Enjoy The Ride - Lesley

OK, so you've started your diet and have set yourself a date by which time you want to be a certain weight and you know you're going to feel wonderful when you get there! You'll look good and be able to wear whatever you like - oh the freedom will be fantastic when you get to your goal weight!  Trouble is, it's months away and you won't feel great until you get there - or will you? We all look forward to Christmas, holidays, birthdays etc and half the pleasure of each occasion is the present buying, planning and anticipation of it and if you think about it, losing weight is no different.  From the first week's loss to the final goal you can plan and enjoy the journey and all the changes that happen along the way.  I remember well the first time I could cross my arms properly.  Two months into my diet and I was amazed that suddenly my arms were long enough to comfortably cross over my middle!  Well obviously my arms hadn't got any longer but my midriff was smaller and it felt great.  Now that might seem like a small thing to some but to me it was a small but wonderful step on my journey.  And the first time I was able to comfortably cross my legs, well, it felt better than any cheese sandwich or bag of crisps (my downfall L) had ever made me feel. 

I used to wake up each morning and my first thought would be "I'm so fat and miserable" Now I wake up and think that although I have another 3 stones to lose, what a difference already losing 3 stones has made.  I have so many more clothes, much more energy and most surprising of all, I like myself more.  I make a mental note each time I notice another small change for the better and the list grows a bit longer every week. I was having lunch recently with my cousin who was complaining that although she had lost 20lbs she still couldn't fit into a size 12.  Although she was two sizes smaller than she was 6 months ago, she couldn't take any pleasure from that fact and was amazed when I said I was really happy now being classed as Large rather Outsize!  She was so focussed on her goal weight and how she thought she was going to feel when she got there that she just couldn't be happy until she did.  She definitely wasn't enjoying her journey.

Try to make time in your busy day to make a mental note, or better still keep a written list, of every little benefit of losing weight and what a difference it is making to your life.  From climbing the stairs without puffing to celebrating when you drop a dress size.  When you start to feel good about yourself, you begin to enjoy the ride towards your final goal and can't imagine ever going backwards again. 

 "Happiness is different from pleasure.  Happiness has something to do with struggling, enduring, and accomplishing."  (G Sheehan)