Know Yourself and Do What Works For You

Let's be honest...if you're reading this, you have some weight to lose, or you know someone else who does. It's the 21st century...this is North America, we all know there's a problem. We've all strolled through a WalMart and had to negotiate our shopping cart around someone in the isle that's two or three times as wide as they ought to be.

That was mean. I'm just in a nasty mood...ignore me. No, don't ignore me. Keep reading. I'll try to be nicer.

Anyway, from time to time we make the decision to shed our extra pounds. So we reign in our behaviour. We eat a little healthier and we exercise a little more, we loose some weight...we get bored, we lose our resolve, we return to our old habits and we gain the weight back. We've all done it. I've done it a bunch of times.

What I've discovered is, (now pay attention, this is important) success comes from knowing yourself. I'm not telling you to sit around contemplating your navel and the pounds will magically fall off. I'm saying you have to know yourself and your lifestyle and what will work for you over the long haul.

Allow me to use myself as an example. I am not a meeting person. I may be expected at a meeting, but I will move heaven and earth not to be there. So an organization like Weight Watchers, at first glance, seems like a bad idea for someone like me. Not so. The Weight Watchers Online program was ideal for me. It comes with all the tools you need to calculate your 'points' and keep your food journal as well as a database of helpful articles, recipes, inspiring stories and friendly message boards. Weight Watchers Online worked for me.

There are plenty of diet plans and theories out there and as long as it's healthy and it's working for you AND will work for you in the long run, go for it. Find the one that's best for you.

Likewise, you have to find a way to get some exercise and you have to get it, pretty well, every day. I live out in the boonies, so there's no point in joining a gym. I'd never go and I certainly couldn't commit to going six days a week. It would take too much time out of the day and it would cost a fortune in gas. I can, on the other hand, pop in a DVD six days a week and workout at home. That's what works for me.

Lot's of people love the gym. Other people will go for a run, rain or shine. Whatever works. Find something you love to do, that you have time to do and that you can stick with.

Losing weight is a long process and keeping it off is a life-long commitment. Be flexible and change things up from time to time. Keep learning new things and continue to learn about yourself. It's a big job, this weight maintenance stuff and you have to enjoy it or you're setting yourself up for disappointment.

My Weight Loss Journey - Diet, Exercise and the Search for Skinny

That was me in October, 2008. It’s a bad scene isn’t it? I just threw-up in my mouth a little bit. The really sad thing is I actually thought I looked good that night!

I was uncomfortable, awkward and ashamed of myself, yet on some level, I was still in denial about how bad things had gotten. Clearly, things were bad.

Full disclosure time, I was pushing 200 lbs...which is an embarrassing thing to admit. But, if you’re going to trust me, I have to be honest. So, I was in my 30s and technically obese. I had acid reflux, zero energy and I was feeling pretty low.

At some point I realised that something had to be done. I didn’t want my little boy to think back on his childhood and remember a fat lazy mother. It occurred to me that if I got my weight under control, he wouldn't remember. He would have nothing but pictures as evidence that his mother had ever been overweight. The time had come to make a change.

I began 2009 with literal resolve and with the help of an excellent plan, some kick-butt workouts and a group of supportive friends and family; I started my weight loss journey.

That's me, about a year later, October 2009. I feel better, my mood has improved and I have a crap-load of energy. I'm down about 40-45 pounds. I'd like to lose a little more but more than anything, I'd like to tone up, gain some more muscle and tie up the loose ends so to speak.

That's why I've created this blog; to help me through the last difficult phases of the weight loss process and to help me with the even more daunting task of weight maintenance. That's the awful truth no one tells you. You can lose all the weight you want, it's keeping it off that's hard!

Anyway, I hope this blog starts a supportive community of followers. I can help and support you; you can help and support me. We can have each other’s back and keep one another on the straight and narrow.

This is a topic I can write about ad infinitum. There will be plenty of posts to follow, and there will be plenty of details about my journey up to this point and the hard work that’s still left. So, I’ll be speaking to you again soon.