Small Victories

This weight loss gig is all about stringing together a bunch of small victories.  The individual weeks aren't much to write about in their own right.  I mean, don't get me wrong, I love seeing that scale work it's way down to smaller numbers each week, even if it is just a fraction of a pound.  But when we look at the bigger picture and see how those small victories each week add up, it is inspiring!  :)  

But victories aren't just won on the scale.  Sometimes those little differences add up to what we call non-scale victories.  And to be honest, when I thought about this blog on Monday, I thought I'd just be writing about non-scale victories because I really didn't think I was going to lose.  I had not been very faithful to take my Plexus products every day and I had made some eating choices that weren't quite in line with WW guidelines.  So, I was fully expecting to have to admit to the few of you who actually read this blog that I had not lost any weight this week or that I had gained.

In fact, I was so sure that's the direction that my blog was going to take that my subconscious created quite the picture in my dreams the night before weigh-in day.  I dreamed, probably in the wee hours of Tuesday morning, that I was at my friend's house.  This friend is also doing WW and has been a great encouragement to me.  In real life, her birthday was Monday and she had posted pictures of her family birthday celebration, so I'm sure this played into my subconscious story line.  Anyway, her family had prepared this HUGE spread of yummy food.  In my dream, I had stopped by on my way to weigh-in and told my friend that I was going to gain anyway so I might as well enjoy myself...and pulled up a chair!  LOL!

So, before I get to what actually happened on the scale at weigh-in on Tuesday, let me share with you the story I planned to tell about my non-scale victory.  This past weekend, I was outside with my kids.  Our house is on a little over two acres of land, in the shape of a rectangle...which means we don't have a lot of space on the sides of our house, but we have a fair amount in the front and a HUGE amount in the back.  It's one of the things that attracted me to the house because it offered my kids a great area to run, play, and explore.  However, in the four and a half years we have lived in this house, I had never been toward the back of the property.  I don't think I've made it more than a few yards away from our back door, to be honest.  It always seemed SOOOOOOOOO FAR!  I would be out of breath just getting off the back poarch (or lanai, as it is called in Florida) and to the kids' playground.  But this past weekend when I was out in the back yard looking for something my kids had lost, I found myself at the far back and feeling fine!  That, my friends, was a HUGE victory that can't be measured on a scale but came as a result of all those small victories on the scale that helped me get healthier.

So, as I walked into the WW meeting on Tuesday morning to face the scale, I was hoping for the best but prepared for the worst.  I honestly thought if I lost anything, it would be half a pound or less.  BUT...the scale showed that I had lost a WHOLE POUND!!!!  Now, a pound might not seem like much to you...but when you add that pound to the others that have left before it, you find that I've now lost a total of 53.6 pounds!  According to the weight-loss pictures I've found online that compare pounds lost to objects that you can hold and measure, I've lost 21 horseshoes!!!  My nephew would be so proud...because while I have no idea what 21 horseshoes weighs, I bet he does!  He owns and shows horses, so he's held a few horseshoes in his lifetime, I'm sure!

So...while a pound might not sound like much, to me, it was a BIG deal!  It's all in how you look at things!  When I thought I'd lost less than half a pound and saw the scale move more than that, a whole pound was almost enough to make me do a happy dance.  But other weeks, when I thought I'd had a pretty good week and the scale only showed a pound (or less) lost, I could easily get discouraged.

That's why it is important to take those small victories and then look at how they are adding up to get you to that big goal!  I can look at the one little pound I lost this week...or I can look at the 53.6 pounds I've lost since the end of August...or I can look at the fact that I still have probably another 100 pounds to go.  If I focus on the 1 pound or the 100 left to go, I'm probably gonna feel discouraged....but if I focus on the 53.6 pounds that have left my body in a little over 5 months, I'll realize just how far I've come and that the rest of the journey is just as doable...and I'll feel encouraged!  So, that's where I'm trying to keep my focus these days!  :)

Want to know more about WW, Plexus, or my journey in general?  Feel free to comment with your email below and I'll be happy to tell you more!  :)

God bless you!  <3