Monday, December 30, 2013

Motivation Mondays



If you are like me, you need a little motivation now and then.
When I first embarked on my weight loss journey, little did I know how much of an inspiration I would become to others.  I thought I was just losing weight for myself and trying out a diet program.  That little diet program worked wonders for me.  I had no idea how much my life would change.

  I know everyone has different opinions and different methods (you have to find what works for you).  I also know how negative people can be (believe me, I heard my fair share).

Losing weight is hard,
no matter what method you choose to use.

Staying motivated is even harder!

Some things work better for others.
everyone is different.
every body is different. 

What works for one, may not work for another.  You have to figure out what works for you and stick with it...and if you ask me, it's the sticking with it that's the hardest part.

I was asked quite a bit what I was going to do when I went off the Nutrisystem diet.  How was I going to maintain the loss?

To be totally honest, I wondered the same thing.  I put on a brave face and said that I wasn't scared, but the truth was...I was scared, really scared.  All the things I learned about nutrition and portion sizes and exercise and water intake and proteins and smart carbs, etc. went out the window when those little boxes of food stopped showing up.

But, I didn't let it stop me.

I kept going....that is until I felt my whole world come crashing down.
That happened right after Rich hurt himself this summer.
I started freaking out about him, his surgery, his recovery...I focused on him and  lost myself.
I let stress take over and rear it's ugly head.

I started stressing out, not only about him, but about everything:


bills
school
the kids
being on my own with the kids while he recovered in florida
doing everything on my own
money
what am I going to do if something happens to him
and everything in between...stuff I didn't even really need to worry about...I worried about it.


To the point where I made myself physically sick.
and I ended up in the hospital.

The pain in my chest started roughly around the time that Rich hurt himself.
I never said a thing, because I knew the first thing he would do was drop everything and all the pain he was going through and focus on me.  And I didn't want that to happen.

At first I tried to ignore it.
I prayed it was just a fluke and it would go away.
When that didn't happen, I just kept myself busy and focused on him, school and the kids.
The pain still didn't go away, in fact it got worse.
I thought it was just my asthma getting worse, but the pain in my chest was horrible.
I realized it wasn't my asthma when the inhalers and meds didn't work.
I felt like I was being stabbed in the heart repeatedly.

It finally got so bad that Rich made Anthony take me to the ER.
I thought I was having a heart attack.

They did an ekg, a chest xray, blood work, etc. 

everything came back normal.
it wasn't a heart attack or anything that had to do with my heart at all.

they diagnosed me with costochondritis
I thought they were making that up...what the heck is it?
it's basically inflammation of a rib or the cartilage connecting a rib.
it is a common cause of chest pain - they said it was probably caused by stress.

great!
so how do I stop all the stress and make the pain go away?

months later I still have that stupid pain in my chest...which makes exercising even harder.
my motivation took a flying leap out the window.
and I gained about 6-8 pounds back that I lost.
let me tell you that freaking out about gaining weight back that you just lost, does nothing for the stress level!!

so with this new year coming, I have decided that I need to get back on track and focus more on me
not that I as a mother can or will stop thinking about my kids or my husband...but if I'm not healthy, how can I take care of them?

to help me get back on track and start focusing on taking care of myself, I am starting a weekly weight loss/taking care of yourself post and I'm sharing that with you.

Together we can help each other stay on track and motivated.

first things first....stop the freak outs.
gaining some weight back after following a weight loss program is normal.

what isn't normal is falling off the track and beating yourself up to the point where you say screw it and sabotage yourself....gaining all the weight back and then some.

second step....taking one step at a time.
rome wasn't built in a day, we need to realize that it takes time to lose weight.
especially if we want to do it the right way.  going on plan after plan and failing, just leads to more weight gain and misery....and who needs that?

let's stop beating ourselves up and build ourselves up instead.

my first goal (after I stop the weekly beat down sessions) will be to drink more water.

what's your first goal?

please share and let's build each other up and support one another's achievements....starting now.

who's with me?








2 comments:

Unknown said...

My first step is trying to focus on eating clean.....Getting rid of the processed foods and eating a more natural diet.

Charlene Juliani said...

When I stop all eating processed foods and eat more natural foods like fruits and veggies, I feel so much better and have a lot more energy, don't you?