Over the years I have heard numerous reasons why people are waiting to start a weight-loss program and some of the most creative ones were mine!  I was obese for 32 years before I lost 159 pounds in fourteen months and now I wonder why I waited so long! I love being at a healthy weight!

Of course, there will always be difficulties to overcome when you are starting a weight-loss program. Life is never free of problems no matter what you are involved in!  The answer is to work your way through them and to keep losing weight anyway!

This is my mother, Gail, on the left, my sister, Cherie, in the center and me on the right. This was taken just a few months before I started losing weight. I weighed about 281 pounds.
This is my mother, Gail, on the left, my sister, Cherie, in the center and me on the right. This was taken just a few months before I started losing weight. I weighed about 281 pounds.

I think the saddest part about putting off taking the first step on a weight-loss journey is that you are also putting off the joy of reaching your goal weight. In my case, I also made my goal a lot harder to reach because during all the years I was putting off getting started I was also getting bigger! By the time I began losing weight, I was five foot two inches tall with hips that measured 5 feet around! I realize now that I waited far longer than necessary and if I could live my life over again, I would certainly would have taken my first steps a lot sooner. However, I do know the main reason I was waiting and even though it was more of an excuse than a reason, I know I am not the only person who has used it. Here it is:

 

My main reason for putting off starting a weight-loss program was that I was worrying about all the foods and relaxing activities I would have to either give up or put on the back burner in order to lose weight instead of considering the wonderful prospect of having a whole new figure and the exciting opportunities that would come with one. The good news is that once I did make weight loss my priority and started some good habits, I actually found my weight-loss journey to be a very pleasant one. I also have been successful at maintaining my new figure. All I really needed to do was just get started and keep going in the right direction!

I have shared my whole weight-loss story, including complete information about the successful program I designed for myself in an upcoming book entitled No Salads Required! How I Lost 159 Pounds without Salads, Celery, Sit-Ups or Surgery and How You Can Too! It will be available from Amazon.com and other stores at the end of summer or early fall of 2015. The following is an excerpt from chapter 5:

“I also have learned that you can’t wait for the “perfect time” to start a weight-loss program, to exercise, or to work toward any goal for that matter. Start where you are, make a list of what you can do toward that goal at the moment, and then figure out what steps you can take toward that goal in the near and distant future. This will be an ongoing list, but the most important items on it are the things you can start immediately.”

Of course, once you get going on your program, you also have to stick with it faithfully no matter what distractions or challenges pop up. I did a lot of fitness walking in my neighborhood while I was losing weight and that led to some interesting discussions with my friends who watched me walk by their houses every day. Here is another quote from that same chapter of No Salads Required!:

“When I was walking around my neighborhood, my neighbors would often ask why I was walking when it was so hot, cold, rainy, or “too nice a day to exercise.” I would always laugh and say, “If I waited for the perfect time, I would never lose any weight at all.” I realized at the beginning of my weight-loss plan that if I was going to be serious about losing all the weight, I would have to commit to eating right and exercising every day no matter what else was going on. On Easter Sunday, I took my mom and sister with me to do some walking around the neighborhood after dinner and one of my neighbors said, “Wow! You even walk on Easter?”

I said, “You bet! I do this every day!”

I do want to mention here that I did also attend church on that Easter Sunday I was referring to in the book, just like I do every week, I  enjoyed a wonderful Easter dinner with my family, and ate some delicious hard boiled Easter eggs.  I did not give up on all happiness in order to lose weight, I just made my weight-loss journey part of an ongoing happy experience!

So what do you think needs to happen before you are going to be ready to lose weight?  Are you waiting to finish college? Are you waiting to get married?  Are you waiting for your kids to grow up? Are you waiting for retirement? Are you waiting for all the problems in the world to be resolved?  Never mind all that! Start losing weight today and become the person you want to be. Then, when you reach those various stages in life you will be thinner and enjoy them more! As for solving all the problems in the world, well, weight loss won’t do much about that, but at least you will feel better while you are dealing with them. So take that first step on your journey today! An exciting future awaits!