Things I Wish I Knew Before Losing Weight

For many of us, weight loss is a journey that neither feels unfamiliar nor exciting. It’s a path we expected to be easier than the rock-filled, always-uphill brambles we find ourselves struggling to get through. And if your journey includes a weight loss expectation of over one hundred pounds? Forget it. That path is also covered in snow, and we’re expected to crawl the whole way. Somehow, we have a team of people walking behind us shouting suggestions on how to make this trip easier. The catch? None of them can pick you up and carry you, even though they’re not weighed down by all the equipment you have in your backpack.

So here you are, staring at the mountain you’re expected to climb. Just looking at it is both intimidating and exhausting. Like me, you’ve discovered that when you started this journey, no one told you things you unhappily learned along the way. No one prepared you for the level of disappointment, struggle, and confusion that accompanies finding your own way to healthy. There are things I wish someone had told me when I started losing my weight nearly ten years ago. I might not have listened to the advice (and if I did, I might not have believed it), but it might have softened the blows to my ego and my excitement.

For example, no one warns you: