goddess's weight loss "rules"

[Goddess]

i wrote this stuff awhile back for my my journals, and thought i'd share it with you (after cleaning up my notoriously bad language). your milage may vary, like always, but this describes the mindset that has been the most helpful to me...

:butterfly

goddess?s weight-loss rules.?stuff that?s making me feel better while i am working on losing weight:

1. there is NO failure. to fail means you quit, and as long as you?re still working, still improving, you?re successful. as long as you?re making efforts? any efforts? to take better care of your body, you?re successful!

2. there is NO good and bad?there are choices. some choices are healthier for you than others. all choices have consequences. but it?s all just a bunch of choices. if i choose to eat snack cakes every day all day, then that choice will have a consequence. if i choose to eat 4 pieces of pizza, then that choice will have a consequence. however, if i choose to stick to my eating plan or close to it, that choice will have consequences, too. i like those consequences better. and if i have a cinnamon roll or a dr. pepper, so what? that just means that it will take a day or two to start losing weight again. but it?s all a choice.

3. every improvment counts! exercise for ten minutes? great! stop when you?re full at a meal? great! drink a small cappichino instead of a mega-sized one? great! walk up the stairs 2 extra times? great! anything you do to take better care of your body is an accomplishment, a success!

4. i am beautiful, and i mean right now. not in six months, not after i lose another 50 pounds, not after i buy new clothes or get a new hairstyle or have my nails done. my shell is not what makes me beautiful. who i am is what makes me beautiful.

5. i am not a bad person because of my weight, or a good person because of my weight loss. weight is not a moral issue. weight can be a health issue, or an energy issue, or even a cosmetic issue. but it sure the heck ain?t a moral issue.

6. i love myself, everyday, at every weight. it?s because i love myself that i?m working on making my body stronger and healthier. losing weight doesn?t change who i am. if i don?t like who i am now, then i have a problem that's far more serious than extra weight...

7. not eating food that i dont? want is NOT wasteful. eating something i don?t want just because it?s there or i feel like i ?should?? that?s what?s really wasteful. it?s using the food in a way that?s not helpful and wasting my energy and hurting my health.

8. people who care about me support my efforts to take care of myself and feel better. they?re happy for me, and i appreciate their support.

9. i can do whatever i decide to do (more or less, anyway). what i decide to do speaks to what is important to me. right now, taking care of myself and feeling better is what?s important to me. (looking better is a perk.)

10. i am doing great, and i take time out to remind myself of that! if you sit around and think, ?gee, i have so far to go! ? then you?ll be discouraged. if you sit and think, ?gee, look how far i?ve come!? you?ll get energized.

11. motivation does not precede action. it follows it. (thanks to dr. david burns and the ?feeling good? book to remind me of that.) thinking about what you need to do is not energizing, but making progress is!

12. ok, so it was a nike commercial, but heck. it?s true. do it. thinking about it, talking about it, studying the issues, debating it, planning it, etc. etc. does squat. if you want to do something, do it for christ?s sakes and get on with your life.

13. i am moving, i am changing, and i am growing emotionally. therefore, i?m really alive. and it feels ******* great!

14. imortant: this is not a die-it! this is not a temporary condition, to be tolerated in punishment for indulgences that have come before. heck no! i?m making a change in how i eat and exercise to make improvements in my life. a live-it? Yeah, this is living!

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anyway, hope something here may be encouraging to someone else...

[MaryKay]

This is a wonderful list of 'get ya goins' Goddess
Thank you so much for sharing. I really like your outlook on life and this WOL.

[Paleofornow]

Thanks, goddess. Lots of good ideas.

Alice

[libaki]

With such a positive set of "rules" there is no doubt of your continued success. May I borrow these, please?:great:

[Tara]

Great list! Stuff we all should reminds ourselves of, more often.

[Goddess]

libby- borrow away!

[rosey6767]

I love the positive rules. It's what we all need to reminded of daily. Thanks for posting these. I'm printing them out and hanging it on my bedroom mirror

[paladin]

Good set of rules

[LisaC]

That's a great list of rules. It reminds me a lot of some of the thing Richard Simmons says in his videos. He always has a very positive attitude.

[celest24209]

Wow, it was really great reading this post. Thanks for posting it.

[joanna]

Goddess,

I just read your rules and I am going to try and follow them with you. Thanks for the post. I really needed it!!!

[Maxibee]

Those are great and very positive...something I have trouble with! I wrote up a set of guidelines for myself a couple of weeks ago. If I can figure out how to change the format so I can attach it to a post, I'll post it on here. Thanks for posting yours.

[Sandys Time]

#2 is what I say to myself each and everyday. CHOICES! I love that you shared all your "rules" in this post goddess ...I look forward to reading more from you.

[kelly]

bump!

wonderful "rules" goddess! tysm

[CushieButterfield]

I'm glad you bumped this because I missed it the first time. Great rules, goddess! I'm gonna put this one on my fridge.