Thread: Succeeding after many failures

I have tried slimming world so many times and each time follow the same pattern of being successful for a while then slipping off the bandwagon and piling the weight back on. In between I have tried Cambridge and lighterlife although have never maintained any weight loss long term.I have had enough of being overweight and really want to tackle this long term so am looking for some advice/tips. Has anyone else had a lifetime of being overweight and suddenly everything clicked that helped them get(and keep off) the weight? Any advice gratefully received as I do feel like this is the only thing I have never been able to overcome

I'm the same so will be watching with interest!

Another watcher I'm afraid! I've done it before but it's the stopping the cravings that's the most difficult thing for me. The meals are no problem, it's the snacking.

Originally Posted by lasttimelucky

I have tried slimming world so many times and each time follow the same pattern of being successful for a while then slipping off the bandwagon and piling the weight back on. In between I have tried Cambridge and lighterlife although have never maintained any weight loss long term.I have had enough of being overweight and really want to tackle this long term so am looking for some advice/tips. Has anyone else had a lifetime of being overweight and suddenly everything clicked that helped them get(and keep off) the weight? Any advice gratefully received as I do feel like this is the only thing I have never been able to overcome

I can't say that I've succeeded yet as I have a long way to go (and then the hard work of keeping the weight off!) but I was always overweight from childhood onwards, my worst being 20st 7lbs a year before I started SW (I was 32). I had faffed around with WW and slimfast for years before but never really got anywhere.

I started SW at 19st 6lbs and I'm hoping never to go back there! The lights switching on moment for me was the realisation that I'd probably never have a family unless I lost weight and that was all the motivation I needed to get on with it.

You need to want it - losing weight has to be important to you. Find a reason and stick with it and don't let anyone or anything stop you! Make sure you have a support network - this forum is amazing for that. I also go to SW every week and I honestly think that I probably would have struggled more without the support of the group. Don't let little setbacks knock you - think of the big picture and always keep your goal in mind.

There are some bloody amazing people on here who have lost a lot of weight very successfully - they will have better advice than me but that's my little bit as I didn't want to read and run, I hope it helps.

Good luck! x

If you are a frequent rejoiner then I think you need to think about the reasons you stopped the other times and come up with a plan for what you are going to do differently this time to make sure it doesnt happem again. Someone famous, maybe einstein, said that insanity is doing the same thing over and over but expecting a different outcome. So what are you going to differently to make sure it sticks? :-)

Think that the new ee on SW is brill cause you get so much choice you never get bored with it, think that's a lot of the problem diets don't work you got to look at it differently and think I love eating healthily and don't want to go back to filling my body with fat and feeling unhappy again

Originally Posted by missy1978

You need to want it - losing weight has to be important to you. Find a reason and stick with it and don't let anyone or anything stop you! Make sure you have a support network - this forum is amazing for that. I also go to SW every week and I honestly think that I probably would have struggled more without the support of the group. Don't let little setbacks knock you - think of the big picture and always keep your goal in mind.


Good luck! x

I think this is my problem. I am a full time carer to a teenage son with autism and I mean full time, he's not with me for only 3 hours max a week, I also have a teenage daughter and we run a relatively new business which means there are no classes I can get to. In my situation it's so easy to put yourself last as weight does not seem as important an issue as the others. I need to learn to put myself first sometimes, and this is something I am planning to do next year.

Slimmingmadhouse - I have been like you for years and years. I'm 32 and have been dieting since I was 14!

I have lots to lose and have been to WW and SW so many times it's unreal. I never really managed to stick at SW though and had done WW and CD etc so many times that the thought of restricting food again filled me with dread.

So I joined SW in November and vowed to stick to it, I stay to class which is worth it's weight in gold, really it is.

I also am a carer for my son (who also has autism) and it has taken about two years since his diagnosis before I was ready to stop comfort eating and lose weight.

This time I want it, I need it but I really really want it and that is helping me too.

The first week was tough going but every week from then on got easier. There are weeks where I have small losses and weeks where I have great losses but I keep telling myself that time will pass by regardless of what I am eating.

It will soon be easter and I will either have lost weight or not, it will soon be christmas again and I will either be a lot slimmer or I won't. Coming off this way of eating isn't an option and it doesn't matter what the scales say on any particular week because I am in this for the long haul.

If those scales ever give me bad news then I know for sure that quitting SW sure isn't going to help! (been there done that!) So I am hoping to keep going and let time pass me by, then hopefully when I am putting the tree up next year I will be significantly slimmer!

x

Its all so true what's been said already.

You have to have a long hard look at what has happened before, what made you give up and go onto other plans, and have a plan of action what you will do differently this time.

You also have to have a strong reason for doing this, which will keep you sticking to it in the hard times. Write down a list of all the reasons why you wanna do this and keep reminding yourself of these.

