How many things did you avoid when you were at your largest size? Did you avoid certain activities because you physically could not do them or because you felt too self-conscious to do them in public? Gardening is something I avoided for years because it was too painful physically. Bending over in public? OMG, that was not going to happen while I was wearing a 30/32 shorts. Thankfully, those excuses no longer hold up.
December 2012: vs September 2015: gardening
Last weekend I planted an Arborvitae in my garden and I enjoyed digging in the soil and getting my hands dirty. I did not have any pain and I wasn't self-conscious about bending over. Well, I was later that evening when my neighbor emailed a few photos she took of me gardening.

When I received her photos, I sighed. I thought I was smaller.

The next day I printed the two photos shown above and glued them onto a card. All week I moved these photos from room to room around the house. Throughout my day, it seemed as if my larger self was pointing at me standing in the garden saying, "Yes, there is more distance to travel, but look at how far you've come!"

Keeping these photos close to hand is a great way to measure my success. I have also uncovered a big non-scale victory: I am free to move about the garden! (Pain-free)

On the topic of measuring success, here's a question that came in from one of you this week:
Are measurements OK? I think of them as a set point like knowing that number on the scale so I have stayed away from taking them. Any input would be helpful. I have reached the size I wanted to be, but am afraid to start maintenance, because there are areas that still do not meet the image I had of myself regardless of my pants size. I am curious about my measurements, so if anyone has feedback please chime in. Thank you. —Anonymous
Yes, taking your measurements is an excellent tool to measure your success. I'm sorry I didn't do this more often. A few weeks ago, I stumbled upon my measurements, which I only took once a year. I took my measurements that day and have marked my calendar to do this again in two months.

Another way to measure success is by how your clothes fit. Many of my key friends who are on maintenance have an outfit that they use to measure where they are. Recently I thought this is a good thing for me to do, even though I'm not at goal yet. If I can see where I am in my clothes, it will help me to stay focused on reaching my goal.

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September 24, 2015
Dictionary.com provides this historical reference to salacity: salacity, once aroused, even in a minister, allows no room for reason or for conscience. That's precisely how I felt for an entire day few weeks ago, I had extreme sugar cravings and my appetite was salacious.

While in this state of mind, I could not reason with myself and I didn't know how to shake it off. I became so consumed with thoughts of having sugar that I could not think straight. The cravings were stronger than I've had in many years, but I kept pushing them back.

I knew that feeding the "beast" large amounts of beef was the best way to calm down my cravings, but wow—I haven't felt such an obsession in years. I felt like a crazy person. I was a crazy person!

By early evening, I was on my way to the movies and the cravings were still coming on strong. I decided to stop and buy some beef jerky to eat before going into the theater. While in the ticket line, many different foods were calling out sweet things to me, like a street corner hooker calls out to a man in a Lamborghini: "Psst...over here."

Inside the movie theater, my belly full of beef jerky, I focused on the movie and hoped the cravings were over. Once outside the theater, I discovered they were not gone. The food smells from restaurants around town were triggering my cravings as I waked around Amherst. Then Negative Nellie started talking to me.

"Just have one cookie. Just have one small one...."

No! Tap, tap, tap!

I told Nellie to go away and I went into Starbucks for a Flat White (coffee with whipped milk).

I wanted to reach my goal of 15,000 walking steps that night, so after my coffee, I continued to walk around town. After reaching my goal steps, I headed to the lot where my car was parked. As I climbed into my car, it felt like a switch flipped off and suddenly the loud voices  that were in my head all day long were quiet. Silence! Ah!

That's when I had an epiphany. In that moment I realize something I hadn't quite understood about the "once and done" concept:
When you have food cravings and you keep pushing them back, and you don't cave into them no matter what—they stop! You just have to keep pushing back.
It really is this simple!  If I keep tapping away those cravings, my goal size is straight ahead of me—I only have to do this journey once and then I'm done (at my goal).

Suddenly I realized if I don't listen to those voices, if I keep tapping them away (pushing back), they go away and I can resume a quiet life once again. No more Negative Nellie tempting me to have "just one bite." No more feeling like a crazy person.

What a relief!

It's been a few weeks since that walk around Amherst. I've been living this lesson ever since and I can see and feel changes in my body once again.

This is so exciting! Yes—I'm doing this!

What about you? Have you been wrestling with yourself about food choices? Shake it off! Say no to those cravings again, and again, and again. You can do this too!
September 14, 2015