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QaR
October 2009 
Have you successfully changed something about yourself?
Posted on Aug 4th, 2009
by 
CJ
CJ
This is in Response to the Questions and Reflections for August 04, 2009:
If you asked someone who knew me, "Has CJ changed something about herself?", most anyone would say, "Yeah, she lost a bunch of weight.".
One or two people very close to me would say, "Yeah, she lost a lot of weight and she's much more free and happy than she used to be."
Both sets of people would be correct. I did lose a bunch of weight; a little more than a 100 pounds. So which came first, smaller butt or bigger happy? It all happened at the same time. I couldn't start having success at weight loss until I became more happy with myself, and I became more happy with everything as I realized I was having success with weight loss.
It all started with shifting perspective.
Discard the:
"Why do I have to be so fat?"
"Why can so and so eat whatever they want and stay thin?"
"I'm always going to be fat."
"I'm so stupid, why did I eat that?".
Insert some:
"Today I am going to eat food that is good for me and makes me feel good."
"Today I exercised, just like I said I would."
"This week I ate on plan 6 out of 7 days."
A plan of action followed by...actual action...built faith in myself. I remember in the early days of losing weight that sometimes I would just be taken aback, surprised that I was actually doing it. It seemed so unbelievable after 20+ years of being obese that I was actually making a consistent change.
This didn't happen overnight, it took about two years to lose the weight. I've maintained the loss for a year and a half or so. I actually think I could lose a little more, but that is a different challenge at this stage of the game.
Regardless, I'm a different person. Literally, people who knew me before don't recognize me on the street. Sometimes when I notice how differently I look at the world, I'm not sure I recognize myself. I believe in myself and don't always assume failure is right around the corner. That's a big change.
One or two people very close to me would say, "Yeah, she lost a lot of weight and she's much more free and happy than she used to be."
Both sets of people would be correct. I did lose a bunch of weight; a little more than a 100 pounds. So which came first, smaller butt or bigger happy? It all happened at the same time. I couldn't start having success at weight loss until I became more happy with myself, and I became more happy with everything as I realized I was having success with weight loss.
It all started with shifting perspective.
Discard the:
"Why do I have to be so fat?"
"Why can so and so eat whatever they want and stay thin?"
"I'm always going to be fat."
"I'm so stupid, why did I eat that?".
Insert some:
"Today I am going to eat food that is good for me and makes me feel good."
"Today I exercised, just like I said I would."
"This week I ate on plan 6 out of 7 days."
A plan of action followed by...actual action...built faith in myself. I remember in the early days of losing weight that sometimes I would just be taken aback, surprised that I was actually doing it. It seemed so unbelievable after 20+ years of being obese that I was actually making a consistent change.
This didn't happen overnight, it took about two years to lose the weight. I've maintained the loss for a year and a half or so. I actually think I could lose a little more, but that is a different challenge at this stage of the game.
Regardless, I'm a different person. Literally, people who knew me before don't recognize me on the street. Sometimes when I notice how differently I look at the world, I'm not sure I recognize myself. I believe in myself and don't always assume failure is right around the corner. That's a big change.
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