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Saturday, February 08, 2014

So many times, I read others' success stories and it feels like there is just one main thing that is their turning point. Either it's a "rock bottom" moment, or it's finding THE tool that helps them succeed.

For me, I think I am discovering that there will not be one thing. I am successful right now because I am using so many different support strategies, kind of like a web. Sparkpeople, blogging, accountability with friends, walking buddies, a low-carb diet, exercise videos, walking laps around my school, only having "safe" foods in the house, and most recently, DietBet. I'm not saying that any one of these things is the reason for my success. "I" am doing this, and I am using other tools and wonderful people around me as support, but I am not relying on any of these things or people to do the work for me. The other great thing about having so many supports, is that if one of them isn't working for me at the time (I forget to log into Sparkpeople, or my walking buddy is not around one day) I still have lots of ways to encourage myself to make healthy choices!
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  • RUSSELL_40
    Yes, there are many reasons why we all succeed, but it still is one major thing. I love the support from SP members, as well as the site, and all the trackers, articles, and videos, as well as accountability. I don't have walking friends, but I like walking along the river by myself in the morning. It is peaceful.

    Still, without the one thing.. low carb, none of the rest would have happened. Obviously, you were making changes before low carb, so that isn't your reason, but for me, I wouldn't have lost weight without low carb, or started exercising, and all the benefits of SP would have been wasted on me, because they don't cause weight loss, they just help manage it. Even walking buddies are not there if something didn't propel you to decide to walk. probably these walking buddies, were drinking buddies, or meet at a restaurant buddies before? Without walking though, there are no walking buddies..lol.

    I would say I hit bottom with all my bad health, but the year after I was diagnosed with Diabetes, I drank a 2 liter of Pepsi, and a pint of Ben & Jerry's every single day. Obviously, my love of sugar was more than my concern for dying. At this point, I had been given 6 months to live already, and ignored that too.

    So yes, we all point to one thing, and it looks that way from the outside, and for us their is ONE thing that was the " main thing ", but we all have multiple things that kept us on track.

    So your experience isn't different at all. We just have had time to look back to our start, and decide what was the #1 impetus for becoming healthier. While my tracker is great, I could be tracking daily, and still be 361 lbs. So I rank them in importance, and for me, low carb is #1, but the others are important too.

    People are successful because they take 1 positive thing, and build on it. Kind of like making a meal. I start with a lb. of venison, which is the main thing, and add onions, celery, tomatoes, some oil, and lots of spices, in a cup of water, and make a venison " soup/stew ". The venison was the reason for starting that dish, but all the other ingredients are important too. However, if you asked me later why I made the dish, I would say " I had some venison ". I would still have eaten, but the end result would have been different. I might have ended up with chicken soup, or a pork stir fry. The pan/pot in this case would be important no matter what I did, but not a main cause of why you had the venison dish.

    To tell you the truth, I don't buy people hitting rock bottom as a reason. Most of us hit rock bottom, and get dragged around on the rocks for a decade or two, before finding a way to lose weight/ get healthier. Try to find a diabetic who doesn't slip up, and get a regular pop every so often. Not easy to find. People stay at rock bottom all the time. Then when they find something that works, like a vegan diet, or a low carb diet, they come up with, " I hit rock bottom at X ".

    Why people get healthy isn't really that important though, is it? Just get healthy, and anything that helps you do that is great, and you should use it. You can look back when you are at goal weight, and wonder what the cause was, and how to rank them, if you want. If you do have a " main thing ", it will likely change over time, as our perception of what worked does.

    For now, just emoticon . The combination of all that you are doing is working. emoticon
    2578 days ago
  • LORRAINE10141
    You have a win-win-win plan in place. Congratulations and enjoy the journey. :)
    2580 days ago
  • no profile photo CD14409128
    Wow, you have it going on for you! Keep on moving!
    2583 days ago
  • WOUBBIE
    Excellent! I know that posting here on SP daily is what put me on the straight and narrow, but it's in combination with eating well and reading up on what I need to do.

    emoticon
    2583 days ago
  • GEORGIA_KAY
    Sounds like an excellent plan! emoticon
    2583 days ago
  • no profile photo CAROL494
    emoticon
    2583 days ago

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    Disclaimer: Weight loss results will vary from person to person. No individual result should be seen as a typical result of following the SparkPeople program.
 

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