There is no finish line.

People quit their “Diet or Way-of-eating or Lifestyle” Behavior because it takes too long to see Results, because they can’t figure out that the process is the result.

It really is a lifelong shift in thinking and behavior. I will never reach some magic moment where I will be finished and accomplished and not have to think about my weight ever again.

Since there is no deadline, no end point, then I will just keep working toward one type of healthy low-calorie eating Behavior after another and know that, over the long-run, the Results will be positive.

Something to Remember

          
Today is the 2nd,
which is
just as good a day as the 1st, 
to work toward our Goals.

Holiday Greetings

The purpose of posting articles and videos here at Diethobby is to place them in a central location that is easily accessible, for both present (HOME) and future (ARCHIVES) review. This is one of the methods I use to encourage and support myself and any others who are interested, and it is part of my Dieting Hobby.

DietHobby isn’t intended to be a planned lecture series for others, or a well-plotted self-help book. It has a common theme, and I often repeat myself. Here I write and post from day-to-day about the things that are on my mind at the time. When I run across an article or video that I find interesting or meaningful, I include it. For more understanding, re-read  the Disclosure section of my Terms & Conditions.

The following article is interesting, amusing, and thoughtful. I find it especially valuable because many of the author’s personal weight-related experiences are similar to things that I’ve experienced as well. At present, the author is one-and-a-half years post-bariatric-surgery, while I am now twenty years post-op, however, in many ways her point of view closely resembles my own.

I Once Was Obese and Now I’m Not. Please Don’t Applaud.
           By Shannon Chamberlain | Posted Tuesday, Nov. 13, 2012, www. slate.com

I Once Was Obese And now I’m not.
Please don’t applaud me for losing the weight.

I am a veteran of weight-loss support groups and 12-step programs, in-person and online. So I know well that the only acceptable way to do this is to make my confession up front: Only by admitting our problems do we have any hope of overcoming them. And when it comes to obesity, there’s only one confession that anyone has any interest in hearing.

I once weighed 352 pounds.

Or 356. The trouble is I don’t really know my starting weight. When you cross over from merely obese to morbidly obese, it’s hard to find a scale in the bath part of Bed Bath & Beyond to accommodate your girth. Even many doctors’ offices don’t carry a scale large enough for the truly fat. This usually ends in a nurse whispering, “Well, how much do you think you weigh?” as if you, the nonmedical professional, were a better judge of this than anyone else—despite the fact that according to many medical professionals, you are lazy, unattractive, stupid, and stubbornly unwilling to comply with treatment.

One thing about not knowing your starting weight: In those early days of weight loss, when you can reasonably expect the numbers to diminish rapidly, you may not have any accurate way of accounting for them. So you miss out on that Pavlovian spur to greater feats of diet and exercise when you need it the most.

Now that I’m merely on the chubby side of normal (size 12) and weight loss is considerably mor...