My Weight Loss Success Story 1 year 100 lbs Week 2

With Week 2 at a close I have to be honest. It seems like a month since I stated my weight loss success story. It has been an interesting process and I have impressed myself with my dedication and willingess to research. It was important to me that I developed my own plan to lose weight as I have tried others and they just haven't worked for me. So far it has been working and once again this week I have a number of lessons I have learned.

In last weeks hub, I focused on hydration and its ability to aid the bodies metabolic processes. This week, in addition to giving you the nitty gritty of my failures, I am going to focus on the need for support and establishing a support network.

Obesity is such a strange condition. It is different than other health problems because it is the most difficult to tlak about with your family or friends. If your friends or family talk to you about being over-weight they run the risk of hurting your feelings. However if you make a joke about it yourself everyone thinks its funny, especially the guy. The fat guy is always funny right.

Talking about weight is a difficult spot for those whp care about you to be in. I became very aware of this fact as I have been writing about my weight loss success story. The out pouring of support has been touching and I never really knew how worried people were about my weight. I came to realize that i never really knew because I kept my struggle to myself. Many people close to me probably don't know how many times I have failed up to this point. They don't know because I have never made them aware of it. The decision to write about it and post it on the internet for the world to see has been one of the best decisions I have made. Because of that my family and freinds have been able to participate and offer support that they otherwise would not have known to give.

In short I am a lucky man and if I have never said thank you for the support before. Let me take this oppotunity to say thank you now. Your support gives me the motivation to go on and although it is early I know I am going to make it.

Creating a network of support is key to your weight loss success story. To do that however you have to turn the private struggle into a public one. No one is going to walk up to you and say "I think you should lose some weight". By turning your struggle from private to public you are making your family and your friends aware of your plan and allowing them to participate. You'll be surprised at the support you will get.

If you have trouble finding your support network seek one out. There are many ways to establish a support network for yourself. Here are a few ideas:

Here are a few ways to build a support network:

• Use the Internet - There are many different ways to use the Internet to build support. Everyone uses the Internet to keep in touch. Social networking and email can be a great way to get encouragement.
• Join a Support Group - If you'd rather have the face to face contact that a support group can provide, seek one out. If you are part of a plan, like Weight Watchers for example, there are support groups included. You can also check with your communities recreation department. Some rec centers have support groups already in place.
• Start Your Own Support Group - If there is not a group in your area, start one. Most Municipal Recreation Centers can provide space and advertise for you. If you are having trouble finding support then you can bet there are dozens of people in your community with the same problem.
• Open Up! - Let your friends and family know about your plan. You can also let co-workers know because they may be willing to go on the journey with you. Your employee health plan may also have some options for support. But you won't know unless you ask.

As with the week before I had a few struggles. There were a few times during the week where I ate something I wasn't supposed to but stayed in my calorie count. ther were a couple of times when I had a little bite of what everyone else was eating. But only a few bites.

Friday was a pretty bad day. A number of things happened that did not allow me to have my morning snack so by lunch time i was very hungry. Because I was on a ride along with a coworker I forgot to bring my previously packed lunch. We stopped at McDonalds. Instead of getting a hamburger I had the little bit healthier choice of a big mac wrap. I also had a yogurt parfait to satisfy my sweet tooth ache. Because I didn't have my mid-morning snack and knew I wasn't going to get my afternoon snack I had the calories available to spend.

My cheat day was saturday and was very exciting. I probably went a little over-board I admit but it was glorious. In the morning I had four pancakes covered with peanut butter and topped with syrup. I had a low calorie lunch and actually invented a recipe for a Tuna Soft Taco. Click the here to see the recipe. My lunch was within my normal diet limits. At Dinner however there was a taco massacre. Poor little tacos didin't have a chance as the dinner table looked taco bell exploded. It took me not time at all to devour 3 meximelts, 1 grilled stuffed burrito and 3 soft tacos. This cheat day was a reminder of how easily I could return to my old eating habits. Although it was my cheat day, I still over did it and will have to watch it in the future.

I started this week at 316 lbs and as of Monday Night I weighed 314 lbs. That is a two pound loss for the week! Looking back at the week, there are many times during the week where I nibbled on things I shouldn't have. That combined with the cheat day on Saturday is probably why I didn't lose as much as I did the first week. I like food too much. I can't give in at all during the week or I will slow my progress more. I also need to start mixing in some excerise to fire things up even more.

The plan this week is to have more excerise while staying strict with my diet. I also need to make sure that I stay properly hydrated.