Moment to Moment

Each moment of the day, each decision to the good made now, makes a difference today.  Knowing that you are moving in the right direction and doing what is needed lighten the load right now.  You don't have to wait until tomorrow to feel better.

Be encouraged and keep going!

It's about time.

Every day, every day, the thought goes through my head, sometimes making it to a list of things to do, that today is the day I am going to start exercising for the rest of my life.  Every night, I hit the bed without having done so.  What does it do to your psyche when, day after day, you break a promise to yourself and your health?  It can't be good.  

Today, I came across an article with 10 encouraging quotes to get us up and moving.  Several  resonated with me, one of which I posted on Facebook.  Along with a dear friend who posts a positive energetic message every morning, I am going to start posting an encouraging exercise quote daily to help keep this in the forefront of my mind and perhaps to motivate others, also.  So, today's quote from an unknown source is:

                 "No matter how slow you go, you are still lapping everybody on the couch."

Perfect for those of us who are not up to marathoning yet.

To your health!

The long and the short of it

Ideally, I want to go to bed every night, knowing that I did right by my body for the day, and wake up every morning, experiencing the results of my efforts.

In reality, so far, I kind of manage to get through the day, constantly battling the temptations of the food I love, trying to ensure that I do not eat too late into the night, and hoping that I did actually cut back on the amount I've eaten.

In the morning, I try to gauge if I can get out of bed any more easily than I did yesterday morning and hope, hope, that the number on the scale has gone down.  There is, clearly, an element of desperation in living this way that is very wearing.

That is the paradox of time.  As fast as we all find that life is going by, for me, the day is too long to keep that focus going on watching what I eat from the beginning to the very end, sometimes at 2:00 in the morning.  The things that need to be done during the day surround and overwhelm me and, in my mindless exhaustion, the breaks that I take for relief mostly involve food.

Seeing my efforts through the day, staying aware of what I am trying to accomplish, and dealing with my unrelenting urge to eat are my daily struggles.   

   

Writing is my salvation.  Putting encouraging thoughts and insights to paper, literally, helps keep me aware.  My home is plastered with scotch-taped signs, written in bold marker colors on colorful paper, shouting today's rallying cry and observations.  You can't be shy about this kind of campaign.  The notes are very revealing and make for interesting reading for your guests who drop in without advance warning.  

So, today, awareness is the key.

Be kind to yourself.

Stop!

Take a moment to remember

what you are doing

for the good

of your body and your spirit.

It is so worth the effort.  Salud!

 

Little by little

There are those mornings that you get on the scale and the number has not budged.  You know you did everything right yesterday.  So, what could it be?  Too many carbs, not enough veggies, not enough sleep, not enough exercise?  Maybe it was none of those.  Why always scold and blame yourself?  Maybe your body has paused to reflect on the changes you've made and is not ready to react with a change in the numbers on the scale.

First, I know there are different thoughts about how often to weigh yourself, every day, once a week, once a month.  I am of the every day crowd.  If that makes you crazy, pick your own schedule.  Since my insides give me no clue about when and how much I last ate, I need an external indicator of what my weight is doing.  However, I try not get hung up on the daily number if I know I'm on track with how I am eating and moving.  My body will eventually do the right thing to reflect the changes I've made and my weight will move down.

I have a lot of faith in the healing power of our bodies.  If I am doing right by it, it will do right by me.  However slowly, it will get to where it needs to be to feel and look my best.

Today,

I AM GRATEFUL FOR THE WISDOM OF MY BODY.

I LISTEN TO THE MESSAGES IT GIVES ME.

I AM PATIENT IN MY JOURNEY TO WELL-BEING.

We are blessed with the opportunity and the means to make positive changes.  Salute yourself for the efforts that you are making are your own behalf.  Salud!

Sunday morning, DST, a new beginning again

This blog has been a long time coming.

Every morning, I start journaling for the day, hoping that my own thoughts on paper will get me started and keep me focused.  Oh, sure!  What do you think happens?  You're right.  It works for a while and then not.  This has been going on for decades.  My last "clean sweep" turned up years of notes to myself, reflecting the same issues which I am still tackling  to this very day.  Sound familiar?

Anyway, here goes.  

Eating too much and losing weight have been the main topics of my life back to my earliest memory.  Picture my mother yelling at my grandmother that she was feeding me too much.  All that fatty Hungarian food!  Yum.  Early on, I was sneaking food from the fridge and out of my g-ma's locked closet where she kept the candy her piano students regularly gave her as holiday presents.  After moving in with my mom and her new husband, it escalated to sneaking behind my grandfather's back on his blind side so that I could get into the fridge which was padlocked.

My weight was fairly reasonable at 161 when I left home at 18.  On my own, I managed to balloon up to about 308 in a few short years.  I remember looking at soup, an appetizer and a huge plate of lo mein at a Chinese restaurant and thinking, "this is not enough food."  Scary!  Finally, on Atkins, I lost 80 pounds, but gained a lot back when I went back to eating "normally."  Thanks to an unhappy gallbladder, my weight finally stabilized for about 10 years between 225 and 245.  Until recently.  I now weigh 283 pounds.  The struggle continues.

Does all this back and forth reflect your story over the years?  Maybe, making this public and sharing will help me and you.

Enough history! 


Today's rallying cry:

I HAVE THE POWER

TODAY,

IN THIS MOMENT,

TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE IN

HOW I FEEL,

MOVE, ESPECIALLY MOVE,

AND LOOK

TOMORROW MORNING!

Here's to all of us!  Salud!