Today I want to be somewhere other than where I am, which is not very zenful of me, as we only have today and this moment. In this moment I am a size 16/18. I'm frustrated that I'm not a size 12. There - I said it aloud: I want to be a size 12. This is not true either. I want to be a size 10--I want to be one size from my goal. These thoughts, these frustrations, are keeping me out of the present moment, and from reaching my goal.
Before I expand further on my convoluted thinking, I want to tell you I was able to move away from this negative thinking by looking back at these before photos. My progress cannot be ignored -- I have lost of ton of weight. But there was something that I had to work out before I could move forward and that discovery is what I want to share today.
I've been measuring my path against others who are at their goal size and wondering why I'm not there yet. Oh yeah... today I am the size many of my key friends were when they started but a few moments ago (or 2 1/2 years ago), I was a size 30/32. Today I am a 16/18. I should be celebrating my size 16/18, not agonizing over it! But I've become accustomed to my new size and I've forgotten that I started a lot bigger than I am today.
I was looking at others progress and crying "boohoo - how come I haven't lost that much?" I was feeling sorry for myself because last summer's clothes still fit, "boohoo - how come they aren't falling off me yet?" Well, last summer they were skin tight and this summer they are quite loose. All my thoughts were on focusing my energy in the wrong area. I needed to focus my energies on where I am and visualize where I want to be. That visualization will inspire me to reach my goal, not to serve as a noose around my neck.
It seems like I've been in a 16/18 for a very long time. I looked back at my earlier posts and guess what - I have been this size for a very long time because clothing sizes are way out of whack. I wrote in Nov. 2011 that I was a size 20W, which would mean I've only dropped 2 sizes in a year and a half. The clothes I wore in Nov. 2011 are long gone because they were way too big for me. My body has changed drastically, even if the size on my clothes reads the same.
Things started to turn around for me when I realized there are many lessons on this journey for me to learn; living in the moment is a big lesson. You see, there will come a time, when I am in my size 10's and I'll want to be somewhere else - in my size 8's. Once I'm there learning how to maintain my weight I'll wish I was beyond that lesson, I'll wish I already knew how to maintain my weight, that I wouldn't have to go through the up and down in my size 8 process.
I tried to talk to others about these thoughts and they gave me incredible positive feedback about my success. I wasn't looking for that. I wanted to express what I was experiencing, but I wasn't finding anyone could relate. So, I express myself here in the hope that this makes sense to you.
I started working through this issue a couple weeks ago, and I started writing this piece last week, but the deal breaker for me, the transformational moment, happened tonight when I put these photos from 2006 to yesterday side by side.
Today I choose to live in the present moment and in this moment, according to my clothing labels, I am a size 16/18. Today I choose to give up comparing my journey to how others are doing on their journey.
Do what it takes to get out of your own way on this journey. Do whatever it takes to reach your goal!
![]() |
| I wore that pink shirt today and wow - what a difference! |
I've been measuring my path against others who are at their goal size and wondering why I'm not there yet. Oh yeah... today I am the size many of my key friends were when they started but a few moments ago (or 2 1/2 years ago), I was a size 30/32. Today I am a 16/18. I should be celebrating my size 16/18, not agonizing over it! But I've become accustomed to my new size and I've forgotten that I started a lot bigger than I am today.
I was looking at others progress and crying "boohoo - how come I haven't lost that much?" I was feeling sorry for myself because last summer's clothes still fit, "boohoo - how come they aren't falling off me yet?" Well, last summer they were skin tight and this summer they are quite loose. All my thoughts were on focusing my energy in the wrong area. I needed to focus my energies on where I am and visualize where I want to be. That visualization will inspire me to reach my goal, not to serve as a noose around my neck.
It seems like I've been in a 16/18 for a very long time. I looked back at my earlier posts and guess what - I have been this size for a very long time because clothing sizes are way out of whack. I wrote in Nov. 2011 that I was a size 20W, which would mean I've only dropped 2 sizes in a year and a half. The clothes I wore in Nov. 2011 are long gone because they were way too big for me. My body has changed drastically, even if the size on my clothes reads the same.
Things started to turn around for me when I realized there are many lessons on this journey for me to learn; living in the moment is a big lesson. You see, there will come a time, when I am in my size 10's and I'll want to be somewhere else - in my size 8's. Once I'm there learning how to maintain my weight I'll wish I was beyond that lesson, I'll wish I already knew how to maintain my weight, that I wouldn't have to go through the up and down in my size 8 process.
I tried to talk to others about these thoughts and they gave me incredible positive feedback about my success. I wasn't looking for that. I wanted to express what I was experiencing, but I wasn't finding anyone could relate. So, I express myself here in the hope that this makes sense to you.
I started working through this issue a couple weeks ago, and I started writing this piece last week, but the deal breaker for me, the transformational moment, happened tonight when I put these photos from 2006 to yesterday side by side.
Today I choose to live in the present moment and in this moment, according to my clothing labels, I am a size 16/18. Today I choose to give up comparing my journey to how others are doing on their journey.
Do what it takes to get out of your own way on this journey. Do whatever it takes to reach your goal!














