What kind of "dieter" are you?

[ZerasPride]

I'm curious about something. I've always been the type of dieter that saw myself at goal. Wearing my size 4 or 6 or whatever. Svelte and dare I say it? Looking sexy and attactive. I was never living in the moment but always looking ahead to goal. There's nothing wrong with that mind you, but I was never able to be happy or successful in the present.

Now, however, I try to take things one step, one day, and even one meal at a time. I take baby steps and hesitate to even think where I'll be (diet wise) in a week, a month or a year. I just don't look that far into the future. I find myself content to take this journey one step at a time. I don't know what it feels like to be thin, I can't take my mind back to my early 20's when I was 130 pounds. I have always been 200+ pounds, at least as far back as I can remember so I have no frame of reference to base how I will look or feel when I get to the point of being thin.

So my question is what type of dieter are you? Are you more motivated by remembering how it felt when you were thin or how good you will look when you get to your goal? Or do you take this process one day at a time, content with the fact that you will eventually get where you are going but having more interest in the journey right now than the eventual destination?

I'd love to hear my WISH buddies thoughts on this. Thanks for sharing!

 

[WeirdEyes]

I am always thinking about what I'm going to look like when I'm a size 10. That is my goal. Just to be in a comfortable size 10. I used to be a size 18-20 plus and now am a 12. I am sooo close to my goal, I can taste it. I've never wanted to be a size 6 and don't think I could ever be that small. I want to feel sexy and not want to run for the covers when I take my clothes off...if you know what I mean...LOL!

Good topic!

 

[AprilN]

I think I'm a combination. I've never been at my goal weight as an adult, or even as a teenager - the lowest I've been is around 185 (size 18 misses) back in 1996. So from that point of view, I don't really have a clear picture of myself at "goal" - I'm not even sure what that goal weight/size will be yet. After being heavy for basically my entire life, I can't quite imagine what it will feel like to be thin.

But at the same time, I do think about long term goals: estimating what my weight will be when I go on future vacations, when I'll hit onederland, when I'll no longer be obese, and of course, when I'll reach goal. I guess it's more of a goal number or date rather than a goal picture right now.

Most importantly, though, is that I don't think of myself as a "dieter" - I'm "living like a healthy person". It's a distinction that I have to make for myself, for my success - these changes are for life. There is no other option. If I want to be a healthy person, I have to live like that person, every day. That's where my focus on the process comes in, making sure I make the best choices for myself and my future every day, every meal, every minute.

I'm keeping an eye on the destination, but I don't know where it is, exactly. For now, I'm still learning what it means to be a size 20 (again). Thanks for the interesting topic.

 

[teachingmykids]

Setting time related goals has NEVER worked for me. I must just be weird or something, it's like my mind says, "Oh, we have 3 weeks to do that." So, I have to eat healthy one meal at a time. I want to be healthy, grow old with my DH and see my kids grow up and eventually take the grandkids to WDW.
I would also like to be comfortable enough with my body to ummmm.... 'spend time' with my DH and it not be totally dark....

I guess I'm a one-day-at-a-time dieter, that's about all I can handle.

 

[WeirdEyes]

To be quite honest, if I didn't have a time limit goal, I would never lose any weight...LOL! I have to have some sort of goal to shoot for or I'm toast.

 

[ZerasPride]

Thanks so much for your responses. They help me broaden my horizons and give me mental food to chew on.

April - I can so relate to what you are saying about looking at your healthy eating plan as a lifestyle change and not a diet. That's one of the reasons I put diet in quotes in my question. I too am learning to rethink things and know the only way I can be truly successful is to view this as a lifestyle change and not some fad that will get me to my goal and then I can go back to eating an order of 20 piece chicken mcnugget, a double cheeseburger, cheese danish, large fries and a coke at one sitting. Yes that used to be a typical lunch for me!

Thanks again for sharing your thoughts and I look forward to any other WISHers that want to share.

 

[AdventurerKat]

My goal is pretty much just to feel better. I know I will never be a size 6 again...and frankly, I don't want to be because I know now I could not maintain it without being miserable. I would be happy to end up a size 10 now.

But overall, having more energy to play with my kids, things like that, those are my goals.

 

[JustMe28]

I have a date set in my mind - it's my daughters 4th grade graduation, I want to be alot thinner by then and come out and see ppl that I haven't seen in a while - kind of like reveal the new me to a few ppl that could have been a little nicer to me. (People that I know outside of my daughters school that have given me a bit of attitude because they are thin and well, I'm so not, LOL.)

I do picture myself at goal. I am in size 20's right now and my goal size is 14's. I picture myself in size 14 shorts, tanned, nice hair, white teeth - giggle - ok, so I am precise about my little day dream. hehe. I think about this alot while I'm walking - it keeps me going!!

Great Topic!

 

[ohMom]

hmmmmmmmm.........this is a recap of my past year's journey:

pre-WISH I would try a "diet" with a specific goal in mind, an event, a holiday, a season, whatever. I would NEVER make that goal, so I'd give up for a few months until something else went on the calendar that caught my eye. I gained and lost eventually gaining about 20 lbs from my pre-pregnancy weight of my youngest.

When I started WISH and WW I was pretty gung-ho at first, and then I settled into a routine. Very honestly having PM buddies and WISH kept me going. I had friends to report back to and clippies to change! After a few months I began to realize how much better I felt and looked

Now, I'm close to my goal, and this is a lifestyle for me. Sure I still take days of counting pts every now and then, but it isn't a "reward" usually more lack of control and circumstance. Now I'm working on instilling my healthy eating habits more and more so that by next year I can put the journal away and maintain just by knowing what to eat and what portion is right for me. I totally feel horrible when I "cheat" and I'm working on remember that BEFORE the temptation overtakes me.