through all this:
1-OBESE people (whether once obese and no longer or still obese) have different taste buds..I SWEAR!! lol...really, tho! Do you ever hear a skinny person (one that was NEVER obese) moan and roll their eyes while eating something delicious?? I haven't! they don't enjoy it like we do!!! WE LOVE GOOD FOOD! That will NEVER go away!!
2-After reading lots of blogs on here, I'm fairly certain that a HIGH percentage of obese people are food addicts (including me). But, we CAN conquer that....with a lot of work!! We have to be willing to work at this weightloss, everyday!!! Avoid the foods that trigger you!! DON"T buy them for your family...afterall, why would you??? they're bad foods!! Don't have a mindset like I did for a long time "my kids won't be "punished" just because I am...I'll give them yummy food" ....and now I have a 16 yr old who is fighting obesity everyday! Don't get me wrong, she's not "OBESE" but she was overweight and remember high school?? ya, that is the WORST time of your life to be overweight!!! she gained over 30 lbs last summer and came back to school with rumors all over saying she's pregnant...and FAT!! she is a very tough kid but when we talked about it, at home, in private, she was devistated!! She is 5'3 and went from 120 while in cheer the year before, to 165 by the end of summer!! She now doesn't have unhealthy food choices in the house to eat!! and neither does my "skinny" child who doesn't struggle with weight! They have TONS of choices of yummy foods but they aren't unhealthy anymore. and instead of rewarding my kids when food....HELLO...what kind of UNHEALTHY mindset do we teach them????....I reward them with clothes, movies, hang out days with mom (I'm lucky that my teens STILL like hanging out with me for the day). I've taught them to read lables, count calories everyday, WORK OUT at least 3 times a week and be healthy!! I hope its not too late for them :D
3-Here's a BIG THING I"VE LEARNED...which mainly came from watching the show: DON'T SET GOALS TOO LOW!! You CAN and SHOULD reach for the stars...not for something within reach!! How good is a goal if its easily attainable?? Watching the show last night, the contestant started out weighing 543 lbs!! He was given a goal to lose 135 lbs in THREE SHORT MONTHS, another 80 lbs the next 3 months and a total of 250 lbs of weight loss in 1 year!! And the trainer, Chris Powell says to him in the beginning..."I know I'm giving you tough goals. you may say '250 lbs in ONE YEAR thats impossible!" but what if its not??" Chris states that so much of it is mental! Your brain tells your body it can or can't do it!! And at first the guy kept failing at the exercises but then finally got the mindset of "I CAN do this" and guess what??? he freakin lost
277 lbs in 12 months!!! INSANE!! He went thru ups and downs thinking "this is hard, I don't have time to work out that much" , etc. but his kids and wife and trainer encouraged him and he succeeded!! It was such a great story, so inspiring! and it made me think......
I read a lot of blogs on here...a lot of people state they "can't" get to a goal their dr has set for them! If you SAY you can't...THINK you can't...you WON'T!! How can you say you can't when you don't know?? why not?? what's stopping you!! WE are the only thing in our way of succeeding! we are the only thing in our way of failing!! NO ONE but YOU is in charge of what you CAN and what you WILL weigh!! If you set your goal for the stars, work your ass off to get there and surpass them!! if you set your goals to the level of the kitchen sink, you don't have to work too hard to get there!! and we, as obese people, have HONESTLY not worked very hard at getting obese...and TRUTHFULLY have not worked SUPER hard, ever, at trying to lose weight and stuck to something long enough to lose significant weight!! This surgery, the first year or so, is a great tool to HELP us lose weight....meaning, we don't have to work SUPER hard at it...the tool helps us!! The reason some people fail afterward to keep the weight off is because we don't TRY!! at least not hard enough!! If we kept trying, really hard, it would/will keep coming off or stay off!! The tool just teaches us good habits, its up to US to keep those good habits!! how bad do you want to be skinny?? bad enough to avoid those trigger foods?? I know I do! No more buying crappy, unhealthy food in my house...I refuse to KILL my kids with it...and teach them how to become obese like I was taught!! not to mention, its harder to avoid those foods when they are here!!
I WILL reach my goal....in fact, my goal was 140 but I kept saying "I'd LOVE to get to 135 just don't know if i can"....my new goal is 135! I WILL get there, I CAN get there, I'm reaching for the stars!! And I WILL maintain that weight...I WILL NOT FAIL at this!! I WILL have to work hard and that's OK, I AM WORTH IT!! I WILL be a good role model for my children and show them that if you work hard for something you want, you CAN AND WILL succeed!! I hope you set your goal for the stars and work your ass off to reach it....literally!! :D
