09-23-09...Wednesday

Health: Visualize the goal. Have the desire. Be determined to win. TAKE THE FIRST STEP. Unknown

Good Morning Sister W.W.F.F.,

I want to begin today by saying "Hi" to Sharilyn, and letting her know she is still in our thoughts and prayers, during this difficult time. Take care of yourself.

Then we have our Betty M. out and about on vacation with her husband. Betty hope you both are safe, well, and having a wonderful time.

I had a N.S.V. yesterday...big time as a matter of fact. Had my one year check up with my Orthopedic doctor's. Dr.Sweet and Dr. Kate. Got a great report, plus got my ego boosted and got hugs from everyone. So good day all the way around, and I don't have to go back for three years, unless I have a problem.

Today's quote was loaned to me by my Oregon TISSter Nancy. Nancy has this in her office, and when she was telling me about it, I immediately asked her, ''can I borrow that one?" Every single work speaks to us and the journey we are on.

When did you take your first step. Was it the day you walked into the meeting? Or are you still waiting to have that first step? I used to think, ''if I show up for the meeting, and sit with the normal sized people.....yes, Cara & Rhonda, that is why I sit with you guys, ''your regular size', I thought, just maybe it will rub off on me. Well I sat there for over 4 years before I finally came to terms with it has nothing to do with my sitting with the regular size girls.

I could not visualize myself at a normal size. So I had to visualize the number on the scale, I had to begin to zero in on the number I wanted to hear on Saturday morning.

The desire? I think I had the desire, I just was not putting in the work needed to get the outcome I wanted.

Now all of you that have know me just since I joined Weight Watcher's going on five years now. Know that my real determination did not strike until January of this year. I finally got that fire in my belly, and this time it was not heartburn. I finally came to terms with, ''if you can do this, then why on earth are you not doing this?"

Yes, I have been going to the meeting's for a long time, but my first steps in earnest came in January when I was finally ready to become that normal size person that was deep inside me. I took action. I stopped my nighttime raid on Bob's candy box, I began counting b.l.t.'s (bite, licks & taste), something I never did, I upped the exercise, in other words, I stopped making excuses.

I shared with someone the other day, ''it has taken me a long time to lose the weight, but I think if I had reached my goal in the first year, I would not have been able to maintain the loss. I was not ready to be there just yet." So maybe that is why you have not gotten to goal just yet, maybe your just not ready. If your reading this and your like me, and had never been a normal size, it is a scary thing, to catch a reflection of yourself in a mirror and wonder, ''who is that?"

I used to only go on diet's to lose weight to look better. Feeling better seldom even crossed my mind. However, now as I get older, for me its more about the health benefits. The looking better is just the cherry on top.

So are you ready to take that first step? Are you ready to do the hard work? Are you ready to make lifestyle and lifetime changes? These are questions we probably should have asked ourselves sometime ago, but you know what, there is no time limit, there is no expiration date. So ask yourself, ''why am I not getting closer to my goal?" When you come up with an answer work from there.