What Have You Done Today to Make You Feel Proud?

With all of this talk we've been doing about our childhoods and how they affect us psychologically today, I'm proud to say that most people would never guess that I had the childhood that I had.  In the sixties it was very rare for child services to remove a child from a home, but I did have a doctor ask me if I wanted to stay there or go and live with a relative.  Well no, because it would get better as soon as my Daddy got back from Vietnam for the second time.  Well, how was I to know that he would come back with traumatic stress syndrome and start pointing guns at us cuz he thought we were Charlie.

But I say this to make a point.  Life is hard.  People have issues that we can never understand until we walk a mile in their shoes.  There is evil in this world that we are constantly bombarded with.  And people say and do things callously that can cut us to the core and they don't even realize it.  How we deal with these things is what will determine whether or not we will be successful at getting this fat off of our bodies or not.  The people I know who have been successful are the ones who learn how to deal with the emotional stress BEFORE stress eating happens.  The best thing that ever happened to me was reading a book called Your Inner Child.  I took the child inside of me by the hand and led her out of her situation and promised her that I would be the responsible adult in her life and I wouldn't let anyone hurt her.  Basically what that did was reassure me that I, Mary, was going to be the one to take care of ME!

I know I may come across sometimes as being harsh, but if you have a goal and there is an obstacle in your way...mainly YOU, I say, DEAL WITH IT!  I may have gained weight because my Mama was mean to me, but that doesn't mean that her opinion matters one way or another to me now.  Once I realized that she had mental issues, why would I let the distorted opinions of a crazy lady affect me?  Well I could, but I CHOSE not to.  

  So here's to all of us!  We're trying to do the right thing by ourselves now.  Our spirits are linked to our Father in heaven who loves us UNCONDITIONALLY.  And we have goals that can only be attained by US, no one else can do this for us.  I pray that all of our journeys are successful!

Mary   

Amen Mary!  In my response to Neecee's post the other day, the low self-esteem that I talked about was directly related to self-pity about my childhood or whatever was happening at that moment.  Until I was able to work through it, I wasn't able to TRULY be happy and feel good and look good.  Yanno, it recently happened again and it took me awhile to figure it out even though I'd btdt SO many times.  I  was wallowing in self-pity about my boob drama and feeling horrible about myself and I'm proud to say that after much practice over the years, I recognized it and pulled myself out of it before I gained a hundred pounds.
Life isn't always easy but how we deal with it determines our happiness.  Trix's friend Carrie is a great example of CHOOSING to be happy rather than wallowing in self-pity 'cuz lord knows if anyone deserves to wallow, it's Carrie.  But wallowing is TOXIC to her and her body and those around her. 
 ya,
Kimmie

Kimmie, when I was talking about people who were successful at getting the fat off of their bodies, you are one of the ones I was talking about.  Knowing what I know about your childhood, I'm so proud of you that you were able to work through all of the emotional crap that accompanies it to learn to deal with how this affects your self esteem and how that affects our eating patterns.  You're a warrior woman!

I have a cousin who was huge...I'm talking one of the "Butt Sisters"!  She had an abusive marriage and when she got a divorce, she went down to a size two.  She mustered the inner strength not to let what a mean spirited control freak told her was wrong with her every day of her life by taking control. 

Viva Control, Girlie!

Mary

Nicely said Mary. We have to forgive and reconcile not only with those who hurt us from the outside but the that one person who hurts us most from the inside...US. It's not until we forgive that we can move forward because otherwise we will always be tied down to the past and nothing will ever change.

Anyway, today was my 2nd day doing dry runs on the bus and I have my routes almost memorized. Feels damn good, too.

I got my grocery shopping done, did 5 miles on my st. bike last night, and weighed in 3.25 pounds lighter at TOPS last night. I also rededicated myself to my diet and exercise yesterday. I WILL be in the 200's before Christmas of this year, only 18 pounds to go.

Beth

18 lbs.  Wow, what a great Christmas present to yourself.  We wish you a Merry Christmas Beth!  At the rate you're going, your Christmas present may be here by Thanksgiving.  

Mary

ok, apparently, my day wasn't over. lol I just have to add that I did 6 miles on my sta. bike in 39 minutes without stopping. Not too shabby, me thinks.

Beth

Wow Beth!  Now that's something to be proud of....go girl!!

Yo Beth, at this pace...you should be skinny by Halloween!  

Mary

I weighed at the hospital this morning and the scale (the one I use on a reg basis) read 312! TOPS Thursday night said 318. 6 pounds since Thursday night? That's freaky especially since these two scales have always agreed.

I'll take it but it is definitely freaky.

It's freaky allright, but don't question it...just go with it.  Any downward movement on a scale is a blessing from heaven!  

Mary