Believe, Don't Just Expect!

I found myself reflecting in the past few days on my journey and what has gotten me where I am today. I have to say that I wasn't very good at what I'm about to talk about for quite some time, but the reality is in order to get to your goal and be the person you want to be, you must first BELIEVE!

Like I said, I was very bad at this for months. In fact, if a grade were to have been given like in school, I can assure you it would have been an F, along with a letter wanting to meet with the parents. In other words, for months I was just going through the motions. I was eating well. I was going to the gym. I was drinking water and even losing weight. It's what I expected. Who wouldn't expect that after making those changes? And to some they may have even felt like sacrifices. I mean if I were going to school each day, somewhat trying, and getting my work in, you'd think I'd at least be passing the class right? Wrong! We cannot just expect...we must work at it.

For many months I didn't believe in myself. I didn't believe I could do it. I had so much weight to lose that it often times scared me. I was overwhelmed. I'd even find myself in tears about it.  I'd never be tiny, but I at least wanted to be smaller than I was at that moment. I didn't know how to even picture what that would look like. I didn't know if I was capable. Bottom line was, I didn't believe in myself!  All I knew was that I was going through the motions in hopes that I would see results. 

Results came but I learned quickly that unless I started believing I could do anything I put my mind to and keep on a path of a healthy lifestyle, like FOREVER, I would just be back at square one. Gain back the weight and feel even more like a failure because I wasn't able to do it the first time (or second or third). I learned that I couldn't do any of this until I believed in myself. I know I already blogged about the mind last week, but it really is key. It has the power to make or break you in all of this. We honestly cannot do all of this and just expect to change or expect results. We need to believe.  

I know it may sound a bit awkward that I believe in those of you who struggle with weight loss issues even though I've never even met you, but I do. I really do. If I can come from a place where I was and accomplish what I have, so can you. I honestly believe this. I know I don't know your personal situation and/or the things you are dealing with on your plate of life at this time, but I believe you can be the YOU you want to become. I believe you can make good choices. I believe you can listen to your heart. (I know it wants to be healthy and craves nothing but for you to be happy.) I believe you can honestly do anything you put your mind to. No, it's not easy but I believe you can do it. God believes in you. I believe in you.  Do you believe in you?

Wanting a New Body Means a New Brain!

I think often times we are all caught in the trap of wanting our bodies to be or look a certain way. We either see someone and we think, " I would love to be that small" or we think just the opposite, "I will never be someone like that so why bother even trying." Anyone ever feel like this or caught themselves saying this to the person in the mirror? I know I have. There was a point when I was at my heaviest (278 pounds) that I actually would feel embarrassed or uncomfortable around active, fit people. It was as if I was almost from a different country or didn't belong. I know that was not the case. It was just how I felt.

I have learned while being on my own weight loss journey that I can eat as healthy as I want, I can exercise and even lose large amounts of weight, but until I learned how to train my brain just like I had to train my body, I was not successful. The body and the brain MUST be yolked together on this journey or you will end up failing. Just like in a marriage, if you are not yolked together it is inevitable that down the road things will not work out because you see and do things so opposite. Your body and mind are no different. If your body is working hard to eat right and exercise yet your mind is filling your brain with doubt, frustration, or even compromising the things you are doing.....in the end you will fail. I almost hate to use that word "fail" as I find it very powerful and very sensitive for some, but the reality is, when it comes to this kind of lifestyle change, there is no middle of the road. It's pass or fail.

Start telling yourself you can do this. Don't look at the big picture and what you need to accomplish in the end but tell yourself daily the small things your mind needs to hear to get you through the day. 

- I can look good in the clothes I wear today.

- I can drink all the water I need to get in today.

- I can eat what I have planned on my menu for the day.

- I can be good at this.

- I'm a winner.

- I'm a fighter.

- I'm determined.

Just remember, in the end it's your job to show your body and mind who is boss. Don't let your body win the battle. If you do, the weight will just come back. Remember your body is a shell, and the thing that matters most and will carry you to the end is your mind. Take care of your mind so it can take care of you. 

What Motivates You?

I've thought about this question several times lately, and it's amazing what my answers seem to be. Healthy eating, going to the gym, making outdoor choices when it comes to recreation, running, feeling fit, and the list goes on. Has my answer always been of this nature? Absolutely not. In fact, it was quite the opposite. My motivators were at one point based on food or feel good moments or what I thought brought me joy but in all reality was just a cover up, a band-aid.

