Reality Check

January 1st of this year was the day I think of as "The Day I Finally Woke Up" . It was the day I got on the scale and saw 179.1 lbs and (after a good cry) said to myself: "NO MORE!" I am going to change this! Starting NOW!"

But I knew that it wasn't enough for me to just WANT to change. It wasn't enough to recognize that desire in myself. I knew I had to have A PLAN, and even more importantly, I had to figure out the WHY's & the HOW's. That was my first step. And I think it should be the first step for everyone who is struggling to lose weight. Especially if you want to be successful at reaching your goals! And especially if you are like me and have struggled to keep your weight at a healthy level most of your adult life! (Oh no, January 1st 2008 was not the first time I have found myself in a situation where I had too much weight on my petite frame! More on that later....)

So before I made a plan as to how I was going to get the weight off, I spent a few hours with myself, figuring out.... 

The HOW'S & The WHY'S

I didn't go to bed one night,fit and at a healthy weight,only to wake up the next morning, shocked to see that I had turned into a fat,out of shape person. It was more like 2 lbs here, then another 3 lbs there. I think that's how it is for most people who find themselves in the same situation I was in at the beginning of 2008. And it makes sense to me that if the weight had come on that quickly wouldn't all of us who are carrying around extra fat be quick to do something about it? Probably.

But it's not like we wake up one morning and say "Uh,..who is this and what have you done with my body?" The weight kind of creeps up on you, and it's easy to let it slide for too long, and harder to see the changes in the way your clothes are fitting, and in the reflection that is staring back at you in the mirror.

Even when I had put on enough weight where I was hearing that voice in my head saying: "Uh oh, wait a minute, not fitting into my cute jean anymore" or "Ok, I am not feeling as sexy or attractive as I used to feel" I still didn't feel motivated to change my lifestyle, or get to the root of the problem, because there were so many "other things" going on in my life at that time, they took the focus off of me taking care of myself. And it was infact those "other things" that were contributing to my weight gain in the first place.

I think the HOW's & WHY'S of my weight gain (and perhaps yours?) are pretty closely linked,they go hand in hand, they are "cause & effect".  And when I spent a few hours really analyzing the whole issue of my weight gain I came to realize that my reasons for putting on weight were as follows:

     WHY?                        HOW?

Ok, so those are SOME of the reasons I started out this year at 179.1lbs. I know there are more reasons, some I haven't even figured out yet, even 7 months into this journey! But I had my hands full dealing with just those issues, those reasons WHY & HOW I gained weight. And at 40lbs lighter (at the time of this writing) I have developed some much needed self-esteem and confidence in myself & my ability to change for the better & to accomplish my goals! So when a few more of my HOW's & WHY's make themselves known, I know that I will be able to deal with them too! And I have no doubt that if I can do it, than YOU can do! Anyone can! You just have to believe in yourself, and love yourself enough to change. And you have to believe that you're worth it! BECAUSE YOU ARE!

*Stay Tuned* for my next blog entry which is titled: MY PLAN (I will go into further detail about exactly how I lost 40lbs in 5 months) And let me know if you're reading this...or if you have any specific questions for me. I would love to help you to be successful with your own weight loss goals! Also, more BEFORE & AFTER pics will be posted soon!

Until next time,

Rebeckah Faith