Enlightenment and Hope

This week is all about looking into one's life and looking at what is working, what is not working and how to change those old habits that aren't working.

Now we're talking about the tough stuff...looking inward and finding our own strengths and acknowledging and changing our weaknesses.  What does this have to do with weight loss?  It has everything to do with weight loss.   Why do we eat?  We eat because we are hungry, we eat because we are bored, we eat because we are upset, we eat because we are celebrating, we eat because we eat!!!

What was it about losing weight that was important to you?  For me it was the fact that I couldn't do any of the things that I used to do.  I could hardly walk without getting tired, there was no way that I was running anywhere and then there were all of the health issues I had.  I had been in the hospital with pneumonia, I was taking five different medications every day, my cholesterol was off the charts, my blood pressure was inching up and I was turning 50.  My father passed away from a heart attack when he was 50, both my mother and my sister had heart valve replacements when they were 50 and here I was going down the same path...

I walked into Weight Watchers and I became a convert, I tracked everything that went into my mouth, I tracked my exercise, I tracked my feelings, I tracked my sleep, if it could be tracked I tracked it.  And you know what I learned?  I learned that I ate when I was upset, I ate when I didn't feel like I had any control over whatever the situation was and I ate when I was bored.  I also learned I had to learn about what was going on inside of me!  Instead of being upset about a situation and drowning my sorrows in food, I learned to face the situation, ask for support if I needed it and move on.  I stopped letting things fester inside of me and I started dealing with things that bothered me.  This is the scary things we have to face when we start making positive changes in our lives, sometimes we have to look in the mirror and say I'm not okay with myself and I am going to make changes in my life.  There were lots of times I had to look in the mirror and say that but after a few months (or years in my case!!!) I am finally able to look in the mirror and say I know who I am and I am okay with myself.

Does that mean that I never have problems?  Does it mean that just because I have achieved my goal weight that life is always easy?  No...it means that I have learned the tools necessary to take care of myself, to stand up for myself when I need to, that I have finally said I am just as important as the next person.

Writing in a journal has helped me to explore these issues, I write them in a journal that belongs to me.  I still keep track of things going on in my life, I track what I eat because again I ask you if you aren't tracking, what did you eat two days ago for breakfast?  If you don't write it down you can't own it, whether it is food, exercise or emotions.  Am I always happy when I look at my tracker, heck no!!!  But the beauty of it is that tomorrow is another day or my next meal is a new beginning.  I have that power!!!  I am in control of my own life and frankly I can't blame it on anyone else...IT is my LIFE!!!

There is hope.  There is always another option and as long as I am around, you can always talk with me.  Hope is what you make it, you can look at a situation as hopeful or hopeless.  It is all in how you look at it.  Take control of your life and make it your own life.  If you need help, come see me on Thursday evening!  We will take this journey together!!!

Until Thursday!
Carol

Relationships in Your Weight Loss Journey

Today is Mother's Day and I want to say Happy Mother's Day to all of you!!!  Holidays (even those that Hallmark and the florists come up with) give everyone a chance to get together, celebrate and enjoy the day.  Usually food is involved, but so are our emotions.

Some of the things I hope you are learning from your Weight Watchers journey is that there are a lot of times the hunger we feel is not really in our stomachs, it is in our heads.

How often has someone told you to eat something to make you feel better?  We all remember the promise our parents told us if we had to get our tonsils out.  "You can have all the ice cream you want!"  "You're wasting away, you need to eat!"  Have a bad day..."Drown your sorrows in _____ (you fill in the blank).

I think the thing I have learned from my journey is that I don't have to listen to those things anymore.  I am free to decide what I want to eat, when I eat and when to make good choices and if I do need something extra, I can have it.  I just can't have it every day!!

What I have found is that I don't live or lose weight in a bubble.  The people around me, my loved ones, my friends, neighbors and my co-workers can either help or hinder my weight loss.  Some people may intentionally or unintentionally try to torpedo my efforts-because they may not like losing their eating or drinking buddies or because they may feel threatened by the way I am changing.

We all have to learn which relationships and social networks present challenges or roadblocks to our success.  Find out who those saboteurs are and learn how to assert ourselves and gain the support we need.  Easier said than done but this week's meeting will help you learn to understand that in order to lose weight you must learn how to manage problematic relationships and in some cases, seek out or create new ones.

It truly is important to have those supportive friendships so you can ask for help.

I think the best quote I have to fully encapsulate what it is about is the following quote by Stephen Covey, a personal development author and speaker.

"Our ultimate freedom is the right and power to decide how anybody or anything outside ourselves will affect us."

Remember it is up to you...I am here for you!!!  If you have questions or concerns, let me know...

Until Thursday,

Carol