Top 'O the Charts

So I lost some weight and I was happy. Until I hit a plateau. A plateau that I've been dancing about and see-sawing up and down on for about a month now. At first I blamed the food I was eating, water retention, too much salt, eating too late at night, etc. Then I decided I just needed to be patient, not weigh or record my weight every day, and that eventually the weight would just drop off.

Meanwhile, I was enjoying eating a little more (after all, I was walking 3 miles a day now!) and having some sweet things and a few more snacks.

I realized something the other day. I realized that while I originally thought it was all a mindset and I just needed to think positive, yes, it was "all in my mind" but not the way I thought it was. What I needed to change was my thinking.

See, when I reached my first weight loss goal, my mental tape immediately switched from "I can do this, if I am very careful about what I eat and exercise enough, I can lose weight and be healthy and make it to my weight loss goals," to "I've reached it! Now I can relax a little and the rest will come off much easier than the first." While originally I viewed my very first weigh-in as my highest weight ever and I had to get serious about changing my lifestyle so I didn't have serious health problems, now I was looking at the numbers on the scales and thinking they weren't so bad after all.

What I needed to do, though, was to look at my new set of numbers and mentally move them to the top of my weight chart. My new weight should now be my highest weight and I need to work just as hard to make it to my next weight loss goal. And when I reach that goal, I need to change the numbers again.

Losing weight isn't easy. Neither is making healthy food choices, exercising daily, drinking enough water, getting sufficient sleep, or stocking up on healthy sunshine. I think the hardest part of it all, though, is having trust in God that it is possible to lose weight and become a healthier person. So that's what I'm working on. That, and getting back on track with making positive choices. Here's to the next two months, and here's to reaching my next goal!