One of the focuses of this blog is to look at the positive changes our weight loss journey has brought into our lives and to shine a light on them. These moments in time, where we discover a change in our lives directly related to our weight loss, allows us to reflect on how far we've come in more ways than dropping sizes. 

photo by Theresa

Our stories are not all the same, but sharing and celebrating such abstract moments, moments Oprah refers to as "ah ha moments," inspires the rest of us who are on this journey. Linda's recent posts have been about these kinds of moments in time, moments where she discovered a positive change in her life that resulted from her weight loss journey

Yesterday Linda wrote "I think we all need to look at positive changes in our behaviors and current sizes and remember where we have come from" (see Positive AHA Moment - Doctors Visit).

Today's moment in time story comes from Jennifer. She shared this story this morning and I immediately asked her permission to post it here.

Jennifer's moment:

I went in to CVS this evening to pick up a few things.

A nice woman who works there handed me a coupon for the nail polish I was buying.

She says "I just bought this bag of crunchy candy blahblahblah, would you like a piece? I don't know why I bought this huge bag-it was talking to me I guess!"

I say "no thank you."

She proceeds to say "Oh come on, one piece! It won't hurt you!"...............

I look her in the eye, and say "70 pounds" (I really don't know my weight, this is a guess!), and "yeah, it can hurt me. I don't think it would be worth me eating it-I'm not giving up those 70 pounds for a piece of candy!"

She says "yeah, I wouldn't eat it either! Good for you!"

Ladies (and gent) THAT was a TEST! lol!

July 03, 2013

I went to my doctors a few days back. I had some questions.

I had some lumps and bumps that I JUST didn’t know if they were normal or not and was worried about them. By the time I got to my appointment, I was convinced I had bone cancer, cancer or whatever diseases came to mind. (yes I am one of those worriers)

I got weighed in backwards, this office is wonderful! VERY respectful of me not wanting to know my weight!!

When my dr. came in she was VERY pleased with my weight and we talked about it. She was thrilled with my weight and while talking she realized she has a few patients doing Julie’s plan. She asked for Julie’s number so she could talk with her, so she could legally recommend her program to patients.

Then I proceeded to show her my lumps, bumps, tumors what have you!

As she was checking each one with a deadpan face I was convinced I was going to get the death sentence.

When she was done she turned to me and smiled a great big smile, I wondered what is up with this.

She proceeded to tell me what each thing was and how normal they all are and the reason I never saw or felt them before was because of my weight.

We had a good laugh! I was relieved I wasn’t dieing!!! LOL

So I guess my positive change is finding things on my body I didn’t know existed!!!

From a 26/28 sized woman to a size 12 woman, things are actually going to start showing that never ever were visible before or feelable before!

I actually have a collar bone, hip bones, bones in my hand, on my throat and other places!!

I am not at my goal size, and am really looking to find positive changes. I think we all need to look at positive changes in our behaviors and current sizes and remember where we have come from. WE will get where we are going, we are all just running a different pace race!

How wonderful for my body to be molding itself slowly to become more normal!

July 02, 2013

I was at a BQ party last night and had this incredible Mexican Corn Salad. They shared the recipe with me this morning and I'm adding to the recipes here because it's incredible. Remember that cheese is treated as a condiment and you must eat an equal amount of meat and veggies.

Mexican Corn Salad

Ingredients

• 4 ears of corn, husked
• 5 tablespoons mayonnaise 
• 4 tablespoons fresh lime juice
• 1/8 teaspoon paprika
• Pinch of cayenne pepper (optional)
• 1/4 cup shredded Romano cheese
• 1/4 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro plus more for serving
• Kosher salt, freshly ground pepper

Preparation

1. Prepare grill for medium heat. 
2. Grill corn, turning occasionally, until tender and charred, 8–10 minutes; let cool slightly. Instead of grilling the corn, you can toast the kernels in a dry large skillet over medium-high heat
3. Cut kernels from cobs and transfer to a medium bowl.
4. Whisk mayonnaise, lime juice, paprika, cayenne, if using, cheese, and 2 tablespoons cilantro in a large bowl; season with salt and pepper. 
5. Add corn and toss to combine. 
6. Top with remaining cilantro.

Notes

• The dressing may be made 2 days ahead. 
• Cover and chill. 
• Corn can be grilled and cut from cobs 1 hour ahead. 
• Store airtight at room temperature.

This recipe was modified by my friend, but the recipe and photo originated from Bon Appétit
 

June 30, 2013

How spicy is your life? I'm not talking about your sex life--I'm talking about cooking with spices. Fresh herbs are best, but more often than not, I use package mixed, such as chili mix. There's another option: skip the mixes, which are full of artificial ingredients, and make your own seasoning blends.

Photo courtesy of Free Digital Photos

Years ago I did a lot of cooking with my friends and I learned how to make seasoning blends for my recipes from my favorite cookbook Healthier Eating Guide & Cookbook by George Matelan and Health Valley Foods. In this book, the author suggests using herbs as a way to reduce salt from your diet and add great flavor to your meals. The cookbook included a handful of blend recipes, but I mainly used the fish, chicken, and all purpose seasoning blends.

Having homemade spice blends cuts back on the prep time. Instead of searching the cabinets for five or six spices, opening each container, measuring, putting the lids back on, and washing all the measuring tools, you only have to find one spice mix to open/close and measure for your recipe.

