Many of us fall off the wagon and strive to get back on. Many of us hit a plateau (a normal happening) and get discouraged. We slip back into well worn grooves of behaviours that got us here.

I thought it might be helpful to repost WHY we wanted to do this …. or had to do this.

Aside from the usual … health, diabetes, weight …. the one thing i want back is JOY … mainly enJOYing my trips. I don’t go far usually but i just don’t seem to be able to walk around with ease, sight see with ease, talk to people without being impatient and cranky or being disconnected on pain pills … or spending time in my hotel room watching TV which i could do at home for less money.

Just want to remind myself that when i indulge my old habits the old groove just gets deeper.

Hoping this may help someone else too …….. but if it gets me back on track let me be selfish.

Thanks for listening

Thankyou for this post Shalimar, I am sure everyone here needs a nudge to remind themselves of the reasons they want to follow the BSD diet.

I find reading the forum posts really useful for feeling like I am not doing this alone.

I have T2 Diabetes and my HBA1C had gone up as a result of being too relaxed and lazy frankly. I was very strict with my diet when I was pregnant and was using insulin over this period. I wanted to be as healthy as possible to minimise risks to my unborn child.

My realisation and big motivation for doing this NOW is to keep managing the condition with tablets and maybe even come off them eventually, so I can be the healthiest version of myself I can possibly be. This means I can give as much time and energy as I can to my 2 year old daughter. There should be no difference now from when I was pregnant.

Wishing you that JOY you desire.

Cleverblonde73 I too managed gestational diabetes perfectly (just with diet) while pregnant, I had to protect my baby! Strange how after that I couldn’t get the motivation to protect myself. But I am doing it now!

PS I am blonde too

Natalie you are so right. Why should we look after ourselves any less now than when we had a new life to protect! we owe it to ourselves and our family 🙂

Shalimar, this is a great thread to start, thank you!

It’s very useful to work out why we want to do this. For me, apart from the obvious goal of losing weight, I want to:
be fitter/healthier/happier and less anxious
improve back and other joint pain
reduce painkillers
eliminate processed foods and other nasties from my diet

You’re spot on with the idea of joy. I like it. I might focus on that. Does eating pizza for example bring me joy? Well, perhaps in that first bite but afterwards stomach cramps, bloating, feeling guilty/fat/sluggish and so on – NONE of those things are joyful!!

I am gray not blonde ….. for now …. i do have some hair dye!! 🙂 🙂 🙂

I did have pizza ….. and actually the joy was in the first couple of bites. Next time i will stop there, especially since i could have fit that into my calories/carbs and had a nice salad without croutons as well, and even saves one piece of pizza for the next day’s carb count. Mind you i usually only have pizza a couple of times a year … but still … a few bites is where the joy is.

I’am back to my mindfulness course and cutting a new groove.

Ditto on your list of reasons Flash21!!! …. and having a healthy body certainly makes it easier to enJOY!! 🙂

And …. full fat yogurt with berries and some nutty sprinkles …. is pretty golldarn JOYful too!!!

Glad I stumbled across this post – never really thought about JOY as a reason for doing what I’m doing, don’t really know why so thanks for this post shalimar 🙂

I need to get out of this plateau and lose the last 11lb’s – maybe this will give me the kick I need!

Gsrai 🙂 i wish you JOY!!!! And a loss of those 11 pounds.

I already put my deposit down on my next summer’s private concert with Clay Aiken. His singing is a JOY. So is meeting up again with all the friends i`ve made in fandom. This year i am going to enJOY that and seeing the sights in Toronto. Gonna look great too!

A few more pounds and i can enJOY clothes shopping in my closets … like many dieters i have an assortment of nice clothes that were too small …. not any longer!!

Of course i may HAVE to shop for some new summer wear 🙂

So what is everyone looking forward to 🙂

To be able to enjoy life fully again is why I am doing this. The fear of not making old age as a healthy person is my motivation. Being so overweight I was feeling my age and more and was in fear of heart attack or stroke. The diagnosis of prediabetes was my wake up call . I want to enjoy being able to go out without worrying about what people think of me, to be able to enjoy a holiday without fretting about my weight and covering up. To go shopping without feeling exhausted would be wonderful and to be able to buy nice clothes is a joy I am hoping to experience when the weight goes down. I now realise I have to do this for me and I am the only one who can make it happen. The support on the forum is amazing and helps spur me on.