I decided to keep a journal of my wieght loss progress, even if it means typing from my mobile. I have to continually remind myself that a small step, even an unstable one followed by a fall is progress. That is one of the lessons I am learning. You have to be honest with yourself and forgive your failures. Beating yourself up for not going as fast, lifting as much, or eating right will just tear you down. You need your will intact to face the world, to continue and to seek out solutions and learn. The following are lessons I learned the hard way.
Everyone's Health is Different - Remember how people say fat people can be healthy and skinny people can be unhealthy, that is true. It also applies to what you need as an individual. This may mean more muscle training, more stretching, taking more vitamins, needing a workout buddy, spending extra resources to help you workout to build a habit, or gradually dropping the junk food.
Calorie Counting Matters - Yes, it is true and everyone knows it. But do you know that the average calories they recommend women and men to consume for for a certain height. (Usually model heights) The average person can follow the 2000/2500 and not lose wieght or even gain wieght. Inactive me, needs to only consume around 1500 calories for my goal weight.
Pain Should Ease - If you are working out and you feel pain, ask yourself if it is muscle use or did you hurt yourself. I learned that pushing through real pain will make you fall back, whereas pushing pass a personal best just makes you stronger. If you can not move after a few days of rest, you injured yourself. The only solution is to replan your workout until you recover. Remember to not beat yourself up for having to cut back on the intensity.
Scares - I lost about 50lbs so far and I have to say a few things really scared me. First it was the loose skin, then the collarbone, followed by hair loss. Don't let these scares get to you. A healthy weight is better even if you are bald with loose skin. Skin will rebound, muscles will help hide the bones, and you will feel better and not be trapped in your fat.
Spend More - Spending more is not wanted, but for your own peace of mind, it may be necessary. Do you want to only workout with no one around, get up early to go to the gym or park. Spend a little extra to have a gym membership even though you have workout equipment at home, because you need the environment. Having a hard time eating vegetables, spend extra for fresh ones. Remember to be honest with yourself, and try not to make excuses.
Anger - You will find yourself angry, because you may just learn more about your body and how you are not like everyone. You may get angry at the person making fun of you being healthy. There will be that person who will just say it is because you are fat for your complaints and troubles, and not offer real help. Avoid these people. They don't understand and only will encourage you to be unhealthy. For example, if you are concern about knee pain, some helpful discussion would ask where it is located. If the pain is not at the knee but above or below, it indicates improper running/walking posture, or not enough stretching. Asking people who are really into fitness, health and your well-being are better. I had a good friend help me learn to run for longer increments, by explaining proper breathing techniques. A kind understanding doctor actually listened to my complaints of deep muscle pain, and tested me for vitamin deficiencies. This was pain that lasted for years, and I had only heard from other doctors to lose more wieght to resolve the problem. Turned out I had a single digit vitamin D level. The pain subsided after the first day taking my high dose to fix the defincency. My point is that be careful of the advice to just push through the pain, not actually resolving the problem will set you back.