I joke and josh here more often than not because I know that this weight-loss journey we’re on is a long, hard haul and, let’s face it, it helps to smile, to chuckle, to laugh a little along the way.
None of us are going to get to where we’re headed overnight. We’re going to have good weeks and bad weeks. We’re going to hit milestones and suffer setbacks. That's just the way it is.
We’re going to have times when Life hits us with more than we can possibly handle and… let us be honest with one another… we’re going to have times when we disappoint ourselves.
Some of us are even going to give up. I hate to say that but it’s just something I’ve noticed along the way. Maybe we won’t even actively decide to give up… it’s just something that will sort of happen. That’s just the way it goes sometimes.
If this was years ago, I might even be one of those folks who quietly slipped away… just dropped off the scene and inexplicably porked back up. That’s been my history, after all. That's been all I've ever known.
Maybe you would have thrown in the towel, too, in days gone by. Just slipped away and decided that reclaiming your body was too big of a project to take on at this point in your life. Perhaps you would lost your way back in the day…
But this isn’t back in the day. Far from it…
I’m happy to report that while giving up may seem to be what’s on my mind today, giving up is really the last thing on my mind today. I will keep chugging along, keep making the best choices I can, keep doing what I can to bend my body to my will and keep my head in the game.
I hope you’re in a good place today, too – eating mindfully and finding some way to get your body moving. I hope you have a plan and that you’re sticking to it as best you can.
Feel like quitting some days? Yeah, me too.
Gonna make dead level certain that today’s not that day?
Yeah, me too.
In 48 years, this is the ONLY time I haven't given up. I have no desire to do that. And I really can't explain why.
ReplyDeletePeople close to me are puzzled. A couple of friends have asked, "Why? What's changed you? Why are you doing it now, when you couldn't in the past?" A teacher colleague even took me aside and said, "Hey Deb, I'm worried about you. I think that when school is finished and you're on holiday, you might slip back!" So she's been emailing me weekly, checking up on me. And I've been telling her that I've continued to eat right, and exercise and lose weight.
I don't know why the head is in the right place, and the mouth is doing the right thing, and I continue to get off the couch and go to the gym. But hell, I'm glad I'm doing it.
24.2kg (53pounds) have gone. Now if that isn't motivation to keep going, I don't know what is!!
no sir..no giving up here.
ReplyDeleteever.
xo
I am in a great place today..and have been for a bit...instead of being on a diet and letting the scale be my only measure of success, what sends me to the good place is the word lifestyle. I live my life with style..a style of choices, stretching out of my weight as a comfort zone, and YES keeping my head in the game!
ReplyDeleteThank you for you, your honesty and your laughs to make this an enjoyable journey!
This hits home for me. Having been a yo-you dieter. Clearly I quit many times in the past. I have struggled for the past several weeks, ending the month higher than I started, but the great thing is that I know in my heart and my head that I will NOT do what I have done so often in the past. I am going back to what works. Regaining all I have lost is no longer an option for me. Ever.
ReplyDeleteSo good.
ReplyDeleteThis struck me "Just slipped away and decided that reclaiming your body was too big of a project to take on at this point in your life."
How scary is that?
Not giving up. Not today anyway. But I do have a few disappearing bloggers on my mind lately.
ReplyDeleteThanks for this. I am in asuper bad place today but I can't let it go. I just cannot give up the ground I have gained.
ReplyDeleteKeep chugging along indeed. Twenty years ago if you said that I'd hold out my plastic cup for another beer. But today I'll grab this apple and pretend it tastes like beer. Mmm, thanks for the beer, I mean apple, Jack.
ReplyDeleteLove the idea of eating mindfully and getting the body moving. Maybe if more folks did just that instead of stressing and obsessing over all the numbers, there would be fewer quitters.
ReplyDeleteThis is so true! Every time I've felt like a failure this past year when I gained 15 lbs back, I just remind myself how far I've come. 90+ lbs down. If I quit, I would have gained everything back! Never give up!
ReplyDeleteI'm not quitting. I'm at the point where I ususally do quit. Mind and body get on the same page that this is too hard and I just stop. I guess the difference is that heart trumps all and this time my heart is really in it! The funk can only last so long...
ReplyDeletewaiting for the funk to pass,(gross!)
Keelie
I'm not sure when I realized this, but for me, quitting has actually been part of the overall process. I hope that makes sense...
ReplyDeletehiw can a person quit their lifestyle :) ??????? I can't quit.
ReplyDeleteI'm not quitting...but I sure would appreciate seeing those numbers change after my hard work!?!
ReplyDeleteNever gonne give it up, Never gonna let me down...(how odd is it that that song popped in my head?) There is no giving up here! Maybe setbacks, maybe bad days, but never a complete surrender!
ReplyDeleteThank you. Needed that.
ReplyDeleteGreat post.
ReplyDeleteI guess I really haven't thought about giving up - not really...which is weird since I have all of the other times in my life.
Thanks for this post. You are the sh*t.
Loved this post. Today I realized that I've lost nearly 25 pounds, 24.8. This is the most I've lost in the last 10years without going back to my old thinking and giving up. It is a choice, just like everything we do. It's more about where your head is than anything. Is it in the game or not? My son learned this at Boy Scout Camp, "KP duty is only as hard as you make it." Isn't that true about this healthy eating business? About life in general? That's no sh*t!
ReplyDeleteI'm in a good place because, like some other commenters, am seeing this as a lifestyle...and doing it with style! My progress is slow but the weight trend is downward and today that's bringing some joy. Tomorrow...well, we'll have to wait and see!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the post, its encouraging to see that you have made keeping your head in the game a part of your everyday life!
