Weight Loss Notes ② — The Turning Point

“What changed on my fourth attempt?”
Honestly, I didn't have high expectations for my fourth weight loss attempt after failing three times. But as it turned out, this was the one that led to my first success.
If I had to say what was different, it was “how I set my goals.” Until then, my only goal was a number: “lose XX kg.” But what I started on my fourth attempt was to begin by “structuring my daily meals.”
First, I wrote down everything I actually ate for just one week. I was shocked by the result: the fact that “the high-calorie foods I was eating unconsciously were far more than I thought.” Sweet breads, juice, snacking. The accumulation of small habits I wasn't even aware of was what was supporting my weight.
Looking at what I had written down, I didn't choose to “quit everything,” but rather “change just this.” I switched juice to water, reduced sweet breads to one a week, and replaced my snacking time with “a rich cup of tea.” For exercise, I didn't go for “intense daily workouts,” but narrowed it down to just “a 20-minute walk, three times a week.”
In the first month, I only lost 1.5 kg. It seemed like a small number, but the fact that I had a track record of “being able to keep it up this far” was a feeling I had never experienced before.
In choosing “not to overdo it,” I met a version of myself that could actually keep going for the first time. That certainty became the power that kept me moving until the end.

I didn't seek speed; I chose small, sustainable changes. That was everything behind my first success.”

Thank you for reading this far.
The next one will be the final installment, so I hope you'll read it.