Week 16 Check-In: Being Persistent

What can I say ... it's the holidays. While I know I have gained weight this week, the good news is this semester of college is over as of a few days ago, and now I can concentrate more on weight loss.

Although this weight loss journey has been a rocky road, I've come to the realization that the number one important thing in losing weight is to be persistent. No matter what gets in your way, just consider it a bump in the road and roll over it ... move on, and get back on track.

There are so many things that challenge our sanity and weight loss -- a stressful job, the economy, a bitchy relative, a bill doctor bill, a heavy workload of classes, car trouble, food-filled holiday events, candy in the stockings, and poor health.

None of that matters. You have to put the bad things that happen in your life into a separate time and space, and stay mindful of your own health and happiness. Sure you might gain a few pounds now and then, but don't let it affect you and throw you off track. The only important thing is that you pick yourself up and get back to losing weight.

Here's a few profound statements about being persistent:

In the confrontation between the stream and the rock, the stream always wins ... not through strength, but through persistence. ~Buddah~

Success is a matter of hanging on when others let go

You will need to make many turns and overcome many obstacles

to create the path you desire.

Week 15 Check-In: Weight Loss Pictures of Me

Wow, I'm up to a 27 lb weight loss. For every 25 lbs, I'm going to have new pictures taken to show the progress. Below are images taken before (September 13, 2008) and after (December 14, 2008). They show the 8 inches I've lost on my body, the drop in a dress size, and how my clothes are getting too big.

Week 14 Check-In: Mindful Eating

It seems like I've been on this weight loss journey a long time, but in actuality it's only been 3-1/2 months. This week, I lost part of the weight I gained at Thanksgiving, but am still up 2 pounds from my lowest. The number is now 23 lb weight loss.

Have you ever heard of mindful meditation? I've taken classes in it before. According to Wikipedia, it's a concentrated awareness of one's thoughts, actions, and motivations. Being mindful means bringing one's awareness into the present moment, so you hear all the chatter that goes on in your head that averts your attention away.

With mindfulness you realize "thoughts are just thoughts" ... they are not reality and it's this realization that releases you from their hold. I think this concept can be applied to "mindful weight loss." Instead of mindlessly eating as fast as we can, while our mind spins off in another direction, we can concentrate and become aware of the food we are putting into our bodies.

This 3-1/2 month weight loss journey has allowed me to better observe of myself, thoughts, and habits about food. For the most part, I'm starting to mindfully move away from my feeding frenzy days.

Week 13 Check-In: Holidays and Our Food Addictions

This week I've decided to give myself a break. I did hit the magical 25 lb weight loss the day before Thanksgiving, but of course, I gained weight with the holiday. Instead of announcing my current weight, I'm going to give myself a week to get back on course.

I watched a television show last night that highlighted the plights of several people who are morbidly obese -- 500, 600, 700 lbs. You say that's not me, but it is because these people talk about being addicted to food. They are just an exaggerated form of us. They eat 10,000-30,000 calories a day, getting their fix every few hours by well-meaning family members who feed to the person's addiction by purchasing and preparing their food -- because these people are so large that they can't leave their rooms or cook for themselves.

We think we are in control of our food addictions, but we aren't, so it's important to know that we have to look at it like an alcoholic ... one day at a time. Only in our case, we can't give up eating completely like an alcoholic can, so we have to stay in control of our daily urges.

If you've fallen off the wagon during the Thanksgiving holiday, get back on. Re-recognize your motivation and personal respect, take care and love yourself, and get back to healthy eating.