As tough as some days are, no giving up here either. Glad you'll be here with me through this maintenance stuff, it sure isn't easy. It really is about never giving up. Good post as always Jack!
ReplyDeleteAnother awesome post, Mr Sh*t.
ReplyDeleteI have given up in the past, and have ended up putting on weight again. My trip to the doctors yesterday reinforced the point that I can't ever give up, lose control - and while this is a way of life and has been for several years now, it's the day to day slip up that I need to keep control of, and not let days turn into weeks, months and years.
It DOES get tough, even though we have established healthy habits - and sometimes we need to allow ourselves the odd day off, but keep hold of the bigger picture and long term goal.
Thank you.
Im no quitter! Well ...Ok, I am if you count quitting the chips, cheeze-it's, box kraft mac N cheese (the one with the foil pack of cheese sauce), the bags of Milano cookies....FUNYONS!
ReplyDeleteYep, guess I am a QUITTER!
After having kind of a bad morning, this was just the post I needed to read. Thanks!
ReplyDeletenever giving up again... did that all my life and it got me unhealthy, tired and fed up with myself. No matter how hard it gets, I just keep reminding myself, I only need to get through the next hour. Taking baby steps to get where I want to go and I don't care how long it takes as long as I keep moving forward.
ReplyDeleteI think we've all been there at some point in time. You notice that especially in the fat-blogging world. Half my blogroll is either gone or not updating anymore. And I've gone through my own spells of not updating.
ReplyDeleteFar as I'm figured I'm in it for... ever. And everandeverandeverandeverandever.
:)
Today is NOT the day! Woo hoo!
ReplyDeleteNot ever giving up but thank you for the reminder. I needed it today.
ReplyDeleteI have been teetering lately but giving up is NOT an option this time around. Thanks for verbalizing it so eloquently Jack
ReplyDeleteI never, not once, gave this thing a real effort before this last year and a half.
ReplyDeleteever.
There is nothing to quit on but yourself.
well, found my blog post for tomorrow.
Sh*t, there goes my hard earned whimsy.
I want to keep this post in my pocket. For those days when I feel like there is no way I can climb this mountain and I may as well go back to auto pilot. Being "checked in" and aware is exhausting sometimes. I am glad to know I am not alone. As always Jack, thank you! And no giving up here today!
ReplyDeleteNot giving up here. I so want to but you're right. Today is NOT the day for that.
ReplyDeleteI have quit so many times in the past. But since I started blogging (this week a year ago) I never quitted. Sure there are a lot of days when things didn't go as I planned it but quitting is not an option. I love the support of my blogging friends and their blogs keep me motivated and help me not giving up.
ReplyDeleteMy mantra on this fitness journey.. never give up! I will fight it coming & going! And with age, I keep fighting! :-)
ReplyDeleteI saw this just as I was about to cave in and eat a bunch of white chocolate laden with red Pop Rocks for my office's Canada Day snack day celebration. Today is not that day!
ReplyDeleteRae
xo
"Never give up, never surrender."
ReplyDeleteNope, me neither.
Loretta
=^..^=
Just found your blog... hmmm I think I'll be coming back!
ReplyDeleteToo old to quit. There just isn't enough time left to do this again.
ReplyDeleteGood days, bad days, whatever, this is FOREVER!
Can't get enough of this FREAKIN' Blog. You are just about single handedly carryin' me along. Okay I do say that to everybody lol. Really you are awesome.
ReplyDeleteI feel like giving up somedays. Somedays I feel so weak in the face of just making good choices and it makes me wonder why I am doing it at all.
ReplyDelete...Then I remember not being able to walk 50 feet without taking a break.
I will screw up, I will fall down. I will eat too much, I will make bad choices...sometimes. But I will never go back to wondering if I am going to wake up in the morning. I am never giving up. Never.
I don't think victory is the number on the scale. It is wanting to maintain healthy food choices and routine exercise. At least, that's my definition of success.
ReplyDeleteSure I gained a few pounds over my vacation. I can feel it. On the plus side, I don't prefer eating that way. Once in awhile for some special occassion [like my parents' 50th anniversary] is fine. I won't regret it, as the sea bass tasted damn fine and so did the white chocolate mousse cake. Although I feel it around my middle, I also know it will be gone soon as I go back to my routine. My healthy habits will take care of it. So yay on that.
People get hung up on an image or a number, but a change in routine you look forward to returning to is the real prize.
GREAT post. I totally feel like quitting sometimes. And I've learned that that feeling is okay. It's not what I FEEL that determines where I'll end up - it's what I DO. And today (and the next, and the next), I choose to DO what I WISH FOR, which is healthy and strong.
ReplyDeleteHi Jack,
ReplyDeleteThanks for the uplifting post. I need it today.
This was a fantastic post! Thank you so much! I especially love this line:
ReplyDelete"I will keep chugging along, keep making the best choices I can, keep doing what I can to bend my body to my will and keep my head in the game."
Thanks so much!
Hi Jack. Margie over at http://myhealthylivingthruweightcontrol.blogspot.com/2010/06/rethinking-and-readjusting.html
ReplyDeleteis going to be reviewing a book she just got about maintaining weight loss. I am going to keep my eye on her future posts. She is one of my "maintenance heros" but she still struggles with it and works at it daily. Anyhoo...you might want to pop over there too and read about the 12 Rules in the book she is reviewing. Tomorrow will be "Rule 1".
Shower time for me...I ran tonight. Woo hoo!
Here is to NOT giving up as that is the easy option and weight loss is never easy. Tomorrow is a new day with new ambitions and new experiences.
ReplyDeleteY'know what? I am totally in a good place right now :D
ReplyDeletethough true to form last week I was ready to give up. again.
i need your smile conjuring blog posts <3
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ReplyDelete