It wasn't until I started to change my life and explore the new me that my motivators changed. Every little step counted along the way. It was as if the more time I spent exploring what my body could do, the more I craved what I was learning. It's so easy when we start a new regimen of any kind, especially losing weight, to focus on the scale changing each week to be the motivator. Anybody ever fallen into that trap? This is great maybe for a week or two but what does your brain do when the scale doesn't move for a while but maybe the inches are moving and or the brain is changing? Do we start to get discouraged? Do we panic? Do we inch a little more towards wanting to throw in the towel? I think what happens is we get fixated on the number on the scale and if it doesn't move, our motivation can so easily be tampered with. I guess the message I want to get across is don't let that happen to you. Keep going. Every day is worth you giving it 100% on your journey. Plus, yes the scale is helpful and lets you know you are making progress but that is only a very TINY part of the problem you've gotten yourself into in the first place. In order to change we need to look and think of ourselves in a different way. We need to come up with some self motivators that are healthy yet helpful.

What are other things you can do to motivate you throughout the week? Here are a few Paige ideas:

- Talk to God about what you're up against each day

- Plan ahead - avoid rush

- Get with a friend and share your goals/exercise together

- Write down ahead of time everything you will eat that day

- Make a chart or graph and track your progress (progress can be with eating, exercising, weight, inches, etc.)

- Pick some healthy new recipes to try 

- Keep a journal/blog and write your thoughts and feelings

- Share your progress with someone else (I know this sounds a little odd but I didn't really do this until after the fact and to see what a blessing it has been to share my own story and pay-it-forward has been a huge motivator to me to want to continually help others I know on their own journey.)

- Get a cute or fun water bottle that you enjoy filling up several times a day. 

Don't stress and think about what you have to do to lose that 1-2 pounds this week (or 5 -10 if you're brain is currently thinking unrealistically). Think about what you can do to motivate yourself to become the best you you know. And in all reality, maybe you don't know who that person is yet and that's okay too. ( I met her along the way myself.) Plant some seeds now and you will build within the walls of your frame a person whose motivation is built on an active lifestyle and a desire to be healthy, not just by dieting, getting skinny, and watching the numbers on the scale go down just to gain it back when you think you're ready to be done with this latest phase or way of thinking.

Whatever it may be that will motivate you, find something and stick with it, even when the going gets tough. Motivation is not only how we feel but even more so how you think. If you can train your brain to be healthy and remind you of the potential that is within you, everything else will come so naturally. 

Your body is an amazing creation and can do amazing things if you will but motivate it and tell it what do to. Think of your body as waiting and wanting to hear from you each morning on how you're going to work together, to become the best team you possibly can. You can do this! 

Remember My Post Last Week? Here's What I've Been Working On......

Remember how last week I mentioned just picking ONE thing to work on? Well, I picked mine and am ready to share. I actually had several little areas I was considering picking but decided to stick with just one - water.

I've always loved water and drinking it has never really been a problem for me. In fact, often times during my weight-loss I had wondered if I was drinking too much water. (Did you know that too much water can be bad for you?)  It seemed that since I started my new job this fall I struggle with getting my water in during the day. Really there is not a good excuse for not doing it. Especially considering we have a water guy that comes every two weeks and gives us the good, fresh stuff. Part of it I think has just been that I am far more busy in the moment than I was before, and it's not always easy to get away from my desk.  Whereas before, the water jug sat within an arm's reach distance from me.  Now, kids are constantly in and out of the office and phones are ringing. It's not long before time has slipped away from me and I realize I haven't had much water, if any. (Some days my cup hasn't been filled until lunch.) Oh, and since it's so cold these days (16 degrees at the moment) and the front door gets opened and closed all day long, the last thing I want to do is add something else cold to the mix.

Okay, enough of the excuse button. This last week I wanted to focus on water. It was a struggle the first day but before I knew it, it was easy. It was as if my body was happy with me again. (Don't get me wrong.  It wasn't that I had cut water out completely.  It was just that my body was at one time used to so much more.) I knew it was a good sign when I was visiting the bathroom several times an hour, not to mention that my urine was again very clear instead of having a yellow tinge. Now onto this week.  Things have been fine. Water intake is going well. I guess that means it's time to add in one of those other little areas I could work on, add it my water intake, and continue to move forward.

So in moment when it's just too cold for water, MIO comes to the rescue. This is one of my very favorite things to add to my water from time to time, but recently I discovered adding it to hot water is just as good if not better! It's like a yummy flavored tea. 

How do you get your water?

It's been TWO YEARS!

It was 2 years ago today that I met with Jacob Wilson (the best trainer in the world) and stepped on that scale for what was another life-changing moment.