I'm 30 weeks pregnant and got the fright of my life about three weeks ago when I was told I had symptoms of diabetes! The health of my baby and I was enough to keep me eating healthy and away from the junk! I'm not perfect by any means, but it is so much easier now I'm focused on our health. I have also found it helpful following sw as a way of just eating healthy rather than trying to lose weight. I know that no matter what happens week in week out, each day I will eat as healthy as I can.

this thred is a duplicate of me...I'm fed up restarting diets its time to stop...id like to buddy likeminded people for this journey...we can do it and others on this site are an insertion .

inspiration ha ha x

Thank you all, everything said on here makes lots of sense. I think for me, I have to accept this will be a long journey and I just need to keep going. In the past as soon as weight loss slows down I end up giving up, I like everything to have been done yesterday hence why I keep giving up when things slow. I think it is that feeling of this is never going to succeed so why do I keep trying however the realisation is that I do not want to be this size for the rest of my life and I am starting to feel the weight I am carrying whereas I never have before. I get out of breath when I go up the stairs and the gym is a killer and for me at 33 this is scary! I am going to try my hardest to stick to it and perhaps reread this thread every time I feel like quitting. Good luck all xx

Bit late on this one as only just seen it but had to post as I could have written those posts myself lasttimelucky!! I'm exactly the same, weight was always the one thing I couldn't sort out and get to grips with. Everything else I can handle and succeed in. I'm only halfway through but something finally clicked with me last jan and I lost nearly 3 stone in 6 months before birthdays and bereavements threw me off plan but I managed to maintain until December. For me eating was/is a coping mechanism or comfort. Happy? Eat! Sad? Eat! Celebrating? Eat! You get the picture - there was nothing that food couldn't fix for me. Apart from being unhappy, fat and wearing horrible clothes just because that's all I could find. For me it was deciding that I needed to fit the final bit of the puzzle in - ive got a great job and an amazing OH but just didn't like myself. You'll see from my diary how frustrating the losses were - 3lb one week, nothing the next, drove me mad. But patience is something you have to find for this and if I can, anyone can!

I'm waffling on so apologies. I think what I'm trying to say is you need to find the real reason why you want it this time. It's not easy to stick at but this site is great and we're all here for you. Good luck hun x

Originally Posted by lasttimelucky

Thank you all, everything said on here makes lots of sense. I think for me, I have to accept this will be a long journey and I just need to keep going. In the past as soon as weight loss slows down I end up giving up, I like everything to have been done yesterday hence why I keep giving up when things slow. I think it is that feeling of this is never going to succeed so why do I keep trying however the realisation is that I do not want to be this size for the rest of my life and I am starting to feel the weight I am carrying whereas I never have before. I get out of breath when I go up the stairs and the gym is a killer and for me at 33 this is scary! I am going to try my hardest to stick to it and perhaps reread this thread every time I feel like quitting. Good luck all xx

There was a really good post on another thread the other day on here about how so many people give up because of slow progress, failing to realise no matter how slow it is it is still progress.

None of us got over weight overnight. It took us all months even years to get there and it will take us months even years to lose the weight. Take each day at a time and remember that no matter what the scales say, stick with it!

Hello, I am on slimming world attempt number 4

1st attempt was by far my most successful, I lost just over a stone in two months and felt happy with my body but made the mistake of thinking if I ate normally again that I would stay the same weight

My second and third attempts were quick failures, I don't even think I lasted a week each time and I even tried weightwatchers but that wasn't for me.

But this time (attempt number 4) I feel just like I did the first time around and know I will succeed. For me, there are two crucial elements to success. The first is being content in my on life. During my first attempt I was training to be a teacher and was really enjoying it and my life and this made following the plan so much easier. During attempt two and three, I was then working as a qualified teacher and hated my job and the school I worked at. Feeling so unhappy made following the plan so difficult as I was turning to desserts and food for comfort and something to look forward to. Now on attempt four, I am in another job which I love and I am feeling very positive about life and so following the plan seems exciting rather than a drag.

The second crucial element for me is feeling that I really want to lose weight. During my second and third attempts I wanted to lose weight but at the same time felt that I wasn't really too bothered and so my head wasn't set to succeed. On my first attempt, I felt sick of my stomach being in the way, of my clothes being tight and I dreamt of wearing a bikini, that is how I feel again this time.

The other things I find helps me stick to plan, is always having plenty of sw friendly in the house including low syn treats. Also, if you have a bad day don't write the plan off, get back to it the next day. I have been reading through my first food diary from early 2011 and the amount of mess ups I had were unbelievable, at least one a week!! But I kept on losing 2-3lbs a week despite this. And never let yourself get too hungry, sometimes I don't get a chance to eat all day due to my job and by that point I am so hungry that I am craving junk and my eating plan goes out of the window!