I went shopping for some new yoga pants the other day. When I go shopping, I go with my old 460-pound Beth mentality, trying on sizes larger than I need. The other day in the dressing room, a clerk brought me a 3x and a 4x, so which should I try first? I looked at myself in the mirror and asked if I believed in myself enough to try the smaller ones on first. That's how I came to buy my first 3x pants in over 20 years (I used to wear a 7/8x). Having learned from that experience, I've been trying on 2x clothing and buying it. 3X clothing still fits, depending on the cut. I was brazen enough to order clothes in a size 2x from a catalog and they FIT!!! The moral of the story is to believe in yourself and always give yourself the credit you deserve. When I originally set my goal, I was so scared that I wouldn't even be able to lose 50 pounds and maintain it. Now I've lost 200 and my goal of 250 seems only like a resting point before bigger and better things. It's still a little scary, but I'm up for the task. That would be 260 pounds lost total. When I get there, that might seem like a resting point. All of the small victories I've had like this have spurred me on further. If you'd asked me at 460 pounds if I could have lost 20 pounds, I would have shamefully said ''No.'' Well, I was right at that point. I couldn't. It isn't easy to psych yourself up when all you've dealt with is failure. But now, I have a different perspective. I'm making a statement with my actions. Every day, I am retraining my mind with my behavior. To turn your attitude around, you need to complete successful actions. What can you do this week? No, not forever, just this week. Give yourself a chance to succeed at something for a week. Can you add more fruits and vegetables this week, drink more water the next week, do 10 minutes of exercise the third week, and then practice all three on week four? If you try just a week at a time, you will change into a water-drinking, veggie-eating, exercising person by the end of the month. YAY YOU! Now you decide on your next actions to retrain your brain to become the person that you want to see in the mirror. It isn't about losing weight to become the person you want to be; it's becoming the person you want to be to lose weight. What would your ''ideal self'' do in various situations? I think of this ALL of the time. My ideal self does eat treats, but not every day. She splits meals, orders small, never cleans up left overs by treating her body like a garbage disposal, and she finds way to move, despite her disabilities. Yes, I've lost 200 pounds, but that leaves me at 259, which is still very obese. But I choose not to think of myself that way. I think of myself now as having an ''inner fat voice.'' That's the voice that tells me things like ''Order large'' and ''Skipping workouts won't hurt this week.'' I say ''Shhhh! You're my fat girl voice!'' I'm DONE being the fat girl. Check out the Done Being the Fat Girl SparkTeam if you feel the same way. Other good teams to change your attitude, where it really starts, are the Chair Exercise SparkTeam, the Progress not Perfection SparkTeam, and last but not least, a team I hold dearly: the Losing Weight and Disabled SparkTeam. There are many more attitude-changing teams on SparkPeople. Look around and see what is out there to help you meet your specific needs. Remember, it's never too late in the game and nothing is hopeless. Proof that SparkPeople works! |
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