It's time for me to get back to this kind of cooking again. Care to join me? An easy place to begin is to make your next batch of chili with the homemade taco and chili seasoning recipe below instead of a package mix. BTW, how old are the spices in you cupboards? Do you know they have an expiration date? They do!

Homemade Taco and Chili Seasoning
When making chili or tacos using one pound of ground beef, start with 1 1/2 tablespoons of the seasoning blend (below) and adjust according to your tastes.

Ingredients

• 4 tablespoons of chili powder
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon onion powder 
• 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 2 teaspoons paprika
• 2 tablespoons ground cumin
• 3 teaspoons sea salt
• 4 teaspoons black pepper

Directions

• In a medium bowl, combine chili powder, garlic powder, onion powder, crushed red pepper flakes, cayenne pepper, oregano, paprika, ground cumin, sea salt, and black pepper. 

Store in an air tight container at room temperature.

Yield: about 2/3 cup.

Source for this recipe: My Baking Addiction

June 30, 2013

The past few months I have noticed every time I get into my car, I have to move the seat up!! What in the world!!!

In the past, even when my husband drives the car I have never had to move the seat up, and if so, it was just a tiny bit.

I am getting aggravated and annoyed with him, can not even imagine why he would put the seat so far back lately!!

Today I got into the car and AGAIN, I had to move the seat up. So as I sat there fiddling with stuff getting ready to move my seat up I happened to notice something.

Something that made me smile and laugh out loud!

My stomach wasn't hitting the steering wheel anymore! WHAT!!!!

When my husband has been getting into the car, he is putting the seat back into it's normal position that we always used, AND I AM THE ONE MOVING IT TO A WHOLE NEW POSITION!!

I need the seat closer to the pedals and the steering wheel as NOTHING is getting in the way anymore! (or at least not as much is getting in the way now).

I am actually needing to be closer to the steering wheel as I am not taking so much room up on the seat!!

WHO WOULD HAVE EVER THOUGHT!!!

(I am hoping to start pointing out some NON weight loss changes in a few posts. That may help us to all realize that it isn't just about the weight loss, though that is the BEST part, but for some of us slow losers, we need to look at NON weight loss positives, no matter how silly they may seem)

Oh and by the way, even with the seat up where it is comfortable for me to drive, I want to announce: MY STOMACH IS STIL NOT HITTING THE STEERING WHEEL!!!

June 29, 2013

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Pen and Paper; photo by Theresa

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If you would like to share your journey, but you don't want to become a contributor, you may send me your story and photos and I'll post it on your behalf. Or, if you would like to become a part of my Heroes Series, I would love to add your story!

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To share your story, send me an email with your name and email address, by selecting my name under the list of Contributors, located on the left side of the page. If you're viewing this site on a hand-held devise, and you don't see the left navigation, scroll to the bottom of the page and select "View Web Version."

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June 28, 2013

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.

I wore that pink shirt today and wow - what a difference!

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!

June 27, 2013

Recently I was involved in a thread of conversation about maintenance. Usually I stay out of these kinds of conversations, as I'm not in the maintenance phase yet. But I will be there soon enough, so this time I leaned in to hear the questions and concerns of my friends who are on maintenance. As I listened, it occurred to me that even in maintenance, we must continue to trust the process of this program.

At our goal size, will we still ask "do I look fat in this photo?"

One woman said she just wants to get through learning how to maintain her weight, to be done with the phase of gaining and losing weight, she just wants to be done with this phase. Others said they sometimes struggle with this too.

This sounded familiar to me. I have said this about my weight loss journey. I have often thought "I just want to be done" with the weight loss and be at my goal size. "How long is this going to take?" I wondered and sighed, "I just want to be at my goal size." It will take as long as it takes and spending time on these thoughts doesn't change anything. I tap away these kinds of thoughts, which, if one isn't careful, can become an obsession. When these thoughts arise again, I remind myself this is part of my journey and I tap them away.

What if we treat the maintenance phase of our journey the same way? What if we accept the urge to rush through a phase, be it the weight loss or maintenance phase, as part of our process. What if we tap away those thoughts to rush through this phase?

Questions, doubts, fears - these were part of the journey even before you arrived to where you are today. Why should this be any different now? I imagine maintenance to be the final frontier. The final phase of self-doubt. The phase where we (get to) let go of our self-doubt and negative thoughts. The phase where we learn what once and done really means.

Learning maintenance will take as long as it takes, just as taking the weight off did: at various time frames for everyone. Visualize this to be your truth: you will learn maintenance and one day you will own it.

A day will come for each of us when we will say "I got this" and our doubts, our fears, and our obsessions (which we all have to work out for ourselves) will be behind us. Trust the process that this too will be your truth.

If we trust this process, we only have to do this once and then we're done. If you are at maintenance, you have done everything you learned, you have reached your goal size, so trust the process that you will learn how to maintain your goal size--in the same way you learned to take off your weight. If you are in the weight loss phase, trust that you too will reach your goal.

Julie suggests we visualize ourselves at our goal size - this is part of the process. Apply the same to maintenance: visualize yourself maintaining your goal size for the rest of you life. Visualize: once and done.

Trust the process.

June 15, 2013