Special thought for all our newbies...

So it's been a long while since I posted this.  Now that we have a whole new batch of newbies, I'd like to share this bit of ....errrr......wisdom?  Yeah, ok, wisdom.

It's all about validation.  I've been noticing that many of you use the word "only" in describing your weight loss.  Yes, it's very frustrating when you reach a stall or you aren't losing large numbers per week for awhile.  But I urge you to erase the world "only" from your vocabulary.

One of our buddies, Mike Oxley, shared a story with me back when I was a newbie. . .

A friend of his was out shopping at Lowe's with his wife, who had had wls recently.  As they browsed the store, they were talking about her weight loss of late, & she said to him..."I only lost 3 lbs this week!"  He reminded his wife that she'd lost about 50 lbs so far, but she still insisted that "only 3 lbs wasn't enough."  After a bit of thought, he said, "let's go over to the garden section for a minute...I want you to try something.  So off they went.  He directed her to where the bags of mulch were.  "I want you to pick up that 50 lb bag of mulch & carry it around with you while we finish our shopping."  Well, of course she looked at him like he'd lost his mind, & even said as much.  His response..."honey, you were lugging that 50 lbs around for years, so why would you not be able to do it now?"

What he was trying to do was to put things into perspective for her.  And he made the point that there's no such thing as "only" for her anymore.  Each pound she lost was one less pound that she had to tote around anymore.

My darlings, you MUST retrain yourselves to validate your accomplishments.  For many, self esteem has taken a severe beating over the years just because we were obese.  We've all heard the comments made behind our backs, in a low voice, but not low enough that we didn't hear them.  We all got "the looks" of disdain.  We were all, at some point in time, made to feel ashamed of how we looked to others.  Yet, here you all are...you're meeting those demons & nay sayers head on.  You found the courage to push past your fears & sought out this wonderful tool that is working so beautifully for you.  So why minimize your accomplishment just because you lost 2 lbs in a week rather than 5 or 10 or 12?  EVERY pound lost counts & that's an amazing accomplishment.  OWN your accomplishment.  Proudly wave goodbye to each pound gone.

ONLY indeed!  I'm so very proud of you.

Awesome post Ann.  I always joked about losing a few Olsens (the Olsen Twins).  I visually think of two Olsens strapped to my back and giggle and that puts it into perspective for me like the mulch did in his story.  :)  HUGS Babe!

thank you so much for posting this... it's so true!!

THank you so much, Ann. This is so true. It really clicked for  me. I'll try not to ***** when the scale isn't budging. LOL!

Oh honey, ***** all you want!!  Just don't say "only" when referring to your losses.  I have a cartoon drawing of a lady standing on her bathroom scale, scowl on her face, .357 magnum in her hand, pointed at the scale!!  LOL

great post!

Thanks Ann!  That is really nice to hear.  SO, I have lost 17 pound instead of "only" and very happy that those 3    5 pound bags of sugar are not on my rump any longer.

EXACTLY!!  That's the spirit!!!