Three Years Later

Every now and then, I enjoy re-reading some of my earliest blogs, the ones written when I was just starting on this program.  Reading them again reminds me of where I was and I remember again the joys and the challenges of being on 5&1.  This morning I read a blog that I wrote almost exactly three years ago, 11 weeks into what would become my new life.

Well, it finally happened this morning.  I've been on Take Shape for Life/Medifast long enough now (today starts my 11th week) to know that sooner or later, it happens to everyone.  This morning was the dreaded "I stayed on plan all week and didn't lose any weight" weigh in.  Ugh!

My first thought was, "You have GOT to be kidding!"  So I stepped off and stepped back on, but there was no change.  Then I decided I'd wait an hour or so to see if I'd weigh less then (no rationale to this, of course, just a desperate woman looking for a quick solution).  Nope!  I very grudgingly recorded my weight, very sad that I wouldn't get to write down a loss this week.  I'm fighting a cold right now and feeling significantly less than 100%, so the general yuck feeling only added to my mood.

Then I realized I had a choice.  I could either view the glass as half-empty (no weight loss) OR I could begin to review the successes I HAVE had, including purchasing - and wearing - a smaller size this week, and choose to see the glass as half-full.  I chose half-full! 

I also did what others have also suggested we do on a no-weight-loss week, I got out the measuring tape.  The glass is now OVER half full :-)  In the past two weeks, even though I've only lost 3 pounds, I've lost another 1.25" from my bust, 1.5" from my hips, .25" from my upper arms, .75" from my knees and .25" from my calves.  So even though the scale wasn't very encouraging this morning, I AM shrinking!  I've lost 29 pounds and over 14 inches since starting this program two months ago!!

The choice is always mine, whether to focus on the negatives and failures, or whether I'm going to look for and celebrate the positive things that are happening.  If I choose to focus on the negative, I know that I will lose motivation and get discouraged, and I am committed to not allowing that to happen. 

I knew when I started this journey that it would be a marathon, not a sprint.  Seeing the scale move down every week made me feel like I was in a sprint, but this morning was a reminder that it is indeed a marathon.  I will have encouraging weigh ins and discouraging ones, but I cannot allow my commitment to losing weight and getting healthy to rest on the feedback of my digital scale.

That said, here's hoping that the scale is kinder to me NEXT week!

I'm so glad I made the choice that day to stay on plan and not give up because of the scale.  It's not easy to do the right thing when we aren't seeing an immediate reward, so the fact that I made that choice was evidence of God's grace and strength at work in my life.  I had a couple of other weeks when I didn't lose a thing, and several one-pound weeks, but over time I DID lose 120 pounds (two days short of 11 months).  I DID lose 6 more pounds in Transition.  And, most important, over two years later, I'm still maintaining.

It's a daily choice, and each choice adds up over time.  Choose wisely :-)