Friend of Julie: Freedom to Choose

In mid-July I was on my morning walk when I realized: this road isn't taking me where I want to go! My morning walk literally leads to a dead-end. As I walked, I wondered: what other paths do I take throughout my day that don't lead to where I want to go?

Is the road you on taking you where you want to go?

This realization felt symbolic of where I was on my weight loss journey: at a dead-end. I started to think about the food choices I'd made that led me to gain weight instead of reaching my goal size. What foods was I justifying as okay, when in reality they were keeping me from reaching my goal? Why was I choosing to stay on a dead-end road?

Here are some of those non-key foods my self-talk justified as okay:

Why not have cheese? At least it's not sugar!

Yes, I'll have corn tortillas with my eggs. At least it's not bread!

I have 20 minutes before my students arrive and it's just me and a tray of Girl Scout cookies. Who's going to know?

This was the wrong way of thinking! I realized I needed to start making different choices. Each time I justified eating non-key foods, I was choosing a dead-end path that led to weight gain instead of weight loss. I started asking myself: is this food going to take me in the direction I want to go? If the answer was no, I made a different choice.

Weight loss is all about choices. Weight gain is also about choices. We have the freedom to choose which direction we want to go: up or down in clothing size.

I've been struggling on my weight loss journey for the past year. In the past six months I've gained weight and my clothes are too tight. Over a month ago I decided it was time to get back on the right road again.

One of the things I did was to look back through my weight loss journey photos and that's when I had a big AH-HA moment!

There was a time when I was excited and proud to be the size I am today. Why can't I allow myself to feel good about being this size today?

I haven't gained all my weight back and I choose to stop feeling horrible about my weight gain, because all that negative self-talk from my inner-critic (Little Mean Girl) wasn't helping.

I've always advocated of taking photos while on this weight loss journey and taking them often. New discovery: this is a good idea when you are struggling as well.

This first of August I took a few photos of myself, including an OMG side profile. I'll take more photos in the same outfit at the end of the month. I'll repeat this every month for the rest of the year. Those photos were a big reality check for me. I had to hush my Little Mean Girl, and I'm not ready to share them, but I look at them daily, to remind myself of where I am today and to help me make healthy choices.

I encourage you, whether you're On or OFF program or somewhere in between, to take a photo of yourself today. Mark your calendar to take another one in 30 days and repeat each month. You don't have to share the photo today (or ever), but do this for yourself. Hush your Little Mean Girl if you don't like what you see and use that photo to motivate you to make healthy choices.

I'm editing a video about a place in New Hampshire that was called Freedom Acres; it closed decades ago. The interviewer asked the woman telling the story "why do you think they named the place Freedom Acres?

"Because it gave them the freedom to do whatever they wanted," she replied.

We have the freedom to choose whatever we want too: to continue on our weight loss journey or to call it quits. I'm choosing to stay on my journey and I'm going to use Freedom Acres as my metaphor of where I want to live.

My Freedom Acres doesn't have dead-ends, it has fields of unlimited possibilities and gardens full of unseen spirits that guide me when I need it. In my Freedom Acres my body is free from stress and struggles, because I'm connected with my life purpose and I choose to live my best life every day. I'm relaxed, calm, peaceful, and I choose to eat healthy.

My Freedom Acres

Where are you on your weight loss journey? Are you on a path that leads to a dead-end? Is it time for you to get off that path and onto one that leads you to success?

You have the freedom to choose where you're going - where do you want to go?