One Day At A Time!

I have been doing a lot of reflecting with the new year, and I want to express some thought on some things.  First off Kudos to everyone who decides in January to get their butts back in gear and joins the gym!  LOL I cannot get over how stinking busy my gym is in January and February every year.  It is like they come out of the wood work.  It is sad that most will stop and fail at exercising on a regular basis by making it a habit and not something to dread!  I was one of these people for many many years!

Ok on to my reflections:





Take it one day at a time, one step at a time.  Keep in mind the overall picture, but focus on the small goals, the mini ones that break down the big ones.  With this in mind, I take it day by day, and I know what I want to accomplish each week and each month.  For example, before I would think about all the weight that I wanted to lose but now I focus on the next pound.  I use to think about all the things that I needed to give up.  But I have learned that I really need not give up anything per say.  I have to make wise choices and be mindful of everything I eat, but I focus on what I have gained, and how much healthier I am because of these choices I continue to choose to make each and every day.  WOW is that powerful!  To take the negativity and turn it into positive energy is an amazing feeling.

Before I would beat myself up about how I could gain so much weight and not do anything more to prevent it.  How Iwould constantly bash myself, calling myself inside quietly names, like fat cow, and how could I ever have let this happen to me when I was 170 pounds only 13 years ago?  Now I draw on those times as my inspiration.  I do recall what it feels like to be thin, and all of the things that you can do without restriction when you are.  One of my Lap Band friends wrote me privately and said how lucky I am that I can recall what that feels like.  I am lucky, as I have not always been obese!

I am stronger and more determined about this journey than I ever thought I could be.  With each passing day, I surprise myself when I choose the gym over shopping or hanging out, or simply doing nothing.  I am finding it easier and easier to "just say no" to unhealthy food choices.  This is the real cool thing to me.  I am actually tasting food for the first time in so many years I cannot tell you.  Once purged of the refined crap we pour into our bodies, it is amazing how things taste differently to us.  I am loving no more IBS symptoms again, lord that is the biggest relief I cannot begin to tell you.  

I do not need to be 15o pounds to be happy and enjoy life again.  I can do that right now, where I am.  In fact I am embracing life with abandon, and I am moving and doing fun things and not just being sedentary which we all know is a vicious cycle that we as obese people must break.  I use to say "If I ever end up losing this weight......I will....."  I have put that train of thought to bed, and now I do it!  I love going on long walks with Max and not having every muscle ache or hurt, and being able to swim for an hour without stopping and feeling rejuvenated for my effort.

I am looking forward to the weekend, Alan has Guard this weekend so it will be just Nichole and I since the boys have their weekend with their dad.  I hope to get some homework done, and some crafting in for a new baby that is arriving on Feb 20th and of course some real good workouts as well.