Weight Loss Commitment

It is now week 8 of my goal to lose 30 pounds in 90 days. Last week was also a pretty regular week of eating and exercising. I did go out on Saturday night, but I wasn’t in the mood for drinking and that was a blessing. I did allow myself some french fries at the pub we were at, but I committed myself to going for the longest walk I could manage the next day. Sunday morning at 9am I sprang out of bed and headed out while my husband still sawed logs. I managed to walk 4.5 miles in a big loop around my neighborhood. When I got home the hubby was lollygagging around the house with a hangover and I felt exhausted but amazing. I was pretty proud of myself for following through on the commitment to go walking.

At this morning’s weigh in my weight was…

213 lbs

Yes! Another two pounds down and only 6 more to go to reach my goal. I really can’t believe I’m losing weight like this. I have never had such good, consistent results. However, I have never been so consistent or good on a diet before either. I guess that is what makes all the difference.

Losing weight is never easy, but you have the best chance at success when you set realistic goals and then follow through with your weight loss commitment as best you can.

As I have said many times, losing weight is not complicated really – you need to eat less and exercise more. There are millions of people around the globe who are overweight or obese and desire to lose weight, but have very little success at it. Why is this?

It is true that there are some health conditions that will really impede your weight loss efforts. Conditions such as insulin resistance, depression and hormone imbalances just to name a few. But there is also a greater number of people who are overweight or obese simply because they can’t muster up the motivation and commitment to make the changes in their lives they need to for losing weight.

When people ask me about losing weight I put on a brave face and tell them the facts. Change your diet in this way, exercise regularly, try these vitamins, etc. Honestly though, losing weight for me is a daily struggle and it has taken a lot of emotional strength and energy for me to get this far. Even though I do what I can nutritionally to curb hunger, I find that controlling emotional eating, which is my achiles heel, is extremely difficult to do. I guess, what I’m trying to say here is that sometimes it may seem like weight loss should be easy, but the truth is that it is never easy. If losing weight were a simple thing to do then most of us would be thin and healthy instead of struggling to shed even a few pounds a week.

If you are working at losing weight like I am then keep up the efforts and don’t get discouraged, no matter what happens. In this whole process I have realized the importance of making a weight loss commitment to myself and then following through with it. My commitment of losing 30 pounds seemed like a reasonable one and I am set on reaching this goal. I guess that’s why it is so important to set yourself realistic weight loss goals. If I had set my goal at losing 50 pounds I may have given up because that goal seems like scaling Mount Everest for me. Commit yourself to reaching a realistic goal, even if it’s only baby steps at first, and then stick to that commitment. If you fall, get back up immediately and keep going. Don’t punish yourself for your failures, just celebrate your successes.