Wars, Battles and Rewards

In in journey you have a place that you start from and a place that you want to end at. You have to have goals. Otherwise how to you know how you are doing and where you are going?

Long term goals: My long term goal is to be a size 10. That is size where I think I will be comfortable and easy to maintain. Not to mention...look good, because lets face it... I want to look good! That is a huge part of losing weight... yes, getting healthy is all great and everything, but let's be honest, it is nice when you walk into a room and notice a man or woman, whatever your orientation, notices you. I hear Sandra Bullock in my head now... You think I'm pretty, you want to date me... haha!

But if you start at a size 24 and think "Okay, I want to be a size 10" that is sooo overwhelming... don't do that. Set that long term goal, that is your war. Wars are broke down into battles... battles are short term goals.

Short term goals: My short term goal is to lose a size.I have never concentrated on my actual weight, I have concentrated on what size I am wearing. So, the most logical thing for me is to set lose a size as my short term goal. I also usually set a time limit on reaching my goal... this is to push myself... it is purely for me. You do what makes you most comfortable. My current goal is to lose 2 sizes by Thanksgiving... I have reached half that goal. My next short term goal is to lose a size by Christmas and then guess what... I have reached my long term goal and I have won my war.

If you are going by weight, then determine what goal would work for you and that won't be overwhelming... if it is still overwhelming then you need to break it down more. For me a size is about 20 lbs... but that may feel like too much, do 5 or 10 lbs. Make it doable for you!

Reward yourself. For each short term goal that I acheive I buy myself a new pair of jeans... because I need them, but I also try, if I can afford it at the time, to buy myself something special... usually a pretty bra and panty set. It is something just for me, that makes me feel a little extra pretty. I don't always buy them in my current size, sometimes I buy them a size smaller ... something to look forward to.

My reward for when I win my war is a tattoo...

This on the back of left shoulder, but it is going to say   " ... And I simply decided to be happy again".
Because that is exactly what I did. And this will forever remind me to stay happy, no matter what life throws at me.

I think for my one year maintaining my weight loss I want to get another tattoo.

Something like this only smaller on my right shoulder. I haven't quite figured out if I am brave enough to do it yet.

So.. set a long term overwhelming goal... then set several smaller goals and reward yourself when you win that battle. Then reward yourself big time when you win that war.

So This is My Life (Personal)

Remember how I said this wasn't just about losing weight? This is one of those posts.

Somedays I wake up and I lay in bed and think "So this is my life." This is not how I had always pictured my life at 40. I am at a place where I have no plans for the future, just getting through the day is enough on some days. This is one of those days. I have those days more than I care to admit. I have no real hopes or dreams anymore. We used to talk about how we would take our grandkids on these huge vacations and how we would retire in Colorado. And now... I can't seem to think past today and even today is a bit sketchy.

It isn't that I want Scotty back... trust me I do not. I find that I miss the plans for the future more than I have missed him. And as I told him, when he wanted to work things out after the divorce, I have a hard time seeing a future without him, but I have just as hard a time seeing my future with him. Sometimes the hardest decision you make is whether to try harder or to walk away. I chose to walk away at that moment. And I never regret that decision.

I am a plan it out kind of girl. And I suddenly have found myself unsettled and unplanned and completely unprepared and some days I don't know how to find my way back to settled, planned and prepared. And that leaves me confused and I hate being confused.

I haven't even figured out what triggers these days. I had a great day yesterday and it ended with my best friend coming over to watch Primal Fear and after she left Emaleigh came by and I got to visit with her for a little while. And then I watched an episode of Sons of Anarchy... my new Netflix addiction. And this morning I woke up thinking... "So this is my life." And I will probably be weepy all day long. If I knew what triggered it... I would know what to do with it.

Most days are great and most days I say "THIS IS MY LIFE!!! YES!!!" Why is it that the down days seem to cast a shadow on the great days?

Anyway, that is where I am today... I love the line from the Eagles song Wasted Time... "You never thought you'd be alone this far down the line. But I know what's been on your mind. You're afraid it's all been wasted time." That pretty much sums up days such as this.

Now to tie this into weight loss.... Do you know how much I want a package of OREOs on these days? I can smell 'em! For those of you that don't know, my motto is... OREOs fix EVERYTHING!!! But I know that thinking is what put the weight on in the first place, so I will just say NO!

And since my whole purpose is to entertain and to make people laugh or at least smile... I will leave you with one of my favorite SOA people .... Charlie Hunnam aka Jax.

 

 

Well... I don't know about you... but this makes me much happier than OREOs! YUM!

 

Busted Can of Biscuits (Keeping Motivated)

So... some days I just feel like I have made no progress at all... I wonder when I am a size ten if I will still feel that way. Probably. I call those days Busted Can of Biscuits days. If you have seen the way a can of bisuits busts open and the biscuits lump out all over the place, you will understand what I mean by that.

 

On my BCB days, I take pics and do before and after shots of myself, just to remind myself on where I came from and where I am going. And if it is a really bad day, I post it on facebook and get an ego boost... You have to have those sometimes and there is nothing wrong with it. It not only helps keep you motivated, but it also helps to inspire others to lose weight also. I have been shocked, not only the number of people that have told me that I have inspired them, but some of the people that I don't that well who tell me what an inspiration I have been to them. I am truly honored and humbled by that.  

 

Here is my most recent picture:

I have it printed out and taped on my desk so that I can glance up and see it for those BCB moments. A quick fix if you will. :)

 

Let me encourage you, that if you are going to start losing weight, please take before pics of yourself. I know it sucks monkey butt...serious monkey butt... however, I now wish that I had more before pics of myself. I had to find my before picture on someone else's facebook page. I avoided cameras. I think everyone that I know has a picture of me flipping them off. They can't use the picture if there is something obscene in it ... right?!?!? As you lose a jean size take a pic of yourself in them. And then do a collage of the Before and Now. You may not see a huge difference at first, but you will by the second jean size.

 

Don't get discouraged either. Especially in the beginning. I read somewhere that it takes 6 weeks for you to really notice a difference and about 10 weeks for others to notice. Trust me, the time goes by quickly and once you start dropping jean sizes, it goes by even quicker. Trust me.

 

This morning was a Busted Can of Biscuits morning. I decided to do somehing a little bit different. I laid my old jeans out (yes I kept them so to remind me of where I don't want to be ever again) and laid my current size jeans on top of them.

 

Quite a bit of difference. Then I decided to put on my jeans and then see if my old ones fit over them... they did... and they were loose!

And a nice little bonus... I had purchased the white and black shirt at Cato's probably 4 years ago, it was on clearance for $4.00 and I LOVED it. Problem was it was about 3 sizes too small. But I didn't care... I will lose weight and wear it. I always told myself that if I could just get into that shirt, I would be satisfied.... Well, I got into that shirt over a month ago and it is now very loose on me. I am kind of sad about that too. haha!

But not sad enough to stop.

Do what you need to do to stay motivated. My biggest help is pictures... they don't lie.