What do you use to not do it?

You have to come to the place where you are sick and tired of being sick and tired. I don't know how to put it any other way...you can draw inspiration from others but you must have your own will to succeed.

In answer to your questions posed in the subject line...

I think about the plastic bins in my garage that are full of sized 44, 42, 40, 38, 36, 34, and loose 32 pants that I don't want to dig out and all of the work it took for me to get here...

I think of all the doctors visits and tests I had when there was nothing wrong with me except excess weight.

I think of all the money I spent on new clothes.

I think about not being able to get on that new tri bike I just spent a lot of money on.

I think about not being able to PR next year's race season or go sub 11 in my next IM.

I think about doing races when I'm 60 like a couple of guys that passed me in IMFL this year!

I was where you are....I know it can be done and you can succeed. You need to know it within yourself.  Best of luck in success!

I think TriFlorida says it pretty well.  I've been struggling for a long time to control my diabetes and lose some weight.  I'm doing well, in better shape than I've ever been but I still have to be better than I am.  Sometimes I am amazed that I can get up each morning in the dark, dress and head out to walk to my gym in the cold and snow.

My biggest changes didn't happen until something changed in my mind and I started perceiving myself as fit and getting fitter.  I still stumble at times and then I don't beat myself up I just get more determined to keep going (better doing something than nothing).

This is a great place to meet and talk to people who've actually done it - lost large amounts of fat.  Don't quit just change one thing at a time (I lost a lot of weight just by cutting out soda pop).

Good luck.

"The only person I have to be better than is the one I already am." - Colonel Potter 4077 MASH.

I messed up and posted in another thread, but here is the relevant part:

There is a weight-loss program through our benefits at work called "Mind-Body" and the first tenet of the program is "Know yourself better - Judge yourself less".  So, take stock.  If you know that certain things tempt you, rather than beating yourself up for having the temptations, find ways to avoid them.  If you need to drive a different route to work to avoid Krispy-Kreme and Little Caesars, do it.  If you need to avoid the breakroom after lunch or bring some nice fizzy water to work every day to avoid the 3pm munchies (I totally do this), do it.  If you need to put all of your workout clothes/gear out the night before to eliminate all pre-workout decision-making (I do), do it. 

If you are portion-challenged (I am), it helps to measure or just buy smaller dishes.

If you get ravenous and overeat or stop for take-out because you are really hungry, plan and pack a healthy snack for midway between meals.  Some people can take a can of nuts to work and it will last them for a week's worth of snack.  This is not me.  I know this.  I must put a reasonable amount in a separate container and deny access to the big container so I won't eat the whole thing.

Hope this helps.

Another thing to consider is the physical response your body has to those foods.  Brownies, pizza, ice cream, donuts...they are all loaded with fat, sugar and processed carbs.  The combination is addictive.  It has a physical effect on your brain.  Until you are free of them, you'll crave that effect unconsciously. 

No one ever craves broccoli and lean grilled chicken, do they?  (making a point here, don't go telling me about the times you do crave veggies because I do it too, sometimes )

For me, relief started with a desire to be an athlete again (and getting sick and tired of being sick and tired like others have mentioned!) but the journey only went so far (and often lapsed back!) until I was able to free myself from craving those foods for good.

I can't help with the snooze button though, I still have that problem too!

x2

I have pants that I bought recently, that fit. When I compare the stated waist size to what I find when I use a tape measure, it's absurd. And I'm a man. They used to only do this to women's clothes.

I'll be blunt with the first question: how do you make the shift....

If you can't find your own answer, we won't find it for you. I've had so many rock bottoms, it's hard to name one. But I can look at a shift in my mind over the last 18 months, and point to a spark 12 months ago.

Even so, I have finally accepted that I have deeper food issues that training won't fix. I just started going to 12-step meetings. I have never heard more truth from people I don't know, as if they were reading my mind. Check out www.oa.org

X3

You're not really OK with your weight or appearance, you're too embarrassed to admit that it's a problem. What makes you think you can't drop below your high school weight?  I have and it feels amazing.  Working out, making the right choices is hard, but not liking when I looked in the mirror was harder.  My rock bottom was when the biggest clothes they sold at the normal stores were tight and I had to go to a big mans store... I walked in, walked around...couldn't even look at the salesguy when he asked if  needed help.  I was so ashamed...I left that store with nothing and got a gym membership the next day.  That was my rock bottom, 90 pounds ago.  As far as saying no to krispy cremes...That stuff is like heroin for me.  I'm not kidding.  If I have it, it's just like giving some heroin to my former heroin junkee brother.  I'm hooked again.  I have to detox and have ZERO for several weeks before the craving subside.  You gotta be strong and just one will hurt.  NOT ONE INDULGENCE for 2-3 weeks.  I only allow myself to have some when, ironically, I don't really care anymore if I have it or not.  Just like someone above said, even then, it's a one time deal...NO saving leftovers. 

