Encourage Yourself!!

I know I have been gone a very long time. I really needed to come back to this. So I hope I don’t take to much of your time providing an update on what has been going on.  As you know I was terrified about my Birthday coming, my trip to Vegas and my uncle coming into town and gaining all my weight back. It took a while to lose such a small amount I was going to be heart broken to gain it all back again. Well as expected I did gain weight the good news is that I didn’t gain all of it back!! I am happy about that. All those events finished on June 3^rd, so that would mean that I would have gotten back on the saddle on June 4^th. Well I haven’t, yes I know that is terrible but first let me give you some numbers. The day I got on the scale was June 3rd I weighed 289.4, then last week (6/10)  I weighed in again at 288.4. I was happy about that because I tell you when I did no exercise and my eating was not really good at all. This week TOM is here so we know that means a gain on the scale because of bloating etc; I am pleased to say that my scale did not make any changes there was no gain nor was there any loss and I am ok with that. So on 6/17 that’s right my weight remained at 288.4.

I have found over the past few weeks I haven’t been stressing over losing the weight. I will say I am not doing the right thing by not exercising and I have to stop making excuses because in order to get this weight off I will have to make some sacrifices that I wasn’t going to do, but seems like it will be a must. The sacrifices I am speaking of are a little bit of sleep.  I am in school and I am in my last two classes to get my Associates in Business (yay) so after my full time job training people, then my 30 or up to an hour commute (traffic is a beast some days) to come home, I have to head to the books and get homework done.  Then when I am done with that I am wiped out and I can’t even think about exercising, I just want to crawl into bed and then the routine starts all over again.  I am going to have to either workout as soon as I get home or workout as soon as I am done eating my dinner. I have to get at least 30 minutes in; I have to say my mom for the past two weeks has asked me every other day when are we going walking. Her joints and foot have been feeling a bit better so now she wants to walk because she needs to shed pounds as well and it also will help build her endurance up after all the chemo she had been through in the past.  Now in Texas when I get home the sun may not be out but it is still hot and what is worse is that humid hot weather!!

I have no reason to do something, I LOVE Zumba and I have neglected doing what I enjoy to focus on work and school. I am still working on trying to get that balance in my life. Today at work there was a work blog that spoke of Life/Work balance and it mentioned 6 items that needed to be in a rhythm and balanced. Those six items were: Family, Friends, Faith, Community, Self and work. I have to say my entire adult life has been about work but the sad part is I am no executive who because their entire life has been about working that has climbed the corporate ladder. I am a single mother trying to make ends meet and provide a home for her daughter so school was put on hold till now. I learned my lesson that the loyalty the company had to me wasn’t really what I thought. Now don’t get me wrong my job is great and the company I wonderful too but I have to put myself in a position that allows me not to stuck with no upward movement. I want to move upward, get those pay raises, better work schedules and all the things that come with upward movement.  I am now learning to not make work a priority any longer and I am trying to ask for guidance to learn to put myself before others for a change. I always find it funny one someone says I am mean because I am not conforming to what they want and I will speak up when I don’t like something but that doesn’t make me mean.  I am compassionate and I truly care for others even people I really don’t know; I have a big heart and sometimes can be sucker depending on the situation when it comes to me directly.  Ok let me stop being side tracked and get back to the issue at hand which is this weight loss journey. A WLS is so hard and can be super frustrating especially when you know that the journey is a lifestyle change but when you see the “skinny” girl eating cake or ice cream and maintain her weight and if you even sniff the ice cream or cake its like you gained 5lbs!! But I am not giving up. I am relaxing to it because when I get stressed over it nothing happens. I have come to terms I will not be like the other women that drop 80 or more pounds like in 6 months or a bit more. I applaud their ability to do it, but I am ok with being the slow tortoise because I will still make it to the finish line. That is the key that you make it to the finish line what ever that finish line maybe. Don’t give up on yourself we are so worth it and remember the reason you are doing this no matter the reason.

I wanted to give up doing this blog thing because I was like no one reads it but I had to remember I did it for myself because it was an interest I had. That was the key to stick to something I wanted to do for me regardless if no one reads it or not.  I still have not shared my blog with my best friend which again I decided to wait to I get back to the 10lbs lost and I am seriously thinking I stick to the other goal of the 2^nd round of 10lbs lost before I share this blog with her.

Remember to encourage yourself even if no one else does!! There is a song my Sheri Jones -Moffet that is called Encourage yourself. This is a part of the song that speaks volumes to me in my WLS and so many other things as well:

Got pat your own self on the back- yea

Sometimes you have to speak the word over yourself, the pressure is all around, but GOD is present help. The enemy created walls, but remember giants, they do fall; speak over yourself, encourage yourself in the Lord.

Sometimes you gotta look yourself in the mirror and tell yourself I can make it; You gotta remember that life and death are in the power of your own tongue. Even if nobody tells you that you can run on, you tell yourself. You gotta remember I am more than I conqueror, I am encouraged.   

No one else has to tell me to run on! I will run on by myself and I will look to GOD for strength to help me take every step in this journey.