And I must weigh 10,000 Pounds

And I must weigh 10,000 Pounds.

By Faith Stuard

There are so many times that I wish I were a hundred pounds lighter and a magic genie would magically appear, and I’d be my recommended size 3 and all would be right with the world, but alas life doesn’t work that way. In order to lose weight, you need to eat right and work out it is a universal fact so my goal for myself in this year of 2021 is to lose the weight that has literally been weighing me down. In order to do this there are a few things that I needed to ask myself:

1. Am I serious about losing weight this time?

Over the years I have made several attempts at losing weight and I have done really well. I eat right, I exercise start to lose weight up until about a month or so into it. So, I needed to ask myself am I serious about it this time? The answer to this question is not just a simple yes or no, I have to really, really take a hard look at why I am failing once I get started and I am losing the weight. The answer to this question is that I get comfortable in the weight loss and slowly but surely start to reintroduce all the bad fatty foods that I was eating beforehand over a period of time, so this brings me to the 2nd question.

2. What can I do that is different to change this?

I am a parent of three beautiful children, did I mention I’m a single parent. Yeah, I spent my time working at home than working at work so basically, I am always working. At 33 years old and over 300 pounds I know that there is a change that needs to take place or I am going to die from being overweight and unhealthy. So let's rewind to 2012 I had gastric bypass surgery and lost all the weight that I needed to, I was so excited, but I developed many complications and several surgeries later, I’m worse off from when I started. In order to make this change, I need to have a change of both heart and mind.

3. How do I change my heart and mind to be geared not just towards losing weight but in being healthy overall?

I would need to get down to the nitty-gritty of why I tend to gain weight , the first thing that comes to mind is the foods that I eat and when and why I eat them, I tend to eat sweets my mom calls then whim wams and zoo zoo’s and when every anyone wants something sweet to eat they always come to my room looking for sugary filled foods like honey buns, twinkies, muffins and nutty buddies I usually have a well-kept stock of these things in a cabinet I keep locked so that my kids don’t eat them up. So, step one is to get rid of my stash of sweets and stash healthier foods so that why I am snacking smarter until I eventually cut down on over-snacking.

4. Why am I eating the things that I’m eating when I’m eating them?

Like most snacker's I like to eat things when I am feeling bad, sad or mad or just bored to be honest, so I snack which I learned in some research causes endorphins to give me a feeling of being happy if only for a little while or until the next snack time. So, this is something I need to address with a professional I say this because I know my limitations and I know that I need to get some help, this may not be the case for everyone, but it certainly is for me.

And last but not least by changing my mind I can really have a positive reaction to losing weight this time there are things that I will need to do to keep myself motivated and on the right path:

• I will need to keep a food journal.

• I will need to get friends and family involved- by having others in on what I am trying to do I need to be held accountable.

• Weight myself frequently- this will let me see the results of my hard work and help keep me motivated.

• Keep a journal on my feelings and what kind of foods I would usually eat when I feel a certain way to make me feel better!

• Find a new activity to take the place of emotional eating like coloring or meditation this will help me feel better by learning new ways to cope with my issues.

Overall I feel better prepared to make the changes that I need to make because I feel that I am motivated to get healthy no just of myself but for the people that love me, I know that I have their support and I have set up an appointment to talk to someone about my issues and get the support that I need to get on the path to a healthier life for me and my family, I am my biggest supporter, so in the words of SpongeBob Square Pants IM READY !!