Support from those who love you

I had an entirely different blog written up for today, but I didn't really like it. Somehow it didn't feel right. So I decided on a different topic. Support. One big thing that I learned in the beginning of this whole process is that you need the support from people around you. In the past when I had tried to lose weight (since being married) I never really told Steven. I just would kind of mention it, but then say it's no big deal, and we'd go have McDonald's. That is certainly not a good way to lose weight. So in January I told Steven I wanted to lose some weight. Well that month I was not exactly trying to lose weight. I just wasn't at a good place mentally and did not put any effort in.
But the next month, things started to change. I finally was starting to come out of my post baby blues (more on at another point), and I wanted to actually get my butt going. So I enlisted Steven. He is the one person who could either be my greatest support or my biggest hold back in this entire process. So one night we had a serious conversation about some changes that had to be made. We were going to start buying healthier groceries and begin taking walks together. Walking was something we had done a lot of already, but it was time to do it for exercise.
Having Steven's support meant I had someone on my side. It meant that he would no longer ask me if I wanted something from McDonald's at 9pm just because he was snacky. It meant that he would say okay time for a walk. And in the past 6 months he has become my biggest help in losing the 50lbs so far.
While I knew that having Steven there for me was important, I needed a female to help. So when I found out a friend of mine was also trying to lose weight we decided that we would support each other. Unfortunately living across the country from each other meant it would mostly be through text messages. And even though we do not text everyday, the knowledge that there is a friend out there to say "you can do it," is extremely encouraging.
Throughout this whole process I have had support come from people in different ways. Even people who have no idea they are helping. My neighbor's who were the first to notice my weight loss, the dental hygenist who mentioned that I look smaller every time I came in (which was often in June), my mom who would say that my face was looking skinnier through video chat, the friends who would comment that I looked great. Support from people around you can be the biggest help or hurt in weight loss. This doesn't mean you have to tell every person you know (unless that is helpful to you), but the person that you spend the most time with (aside from young children) needs to be supportive. This may mean changes in their life too. I decided I was not going to be cooking different meals for myelf just because I was trying to lose weight, so Steven would need to be willing to change his eating habits. And he did, without complaint. We even changed where we grocery shop for the most part.
It has been so great throughout this process to have my husband's support and love. I truly believe that everyone needs that kind of support. The one thing he probably doesn't even know that he has never done is say to me "Are you sure you should eat that," or "don't you think you should workout." That to me is annoying. If you need a babysitter in losing weight, you aren't ready to do this. You need to be able to police yourself. So make sure the person around you is not going to do. Make sure they are going to support you without criticizing you.
I apologize if this rambling or makes no sense, I am new at this blog thing and finally got a good night of sleep last night, which you would think would help me, yet somehow makes me feel more foggy. Go figure.