I met with a friend of mine, who had weight-loss surgery eight years' ago, and had gained all of their weight back just to become larger than they've ever been before. I had advised my friend to find out about having a revised surgical procedure done. They had taken heed to my advice since they've seen how far I've come, and had another weight-loss procedure performed.
Six months had gone by and they were doing great! They had lost 100 lbs. and went down quite a few sizes as well. I had mentioned to them how wonderful they looked, and a broad smile would come across their face filled with pride and joy. I was so happy for them for taking control of their weight and staying true to their journey. After their eighth month on the journey, a mutual friend came by to see me and told me that our friend was losing hope and had become discouraged. He had asked me to check up on our friend, for he feared our friend was beginning to gain weight once again.
I thought to myself why???? They have come this far, why are they setting themselves up to fail again? Every chance I had to interact with them, I would ask how are you feeling? What are you eating and drinking? In the beginning of their journey, they had been extremely strict to the point of starvation. They were eating only jello and tuna fish. My belief is that they went to the other extreme, and when their hunger began to creep up on them, so began the cycle of "insanity". The old patterns and attitudes were brought to the surface once again. I've tried to contact my friend, and reach out to them before it's too late. Once is a mistake, but twice is a habit.
The lessons were not learned the first time, and unfortunately being repeated for a second time. They will not have another chance if they don't wake up. I'm very concerned for their health and well-being. They are too young to have a life filled with no hope, no future, no life. I realize that I cannot save them, they can only save themselves. I feel helpless to just sit back and watch this person destroy what they worked so hard to become up to this point.
Perhaps they have reached a plateau and feel it's not working. I remember during the first quarter of my journey, the weight was coming off at a rapid rate. The joy and anticipation of standing on the scale and seeing the numbers keep moving downward, was absolutely a natural high to feel! Then about the same time at approximately eight months, the scale didn't budge....I was puzzled? Why haven't I've lost more weight? Was I taking in enough protein to meet my daily requirement? Hydrating...did I hydrate enough to flush the excess fluids out of my body? Did I need to rev up my exercise routine and make it more challenging?
One week passed by and still the scale wouldn't budge. The second week passed by, and there still was no change on the scale. By the third week, the scale began to move once again, but slower than it had in the past. At least it was beginning to move in the downward direction again. I pushed myself harder with my workout routine, focused on my caloric and protein intake to the exact number, and hydrated more than I had been just to trick my body and get it functioning again as a fat-burning machine! If I had given up during that period, I would have never reached my goal, which was clear in sight. I made sure I would follow-through for once in my life to finish what I've started.
The moral of this story is to NEVER GIVE UP! Yesterday is gone and we've learned from our mistakes, tomorrow gives us another chance to begin once again, and today we can reach our personal goal that we set out to do. I am going to contact my friend and share my experience with them as I just did with all of you.
May your journey remain a successful path that gives you the best quality of life that you truly deserve!
Linda Hegedus,©
