Weight Loss and Support

[Eric the Ugly]

I understand the need for support. It's important. But it's more important to motivate yourself.

I read somewhere online two months ago someone saying it was like fighting an addiction. I never thought of it that way before, but it is.
It can't, or perhaps I should say, shouldn't be a "for now" or 'quick fix' sort of thing. That way madness (as well as the pounds' return) lies.

Last spring I just decided I was fed up. I was not going to buy yet another pants size bigger. Too bad for me. I couldn't wait for the "right time" or anything like that. The right time was right now!
I cut cookies, chips, soft drinks completely and totally out.
I began walking every night after work. Two miles. At roughly 35 mins, I realized that was very close to 4 mph. A pretty good pace. Better than I thought it would be. I decided not to skip a day. I had done that before...the whole "I'll do it three or four times a week." that had been such a slippery slope before. And so it was, everyday. Two miles. It felt so good, words cannot describe. I added stomach crunches in various positions and push-ups and then biking (on a recumbant bike) for six miles at about 11-15mph.

After four months of that straight...ya wanna know how much I lost?

Nothing.
Not one single pound.

I said: "Screw it" when it got too cold to walk and the rest collapsed right along with it. I hate that I did that.

I spoke to a friend of mine who lost...well...I don't know what he lost, but he was a very overweight guy. Now he looks like a freakin' Green Beret or something. He did that in under a year. I asked him for advice and when I told him the details I just related he immediately said it must have been my diet. That, sure I cut out the junk, but did I look at the rest? Did I eat in moderation and how many times a day, etc.
I hadn't. I hadn't changed my diet at all besides no junk. Still eating chicken and cheese tacitos and other such mess. Still eating a small breakfast and then a big dinner much later.
He said fat loss was 80% diet.

So, now, I'm actually paying attention to how many calories and how much fat are in a serving and what a serving actually is. More fruits and vegetables, lighter and smaller portions and actually eating three times a day, plus an apple or some grapes.

I realized too that I can't do this "Just to get down to at least ____." I have to do it for good, for forever. Period.

I can't wait to start walking and biking again. This time, with an eye to my diet, I can do what I failed at last time.