The Stages of Weight Loss

Jack Sh*t has a great post which I think just about anybody who's put on more pounds then they care to acknowledge can relate to. You can read it here: http://jackfit.blogspot.com/2010/05/stages-of-dieting.html (note that Jack calls it the stages of "dieting" since I really don't like that word, I did a bit of editing.)

Like Jack, I went through the same journey until I finally owned up to myself about what I had to do.

First, of course, there is DENIAL. For me, this was done by just avoiding mirrors, never letting myself be photographed (there's basically no pictures of me from ages 42 through 46) and if I did let myself be photographed, I'd stand behind someone else. I also never let myself be seen in a bathing suit. I also never stepped on a scale unless forced to in a doctor's office.

Second is ANGER. Like Jack, I'd start all these crazy diets looking for a quick and easy way to drop the 40 pounds, and then got angry when they didn't work. I was also angry with myself for letting myself get so out of shape and I routinely cursed my body for not letting me eat as I had always eaten in the past.

Third is BARGAINING. I'd bargain constantly with myself that I could eat this or that and I'd work it off later (which of course never happened). Like Jack, I was always promising myself that I'd work out more and eat less, but for some reason couldn't do right then and there. I was always putting off the hard work.

Fourth is DEPRESSION. Yes, I was really depressed, not only about the way I looked, but the way I felt. I was always tired, couldn't do the things I had always done for the length of time I used to. If I went out in the yard to garden, I was wiped after about an hour, when I used to work the whole day in the yard (and loved it). I was depressed that I couldn't wear the clothes I liked (without looking ridiculous), and that I could grab huge wads of fat all over my body.

Fifth is ACCEPTANCE. One day you wake up and realize that you have to get real. You have to realize that there is only one way to lose weight and keep it off. You have to EAT LESS AND EXERCISE MORE. And, you can't just eat less, you have to eat better. You have to cut out the processed crap and stick to wholesome, natural foods. I think my wake up call came after I went to a plastic surgeon to discuss liposuction. After I got a price to have fat suctioned from my stomach, hips, thighs and arms, I drove home, took off my clothes and really stared at myself in the mirror. Even if I spent the $15,000 to have the fat removed from those areas, I realized, I still wouldn't have the body I had before I turned 40. The next day I started shopping for treadmills, and began researching what I really needed to do to finally drop the weight.

Needless to say, the $2,500 I spent on the treadmill was a better investment then the $15,000 I would have spent on liposuction. It still wasn't easy to lose the weight after that, and in the first three months I had the treadmill, I actually only lost five pounds.

But, it was a start, and the more I got into my weight loss journey, the more I learned, and the more weight came off.

It hasn't been easy, and, in fact, it's been damn hard.

And, its still hard. I constantly struggle with not gaining the weight back. Even with my new exercise and eating habits, pounds still want to creep back on (it's a function of hitting menopause).

But, I've accepted the struggle, and fight on.

Thanks for the great post Jack.