Rob from Michigan

F

Fourth&100

New member
I've surfed through many a website, and this is probably the best one I've found in terms of motivation.

Here's my (sob) story:

I'm 29, turning 30 in a few months. That by itself it a reminder of what I need to accomplish. I've been married for about a year and a half, I went back to college a few years ago and am about two years from graduating with my education degree. I have a successful job and do pretty well, and am closing on our first house in 3 days. Life should be good.

My problem is, I hate what I look at when I look in the mirror. When I was growing up, I was in the marching band, all kinds of sports, and I even ran cross country. I met my wife in 2001 (ok, December 31, 2000.. just in case she reads this ;)), and I used to keep my weight solid. I hovered around 180-220 for a long time.

Something happened. About 10 years ago, my life flatlined. I dropped out of school, I found the wrong friends, and I discovered how good pizza is when you dip it in beer and make all the wrong decisions. Long story made short: I ballooned to 379 pounds. That's the size of a small car in some countries.

The last four or five years, I did what everbody else who has tried to diet has done. Get motivated, lose 20 pounds. Feel good about that, eat a brownie (or a dozen), and gain 25 right back. Lose another 35, and then gain 40. It's an endless cycle.

A few months ago, I got tired of it, and I got my weight down from 379 to 341. I then did the exact same thing, got happy with my 'loss', and popped right back up to 353. So, I started a blog, I got people keeping me accountable, and I have been really pushing hard to drop 100 pounds (hence my name).

The bottom line:

I need motivation, and I hope that being on this messageboard can help. I am NOT going to post my blog website until I feel like I've earned the right to. I run a large sports messageboard myself, and understand the frustrations of someone new coming on and pretending to contribute just to peddle their wares. I won't do that.

You all seem very friendly, and I'm hoping to help you guys with your motivation as well. If anyone wants to check out the blog, let me know. I won't offer it up for a while, but I'm hoping to find more strength through people who are going through the same thing.

So, that being said...

Hi, I'm Rob. And I need to drop 100 pounds to become proud of myself again. I can admit it, and now I need to do something about it.
 
newbride02 said:
Admitting or accepting it is half the battle...good for you!

You can do it, theres alot of support on this site, everyones great about it :)

welcome aboard, let me know if you have any questions!
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Thanks for the reply. The thing about me is, I could be a nutrition counselor or a gym trainer if I wasn't so damn lazy :cool:

I've taken nutrition classes, and have worked with trainers and health clubs long enough to know tricks for most any person, so hopefully I can provide help as well to anyone who needs it. I'm not a professional by ANY stretch of the imagination, though.

To me, as I said, it's motivation. Pure lazy. Sloth. You name it.

I'm loving this place, so I'm sure I'll stick around. See you around!
 
Welcome to the forum :) I've been on here since late October (I think) and I have founf that everyone is super supportive. I had 25 more lbs left to lose when I started coming here and now I only have 12 more to lose. I give this website a lot of credit for the weight I've lost. I wish you luck! :)
 
newmommy1 said:
Welcome to the forum :) I've been on here since late October (I think) and I have founf that everyone is super supportive. I had 25 more lbs left to lose when I started coming here and now I only have 12 more to lose. I give this website a lot of credit for the weight I've lost. I wish you luck! :)
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That's fantastic. I started November 22nd on a push to drop 100, and I'm down 9 so far, so I'm pretty happy about that. My problem, as I said, it motivation and being able to do this for the long haul. I'm glad I found this place.
 
Good luck. Use anything and everything you can think of to keep yourself motivated. I just recently passed 100 pounds lost, and trust me, you will love the feeling.
 
100down said:
Good luck. Use anything and everything you can think of to keep yourself motivated. I just recently passed 100 pounds lost, and trust me, you will love the feeling.
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Awesome. Any tricks of the trade, or is it just a matter of persistance. I've never been able to be consistant, so now I'm literally doing this blog where I've sent it to my co-workers and family, so when they see me staring at the cheeseburger in the window, they can give me the business. It's working so far, but I'm only a month in, so it's hard to say. Actually, now that I think about it, it's only been 20 days, and I'm down 9.
 
Fourth&100 said:
Awesome. Any tricks of the trade, or is it just a matter of persistance. I've never been able to be consistant, so now I'm literally doing this blog where I've sent it to my co-workers and family, so when they see me staring at the cheeseburger in the window, they can give me the business. It's working so far, but I'm only a month in, so it's hard to say. Actually, now that I think about it, it's only been 20 days, and I'm down 9.
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Yeah, it's probably a good idea to tell just about everyone you know that you're doing it. Not just for the moral support when they happen to be around, but for the extra motivation of having to own up to your weight-loss declarations in the event that you fail, and resume poor eating habits.

