ObesityHelp

2009!!!  WOOOOOO!!!  So much excitement to look forward to.  Seeing the first African-American citizen sworn in as President.  My first Valentine's Day in forever where I have a boyfriend.  My first springtime/summertime as a non-obese person.  Life is absolutely wonderful and in 2009 I am going to live it like it's golden!

My New Year's Wish for all of you is to do the same.  Live, love, laugh, enjoy the changes and the challenges and always, always, always bring your A game.

See you all next year!

So what's your New Year's Resolution?

If you let out a chuckle when I asked that, you're at about the same place I am--knowing that New Year's Resolutions don't work!!!  So let's talk about what does work...

For some people long-term planning is really effective.  They make a big goal and then work fervently towards it.  I admire people who can keep the big picture in the forefront of their minds.  For me, when faced with some big, seemingly far-off goal, the here and now temptations seem so comforting.  I am not good at being confident that I will eventually cross the finish line.

I fall into the other main category of people:  those who make resolutions every day.  Every day I wake up and I resolve to do the things that are required of me--be it the things required by my decision to have RNY or my decision to be a single mother or the things required of my from my decision to be a professional writer.  To me, it's easier to resolve not to do something today.  Because today, for me, is manageable. 

I'm not saying either way is better than the other, but what I am saying is that most people fall into one of those two categories (or some variation) and it IS important for you to know which suits you best.  If you're a long-term person, the upkeep of daily goals might be nerve wracking for you.  If you are a day-by-day person, the enormity of a long-term goal may overwhelm you into failure.  Take heart--both ways are ok and both ways work, but only if you work them!!!

So this week I challenge you to figure out what kind of motivation suits you best and start to incorporate that into your life.  To give you a head start, I'll tell you that today I resolve to:

1.  Drink at least 64 oz. of water
2.  Eat at least 70g of protein
3.  Do at least 40 minutes of cardio
4.  Spend at least 30 minutes playing Wii with my children
5.  Clean my bedroom

I have not reached the end of any of these daily goals yet, but they are well on their way.  I hope you find resolution in each and every thing you do.  Don't wait until Thursday, get started now!

Have a great week.

The Best of my family anecdotes

"If nothing changes, nothing changes."

When I was a kid that saying, this one from my mom, used to get on my nerves so bad.  I'd mock her, mouthing the words as she would say them.  As an adult I find this saying comforting and scary at the same time.  In the last few months I've become keenly aware of my food addiction.  Whereas I could hide it behind many other things before, now it is staring me in the eyes and I don't like it.  I don't like that life is a collection of choices.  I don't like that the responsibility is always, constantly on me to make the choices that are healthy.  I am angry that I can't just "wing it" sometimes.  That never works and I know it.  So I have to do something that is very different for me.  I have to plan, I have to recognize my weaknesses, I have to ask for help.  Because if nothing changes, nothing changes.

"Excuses are tools of incompetence.  They build monuments of nothingness and those who specialize in them seldom accomplish anything."

My mom used to say this one too.  I think it came from the rooms of her AA meetings.  This saying is one of my favorites because it calls bullshit on all the lies we tell ourselves to justify bad behavior.  I was talking last night to a lady thinking about having weight loss surgery.  She was telling me all the things I used to tell other people before my surgery.  I don't have a problem with food.  I just eat a little too much.  There's something wrong with my thyroid.  If I could just take more walks I'd probably be fine.  I'm the healthiest fat person I know.  All excuses, all built to cushion the harsh reality of what we have let ourselves become.  I've learned to at least recognize when I'm making excuses (that's progress, right?).  I try to call myself on the excuses I make and to make a different decision (because if nothing changes, nothing changes).  Some days it's easier than others.

"I want to smell my roses BEFORE my funeral."

My grandmother used to say this and I never knew what the heck it meant.  She and my grandfather had one of those kind of deep loves that is so rare and beautiful.  My granddad never married again after my grandmother succumbed to breast cancer in 1984.  My mom carries this saying around with her and uses it very, very often.  Usually it is the impetus for buying me a gift (smile).  What I take it to mean is that so often we don't enjoy one another on a day to day basis.  I get so caught up in being the "single mom" and working and building my career that I forget to enjoy my children.  I am so concerned with getting to some magic number on a scale that will make me like myself that I forget to enjoy the process of this journey.  One of my many New Year's Resolutions is to start smelling my roses, enjoying what's good about my life now instead of waiting until I get to some milestone point. 

So there you have it.  That's the best of what I got in familial anecdotes.  I lay them out there to challenge myself to draw inspiration from other sources.  These continue to inspire and strengthen me everyday but...(once again...everybody this time) if nothing changes, nothing changes.

Have a great week.