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Posted by Pam T on 9/30/2009, 11:08 am
97.117.72.X
Over the years one thing has proven consistent. That people tend to all want to begin dieting at certain times of the year. We see the ending of winter with summer approaching and panic sets in knowing that we won't have winter clothes to hide under anymore. Once summer is in full swing we tend to lose interest because "It's too late to do anything about it now anyway" and besides, summer is all about BBQs and parties and reunions etc. Way too challenging. As summer wanes and the leaves begin to fall we see the end of the year appoaching with all the holidays ahead and once again commit to stick to our plan so we can impress family and friends at the Thanksgiving dinner or so we can knock them all dead at the Christmas party or the New Year's eave bash. Once it hits Nov with all the celebrating and goodies we tend to give up thinking that it's just impossible to diet during the holidays and look forward to the new year. Jan 1st comes around once again and this time we are really going to get it done! After all it's a new year and a new beginning, right? Often by Jan 30th we have once again lapsed in to old bad habits and behaviors and another year slips by saddled with the misery of obesity.
How many years of your life have you let roll around with hopeful.. yet empty promises to change your life for the better and finally get control of your eating and exercise habits? I let 4 decades go by before I finally got serious and did something about myself. Even with that, it has taken almost another decade for me to solidify my transition to the point that I now no longer identify with my old obese self. I can barely remember those sad and painful years, but I have pictures to remind me. My life now compared to then is polar opposite. I spend my days now with a feeling of optimism and anticipation of what's to come, compared to those years of feeling hopeless and depressed..so much so that I never even made any plans for my future. I figured I wasn't going to have one.
Hopelessness is the greatest barrier for us all when it comes to committing to weight loss and exercise. We feel defeated before we begin and even if we do begin...we do it with the expectation that we will probably fail as we have before so many times. How do you get past that?
Most of us have faced challenges in life that may have seemed overwhelming or even impossible to get through...but we do. It helps if there is no way out, because if there is...we will find it! It's unfortunate that unless your doctor tells you that you must lose the weight or die it can be hard to find the motivation to stick to it all the way to the finish line. I was certainly in that state of mind for most of my life. I couldn't find it within myself to do it when I was young. Had I done it then I would have spared myself myself many years of misery. I wouldn't have had to get my knees replaced or even gone though the surgery I just did with the skin removal and almost dying. I wiggled out of every close call I had over those years thinking I could keep putting it off until tomorrow or next week or next year. What a waste!
I can't get back those years. I wish I could. I would have been a better mother, better friend, a better citizen had I done it then, but time is a one way ticket and all we can do is move forward. That can be a good thing though since regrets have no purpose and can tend to keep you stuck.
No matter what has happened in the past, we all have the right to recreate ourselves and makeover our lives. Change is a part of growing and being human. We have much more power then we think and until you believe that, you will greatly underestimate your ability to live the life you were meant to. No one is so far gone that they can't come back.
So as the leaves begin to fall and the days become chillier and the holidays loom ahead, take some time to really listen to your heart. What is it that you really want? How can you make that your reality? Believe in yourself. You are made out of the same stuff as any athlete or dancer or model. The only thing they have that you don't is a belief in themselves...that's all. That is all that divides you from your current situation and the life you really dream about. Is it possible? You bet it is!
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