Weight loss (or gain) is so complicated. It is a private matter, but everyone else can see it happening. There is no one right way to lose weight, yet everyone (and I mean everyone) has opinions about what is good or bad when it comes to losing weight. It’s not any better if you happen to be in a gaining weight phase. If you are gaining weight, well-meaning family or friends will try to help by calling it out. I know this is an act of love but… it is mortifying. One thing I know for sure is weight loss can only happen when you’re ready to make the change.

Many are desperate to make that change but don’t know how to get started. I speak from experience, this last go around for me felt so overwhelming at first. During one Weight Watcher meeting I said, “But the energy it takes to lose weight is just so much.” Another member, a woman I have come to really care about said, “Yeah, but what choice do you have?” Her question hung in the air as I looked down at my shoes shaking my head. Now, I think maybe her question gave me the push I needed. The choice was to either: develop my healthy habits again or just gain back ALL the weight I lost. Now you know how I answered that question, I put on my big girl pants (hahaha) and did the work to get myself back on the program.

Reading this back to myself makes my decision sound very obvious and easy. It wasn’t. Just as it’s not an easy choice to turn to surgery or medication. I can be a real worrywart when it comes to people I love, and their choices are giving me pause. I am concerned because there are real risks that come with surgery or medications. However, being obese comes with very serious consequences too. Some nagging questions that come to mind are, “Will weight loss as a result of surgery or medication be effective without putting in the time to establish strong habits to maintain the loss? Will they learn how to make healthy food choices that will maintain better health? Will they do the internal work to explore their relationships with food?” Then I think, “OK, turn those questions back on yourself.”

I have lost a lot of weight without surgery or medication, and I did gain back a significant amount since I hit my “goal” in 2018. As I said as I started this post weight loss is complicated. All of this is true, but so is this, I have maintained (at minimum) an impressive 43-pound weight loss since 2018. That isn’t nothing. I also believe in my heart, that if I hadn’t learned about how to keep healthy habits I would have surely gained it all back. The habits, plus having an incredibly supportive community to turn to have made a difference… for me.

Only you can answer the question, “When it comes to weight loss what would work for me?” There is no one right way to shed unwanted pounds, there are no guarantees, and everything comes with some risk. The only thing I can say for sure is when you make up your mind to make a change, change will happen. I believe in you, you can do this.