Holiday Survival

Hi everyone, It’s been awhile since I opened up to you all about my weight loss surgery. I am now down a total of 95 pounds from my highest weight. I am really excited and pleased with my progress and I know there is more for me to lose. In my last post I mentioned I had started with a personal trainer. Much to my amazement, I am seeing awesome results. I have more energy, stamina and my joint stiffness is going away. It also helped me to break through the weight plateau I was struggling with for two months. There is that word…..struggle. Makes you cringe when you hear it…. I know it makes me cringe. I struggle every single day. I struggle with what I eat…how much I eat….and how quickly I eat. I know it is the same struggle for each of you. With weight loss surgery, the struggle is there…even stronger. I still have my cravings for sweets….salty chips…and they will always be there. My focus needs to be protein, veggies then everything else. I was worried about Thanksgiving and all the food…..but I did it! I survived. I chose to eat only the things that meant Thanksgiving to me. I didn’t overeat or over-indulge…I ate just enough. Honestly, I didn’t miss all those other things and it still was Thanksgiving for me. Being surrounded by family and friends is what the holidays are about; not what you eat or tempted to eat. I have to remind myself about this every meal, every day. Struggles ARE real; it’s how we chose to deal with them that define us. The important thing to remember is “one day at a time”. You will give in to the struggles at times, I do… and the next day I start over again. Eventually, the struggles are less and less. Believe in yourself to be strong, it’s there….just waiting to be unleashed. The holidays are upon us and the temptations will be there. Don’t deprive yourself otherwise you will binge and that isn’t good. I wish you all could experience the effects of over-indulging like I do (OK, not really…but you know what I mean)...my body tells me quickly if I overdo it…yours will tell you too…as long as you are listening. My wish for you is to enjoy the holidays differently this year….enjoy your family…enjoy your friends…your neighbors and let the food just be there in the background. I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas (Hanukkah, Kwanza, Festivus, and the rest) and a glorious New Year. You can do this…so can I. I would like to leave you all with a quote I found: “A bird sitting on a tree is never afraid of the branch breaking because her trust is not on the branch but on her own wings. Believe in Yourself.” God Bless you all!