Personal Responsibility vs Systemic Causes of Obesity and Weight Loss

The toughest part of earlier quit attempts has always been the emotional crash from losing my sense of who I am. I've used tobacco since childhood and those years now sit far behind me. Taking a drag gives an instant rush of feeling tough and detached, matching the image I hold of myself as a weary rebel from old action films set decades ago. Dropping that feeling cuts deep. Stopping is necessary because reaching this point in life makes any delay risky given how much time may already be lost, and further waiting isn't an option. Still the ache stays sharp.

Back when I smoked, it was even those highly dependence-causing ones with fantastic taste. Switching to the vapor method only made my situation decline more. Stopping has no bad moment, and I think the present beats later. In my past attempts, the opening days challenged me most. Getting beyond them meant cutting off contact with every other person consuming nicotine, which brought me success. Plus I stayed away from that one country for good.

What an astonishing breakthrough that transformed everything for me. The generosity shown by sharing really impresses me above all else in the update.

Vaping is the only reason I haven't returned to tobacco right away. Back in 2002 I gave up cigarettes completely, then shifted over to the electronic version by 2010... sigh. Even now whenever someone I know sparks one up I catch myself wanting to snatch it away and dash off with it... the scent of just-lit tobacco still appeals to me though I can't stand the lingering odor once it's gone cold. One advantage here is my clothes stay fresh so my spouse actually leans in for a kiss. 😍

I understand what you mean. My partner hasn't quit smoking yet and I find the habit really off-putting. It'd be great if she switched to vaping instead since that might improve several situations.

Wrong on that count. Acquire fresh garments and compliment your appearance directly. Refrain from questioning your value. Hold firm in your transformed identity yet steer clear of overconfidence the way I have. I'm sure success awaits you.

When things turned really awful for me, going to see a specialist made all the difference.

War eagle

Appreciate the help after such a rough experience for real!!!

So much this!!!!!

Whoa over eight hundred messages after barely a month here that's wild. Hell yeah you belong with the rest of us now you wild bastard.

Even though the weight is gone my thoughts haven't shifted and I still see myself as bigger than reality. I automatically grab the bigger tops even though mediums fit properly now. With pants the pattern holds where twelve and ten both feel oversized and an eight just doesn't register as possible.

I'm thankful for being male. My thoughts line up exactly with the truth and contain zero false notions. I'm overweight and I recognize it clearly both in my mind and in actual fact. This talent for bending language runs strong inside me. Pass along terms and I whip up a jumble, hand me full lines and I craft something strange. Now I wonder whether those dull compounds could be scrambling brain cells.

That guy only writes stuff so he can glance back at his own words. 😂

It goes that way with average folks except if someone builds muscle and sticks to plain workout tops every single day.

Haha your masculine traits are showing up strong right now you remind me of my partner 😆 I have to say I enjoy pretty outfits more since they actually suit me these days. Usually I stick with casual farm-style looks like pants boots and a simple top yet having some variety in what I wear feels good too. Perhaps that's just the feminine influence.

The burden that comes with knowing how to read... 😈 Could apply to people from Korea, but actually it doesn't. Recalled a Korean acquaintance from university days who proved to be quite the tough character. Competitive sports types probably satisfy their sense of self-worth via routes besides outfits 😉 Yet if someone believes this pattern holds for regular folks then eating roughage now worries me since I lack any testosterone to shed. 😒 Look, evidence appears right away to that person. Not perhaps but absolutely. Masculinity amounts to whatever shifts occur once testosterone rises.

For nearly ten years I've relied on black sleeveless undershirts cut for guys as my regular indoor outfit. These days even the smallest ones drape loosely and lose all shape on me. So I recently cleared out about thirty and swapped them for black camisoles with thin straps. The new ones look fantastic. The older style can look okay on a woman when it's fitted tight, yet the camisoles come out much nicer overall. Just to clarify, the shirts were black in color and not property of any particular men. Men of any background can wear the same kind if they like, but mine were mine and everyone else can track down their own.

I feel fine admitting how well this matches your whole vibe. A cop who hits his wife and is black. Sure Random that label works. Ladies always go for the dangerous guys.

