The mental side of it all

The mental side of losing weight is where I struggle the most. The 1st time around, when I lost 101 pounds, I never actually dealt with the mental... I focused all on the physical side. It worked for a little bit. After I hit my goal of losing 100 pounds, I just fell off the deep end because I had never worked on the mental side of it all. After my knee surgery, I slipped into a state of depression. I had to fight a lot of demons and it wasn't until very late last year that I finally pulled myself out of that horrible place. I decided that 2013 would be the year I would fix the mental side of it. It has been a very slow and very frustrating process, but at least I have the wheels spinning. Over the last 6 months, I have dealt with a lot and I have managed to lose 20 of the 40 pounds I gained after my knee surgery. I am now ready to tackle the last 20 pounds and then never have to lose that weight again...

Here are a few things I have learned, had to deal with, demons I fought and much more...

1. Food is not a comfort - it will not make you happy, actually it just made me slip into depression even more. You need to learn how to make yourself happy and turn to God instead of turning to food. After all he is our creator and he knows what we need.

2. Stress sucks - Stressing about a problem or situation you can not change, just adds even more stress to your life. When you stress you (or at least I do) tend to eat more. Stress is not your friend.

3. Be the best you, you cant be someone else - God made you who you are and you are perfect in every way. Stop trying to be like everyone else. Stop trying to have a body like a celebrity because every ones body types are different. Love yourself for who you are today.

4. Realize that your love for food is actually an addiction - Porn, lust, alcohol, drugs, gaming, etc... they are all addictions and guess what, some peoples love for food is their addiction. You have to face it as you have a problem and take the steps to fix that problem. If it is staying away from what you "love" for awhile to become a stronger you... quitting cold turkey. Or if it is seeking help, so be it a bible study (that's what I did), a friend, a counselor, a weight loss service (weight watchers, jenny craig, slim for life).

5. You have the power to overcome anything you set your mind to - plain and simple, you can do it. You do not need magic pills, you do not need surgeries, you do not need a partner in crime... at the end of the day, it is you and you alone. You got this!

6. Sometimes you have to do whats best for you and your life, not whats best for everybody else!

7. Wake up every morning and ask God for help - give all your problems to God and have him carry them. Ask God to help you not think about food, ask him to help you not weigh in every 5 minutes, ask him to stir you away from situations where you will be weak. He is our Lord and Savior and wants to help us!

8. Remind yourself every single day, weight loss is more then going to the gym... you have to eat clean and stay on top of your meals. You can never out run a bad diet.

9. You are beautiful no matter if you weigh 300 pounds or 120 pounds!

10. You are worthy of love no matter if you wear a size 26 jeans or a size 2!

These are just a few of my intimate thoughts, they may not obtain to you... but I wanted to share anyways. You never know who is watching (or reading) and you might not only be changing your life but you might be helping change someone else life!!

I hope you all have a healthy happy Friday!