I have a lot of work coming up and am trying to find the time to write a post for this blog that requires a fair bit of research. Please bear with me. I might be somewhat MIA for awhile.
In the meantime, I really recommend you become a regular reader of this blog: Debra's Just Maintaining. It's a relatively new blog, so reading all her archives won't take long at all.
This is a hard blog to read. Debra has done what so many are striving for: she's lost a large amount of weight and kept it off for about 7 years. But Debra does not wear rose-coloured glasses. She has worked extremely hard to keep this weight off. She likens maintenance to a sometimes full-time, always part-time job. She recognizes that long-term maintenance is something that only a small percentage of people succeed in doing.
It's not easy reading, no matter where you are on your personal weight-related journey. But I highly recommend you read her. Then, get on with your life, because it's yours to live.
Gratitude statement: No matter how hard life is (and today it's feeling hard), I still have the strength to soldier on.
Bad and Getting Worse
1 day ago
Love the gratitude -
ReplyDeleteAnd the link - thanks!
I've often said this weight-loss thing is like
a part-time job for sure!
Soldier on!
Off to check it out! Thanks
ReplyDeleteOh, I love Debra. Started reading her posts over at "Refuse to Regain" blog, and was thrilled when she started her own blog. Her experience speaks to me...I always found weight loss to be EASY when compared to maintenance; the longer term reality can be a dreadful shock for one who feels they have *normal eating* all figured out by the time they get to their weight loss goal. There are powerful physiological mechanisms at work, and I for one enjoy knowing that my urge to overeat is not simply psychological. Doesn't mean it can't be managed, but for some of us it is indeed a part time job.
ReplyDeleteI read over her blog, she's definitely "white-knuckling" it. I really hope it's not that hard for me in the long run.
ReplyDeleteNew Me,
ReplyDeleteThanks for the link, and I love your gratitude statements....great reminder we all have so much to be thankful for.
I hope everything you have to do goes well. Don't forget to take care of yourself.
ReplyDeleteemma
@justjuliebean: perhaps she wouldn't "white-knuckle" as much if she indulged in some ganja now and then. I'm not being flip or critical. It's just that you've written in the past about having an affinity for the smoke (not cigs), and I wonder if some people who "white knuckle it" are people who do not have other means available to them to effectively cope with the angst (or anxiety) that arises.
ReplyDelete@justjuliebean - I don't know about the ganja, but I have been maintaining for as long as Debra, and there has been no white-knuckling involved.
ReplyDeleteDon't get me wrong, keeping the weight off is a part-time job for me too. It's just second nature to me now - or dare I say "a lifestyle"?
I came to the sad realization last weekend, as I re-read a book by one of my favorite authors (Atwood), "Lady Oracle": she made it TOO EASY.
ReplyDeleteOnce her heroine decided to lose weight, it came off w/minimal effort (a few months of starvation, a little diet speed, a lil' forced exercise)... My oh my, the humanity!