Friday, April 18, 2008

Weighty Issues

As of last week, I have reached my weight goal: I have lost over 20 pounds.

About a year ago, I decided to make some lifestyle changes (which you can read more about here in a guest post I wrote for the health site Diethack).

I wanted to be healthier, and to make better choices regarding exercise and food. And yes, I wanted to lose weight.

To be honest, it took me a while to admit that desire to myself (and others). Somehow, wanting to lose weight sounded shallow and misguided. "I don't care about losing weight...what I really want is to just be healthy," I told myself. This was a half truth. While I really did desire to be healthy, I also wanted to simply shed some of the pounds.

When I finally admitted this to myself, it was liberating. I realized that a lot of my self-perception was consumed by thoughts of my weight, that I had never truly liked my body since high school, and that I was tired of it. I was tired of sucking in my stomach every second of the day. I was tired of feeling self-conscious in the majority of my clothes. I was tired of looking at photos of myself, and only being able to see the fat.

And now, over the last year, much of that has changed.

I realize that many other people have lost unbelievable amounts of weight, and might scoff at a moderately overweight person rejoicing over losing a mere 20 pounds. I also believe that there is a danger in becoming preoccupied with one's body image.

But personally, I feel that the new me is something worth celebrating.

The bottom line is that I feel tremendously more healthy than I ever have before. For the first time in my life, I am taking responsibility for my body's condition. I am satisfied with the amount of physical activity I am doing, and with the self-control I now have with food. I am comfortable in my body. And yes, I am glad to see those 20 pounds go.

34 comments:

  1. Congratulations! Losing any amount of weight is hard. It's phenomenal that you came to the decision to lose weight for health reasons, rather than body images. That's ridiculously important. So good for you! Celebrate your new self tonight!

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  2. congratulations! I am proud, and yes, even jealous. I need to get off my tushie and get serious though...

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  3. Congratulations! Being able to set a goal and accomplish it that way is so satisfying. You deserve to enjoy this time!

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  4. That's fantastic! Good for you! :)

    You mind sharing some of your secrets for changing your eating habits?

    Mine are pretty horrible...

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  5. Oh good on you Larissa! I'm proud of you. And jealous but whatev.

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  6. Wow, that is awesome, awesome, awesome! I too would love to know some of your secrets. What were your biggest weaknesses that you gave up or now observe moderately? Can you pinpoint a major contributor that once you cut/add... you noticed an incredible response in either feeling better or shedding weight (cutting out fats, carbs, sugars, upping your cardio, taking vitamins etc)? Congrats, congrats!

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  7. Woo hoo! The fact that you lost the weight by focusing on health in general rather than just jumping on the latest diet trend is definitely worth celebrating.

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  8. congratulations! It's a wonderful accomplished, and I love to see people accomplish their goals. "Get Healthy" is a goal I need to get more serious about, quickly.

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  9. That's fantastic! Congratulations! :)

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  10. Congrats! That must feel amazing to know that you actually followed through with your goal and have lost weight and gained a healthy lifestyle. I'm slowly but surely getting there too :)

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  11. Congratulations! 20 lbs. is a lot of weight to lose. It's also good that you're doing it for the right reasons and the right way.

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  12. Congrats Larissa! Seriously, that's awesome. You should be so proud.

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  13. Congrats! I admire your determination!

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  14. Congrats! 20lbs IS a lot to lose - and sometimes it can be harder to lose 5lbs than 20, depending. (been wanting to shed 5-7lbs for SO long but it hasn't really been successful...)

    Also, not sure if you know but I gave you a blog of distinction award, check out the post here:

    http://tinyurl.com/4fww2b

    :)

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  15. Wow! That is a big deal! I applaud your self control and determination!

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  16. 20 pounds is AWESOME. Great! for you.

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  17. That's so great! Congrats!

    Btw...I am so jealous, haha! :)

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  18. Congrats! And as someone trying to learn more about health and health issues, I'm glad to see you have a healthy outlook on it, seeing that you did it for yourself and that you shouldn't concern yourself with the ideas of body image.

    20 pounds. That's like a set of newborn twins!

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  19. Congratulations! I totally feel you on the not wanting to sound shallow thing. I've been inspired by your healthy living transformation, and am close to my goal too :) Let me know if you ever want to go to a yoga class together...

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  20. Larissa, that is AWESOME!! Seriously, it is SUCH hard work to lose weight especially if it's only 10-20 lbs. I'm so proud of you. Totally inspiring!

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  21. Wow that's totally worth celebrating, congrats. Losing weight is no easy thing 'n it's quite an accomplishment. Now you have to share you secrets with all of us, hehe :P

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  22. Congrats! That's great!

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  23. Congrats! That is exactly what I want to do because (a) I want to be healthy and (b) it would be nice to lose a little weight.

    I'm gonna have to take some pointers from you. (:

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  24. kick ass!! That's awesome, I hope you treat yourself to some new clothes, which is exactly what I can't wait to do now that I've started running again! (and please don't take that the wrong way- cos i'm sure your clothes are already fabulous!)

    :)

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  25. That's an awesome milestone to reach, Larissa. Good for you! :)

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  26. good! for! you!
    it's officially been a year since i lost my 30-some pounds and i couldn't be happier.

    i'm so proud of you!

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  27. Congratulations!!! That is a GREAT accomplishment, indeed!

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  28. yay! i know how hard that is! i also set a goal about a month ago to lose some weight by next spring so this is encouraging!

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  29. Congratulations!!! A mere 20 pounds is no small fete! It's about setting your mind to something; it must give a great sense of accomplishment.

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  30. 20 pounds IS a lot for you! Congratulations on meeting your goal!

    Now when are you going to do a triathlon with me? ;-)

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  31. I think you deserve mad congratulations for both the effort and your honesty. Good job!!

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  32. yay! congrats! i'd love to see before and after pics (if u so desire to post them ;p)

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  33. The healthy snack thing is so key. I'm a muncher and always used to eat candy, but now I keep trail mix handy and it's so much better. Congrats to you!!

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  34. Wow, congratulations! This post made me realize how much I'm in the same place as you were a year ago. I've gained about 15 pounds over the past year, I feel unhappy about my weight and it negatively affects almost every aspect of my life and yet I've been unwilling to admit to myself that I care about losing weight. This post helped me realize that I actually do care about it and that's ok. And I should do something about it, besides just complaining and occasionally planning to starve myself for a week (and caving within an hour).

    I have hypothyroidism, which caused me to gain 30 pounds in 3 months while I was in college. I lost that weight gradually through a healthier diet and exercise and kept it off for years, but it's been creeping back over the past year...

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