How do you see yourself?

I think most of us can agree that how we see yourselves today stems from the identity we developed as a child.  Early on I developed an "I'm not good enough" identity and suffered from a severe inferiority complex that threw a sad weighted net over my entire life which lead me to make choices a healthy, confident person would never have made. I'm sure many of you understand what that's like....it sucked! 

Looking back I see what saved me was my unwavering, if somewhat misguided, belief I could control and change my life if I worked hard enough.  I never gave up trying to be "better". Thankfully, what I finally did give up was what I thought a "better" Joanne would be.

And once I did that I was freed from my old thoughts to realize I was not the identity I had created as a child.  I was able to let the pain of the child go and let me tell you, man what a relief that was!  Sure I was 45 at the time but better late than never, right?  

So if you are hanging on to an old, painful, identity, let it go, even if it was a super fantastic identity...let it go!  Let it go because neither one is who you are now.  Who you are now can't possibly be who you were when you were young because our experiences change us, and thankfully, with those changes comes wisdom!  But remember, wisdom like any other gift, is only truly valuable if you use it!  Use your wisdom and experience to accurately see yourself as you are now.  You may be pleasantly surprised or mildly shocked!  It doesn't matter; what does matter is that you use your hard won wisdom and decide how you want to be!  

Embrace the chance to update your identity, 

don't let the past define your future!

And for goodness sake....

I'm a stupid when it comes to cell phones!

Ha, ha...live and learn!  Was wondering why so many of the images saved on my computer were also on my cell phone...apparently my cell phone (which I never use!) is linked to my blog so when I thought I was super-smart and deleting all the images on my phone, I was also deleting them from my blog....not so smrt of me:(  I've tried put some of the images back in but, of course, forgot what they were!!

So, in the true spirit of this blog, I'm going to forgive my techno-not-so-smart self and move on!!

Did you know losing weight is hard???

I sometimes think I do you, my members,  a disservice.  Knowing the hard challenges you all must face in order to lose weight I just want to make it easier and seem so very doable so you won't give up!  I hope that motivating you and cheering you on will be enough...but it isn't.  I think I've neglected to make it clear that losing weight and keeping it off is damn hard work!  I've been so afraid of scaring you away that maybe I've left you thinking, "This should be easy, why can't I do this??"

In last weeks blog I said we have to "accept it's going to be hard" and I want to expand on that thought. We have to accept it's not going to be a piece of cake, literally....no cake, and that it will require work!  Then we need to let that reality rattle around and marinate in our brain until it feels right and not overwhelming. When it feels right, that's when you know you've moved to acceptance. 

Once you've accepted hard work will be required to make your goal come true, you will start to feel motivated to make the necessary changes!  Why?  Because as long as we fight against acceptance we're putting a brick wall between us and success....."what we resist, will persist".  

So...

 Think about accepting the hard work.  

Think about doing the hard work....bit by little bit.  

Think about the rewards from the hard work.

Think that one day the hard work won't be hard work...

it will simply be the way you now do things!

Acceptance, a great place to live...trust me!

Change is the name of the game!

The degree to which any of us succeed is directly tied to the amount we are willing to change, and just in case you're wondering, yes, that goes for weight loss too!  The ONLY way to lose weight, and keep it off, is to change.

And to do that we have to accept: 

We have to accept that change takes action....consistent, daily action.

We have to accept it won't happen overnight.   

We have to accept that some days will be more difficult than others and it will be work.

We have to accept that we have to change our relationship with food. 

We have to accept that we have to take step #1 or we will never get to step #2.

And to do all that we have to believe:

We have to believe we can change.

We have to believe that change will be better than staying the same.

We have to believe it won't always be hard.

We have to believe in the power of our community.

We have to believe the changes will become second nature.

We have to believe it will be worth our efforts.

We have to believe we are worth it!

Believe you are ready to change!

Thankful = Happy! How a Weight Watcher does Thanksgiving!

As this wonderful, stressful food filled weekend draws nearer we really, really, need to pause and take a big ole honkin' breath!  Then ask yourself the question:  How does a Weight Watcher do Thanksgiving?  Answer?  As a Weight Watcher.

1.  A Weight Watcher understands the added stress of holidays so will remove some of that stress by planning, planning, planning and then some more planning!  Did I stress how important planning is??

(I made my dressing yesterday right after dinner so I was full and then froze it...one less thing to do and be tempted to taste test!)

2.  A Weight Watcher knows putting their daily activity at the top of the list might mean re-arranging some other weekends plans a bit but does it anyway because they KNOW it's worth it. Activity helps us stay peaceful!  Managing our life from a peaceful position gives us power!  

3.  A Weight Watcher gets involved with the food planning, even if going to someone else's house, and offers to take lots of great on-Plan food.  Thanksgiving dinner can be full of Power Foods!

4.  A Weight Watcher decides what the PPV's budget is going to BEFORE the "big meal" AND does it long before the door bell rings with arriving guests or is walking through your family hosts door!  

5.  A Weight Watcher knows that their family is fun, fantastic and wonderful and still might push every I-want-to-eat-everything-in-sight button they have!  That's when a Weight Watcher takes another really deep breath and remembers no amount of cake, pie or chocolate will resolve their "long standing family issues"and refuses to let it push their goal of an on Plan Thanksgiving out the window!

6.  A Weight Watcher is grateful.  Gratitude is one of the most powerful tools we have...use it!

7.  A Weight Watcher knows to keep their goal front and center!

Happy Thanksgiving!

And remember....

It's what a Weight Watcher does!