Figure out what it is you want for your life.  Good luck!

You need to set your mind to it.  Until you decide to do it, nothing is going to help you.  I know where you are coming from.  I too was extremely overweight and the weight was well distributed on my body, so i easily could gain 40 pounds without having to go to the next size in clothing.  However, it is not how you look and the clothing size that you should be concerned with but with your health.  You are yound now, and your body is stronger and can carry the extra weight now, but as you get older, it will become more and more a health issue.  You don't want to get to the point where you need to take drugs to keep your health under control.

I made the decision last July that it was time for me to take off the extra 85 pounds that I was carrying around.  I have lost 64 of those pounds and I am feeling so much better about myself.  It is fun to go shopping again.  I don't mind looking in the mirror, or even getting my picture taken.  I'm mad at myself that it took me over 20 years to make the decision to get rid of the weight, and I really hope that once I get it all off that I will continue the healthy eating and keep it off.  I was on 4 different prescription drugs for blood pressure and cholesterol, but now I am off of all of those drugs.  it is a grea feeling.

And yes, even when I was at my heaviest, I worked out, ran, bicycled, swam, played tennis and more.  But now I can do all of that even better and I can't wait to see how my times will improve next year.  And I didn't do it for anyone else but me, but my husband keeps telling me how awesome I look now.  I am enjoying that a lot.

So, get your health in check now.  Don't wait until you are older and it gets harder to take off.

And I agree with what others have said about the clothes sizes.  I have clothes in my closet from 30 years ago that are a size 14 and they are much smaller than the size 10 jeans that I bought the other day.  I do not kid myself that I am any where near a 'real" size 10.  Once I get into the jeans that I used to wear before i had my baby (27 years ago) will I believe that I am really a size 12.  Todays sizes are not realistic.

Some great suggestions in this thread. I have issues with food as well, in particular bloody McDonalds, I am addicted to it...and its a daily struggle to not go through that drive through (and i still fail a lot).

I'm 30 and so far I have hit that dreaded size 16/18 twice, stayed there for awhile and then have seen a picture of myself amongst friends and decided to change things. The first time I succeeded in coming down to a size 10/12 and was able to maintain it for a long time mostly through playing sports almost every night of the week. Moving towns and losing that connection with my sporting teams led me to stack it on again. This second time I've been a size 10/12 now for 18mths and I owe it to triathlon and Jenny Craig. Jenny Craig helped me lose the weight and then the discipline of triathlon has helped me keep it off.

My problem now is that I am no longer on the Jenny Craig and therefore have to organise my own food. I don't like cooking, I have far better things i'd rather be doing with my time (like cycling!) and so take-away foods are slowly creeping back in.

The suggestion from a poster above to sit down on a sunday and plan the weeks meals is a great one. I've tried to do this and always get slack, but i know its the only way to maintain the discipline. So, question, when you plan your meals do you get down to the nitty gritty like 2 veg, 5 fruit, x grains etc (cause this is where i lose concentration) or do you just plan for a healthy variety?

This, exactly.  We plan for leftovers for lunches (there are two of us eating healthy in my household), pick meals that are easy to cook during the week, shop on Sundays, utilize the crock pot on days we know there will be less time for cooking, and have ONLY acceptable snack foods in the house (for us that means veggies, fruits and nuts...that's it).  The only sugar in our entire house (besides the 2 5-gallon buckets of honey in the basement from our hives) is a drawer full of gels and sharkies for use during workouts.  When there is no junk, you do use healthy options to fill in the holes.

It helps to have healthy cookbooks or blogs or databases where beautiful, enticing photography is used, too.  Then you WANT to eat the healthy meals you have planned!

I also try to avoid cooking too much in advance or planning too strictly in terms of what we eat on what day because I like to shift things based on what is happening that day or what we might be in the mood to eat.  It keeps things flexible and that's important to me.