Fat Free

I've mentioned at times about how I'm kicking my own butt when I start saying bad stuff about myself. The nit-picking that I think most women can relate to: I hate this..., I look fat in this..., I feel fat..., etc. It is so ingrained in myself that it takes a conscious effort to stop it. I'm a little better, but let me tell you I still catch myself doing it quite frequently. (This blog has a related post and many others that I can relate to. It's associated with Gr33n Mountain a women's healthy w3ight l0ss program.)

Negativity is also one of the reasons that I put the scale away to weighing once a week and even less now. I was letting that number set the tone of my day---feeling defeated, negative, failure, you name something negative and it was a thought inside my head. I'd also "say" to myself it's OK, but if I'm honest the other crap was really "winning". Now, some weeks I don't weigh at all, I talk myself through it. I've been mostly making healthy food choices, I've been exercising, clothes are fitting no tighter than the week before, etc. This has been helping to break the cycle.

Surprisingly when I did weigh most recently, I was on the low end of my maintenance range. This approach works for me, but it really was an evolution through what I'll refer to as phases in this journey. I have learned something in every one of the phases and have also tweaked my approach as the journey continues.

Do I think there is a "right" way? Definitely not. Each of us much figure out what works for us, but every single one of us must make changes. The "old" way definitely was not working and change was and continues to be required. Change is hard, lasting change is even harder, but I am dug in and going to make these healthy changes permanent....