Ready, Set, Goal!

This week I got back to my Weight Watcher’s lifetime goal weight. Not only did I reach my goal, I’m now one pound below my goal! I have not been this weight since 2003.

It’s been a slow and steady road to get here and I I thank you for being with me every step of the way. I am proud to be a Weight Watcher for life.   

In March 2011, I decided to make my weight battle public by starting this blog. Some people choose to lose privately, some publicly and there is no right or wrong way. For me having a way to express myself through writing was very helpful. I wanted to share my successes and even my failures with you.

I also set a few goals:

1- Healthy Thinking- I will have a positive long term approach to my weight loss. I will surround myself with people who support my goals. I will make small changes that lead to big results. I will help others along the way.  

2- Honor God With My Body- I will appreciate this one body that God gave me. I will treasure and take care of it. I will value this gift of life. I will make choices that bring glory to God.

3- Moving More- I will become an active, healthy adult. I will explore new activities and adventures to help me get fit. I will see exercise as a privilege and not a chore.

4- Goal weight 141- I will set a healthy, maintainable goal weight for my body type and frame. I will achieve my goal within a year.

5- Weight Watcher’s Leader- I will become a local Weight Watcher’s leader and will nurture a community of healthy, balanced, positive and compassionate members.

Over the next few weeks I’ll be reflecting on my first four goals and how I got there. I’ll also be sharing with you my steps to become a Weight Watcher’s leader-goal number five!

I hope you’ll stay with me on this next leg of my journey. I can’t wait to share it with you!

Ask for help. Make the choice. Commit to the choice. Continue with courage.

Hugs and friendship,

Tara

Little Engine That Can

A few weeks ago, I wrote about being stuck at Complacency Crossroads and that I needed to get my train to jump tracks to the Can Do Expressway. So what happened? Apparently as my train was jumping the tracks, it became derailed.

It’s been a mixed bag kind of a week. One day I felt energized and focused and the next day I felt distracted and tired. This whole week has been magnified by a revisit from my pesky little friend, my facial neuralgia. I’ve had some type of pain every day this week. When it’s hot out, I have pain on the top of my head and my front facial nerves and eye spasm like crazy.  Sunday was one hot bugger of a day, and I tried to stay outside at my son’s baseball game, but I paid for it later. When it’s cold, damp and rainy (and boy we’ve had plenty of that), I have my worst pain, it’s a shooting pain behind my ear that radiates up the back of my head. This week’s crazy up and down temperatures have been a killer. When I’m stressed or tired, my face spasms and droops and I have nail-tapping like pain on the top of my head. Fun for days!

The good news? Acupuncture is still working. The pain I experience is far less severe than it ever has been. My pain can be controlled fairly quickly so I can get back to living my life.  The bad news? My chronic pain is SUCH a trigger for overeating. I’m sure many of you reading this can relate. We all have something that triggers us to overeat. Many of us self-medicate with food to help heal our mental and physical hurts. When we’re knee deep in pain, sometimes we simply don’t have the wherewithal to stop and think “eating is not going to solve my problems”, we just eat, and eat, and eat. And oh yeah, then eat some more.

I mentioned that it’s been a mixed bag kind of week for me. Why? Because I’m fighting a battle and thankfully the healthier me is winning. As I’ve written before, usually when I have neuralgia pain, I turn to food for my comfort. But this week (and every week going forward), I refuse to let food win. When the pain came, I fell into my old ways, grabbed my favorite comfort foods and started to dig in, but something really cool happened- I stopped. I did have it within me to stop my overeating, even in the middle of physical pain. I stopped. Here’s what I did instead---

I journaled. I started a food mood and face feelings journal. There I began to capture how I was feeling about food and what I was going to do about it. I also noted my levels of face pain to keep myself grounded that things could be worse. I exercised. Exercise not only reduces my face pain, but it gives me that energy boost and focus that’s needed. Even if I only have time for 20 minutes, I get my body moving. I talked it out. My husband is an awesome listener. After 23 years, he knows me better than I do. Make sure you have someone you can talk with about your struggles and have that person hold you accountable for your actions. I prayed. When I felt overwhelmed, I stopped what I was doing and grabbed my bible. I always feel at peace after a little chat with God. He is my comfort and strength.

I’m so happy to get my little engine that can back on the right track. Will you join me?

Ask for help. Make the choice. Commit to the choice. Continue with courage.

Hugs and friendship,

Tara

D.I.Y.O.

I spent most of last weekend working on a DIY project. I bought a credenza at an estate sale and it needed some serious TLC.  It was so glorious to sit outside, bask in the sun, getting my DIY on- LOVE it! As I sat there, I began to think about how my weight loss journey has been very similar to a DIY project. For me, DIY projects have a few things in common- 1) they always take longer than I imagine they will…2) there is usually more work involved than I planned on…3) I want to fast forward to the end, skipping the hard labor to enjoy the beauty of the finished product.  

Usually, a DIY project begins with a less than perfect object that has potential. Well that was certainly me at the beginning of my journey. I needed to take a hard look at myself to see that I am FAR from perfect, but filled God-given possibility. The first thing I did with the credenza was clean it off, it was filthy. Got me some old rags, some warm soapy water and went to town. This made me think about my decision to begin a healthy lifestyle. Once I recognized that I had the power to change, and made the decision to change, I needed to clean up my act, starting with my bad habits.

After I got the credenza spic and span, I began to sand it. Sanding is one of my least favorite jobs. It’s hard manual work and there’s no way to get around it. And to do a project right, you should actually sand a few times, in between the primer and pain coats to get the best results. Sanding down old habits can be just as tedious. Just when you think you’re done sanding- whammo- you find another thing you need to change. Sometimes we get splinters, making lifestyle changes can be painful, both mentally and physically. Much like how I feel about sanding a piece of furniture; recognizing, acknowledging and changing my habits has been the most tedious and laborious part of my journey.

Even though sanding can be tiresome, there’s nothing like starting with what feels like an almost new piece of furniture. I used some wood filler to fill in the rough patches and now it’s nice and smooth.  Filling in the gaps between the old and new me is when the fun began. Finding new activities I enjoy, trying new healthier foods, stepping out of my comfort zone, building new friendships.  It feels so great to fill myself up with things other than food!

Coming to the end of the DIY project, I layered on the primer before the gorgeous final top coat. As we make positive changes in our lifestyle, we begin to layer our healthy habits to build something lasting and substantial.

And finally, the sweet reward! I love putting on the final coats of paint and adding personal details to make it my own.  The same thing can be said for my weight loss journey. I’ve taken the Weight Watcher’s program, tweaked it to fit my lifestyle and made it just right for me. One of my favorite things about a DIY project is the beauty that comes with reinvention. Years from now, someone might find my credenza, see its potential and start to give it some much needed TLC.

D.I.Y.O (doing yourself over) is a life-long process and investment that require some serious sweat equity, but the end result will be SO worth it! Something beautiful is waiting to be created in you!

Ask for help. Make the choice. Commit to the choice. Continue with courage.

Hugs and friendship,

Tara