Change in lifestyle = success

I thought I knew what the advice is..I've heard it often enough.

I KNOW you must have too....change your lifestyle, its the only way the weight is going to stay off?

I thought I knew what it meant

I thought I understood.

I thought I could do that.

If I eat less, move more, become someone who exercises regularly that would equal a lifestyle change and I wouldn't put the weight back on. I thought all I had to do was love the gym, and eat well and my life would change.

I was wrong.

NOW I understand.
It's not about eating sensibly and going to the gym. I'm not saying those things are not really good for you and are not a good lifestyle choice. They are, they are really important too ....but

Its just not exercising enough nor not eating sensible meals - these things were NOT the reason I put the weight on. Changing them will not keep the weight off.

I have to change the things in MY lifestyle that made me overweight. I overate due to emotional eating. I ate FAR too much when I was happy, sad, bored, lonely, to celebrate, to commiserate, as a reward, as a punishment. Hunger had nothing whatsoever to do with my food intake, unless you include emotional hunger in there.

I firmly believe the real deep down trigger for me, the really unhealthy lifestyle I NEED TO CHANGE to made the difference is that I had the poorest of self- esteems that gave me all that negative self talk and in being so negative towards myself, used food to cheer myself up. Its a spiral that takes you down, down down.

You're very fat, you hate yourself, you think you look dreadful, you overeat to cheer yourself up, you become fatter, you hate yourself more, you overeat because you're sad, you become very fat, you really hate yourself, you overeat ridiculously because it blocks out how bad you're feeling with artificial sugar 'highs'.

I'm learning so much about becoming a positive person. At first, I just tried being positive with everyone else, but through monthly goals of taking care of myself and feeling like I'm changing all the negative self talk into more positive energy.  I am able to praise myself...which to you may sound like such a silly thing but its the lifestyle change I needed to make.

In the past, I lost the weight but never learned why I had put it on, nor ever changed the fact I was quite self critical, and I became a thinner, emotional eater with poor self esteem and inevitably back it all went on.

Why did you gain the weight? Other than the obvious taking in too many calories?
What made you gain weight?

What do you have to unpick to put it right and not repeat the history?

What do you need to change about you?

For the first time ever I think I know the answers to those questions.

For the first time ever I have actually thought about it.

For the first time ever, I'm feeling just a little bit good about myself.