Start where you are

I was in my gym this morning and it hit me, something I have been missing for all of you, something that I should have made loud and clear if you are not already aware, start where you are!  If you are starting a weight loss journey, getting back to health, or whatever, start at where you currently are, stop looking to the past or what you haven’t done.  

My weight loss journey has been a lifelong road.  Growing up my weight ranged from around 230-280.  Yes, you read that right.  After high school I made it up to the 300 range.  It was never easy to be heavy in school.  I remember the looks, remarks from other kids and even from family.  I was probably harder on myself then anyone, but either way, it was hard.  A tough thing to take as a teenage girl.   I remember one day in Junior High, I was running down the stairs in between classes when another kid tripped me.  I fell, hard too.  In the fall, I hurt my foot.   All the other kids were just standing around pointing snickering and laughing.  I tried getting up as best as I could.  I remember other comments about how heavy I was and not even being able to get up off the floor.  I don’t recall shedding a tear at the time, there was no way I was going to let them get me down even further.   The pain in my foot continued to get worse throughout the day but I made it through.   My mom looked at it when I got home, it was all kinds of black and blue.  When we finally went to the doctor for X-rays, I learned that I had broken my 5th metatarsal.   The road ahead was even worse, from crutches to a walking cast, to an air cast, it felt like it took forever to heal.   The comments, snickers, teasing and downright assholes along the way sucked! 

I have to say, I am so glad I didn’t grow up in the social media era.  It was hard enough growing up overweight, awkward, acne prone and not comfortable with my own voice.  For those of you reading this in your growing up years, as hard as it is, don’t listen to the naysayers, you just do you! 

What no one ever knew in this moment and many other moments along the way was how hard I focused on losing weight.   When I had extra money, it was going to whatever weight loss program was out there.  We didn’t have Youtube, Instagram, Facebook, Etc.  This was back in the VHS era baby!  Tony Little, Suzan Powder, I even caught a little bit of the Richard Simmons craze.  And, the gadgets, oh dear.  I remember a belt that would basically shock your belly to activate your ab muscles.  Yes, that was a thing and I tried it.   And, later the Tony Little Gazelle, I think you get my point. 

Healthy living and exercise were not exactly staples in my family.  Mom loved to bake, cook and darn good I might add.  And, we all love to eat.    In fact, there isn’t a time I can remember in my growing up years that we didn’t have some type of sweet treat in the house.   I remember frequenting DQ often.  I don’t remember a whole lot of times that we had fresh vegetables in the house.  Mom and Dad had our best interest in mind always, they really did, I just don’t think it was what they knew.    Pretty much all of us were overweight in my family.  My mom’s side of the family was mostly morbidly obese.  My mom was obese for many of my growing up years.  She went back and forth with her weight.  Most of my siblings are heavyset or overweight.  My dad was always fit from what I can remember until he retired.  He stayed active but gained weight pretty quickly. 

I remember many times eating way too many sweets, generally Ice cream was involved.  I would get so sick and the worst stomach aches.  Ironically enough, it was never connected to sugar or overeating.  I remember clearly being told by doctors that it was dairy and allergies.  BullS**t, the fact is I ate too much shit and it make me sick, period! 

Looking back, in every moment when I’ve lost the weight, the shift came in an instant.  I’ve been the most successful when I stared right where I was in life.   Without comparison to others or what I have not done in the past but starting where I was and making small shifts.  Often where we want to be is far closer then we think.  I’ve kept off over 115 pounds for more then 17 years.  I have another 30ish that I have struggled throughout the years and have gone back and forth with a few times.  When I recognize that I am off track, I start where I am.  If I was to look back to “how did I let this happen” or “how am I going to get back there” or worse “what people must think” it would cripple my efforts.  I know this because I have lived through each one of those statements. 

So, Start Where you are!

1. Be grateful for the opportunity to get to where you want to be!  When you are grateful for your ability to take steps to lose weight, gain muscle, or eat healthy it is a whole lot harder to tear yourself down for what you haven’t done.
2. What do you want to do?  Lose 20 pounds? Gain muscle? Get into that size 12 pants?  Whatever it is, make what you want so clear in your mind.  You must know what you want before you can get where you want to go.
3. Take an honest look at what you need to change.  An example for me, I must stop buying the bar(s) of dark chocolate.  Yes, I am still a sweet lover.  When I buy bad things, I eat them, period.  When I don’t buy them, I don’t even think about them.  The other cool thing, when the hubs buys himself a few pints from Culvers, I don’t even crave them.  But, if I picked up ice cream for him, yep, you guessed it, I want some too.   Which leads me to my next point.
4. Know your triggers.  We all have triggers, be honest about what they are and what you are going to do when they show up.  I mentioned chocolate is my trigger.  So, pineapple and Strawberries are my new chocolate.  I also keep this as a no guilt carb.   If I ever felt guilty about eating fruit it would be even harder for me to have some type of balance.
5. Stop trying to do everything at once!  Before I figured out my weight loss journey, I thought it had to be a huge, drastic, do everything shift.  I am an all-in person, but things take time.  Know the areas you can go all in and those that you need more manageable shifts along the way.  I still go all in to many things but for my eating habits, nope, no can do.  As an example, I used to cut out all carbs including healthy vegetable carbs like carrots, carrots you guys.  So many times, before I understood myself and the journey, I would make these mistakes.  I now call these my “doesn’t count” carbs.  This makes it super easy to grab these yummylicious crunchy snacks for those moments when I need them, and I am not worried about throwing off my carb count for the day.
6. Don’t stress about the occasional unhealthy snack.  You need balance.   I’m not talking about a weekly binge or daily free day, trust me they don’t work and can completely throw off your progress if you aren’t careful.  For a long time, Friday’s were my cheat days.  I didn’t watch this close enough and I let it get way out of control which is one of those times I found the 18 pounds I didn’t want back. 
7. Celebrate your wins, often!!   
   

So, start where you are, small shifts, and celebrate the wins!!

Keep doing you!

Much love!
Jen