My poll

Five votes people...seriously?! Come on, you can do better than that :)

Anyway, this post is mainly about how I am noticing how hard we are on ourselves and how this may be the source of people's health/weight problems.

While it's not good to be on either end of the spectrum (too lax or too stringent), people need to lay off the guilt about not being their ideal weight. I am speaking from my own experience only obviously, but only this time around did I leave all that negativity behind (as much as possible, as I have Catholic guilt in my whether I am Catholic or not).

It is working. I stopped punishing myself for eating bad foods and instead read all the ingredients so I know exactly what I am putting in me. This way, I look at food as a fine balance of things that keep me energized and functioning. The aim, for me, is to make sure at every meal or snack I think "have I had any protein today? (for example) and then eat something that contains protein. Or I think to myself "I've only eaten one vegetable today, how can I put more veggies into my meal today?". By focusing mostly on very basic concepts like this, I end up eating more often than usual, and therefore avoid most cravings for junk.

The other key for me was to not focus on long term. Focus exclusively on short term objectives like "I just finished dinner, maybe I'll go for a super quick walk." I prepare food right when I get home because once I am on my couch, it's a magnet. I congratulate myself when I see even 0.2 lbs less on the scale because it's better than nothing. It's hard to stay motivated for every pound, but it takes time to build motivation. You have to set the bar really low at first (like week 1: 10 minutes of walking every day, week 2: 20 minutes of walking every day, etc.)

Anything healthy is better than nothing. Keep telling yourself that until you get the motivation to treat your body and mind as well as it deserves to be treated. By focusing on healthy objectives (losing 1 pound instead of 20, eating 1 more fruit and one less piece of junk today, etc.), those small changes will really add up.

I hope this helps at least one of my friends feel better about themselves and stop feeling so guilty and instead just get up now and do something about it today. Then start over tomorrow, then the next day, and so on...

oh and ask for support from friends and people around you, and do NOT let anyone sabotage your objectives. Having supportive people around me has made a world of difference...