Does it Take a Village to Maintain Weight Loss?

By , SparkPeople Blogger
This blog is a featured "SparkStory", one of the classic posts from our members that provides support, encouragement and inspiration to the SparkPeople Community.  
 
Poster: HOLLYM48

We all have heard that it takes a village to raise a child, but what about weight? Does it take a village to lose it? Does it take a village to maintain it? 

My answer is yes, absolutely. And you are my Village. 

How many people here have lost weight only to leave the village and lose their focus and gain it all back? And when they decide they have to start over, what happens? The village doesn't judge, they don't ask "How could you let this happen", they just open their arms and accept the person back. 

We have probably all been on that roller coaster of weight loss and weight gain. We have felt discouraged, frustrated, disgusted. We have let ourselves down. We sometimes don't think we can ever get to the end of the journey of weight loss, and you know what, the journey never ends. 

Each day you wake up, you get to make many choices for the day. What am I going to wear? What am I going to eat? How am I going to react to my family, my coworkers, my boss? Remember that you and only you are in charge of how you react. You are not in charge of other people and what they are going to do or say, so you have to choose how you are going to feel when you react to different situations. Don't let other people make choices for how you are going to eat. If you are upset, go for a 10 minute walk if you can. Don't walk to the kitchen and eat, we all know it won't make you feel better, it will only make you feel worse. 

And when the day comes that you have made it to goal weight, don't consider the journey over, don't leave our Village. Stay here and be part of the Village for the rest of your life. Stay for the support and the encouragement and for the friendship. Is it time-consuming or maybe annoying to always track, maybe, but in the whole scheme of things, it is a small thing we do to stay on track and stay focused on the journey. 

I am glad that this is my Village and my friends are here every day. So enjoy your Village and if you do decide to leave because you are bored with it, you know that we will always be here if you want to come home! 

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