I've probably got a few unorthodox tricks. But like you said, I have to say that the biggest thing is persistence. It really boils down to the fact that I exercise almost every day, primarily cardio, for about one hour, and I keep my calories between 1100-1500 per day NCB (not counting beer). Don't beat yourself up if you have one bad day. Nothing you can eat in one day has any real effect on weight loss. Just make sure you follow up that bad day with a solid week, and you'll be fine. I've gotten pretty good at controlling the craving to snack, but at first I ate a lot of sugar-free jello with low-cal Splenda-sweetened fruit cocktail in it, which has surprisingly few calories. Pickles (sour or the sweet ones with Splenda) are good to snack on, too, as has been suggested here. Baby carrots dipped in nonfat yogurt mixed with some ranch dressing seasoning mix. I was a big drinker of soft drinks, but I was able to adapt to drinking Coke Zero pretty painlessly.

Use anything you can to help you succeed. Make lists. Daydream. Make sure you always keep in mind how good you will feel if you succeed, and how bad you will feel if you fail. Don't doubt your ability to succeed, and don't accept failure. Eventually, weight loss becomes kind of self-sustaining for me. There are enough feel-good mile markers (fitting into smaller and smaller clothing, passing another ten pounds, getting compliments from people who haven't seen me for a while, etc.) that I don't even think about the possibility of failing anymore, and eating healthy and exercising are just a part of my lifestyle, not a chore or something to obsess about.
 
100down said:
Yeah, it's probably a good idea to tell just about everyone you know that you're doing it. Not just for the moral support when they happen to be around, but for the extra motivation of having to own up to your weight-loss declarations in the event that you fail, and resume poor eating habits.

I've probably got a few unorthodox tricks. But like you said, I have to say that the biggest thing is persistence. It really boils down to the fact that I exercise almost every day, primarily cardio, for about one hour, and I keep my calories between 1100-1500 per day NCB (not counting beer). Don't beat yourself up if you have one bad day. Nothing you can eat in one day has any real effect on weight loss. Just make sure you follow up that bad day with a solid week, and you'll be fine. I've gotten pretty good at controlling the craving to snack, but at first I ate a lot of sugar-free jello with low-cal Splenda-sweetened fruit cocktail in it, which has surprisingly few calories. Pickles (sour or the sweet ones with Splenda) are good to snack on, too, as has been suggested here. Baby carrots dipped in nonfat yogurt mixed with some ranch dressing seasoning mix. I was a big drinker of soft drinks, but I was able to adapt to drinking Coke Zero pretty painlessly.

Use anything you can to help you succeed. Make lists. Daydream. Make sure you always keep in mind how good you will feel if you succeed, and how bad you will feel if you fail. Don't doubt your ability to succeed, and don't accept failure. Eventually, weight loss becomes kind of self-sustaining for me. There are enough feel-good mile markers (fitting into smaller and smaller clothing, passing another ten pounds, getting compliments from people who haven't seen me for a while, etc.) that I don't even think about the possibility of failing anymore, and eating healthy and exercising are just a part of my lifestyle, not a chore or something to obsess about.
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Awesome advice. I just got back from a 3-day binge of moving into a new house (our first!), so I haven't been online since the day I signed up, but be sure I'm not giving up on this site. The advice is motivating, and your tips are priceless. Be sure to know that I'll be stealing a few of them :D

I wasn't going to do this, but I'm going to put my blog into my signature, and if anyone feels like pushing me, posting comments, or even just stealing the idea for their own, that's awesome. As for mine, make sure to start at the beginning to get the idea of what I'm doing.

Note to admin: If my personal blog breaks the 'promoting' rules, please just let me know and I'll gladly remove it. Also, if anyone else has a blog or personal (not for profit) website that they use for motivation, let me know and I'll put your link on my page. My goal is just to be held accountable, and nothing else.

The blog is:

 
Hi Rob!! :)

It's great to have you here! The first step in changing your life is realizing that you need to... Well done!

If you're looking for a diet buddy, I'm on the bandwagon again so feel free to PM me anytime! :)

- Wendy
 
wimic said:
Hi Rob!! :)

It's great to have you here! The first step in changing your life is realizing that you need to... Well done!

If you're looking for a diet buddy, I'm on the bandwagon again so feel free to PM me anytime! :)

- Wendy
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Welcome back to the bandwagon. My bandwagon has those swinging doors like a saloon, because I've swung back and forth through the doors for years. Hopefully I'll stay on for a while.

I'll be here for a bit, I hope. Make sure to keep me accountable :cool:
 
Rob take a look

I don't know but I thought that maybe this website listed below could maybe give you some insight. I offer you much encouragement and I PROMISE to find any resource to my knowledge that will help you if I can. I believe that you have the ability and power to do anything you set your mind to. I have a phobia of singing even though in my heart I believe in myself I constantly let myself down possessing the courage to do what I must. We all have shortcomings in life you just have to take every day as a possibility to achieve once more. I believe you have what it takes Rob and maybe what i've sent you might aid your mind with info. Please chat me back and let me know if she helped you or not.

Thank You and Good News about the house Congratulations!!!

Sincerely, Jonathan
 
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