Not Good Enough to be Thin?

So, I’ve been doing a lot of thinking lately about motivation for weight loss. It’s a question I get asked a lot, and one I frequently ask myself. What made it work this time? Why have I (and my husband, too) been able to stick with a moderate, healthy eating plan for six months with very little difficulty, when every other attempt at changing my lifestyle has failed? Why is it working for us when it doesn’t work for other people?

I was talking to a friend about this very issue yesterday. This is my friend who inspired me to begin my weight loss journey last summer. She joined a weight loss program and has spectacular results…for a few months. And then she slipped a little, for a while, and gained a bit back. But then she got back on track…and then she struggled again, and gained back more. When we talked about it the other day, she mentioned a comment she read on a discussion board recently…a woman asked if anyone else felt that they were not good enough to be thin. And this struck a strong chord with my friend.

So sad! I know (only to well) the feeling of not being good enough because I was not thin…but I know I never felt so badly about myself that I didn’t think I deserved to be thin. I often felt that my being fat was a defense mechanism…a buffer between me and the world…I even sometimes questioned whether it was a "forced failure" – being an over-achieving firstborn, did I purposefully make myself "the fat sister" so that there was some way in which my younger siblings could outdo me? I doubt it, but one thing I don’t doubt is the impact that being overweight for my entire adult life had on my self esteem. Still…to feel that you self-sabotage your weight loss efforts because you don’t feel you’re good enough to deserve to be thin. Wow.

In the end, I know I’m extremely lucky. I’m one of the few who actually change the way they think and feel about food and about themselves. I know I’m going to make it. And that I deserve it.

And I’m here to tell all the other women (and men) out there who are at any point on their own weight loss journeys…you deserve it too. Every last one of you is good enough to be thin; and don’t let anyone (least of all yourself) tell you that you’re not.