LOUD and PROUD: Gooooooooaaaaaaaaaaal!

No not the soccer kind of goal, but the personal kind! I hit a big one for me this week. It isn't an end goal, but a huge marker in time for me and for my nearly two year trek as a Weight watcher. While I follow the plan, I also have been making other changes to my life that make the journey a little more challenging. Giving up all processed and factory farm meats, and all but some seafood, eating mostly organic and eliminating a lot of processed foods and artificial sweeteners from my diet has been large parts of the new life I am living (or trying to live).

Slowly but surely, things are coming together and I am making noticeable changes in how I live and how my children live. I am on a quest to be healthier and I see it happening.

This week at my weigh in, I FINALLY hit a total of over 50 pounds down. There have been a lot of ups and downs, and sometimes I wanted to quit, but I never veered too far from program. I did fail to exercise for stretches of time and my eating took bad detours frequently, but I always came back and jumped back into step. It has been a hard and long road, and I am so glad that I have been through every step of it.

With the look back, I have seen that I am able to live this life for the long haul. I don't always move forward, but even when I go backwards, I don't backslide too far. I have learned that my body responds to what I feed it and how I treat it. I have also learned that patience is a large part of getting you to your destination successfully. It is easy to give up and hard to be patient. It is hard to have faith, even when you know the formula works and the difference will show soon. Even seeing the proof of your efforts, you STILL sometimes doubt how successful you will be.

Sometimes, you also want to indulge your self pity, or celebrate for too long, or take a "break" from things, and in these moments, my tendency to turn to food or put off exercise--or both--comes VERY easily. The hardest thing is always to stay on track.

For several weeks, I have anticipated this drop in weight and looked forward to seeing and celebrating the success, but it alluded me despite working out harder and doing so well with food. In those weeks, I wanted to take a break or find an excuse to give into my weaknesses more than a few times. This is all the more sweeter because I didn't do that, and I kept telling myself: THE FORMULA WORKS. STICK TO IT! DO NOT waste anymore time.

I listened this time, and that hasn't always been the case. That is why it has taken so long to lose 50lbs. I am hopeful that I will be ON PLAN more of the time in the next year and hopefully I can move more steadily and speedily toward my next weight loss goal. I am hoping that I am FIRMLY on the road to being successful and happy and living a healthier and better life.

Weight loss, or hitting ANY goal, is a big accomplishment made possible by many little things. Without any of those little things, the end result is not possible. So dragging my can to the gym on those days when I didn't want to, and skipping an indulgence here or there, or making myself go work in the yard on a less than comfortable day here in the Texas heat are all small things that add up to one big thing: Me being 50 pounds lighter. I haven't been this weight for about ten years.

I am proud and wanted to share that today. I found out on Tuesday and didn't get to celebrate at a meeting because I went during open hours and not during a meeting time. My normal meeting is on Wednesdays and this week, that was the 4th of July! :)

I am excited about keeping the scale moving DOWN and have already set another goal that I would like to meet in the next month or two. For me, goals keep me moving. Weighing in keeps me going. Seeing results keeps me going, but not seeing them also can be a motivator. I have to learn to use failures or disappointments to keep me motivated like I did in the past few weeks. Every SINGLE pound adds up...and 50 of them together make quite an impact! :)