To everyone who chooses to run – or walk - a marathon,
Congratulations !!! 
I won’t be joining you. 

I totally lack the herd instinct.
I don't like crowds, and I don't like to exercise with other people.

I like spending that time alone. I enjoy choosing music or programs of my personal choice or using the meditative aspect of exercise. I like the feeling of accomplishment when I'm finished, and the internal and external strength that exercise gives me.
 Small goals are worthy of celebration. Exercising for 10 minutes a day, running a mile or walking a 5K are all accomplishments of which to be proud.

We don't all have to run a marathon, cook everything from scratch, or bench press our own body weight. I choose not to feel like a quitter for deciding to set my exercise goals lower than others might, or for listening to my body and changing those goals

No one judges you but yourself,   and really, cut yourself some slack! Whether you need to lose 100 pounds or you're just trying to maintain a 5-pound loss, we're all fighting the same fight, taking the same journey.

My body is unique, and so is yours.
What works for me won't necessarily work for you, and
What motivates you might not be what inspires me.

Love yourself. 

"If you compare yourself with others,
you may become vain or bitter,
for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself."

This is a quote from Desiderata, music popular in 1972,
which I posted here on April 15, in 39 Years Later.

We can judge the progress of changes and improvements in ourselves 
by watching ourselves and our own individual behaviors.

At the end of the day, our ability to lose weight or maintain weight-loss
comes down to whether we're willing to pay the price;
whether we've reached the point of being sick and tired
of making the same old choices and excuses.

 Successful weight-loss requires consistently paying the price
by working to eliminate previous habits and to make healthy choices
over and over every day. It takes Consistency and Commitment.

When we commit ourselves to paying the price, we are improving our lives.
We're saying "No" to blame, shame, excuses, disappointment, and self-loathing.
We're saying "Yes" to purpose, striving, integrity, and character.

Paying the price over time doesn't require perfection.
It requires persistence.

“I just want to live a lifestyle free from an obsession with diets”

This appears to be a common Theme among dieters.
The majority of people just want the problem to go away.


They want to eat like "normal people"
and be in the "normal" weight range.
They'd like to lose and maintain their weight
without difficulty or much thought.

Some people who are only overweight,
or just above the border of obesity, are able to do this.

Unfortunately, those who have lived with a lifetime of obesity
are unlikely to ever accomplish this...
even when the way of eating is very simple.

I am one of those people with a history of morbid obesity,
who has lost a great deal of weight,
and I have maintained my weight near my goal for the past 5 plus years.

I have found it Beneficial to incorporate
an obession with diets into my personal lifestyle,
to Embrace the Devil,
and make Dieting into an enjoyable Hobby.

With some effort, an "obsession with dieting"
can be changed from a "bad" thing, into a "good" thing.

 

Personal Diet Modifications have their place,
but making any Food Plan into a Habit,
requires Consistency and Patience.

It is impossible to successfully make a Food Plan into a Habit,
if one changes the Plan every time one fails to meet its Guidelines.
No one is successful all of the time.

 To build a successful eating Habit it is necessary to:

Recognize a failure,
Accept that failure,
Resolve to reduce future failures,
Continue working to follow that Food Plan.

We have to overcome obstacles one at a time
Goals don't come easily,
but there is no accomplishment without work,
and no "win" without something to beat.

It's natural to get discouraged when roadblocks appear.
We invest time and emotion into creating the perfect plan,
and then something comes along and screws it up.

  Sometimes all we have to do
is to get back up and move forward again.
Obstacles are like that Wizard behind the curtain—
--once we see them up close they are much less intimidating.

Next time we take a step backwards,
let's not pile up guilt.
All we have to do is take two steps forward
and we'll still be further along than we were before.

It doesn't matter how many obstacles we face.
We only have to beat the most recent one.