Patty stated there were many stressors in her life that attributed to the weight gain. For you, think of what may be making you unhappy and could contribute to your weight gain (if it is not medical); whether it is your relationships or your job and finances or lack of spirituality and self-worth or just the lack of physical activity. For Patty it was her relationship, which lead to unhealthy snacking and unhealthy portion sizes. Usually when something is not making you happy, this can lead to unhealthy habits. Once discovered, realized and acknowledged, you have to find a way to resolve the issue. Patty got out of the unhealthy relationship. She then needed to change her behaviors and this was prompted by a visit to her doctor. He sat her down and directly informed her that she was killing herself and that she had to do something to change. Another factor that pushed her to change was that her 3 children were gaining weight with her and she knew she had to do something to turn their lives around.
She discovered over time with therapeutic chats that issues of self-esteem played a major role of holding herself back from thriving and being who she really wanted to be. With the lack of self-esteem, she always put others ahead of herself which created a safety zone by herself. That safety zone was comforting when she snacked and ate her larger portions. In addition, she was afraid of change. She noticed that when she started to lose weight the compliments she received were perceived differently than when she was at her highest weight. She did not believe them because she did not believe in herself, consequently, she had a hard time receiving those compliments.
Then a light bulb clicked on because she was tired, tired of not living her life. She found her inner strength, her confidence started to soar and issues with lack of self-esteem started to dissipate. This was not only a body transformation, it was a mind transformation. She started putting herself first and told herself there are no excuses or shortcuts to this transformation. She was more aware of her food choices, started to increase her exercise, was more consistent with it and found that she was ready to accept her new body (with the compliments) as it was successfully changing before her eyes. She felt awesome and an added bonus was that she was released from all hypertension medications!
Patty's story is not unique. There are so many people that are trying to lose weight and wind up giving up because it is not coming off quick enough or they are not ready for the change or they have not acknowledged what is really the source of the weight gain in the first place. Patty lost 100 pounds in 2 years which is about a pound a week. When you do it slowly and naturally, it comes off and is more likely to stay off. "Slow and steady wins the race."
You are so much stronger than you think physically and mentally. So whether you have 10, 20, 50 or 100 pounds to lose, you have to give yourself a chance and know that "you owe it to yourself."
