Tipping Points and Revelations

This morning I posted this on my YOAD message board and I thought it was pretty profound. I think it's a revelation, if you will. I think it's important enough to post here too. I hope it makes as much sense to you as it does to me.

Isn't it wonderful how we are all so different, yet so much alike? I was reading a friends post thinking, isn't it great that we all have peaks and valleys with folks to support us through both of them? There are some days/weeks we feel up and we can shoot for the stars and other days/weeks we feel so low/tired/stressed/overwhelmed that we don't think we can move forward, and of course we have all the emotions in between too! Fortunately for each of us though, we have a wonderful, supportive, YOAD message board family to help us through the tough times and validate us through the great times. :-) What a wonderful group!! :-)

It's so hard for us to retrain our minds and bodies to the YOAD way of life, in some ways. The way we've always dealt with "dieting" in the past is so different than with YOAD, it was so much harder, so many mind games, so much deprivation. It's really quite a shift to see how "easy" it is, if you do your walking/exercise and eat the YOAD way. I think part of that is why it can be hard for people. It just seems that the solution to so many of our painful dieting days can be this "simple". Certainly if we'd have known this information in the weeks/years/months past, we'd have all been on the weight loss bandwagon and been at our ideal weight. Right? Oh, if it were only that easy and that simple of a solution.

Here are my thoughts on that. Each of us deals with so many different things in our lives. We have so many different stressors (although we have many of the same ones too). Each of us has to have that "thing", that final jumping off point, that "tipping point" (excellent book, btw, if you haven't read it) that makes us ready, willing and able to change our lifestyle. It really is a major shift. There are lots of times in our lives that we "want" to lose weight or "try" to lose weight and we do. A few pounds here, a few pounds there, hence the yo-yo cycle. I truly believe that each individual will eventually find that "thing", that final push or motivation that brings them to their own "tipping point". THAT is the time that they are ready to make the life altering change and are ready for permanent life changes. I think that's why so many people struggle and don't have permanent success (hence the 90% failure rate). I truly think that only about 10% of people that want to lose weight are at their "tipping point". I really do believe that you have to have something. Some "straw that breaks the camels back" that will push us. Something that makes us finally say, "OK. This IS it. I'm ready and I'm not stopping until I get there".

Each of us are in varying stages of weight loss. Some of us are near our goal, some of us are at our goal, some of us are in the middle of our journey and some of us are just beginning. I don't think all of us have had that true revelation about their weight loss. I do, however, think that every single one of us has had a revelation of some sort in here. Whether it's in self confidence, the way you face your job, how you handle your daily life, your weight loss journey, improving your self esteem or just plain learning to like/love yourself. Each of us has had some amazing revelation, thanks to the support and encouragement of our online support family. That is a WONDERFUL thing. No matter what everyone's true journey is, we all support each other. It is in that support, that we find ourselves, our path and our goal.

Whatever your path, I am with you.
Hugs from AZ,
Shannon:-)