The trials of transformation

For those who know me, I have been overweight pretty much my whole life. There was that period between baby to 7 and 15 to 17 when I wasnt in the overweight category but outside of that I have always been heavy. After years of several unsuccessful diets and weight loss attempts it took turning 30 for the weight to start to fall off. Dont get it twisted, there is no miracle at 30 that aids in weight loss but rather mindset change and education. I am no where near my goal weight and I might take me another year to get there but I am getting there. It would be easy to blog about what I did, the exercises I went through and the food I had to eat to help me lose the weight and that blog will come later but I think what really helped me was changing my mindset about losing weight and I'll get into that in much detail. I think what really made the difference was when I stopped trying to lose weight for others and made the decision to lose it for myself. No of course u cannot lose weight for others when you are the only one who reaps the benbenefits but I am here to tell you that yes you can lose for other and this is how: Allowing others to tell you how you should look, what you should eat and what you should wear. No I am not talking about the media (although they play a huge part in it all) but friends, family, colleagues, your doctors and even your neighbours. They all have an opinion on your need to lose weight and you often do it to either shut them up or to gain their acceptance. Either way if you are not doing it for you, you will fail. When I made the decision to lose weight it wasn't because everyone around me thought it was a good idea, it was because I thought it was a good idea. My need to lose weight was no longer fueled by my need to have a hot guy notice me, Nor was it fueled by being able to wear a smaller size (although thats a pretty awesome desire) but i knew that losing weight was what i needed to do to become a better me; mentally and physically. Now the journey is hard and its long but the rewards are worth it. However, the first step to losing weight is changing how you view yourself. The first part is loving yourself the way you are now but recognizing you can be better. I say this because if you dont learn to lovr yourself as you are now, when the weight comes off you only focus on the parts that still need work and not appreciating the success. And when you dont appreciate thr positive change you will never be happy with the end results I think the next big step is being open minded. There are many changes you will make during this process. You are going to change how you eat, change who you surround yourself with (some people want to see you fail) and even change how you work out so if you are resistant and close minded to the process, you will not change. Granted not every method will work for you but you cant knock it till you try it. Unless its unbelievably ridiculous (like eating crap all day but thinking shaking some powder on your food will make you lose weight) You have to trust the process. Remember one pound weight loss is huge. Dont diminish how great that is. Its one less pound you have to lose. Plus as long as you keep going its going to come off you may need to tweak stuff as you go to make sure you keep losing but it will come off. Dont lose hope. Patience is key. You did not gain weight over night so you will not lose it over night. It does get frustrating because you want to see the changes now. However nothing great happens that quickly. Ask anyome who has achieved greatness in any field. They will tell you. It took them forrever to get to where they are and they are still climbing so if you expect speedy results then dont expect them to last. I am going to use a bad analogy but bare with me. A drug addict will tell you the effect of any drug is quick however it doesnt last and thats why they keep shooting up. So you should be patient and it will happen. Remember, everyones body is different. What works for you may not work for them and vice versa. So do whats best for you and dont compare your progress to others. Some may lose quicker than you, others slower but that doesnt mean you wont lose. Celebrate your success and that of others and you will be happy Accept the compliments. You may not always see the change because you are used to seeing yourself heavy. So when so When someone acknowledges you transformation thank them and dont point out the problem areas(something I had to promise my friend I would stop doing because I kept tearing myseld up for the areas I was struggling with). You are doing great and thats whats awesome. Do your research. Learn about your food and how it affects you, learn about the exercises uou are doing snd how they can and cant benefit you and dont forget to ask for help from professionals and friends when you need it. Its a lifestyle change. Something you have never done before so you need all the help you need. Finally ask God for guidance, self control and appreciation. It will happe Its not easy, its long and frustrating but its rewardig so believe and it will happe