I knew I was getting fairly close to hitting my goal weight of 145 and that morning felt a little different. Because I met with Jacob on a semi-weekly basis at that point, I wasn't consistently weighing myself but would only stand on the scale when he said I needed to. We met that morning at a gym I wasn't altogether familiar with as it wasn't the one we normally met at. (He works out of a couple different gyms as he is privately contracted.) I was wearing my favorite black Nike shorts and an old Nike shirt that accompanied me many hours in the gym. In fact, on measurement days I tried to wear the same exact thing to get the most accurate reading. He took me into the small dressing room and made the comment, "Is this the day?" I was so nervous I could hardly speak, let alone think. He asked me to take off my shoes and step up on the scale. If you've ever watched the Biggest Loser, it's like when they go to the weigh-in and everyone is on pins and needles. The only bad part is there was no beeping, waiting, or commercial break in my case. The number just popped up on the screen in black writing with it's blue background reading 143! I didn't even know what to do or how to react. Not only did I hit my goal weight, I was under by two pounds. Jacob couldn't wait to go out and tell anybody he could in the gym what had just happened. In the past, he had made me wear a vest with weight attached during workouts to show my body what it used to deal with. Those were very hard, emotional sessions but this time was different. He tried to get one of those "heavy weight" (I call them) bars and put the total weight I had just lost (133 pounds) and have me lift it. I couldn't! It was a very humbling moment for me to realize the reality of what had happened with myself over the past year.  I had lost an entire person. Not only that but it was motivating and inspiring as Jacob's client to see him get slightly teary and tell me that this is why he does what he does. 

Sometimes it seems like that day was just yesterday but in all actuality, it's been two years. It wasn't always an easy road but it was so worth it. It has changed my life forever. And looking back on things, I'm not so sure God wanted it to be easy. There have been so many things I have learned about myself, who I am, and what my body can do. I'm not sure I could have mastered these things if it would have been a cake walk...something I had to put no effort into. The best part about this whole thing is that anyone can do it. It takes no experience, expertise, nutrition knowledge, loads of money, and the excuse list can go on. It takes you wanting to sincerely make a change, sacrifice some things, and put hope and faith into the fact that two people can do anything, as long as one of them is God.

Before

At Goal - January - 2011

Goal Maintained - Holidays - 2012

What Paige Thinks About New Years Resolutions

Happy New Year everyone! I've been dragging my feel about this post for over a week now, and I really can't pinpoint why. I think it's maybe because I haven't wanted to ruin any body's thinking and/or motivation for the new year, but I will just come out and say it.  I really dislike new year's resolutions. In fact, I almost want to use the word "hate" but that word never leaves my mouth. (Believe me, in this case it was tempting.) I'm not sure why, but every time I've heard the word lately, I want to cringe. I would much rather hear people say things like, "My new way of life" or "Becoming a better me."  Whether it has to do with weight loss or something else you're wanting to change and work on, I think it sounds more personal.  More individualized. 

When I hear the word resolution I think of lots of people all at once trying to do or be better for a short time, and then it stops. It's like the focus is only for a period of time. In the past, maybe you worked on something for only a few weeks and others for a few months, maybe even a year. 

However, when you are thinking of making changes that involve losing weight (and wanting to keep it off) and becoming healthy, this is something that has to be considered carefully. It can't be something you only do for a few weeks or a few months until that cruise you have on the calendar or even just for a year. It has to be something that you are committed to doing forever. It becomes who you are. It becomes your lifestyle.

I know none of this is easy so it is important to just start small. Too much too soon can be overwhelming and discouraging. Not to mention, you may get burned out and have a desire not to continue. I know this was the case for me in the past. I started out strong and hard but then as time went on I teetered out and went back to my old ways. It was almost as if it was a contest to see how long I could go before I was back to eating and doing the things I was before. 

After finding my way and figuring out this whole process there is a spark in me that so wants other people to understand that it will only work if they start slow and take baby steps to success. A baby can't go from being born to walking in a matter of weeks. Thus we can't expect to decide we are going to be healthy and only do it for a certain amount of time. It's a lifelong commitment. 

There are so many things to consider when wanting to change your body. You need to map it out. The only way I was successful was to start out slow. Everyone is different, but I would suggest picking one thing this week that you haven't done in the past but are willing to try. It may be something to the effects of drinking 8 glasses of water, cutting out treats, or going for a walk. Pick something (just one thing) and write it down. Next week you can add to it and so on. Before you know it, you will have formed many new habits that contribute to a healthier YOU! And remember, you can do anything you put your mind to! 

P.S.Don't worry, I'm planning to write something down and share it with you next.