So what's the answer?

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
So what's the answer?
4
Thu, 04-01-2004 - 7:37pm
I wrote to this board a while back and knew that eventually I would realize I needed to get serious about losing the 120-150 pounds in front of me. I'm going to be posting a lot since I need this place to be my support as I go...

But what is so strange is that I seem to want to figure out the answer to why some people can control what they eat, and others can't. For example, my sister was up this weekend with her daughter. She is overweight and her daughter is not. Her daughter is 25.

Anyway, I watched them without them knowing. My sister didn't eat around her daughter, but you know she wanted to. She obviously ate when she wasn't around otherwise she would not be that big. Her daughter on the other hand never ate. She literally had a piece of toast for breakfast, one piece of candy for lunch (after getting shaky in a store) and a small salad for dinner (she ate 1/2 of what was served).

The daughter was in my opinion as unhealthy as her mother. One extreme over the other. One who had so much control, and the other who has very little. I compared myself to them and noticed that I have zero control. I was alwasy skinny my whole life until 20-25, then I gained weight after a surgery I had.

I guess what I'm driving at is there is no answer. That at the end of the day it might just be that each and every moment we are presented with a choice - a choice to do the right thing or do the wrong thing - we provide an answer. And the sum total of those individual answers is who we are - overweight, healthy, or even under weight.

If you actually read this whole posting - wow! It may just be dribble but I really feel like I'm getting somewhere in my quest to lose weight. Learning about others helps me learn about me.

Camay

PS I've lost 5 pounds so far, but still not working out...:-(

iVillage Member
Registered: 06-16-2003
Thu, 04-01-2004 - 8:03pm
I think that the answer lies in all of us. It is not starving ourselves, and it is not eating only where others are blind to it--it is eating healthy. People who starve themselves, though thin, are very unhealthy people. I have taken off 30 lbs so far, and I am exhilerated!! I have 100 POUNDS TO GO!! THAT IS IT!! ACTUALLY, one more pound and I am not actually supposed to post on this board anymore(well, not literally) but I am DAMNED proud of that! The answer is eating healthy, and drinking that water! God only knows that is what has helped me!

Sara

~Sayruhb02
iVillage Member
Registered: 11-04-2003
Thu, 04-01-2004 - 8:42pm
Welcome to the boards Camay!
 
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-28-2004
Thu, 04-01-2004 - 10:22pm
Camay,

Welcome! I wish I knew the answer! But at least we're all looking for it together.

Katie
iVillage Member
Registered: 06-17-2003
Sat, 04-03-2004 - 4:50pm
I think it is one of those things we are born with. I have 2 daughters one is 5 and one is 3. My 5 year old has so much self control it is amazing I wish she would give me some) About a year ago I promised her a cinderella dress if she would stop sucking her fingers. I really didn't think it would work. Guess what she did. She just made up her mind and did it. When she is eating candy she will say I am just going to eat a little because too much sugar is not good for me. My 3 year old on the other hand will eat the whole bag until she is sick. I don't know if she just doesn't care or what. I have self control around other people. If I am at a party I can go the whole time without eating anything with lots of sugar or fat. The reason is because I don't want anyone to look at what I eat and say "look at what she eats- that is why she is so fat." I know pretty sad.When I am depressed or bored I can easily go through the entire kitchen on a binge, but I am working on changing that. I think the key is not self control but trying to find behavors to replace the eating. My new solution is drinking coffee. I know that isn't that healthy either, but in my mind it works and I don't gain weight. I also don't keep the food in the house because I know when things get bad my self control is gone. if you read Dr. Phils book one of the things he says is that losing weight is not about will power but changing the way you live your life. I think there is a lot of truth behind that.

sharla