Guest Contributors
Several years ago I decided to make some changes in my life as I approached the milestone age of 50. I couldn’t believe it. It was almost a year before that but I thought I should get a running start. There were a few things that I wanted to put on the chopping block, that is to say it wasn’t going to go into the my 50th year with me. I developed my short list and on it was my weight. Are you surprised? I had been basically the same size for most of my life. Naturally I had lost the same 15 pounds over the course of 30 years. That added up to over 3,000 lbs. Amazing! But now I was serious.
Life has a way of bringing one to a point of reckoning. I was there. All of the health and wellness gurus would probably say to me ‘Oh, you do look good in your clothes. But…’. And so with those thoughts in my head, I needed to put my weight and my health on the line. However, it couldn’t be like other times. This had to be a change of a lifetime. The question became, ‘How would I make it stick’? With my ego in my hand, I began to have conversations with a dear friend about my approaching milestone, how I saw my life and what I believe it needed to become. Nothing disempowering could march into 50 with me! I did mean it this time. It had to be for the love of me!
Why were all of the other attempts unsuccessful? As I thought about it, I realized that all of them hinged on an external stimulus: the summertime, baby fat, or an off-comment from someone I thought cared about me. These and other reasons had coaxed me into a ‘thing’. But never with my best interest at the heart of it. This time it had to be different. I had to be in better control of how I looked and felt. I set my goal of simply becoming one size smaller than I was and staying there. The target? From a size 16 to a perfect Talbots’ size 14! I put my strategy in place. I identified and changed/eliminated five things concerning my eating habits that I felt were derailing my health and wellbeing. These were things like drinking too much coffee, consuming too much refined sugar, eating too many snacky foods, eating too much red meat and eating late at night. I replaced them with healthier choices which included drinking tons of water. That was my initial plan.
My friend and I started on the quest. The pounds began to melt away. I started making more and more healthy decisions concerning how I ate. Other things to help me stay focused and committed were added without hesitation. After only nine months I was a miraculous size 8-10. Unbelievable! That’s what everyone says who sees me.
Now at age 51, I am still holding. I am wearing things I never thought of wearing before and I feel great. To this day, I get on the scale every day. I know the experts suggest checking your weight once a week. Yet, what this practice has done for me is to help me understand how my weight fluctuates throughout the month. That has been helpful to me. Take it for what it’s worth.
My encouragement to you is, for the love of you, put your heart, mind and energy into changing how you see yourself and what’s best for you, make it a goal and be intentional on your efforts to make the goal a reality. This applies to your health as well as other aspects of your life.
About the Author:
Janice Coleman is a motivating communicator specializing in Preparing People to Perform through keynote presentations, customized training programs, and coaching. Janice has the capacity to deliver an action-provoking message to a variety of audiences. She has a vast professional background which affords her powerful in depth understanding of how to help others to become what they have been designed to be. If you are seeking to have a turnaround in your personal or professional world, Janice is the right speaker for you.
Click the following link to learn more about: Janice Coleman
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Look in the mirror and ask yourself some poignant questions. What am I seeing? Am I the man or woman that I should be? With honest answers in hand do something powerful today to make a change without guilt but for the love of you!
Here are the simple steps (motive, support, desired outcome) to a life changing action:
1) Become convinced of the love that you have to show yourself and the desire that you want to live in a state of great health by becoming the person that you have been designed to be from the inside out.
2) Partner with someone who loves you and will encourage you and also tell you the truth. Give them the latitude to say what they need to say when it needs to be said.
3) Set a reasonable goal that you can embrace. Remember that what you have to do may take a while to see results and therefore do not fall into the trap of being dismayed that your progress ebbs and tides. Make it easy on yourself this time around.
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