Take 5 High Five

Why is it that when someone says “Take 5” I immediately conjure up images of a candy bar? You know, that scrumptious chocolate bar filled with caramel and pretzels and ooey- gooey deliciousness? Man, I could go for one of them right about now. Did someone say Halloween candy???

Today’s Weight Watchers meeting was about Taking 5. Not the candy bar…and no, not taking 5 pieces of candy. It was about taking five minutes for yourself each day to do a little self-reflection. This was such a timely message for me, I am SO glad I got out of bed and rolled into the meeting on this cold, blustery day.

I hadn’t been to a meeting in 3 weeks. As a Lifetime Member, I am only “obligated” to weigh in once a month. My goal is to attend every other week to make sure I’m staying on track. This is the first weigh-in, in quite some time that I gained. Oh you poor thing some might say, you’re four pounds below your goal weight and you gained. Admittedly I am under my goal weight and it feels fantastic, but that doesn’t mean that I don’t struggle every single day to make good choices.

The meeting today was about taking five minutes every day to do a self-assessment and I am going to put this into practice immediately. If you have a goal you are working toward, weight loss or otherwise, it’s extremely important to check in with yourself and honestly (sometimes painfully) assess how it’s going. Often times, we self-reflect after a failure thinking “well, I royally screwed that up”. And then we start to make a mental list of things we did wrong and before we know it, we’re so peeved that we don’t even want to try anymore.

How about a new approach? Take five minutes every day and write down what you are doing well. Give yourself a take five high five! Write down how awesome you are at something, anything. Maybe you took the time to plan out your day or you drank water. Perhaps you tried a new food or squeezed in an activity into an already a jam-packed day. Maybe you had only half a dessert or skipped the appetizer when out with friends. Or you made it through a really tough work day without turning to food. Whatever is was, write it down!

Next ask yourself, what can I do better? Once again write it down. What are you struggling with? What is one simple change you can make to get better? How can you put the change into action? For me, the small change is tracking my food again. After 15+ years of writing down what I eat, sometimes it becomes tiresome and I stop tracking. I say things to myself like “I know this! I got this!” But…I don’t. For me, writing down what I eat is super important to my long term success. It helps me stay in control and aware of the choices I’m making.

Lastly, assess the goal itself. What’s my goal? Is my goal the same as it was 6 months ago? What I’ve found is that my goals and motivations have changed throughout my weight loss process. Several times I’ve needed to refocus on what matters most to me and how I’m going to get there. I’m at that place right now; it’s time to re-assess what’s important to me.

Today’s meeting was a great reminder that I need to take the time each day to ask myself:  

What did I do well? What can I do better? What is my goal? Has it changed? How am I going to do to get there?

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

Hugs and friendship,

Tara