How do you see yourself? When you look in the mirror what do you see? This is NOT about being skinny so please do not misunderstand… this is about liking what you see when you look in the mirror. I’m one of those women that look in the mirror and think “what the hell happened to my body?!? Somebody must’ve stolen it and left me this one!” I may not be as big as I have been at some point in my life and it may not be life threatening at this point but I’m not where I want to be. I’m not where I feel comfortable in my clothes. I don’t enjoy shopping because I don’t believe the clothes is what makes us look good. I believe we have to be proud of ourselves without clothes on to truly feel good in our clothes. I bet if we all ran around naked all the time and lived in a house of mirrors we would never gain more than a few pounds at a time because we would see it ALL THE TIME! (LOL!) I have almost no mirrors to see myself in on a daily basis so I thought weighing myself would help me keep track of where I was but its so different to actually be able to see yourself. There only so much a scale can tell you and even though it tells you how much your weight went up or down it can not tell you how you look!

Idea for Change:  Keep a journal and record your weight and/or measurements in it weekly!

I also believe that when our lives get so busy that we no longer pay attention to ourselves (you know, while we take care of everyone else around us!) that’s when we put on the pounds, get totally out of shape and quite literally begin to not like the person looking back at us in the mirror… so we stop looking. Why do we do this? Well, we simply don’t have time to work out, go for that walk or take the time to plan our meals so they are more healthy… a hugh, yep… that’s exactly how it happens. We sit in our office chairs at our desk at work every day, eat fast foods or easy frozen dinners, donuts in the morning, maybe a salad for lunch (Bacon Ranch Crispy Chicken Salad w/ Ranch dressing from McDonald’s is my favorite!) and take the kids to a Chinese buffet or maybe Mexican food tonight!

To eat out all the time you have to constantly mix it up and eat at different places so eventually you will have tried every place in town and ate at all of them 3-5 times by the end of one month. So called good eating habits go right out the door, your energy levels are low because your system is bogged down and doesn’t provide your body with the vitamins and nutrients it needs to sustain healthy energy levels, your brain feels like it’s in a fog due to all the sodas and energy drinks you indulge in (and believe you can’t live without at this point! Mine is the Mocha Frappe at McDonald’s)… are you seeing a pattern yet? If you were to track the amount of times you ate out, the money you spend eating out, the amount of carbonated drinks you intake instead of badly needed water, the preservatives in the foods you are eating in those restaurants… the lack of energy to want to exercise because your belly is so full after eating out… smh… we are just DOOMED!!!!!!! I WANT MY MOCHA FRAPPE!!! I DON’T FEEL LIKE COOKING!!!! IT’S TOO HOT TO WALK TODAY!!! We are not only full of preservatives and junk food but we are also full of Sh*t! We can want something but never get it because we choose on a daily basis to not change anything. Come up with lots of excuses. If you want the madness to stop all you have to do is change something. Go to bed 30 minutes earlier than normal. Don’t skip your breakfast tomorrow (or drink a cup of coffee and call it breakfast… no, no, no!). Start taking a vitamin with B complex. Just try to change something and see if you feel better after a few days. Don’t expect to fail either. Be positive. Tell yourself “Today is going to be a good day because I am going to make 1 change in my life for me today!” And then stop thinking about it and just do it. Don’t overthink it. Just do it. Every night pick a new something… maybe it’s been a long time since you soaked in a bathtub and enjoyed every minute of it so add that to your list. Maybe it’s having time to actually walk the dog instead of taking it 20 feet outside your back door and trying to rush it while its going potty… spend some quality time with it (him/her)… and most important of all…. HAVE A GREAT DAY!  When you look in the mirror after having a great day you will like yourself more every day after that and it will unload some of your stress and allow your mind to function and think more about what you CAN DO instead of what you can’t do… good luck and JUST DO IT! 🙂