- The haven't dealt with the issue that made them put on weight in the first place. Not saying that they have huge scars that will never heal (eg. abuse, death of someone close etc.) But even low self-esteem could be a big enough issue. Not everyone thinks the same. Something as simple as a off-handed comment can be enough to make someone think that they can't keep weight off. "they will just put it all back on again..." or not being comfortable with the positive comments that could also come their way. Quoting jack "Sometimes it pays to pay for help.." I am sure that there are thousands of people out there that have overcome major issues that impacted on their weight and kept it off. But, perhaps they worked through those issues more thoroughly.
- This one is related to the first reason, but if they do have issues etc., the WW program might have been their vice.. the thing that they focused on, sunk their teeth into, instead of what ever the problem might have been. Once they had lost weight, they lost their next vice...
- I also think that some fatter people believe that their life will be perfect once they are thin.... they might be happy with how they look, but other areas of their life are still falling apart. Sure, you will be healthier but it doesn't make then control their kids better or deal with anything else better for that matter...
I am sure their are other reason, like Anita, Amanda's sister, she is pregnant with her third child.
Can you imagine the pressure on these people once they have been announced as a slimmer of the year... all of that publicly, firstly how much weight they weighed, the embarrassment of that being announced nationally.. then the pressure to keep that image going. That in itself could be enough to succumb to a deep fried donut eat day...
People.. deal with your head first... the rest will then fall into place!
I believe that the WW tools are great!! But they are just that tools.. You still need to do it and anything you change in your life to become healthier, must be done for life,! Not just until you fit into your honeymoon jeans..
What do you think???
15 comments:
I think...definately.
There is really no higher accolade in the slimming world, so wide is WW's reach. Attaining 'goal' would feel like an end to many. I can be thrown off and become a bit too relaxed from comments on improvements in my appearance; a double-edged sword as they also spur me on. Knowing I still have a way to go gets me back on track, but what if I am at goal?
Continued goal-setting is all important, having short, medium and long-term aims gives you something to strive for, a reason to keep going. I think too this is why the overall aim that is most advatageous is fitness and health as where weight loss has a finite point, the other two do not (plus, a maintained healthy weight will be a byproduct of them anyway).
Your right there are many reasons to gain weight back. I lost a lot of weight (about 65kg) to get to my goal weight of 57kg.
Since then I have put 12kg back on which I now have to lose again. Why after working so hard did I relapse?
The reasons are complex,
I still use food as a comfort.
Not having a goal to aim for caused me to lose focus.
My stomach looked awful after I lost all that weight. It was such a betrayal. I looked great with clothes on but I still felt just as I did at 120kg because I knew the mess that was my stomach. And the worst part was knowing I did it to myself
I now live with a partner. Losing weight when you live on your own is so much easier. You just don't have the food in your house. Being confronted with someone eating chocolate or who goes out to get a latenight cheeseburger is hard!
I have had a stressful year.
I just didn't want to deny myself any longer and I still have a binge mentality.
People can overcome this - I will overcome this:)
But god it is hard and it can all seem so self obsessed sometimes
Thank's Kirsty for visiting my blog. I had tried WW, but didn't ever work for me personally. I think that everyone needs to find what works for them. I always found WW had to many options. You can eat whatever you want as long as it is within the points. I needed something stricter and the BFL type program is for me.
It is really sad to hear that all the Slimmers of the year put the weight back on. I often wonder about the Women's Fitness and Health Mag winners. It would be nice if they went back and showed their results as well after losing so much weight after 12 weeks.
It has taken me over 2 years to get to where I am and I still have a long way to go, but the longer it takes the better place my head will be...
Sorry for the long comment. Your post kind of hit a spot, but I loved it. I will pop by and visit often.
btw the email from Craig is great. I love reading his blog and want to reread his book.
Take care and have a great weekend.
Kristy
Thanks for your comments on my blog. And don't worry the extra 9 years of part time study were not all to do with the Personal Training. I got to where I am in a very round about way.
Good luck with the study, I loved every minute of it and I'm sure you will too.
I've just starting reading Craig Harper as well. I have a friend who knows him quite well and suggested I read his blog.
Have fun
Claire
I totally agree with you... I got to goal with WW's, almost made it as Slimmer of the Year too, but they disqualified me when I was featured in another magazine.... a whole other story! But, once you get to goal it is so hard to stay there, there is no 'goal' left! And the maintenance programme only goes for 6 weeks then you are kinda left to it... I felt 'stranded' without support really, and betrayed cos of the disqualification, so just gave up and put back on 15 kilos... thankfully I am fully aware of what could happen and have halted the gain.... and am working on it again. It is a mind over matter thing for sure, and I know being at goal is not going to solve all my other issues .... but it does help one's self esteem if nothing else!
I totally agree with you - sad that those slimmers havent managed to maintain it- but I agree it has to be in teh head first!