For me the main gain is never worrying over outfits anymore. What I get is real mental ease rather than feeling attractive. No more forcing myself into tight pieces that make me overheat and then swapping several times only to still feel overweight. Getting dressed stopped being a daily hassle the way mornings once were. I guess it is personal but I like looking decent so other women skip the comments yet not enough that guys approach.

This illustrates it's impossible to satisfy any female.

If I suddenly became a black man overnight, beating a wife would never cross my mind. I would not even risk it. Who knows if I could find a wife at all, given I would be starting fresh with the background of a middle-aged white woman who mostly dated men before. Dating would feel completely disorienting and I would probably come across as pretty irritable.

You would end up like a ghetto edition of Mel Gibson in that movie where he hears what women think. Plus you would already know what white women respond to. And yeah, you have a point about black men preferring vanilla these days, at least according to what Kevin Samuels claimed. That is basically what being a woman feels like, but I am glad you are starting to see the confusion that affects everyone.

There are bodybuilders who talk about the reverse form of body dysmorphia where they never feel muscular or vascular enough. The drive to keep getting bigger is very real in that group, yet they rarely say it out loud because, as some women put it, men will do anything except go to therapy. It is sad to watch as a man myself since it pushes us further into a bad place.

It really is tragic. Too many men are told to just deal with it and end up believing they suffer alone because no one speaks up. Far more people face the same issues than they probably realize.

Exactly this, and in bold.

At last a reasonable voice shows up. Hold on though, is head trauma required before thinking straight? That would be a shock. Absolutely the brain damage. Go ahead pal, smash your foe, watch them flee ahead of you and savor the weeping from their ladies. I will supply the snacks. Using that compound? Someone mentioned eyesight trouble from it. This ranks as the worst illegal act I have witnessed anywhere. Seen that film more than a hundred and fifty occasions yet it will never seem identical to me now.

Nah, I am already half blind anyway.

Ah, so that explains the situation.

I went through the same thing with clothing sizes after losing sixty pounds on Adderall in my thirties. I cannot wait for it to happen again.

I am in the same situation. I have not said anything to my adult son, but I think about it a lot. He is now on blood pressure medication and his weight has only increased. His diet is mostly white flour and sugar. There is a lot of heart disease and early deaths on my husband's side. He is afraid of needles, so if I ever mention it I will bring up the Foundayo pill option.

A lot of the hate toward GLP-1s seems to come from normal or thin people who felt superior to heavier people even though they did not do any more than fat people to eat well or exercise, which does not solve obesity long term anyway. They appear to have little else going on, but even at their worst they could always say at least they were not fat. That was their way to feel better about themselves. When a shot removes that difference they quickly start claiming we do not know the long-term effects and hoping they are terrible. They have no idea what it is like to be fat or to try losing and keeping it off, yet they are quick with nasty stereotypes that make them feel good. I would not say I am angry at them, but I am glad I do not waste time putting others down the way they do.

I hear you. My friend has always been heavy, just like both of us were overweight as kids. She has done a lot of therapy and work to feel worthy after years of discrimination tied to her weight. When I began losing on tirz I wanted to tell her she had to try it, but then I paused because she is already on a GLP-1 for diabetes and it does not affect her weight. Hearing that would have been crushing. Even if I had never wanted medication, someone handing me information on how to lose would have felt awful. Their good intentions would not offset yet another person implying I was substandard because of my weight. By now most people know about these meds and know someone who has had success or have heard of celebrities using them. If someone is not on them it is probably because they lack access or choose not to, and there is nothing I can do to change either of those.

Nobody wants some random person in Kohl's.

Yes, exactly. I tried so many diet pills, green tea, raspberry ketones, whatever Dr. Oz and others claimed was the answer, just throwing money at a fantasy. I used an app to figure out the cost per pound lost with tirz and it came to thirty-eight dollars after four months and twenty-five pounds down, plus I made beginner choices about where to get it. No shame in that, I was and still am figuring it out, and it has been worth every dollar.

You have got this. We were all lied to our whole lives. I do not blame people like Dr. Oz, he is just going off the information he was given and believes. This reset has motivated me more than ever. Stay motivated and keep learning about yourself through research.