Baby Steps

I tend to be an all-or-nothing kind of gal when it comes to weight loss and food. I'm a really good "dieter." In the active phases of weight loss when things are going well, I can count calories and steps and meal plan. This week, for example, I've dropped 5 pounds in 6 days. Now, we all know that's mostly water weight, but that's not really important. It feels empowering see success.

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I explained to my husband the other day that weight gain is a lot like debt. It's not so bad when you're accumulating it. You're indulging and having everything you want in the moment. You don't really realize the consequences that are piling up on the back end. But, one day you wake up and realize it's bad. You're thousands of dollars in debt (or 30 or more pounds overweight). You want to just say "I'm sorry," and have all the debt (weight) washed away. I mean, you learned your lesson, right? But that doesn't take away the consequences and the only way to fix your problem is a lot of hard work and cutting back on expenses (calories). And it's not fun. Not, at least, compared to the time spent indulging and spending (eating).

But, have you ever paid off a credit card that once had a high balance? There's not much better feeling. And it's the same with weight loss. There's not much better feeling then putting on a size smaller than you were before and feeling more confident in your own skin.

My life is kind of hard right now, if I'm being perfectly honest. There's a lot of stress going on and I, obviously, haven't been managing it very well given my weight gain over the previous 5 months. And the guilt over that is hard, too. Not turning guilt and stress into eating is hard for me. But what I have to remember is that I don't want to be 40 pounds overweight anymore. But losing that weight is a battle won in small increments. In winning every day battles: An apple instead of a candy bar, a walk to the park instead of a movie on Netflix, a greek yogurt instead of a bowl of ice cream, cleaning my living room instead of an extra handful of chocolate chips and Facebook.

Think about the Crystal Light "Tiny Win" campaign. Because that is really how big change happens - a series of tiny wins. So, that's where I am today. Trying to remember that it takes time to lose weight, but that there's joy in the journey and in each "win".