Maybe you should apply for slimmer of the year and break the trend!!
I agree too, WW is a fantastic program with great tools but I think the emotional issues must be dealt with. Its much easier to blame the program and say it doesn't work than to say, hey I have deeper problems.
Very sad to think all the slimmers put their weight back on though.
wow i had no idea.. and who would have until someone tries to pull off a reunion like that.. its so easy to fall back into the old you and gain all the weight back again and to have that short-lived moment of fame which is all about your weight and then for it to be all over the next day i can imagine they have more to deal with being so much in the publics eye and the pressure on them to keep the weight off and be some sort of perfect piece of motivational material
Great post Kirsty! I agree with you that most people who do weight watchers, people who have A LOT of weight to lose they don't deal with the big issues of why they got that big in the first place... I know my sister didn't. Anita lost the weight really fast in the beginning and that encouraged her to keep going... along with all the great comments she got from everyone and people who hadn't seen her in a few years didn't even recognize her. Anita worked very hard to lose weight and I mean hard, she walked for an hour almost everyday even if it was raining, hailing or if she had to get up at 4am to do it... she also stuck to the WW program 110% and it did indeed work for her... she even got pregnant and gave birth to her second daughter during the 2 years that she was busy losing weight with WW. My sister went through a divorce and she was very stressed out... I left the country and we are best friends... she turned to food again to comfort herself instead of dealing with everything that was going on in her life. It has taken her 5 years to get back up to 130kg like I said in my post... but she is only 8 weeks pregnant so she can't blame the weight gain on that yet... hehe. Anita also had HEAPS of pressure from WW to stay at her goal weight, as she became a leader herself, she had to keep up that image of maintaining her weight after losing 80kg.... it was tough. It is hard to maintain a weight like that when you have been overweight most of your life... she had to change her mental thinking, and she didn't. I think in alot of ways she still felt and treated herself like the fat girl she always told herself she was, and you know that old saying... as a man thinks - so is he. After losing all the weight my sister had alot of excess skin too... probably due to the fact that she lost the weight in such a short amount of time... and she didnt do any strength training so not only did she lose fat but she also lost muscle. Anita had a tummy tuck and they removed 5kg of excess skin... gave her a new belly button and made her look as flat as a pancake. When she started to gain the weight back she was experiencing pain in her tummy, which the doctors discovered that it was her skin stretching again... she is now worried that with the pregnancy her tummy will burst open!
I also quit WW recently and have decided to do it on my own... because deep down I know I can lose weight, I know how to lose weight like alot of people do, but the difference is you have to actually do somehting about it, put the hard work in to get the results you want. I don't want to end up like my sister... losing weight so quickly and being egged on to enter the slimmer of the year contest because of how much weight you have had to lose and have lost. Anita really should have dealt with things in her head first... maybe she would still be at a normal healthy weight if she did, because WW teaches you how to eat right but the don't really teach you how to deal with the issues behind every kilogram that has led you to being so overweight.
Sorry for the long post :)
Greetings from Holland, Amanda X
CKK has made an excellent point about weight loss being a finite goal, while health and fitness are ongoing.
I think what makes this change different for me at least is that the focus has been on fitness and health (and this includes mental and emotional health as well), and then weight loss becomes a byproduct of that - thus I'm not worried about the weight coming off slowly, since I have all the time in the world as I can see myself living like this forever and ever :-)
I have always, always said on my blog that it is NOT the program that fails it is what we do after the program that has us gain the weight back. All programs work if you work them.
I did the same thing, lost 70lbs, didn't fix what was the problem and gained back 30 of those lbs.
This time around I am also trying to work on the issues.
You’ve made a very good point about maintenance, and I agree with you. There are often psychological issues behind weight gain, and if you don’t deal with them the weight will come back. Thank you for posting this.
I agree with what you said about if someone doesn't deal with deeper issues of why they area heavy, (a lot ot times emotional eating due to that) then they won't maintain their wt loss. I have seen it happen to several people at wt watchers.
I too don't do the program anymore as it seemed so, 'get to goal, that is the focus'. The program does work and they always say that maintenance/staying at goal is the hardest of all.
Thanks for the post, it's good to be reminded of what we that still have to lose quite a bit of weight (talking of myself) need to be aware of.
You KNOW I agree with you completely.
This year I have started demystifying all the reasons I've come to be the way I am. From childhood abuse to resenting my mother, blaming ex partners, etcetc.. Learning about my brain and triggers has assisted me getting to my final destination. I know myself too well and I knew I needed to deal with this shit before I could successfully lose weight.
I agree with the other commenter, you should try out for slimmer of the year and break the trend.
I couldn't agree more with your post. Remember when dietgirl posted that post about a tv show in the UK she saw, showing all the slimmers of the year back at their original weight? I'll have to email her and find out when she wrote it for you, so I don't have to trawl back through her blog!
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