73 Days | It's Sunday...Be Encouraged!

I'm sharing something I wrote on my personal blog on January 13th last year.  I hope you find it powerful and encouraging.  Motivation to keep going!

Maybe today is the day you'll have a conversation with yourself...

Conversations with Myself

January 13, 2013

I'm discouraged today.  So, today is good time to go back and remind myself of how far I've come.  Recently, these commercials were released by Medifast meal replacements entitled "Conversations with Yourself."  

So, today I had a conversation with THIS girl--the girl on the beach in 2009.  This was not my heaviest weight.  I would gain about another 30+ pounds before I called my health coach and started my journey toward optimal health.  Here's what I would say to her, if I could go back and talk to her now.

"Your smile is beautiful, Julie, but I know how sad you really are. I know how painful this beach trip was for you, both physically and emotionally. I know how badly you wanted to play with your kids and run in the sand, but how hard it was for you to even walk to the place where you could sit. You're scared to try one more thing and fail--I get it. We've tried so many times to be free from the burden of obesity. But, you CAN do this! There IS hope. You WILL find it through friends who will tell you about their health coach and a program called Take Shape for Life. It will be the easiest plan you've ever done. You will LOVE it. And what you will really love? That it will work. And you'll finally experience the freedom you've wanted. You WILL run on this beach. Crazy, huh? But true. Don't ever give up. Give yourself this one more chance."

I DID run on that beach this summer.  Our daughter got lost in the mobs of people and was missing for about 5 minutes.  When I was told she was found at the next life guard station I RAN to her.  Down the coastline.  Through the difficult shifting sand.  And I didn't collapse or feel fatigued.  I felt like a healthy person, running on the beach.  There is ALWAYS hope.  But...even I need to be reminded of that some days! 

We have 73 more days together...please, don't give up!

74 Days | Think on What is True About the Future

To me, this is important to address, because so many of us have developed bad habits of the mind.  We need a healthy MIND to go with our healthy body.  So maybe you can relate to this.

I'm a worrier.  I blame my mother for this. (She knows!)  She is a self-proclaimed worrier.

I used to lay in bed for hours and "think."  That's what I would call it.  "Thinking."  But it was really worrying.  Fretting.  Fearing.

• What if my house burns down in the middle of the night?  Do my children know how to escape?  Do I know how to escape?
• What if God takes my children from me? Or my husband from me?
• Why isn't my friend talking to me?  I wonder how it will go when I see her/him tomorrow for the first time since the silence.
• When will I receive my cancer diagnosis?  Will I be afraid of dying?  
• What if I'm in a car accident?  What if Dan is in an accident?

I mean, you get the idea, right?  And those are just the big things.  I get frantic about details as well.

• Did I put everything on my list that I could possibly need for vacation?  Did I forget anything?
• What if I am asked to coordinate that event?  How could I do that with the most efficiency and excellence?

It really requires a lot of mental exercise to juggle so much concern.  

There were some MAJOR worries I had before I started my transformation.  Maybe you can relate to these:

• What if I just keep gaining weight?  Is this how I will die?
• What if I try to lose weight again and just can't?  Will I just fall into the pit of despair?
• What if everyone around me loses weight and I just keep getting bigger?  What if I can't walk up the stairs anymore?  What if I can't sit on that chair?  What if I can't fit through that space?  What if I get there and I can't do all that walking?  What if...

I was reminded of a powerful truth through Elizabeth George's book, "Loving God with All Your Mind."  I can't say it as well as she did, so I will simply quote her:

Oh, dear friend, whatever your 'what if' is, you must remember that 'what if' is only a guess.  If you want to overcome your fears, you cannot think 'what if' thoughts.  Instead...you and I must acknowledge that events in the future are not real.  We must eliminate this kind of speculative thinking because thoughts about the future are only guesses.'

Furthermore, the future is in God's hands--His loving, capable, merciful, powerful hands!  He can enable us to deal with what is real, with what is now.  And, the truth is, He will also be with us whatever the future holds.  Lo, He is 'with you always, even to the end of the age' (Matthew 28:20)!  Yes, we need to be prepared for things like earthquakes.  And yes, we need to be wise about our finances, our parenting, and our health.  But we don't need to waste energy worrying about what is not yet real, about things that may never come to pass.' 

God  calls us to handle each day, one at a time.  TODAY is real, and, Beloved, God will enable us to deal with what today holds.  THAT is what's true."

86 | Capturing Your Vision for the Future

Yesterday we talked about your motivation for being on this journey.  Today, I'm giving you a fun, helpful activity that will make your motivation really come to life for you.  This is a fun project to do alone or with a group of friends.

What is a Vision Board?

A vision board is typically a poster board on which you paste or collage images that you’ve torn out from various magazines. It’s simple. Really. If you don’t believe me, check out my free ebook on vision boards here.

The idea behind this is that when you surround yourself with images of who you want to become, what you want to have, where you want to live, or where you want to vacation, your life changes to match those images and those desires.

Supplies you’ll need for creating a Vision Board:

- Poster board. (Target sells a really nice matte finish board. I highly recommend it.)

-      - A big stack of different magazines. (Don’t have magazines?  Ask a hair salon, the library, a doctor’s office—they all just throw them away, typically!  Or do what I did—ask on Facebook.) Make sure you find lots of different types. If you limit your options, you’ll lose interest after a while.

-        

- Glue. Not Elmers. (It makes the pages ripple.) I like using I like Rubber Cement. Glue sticks are my second choice.

Here's my first vision board!  I love looking at this.  It's really time for me to make a new one.  So much of it has already happened.  We got a dog; I wore a dress similar to that one I have cut out (although at the time I cut that out, my goal was simply to WEAR a dress since I didn't wear them when I was obese); I grew my hair long (and cut it off again); I AM serving God through serving others; I DO dream out loud; I CAN zip boots up my calves; my family did travel a lot this past year...

The Five Steps of Creating a Vision Board:

Step 1: Go through your magazines and tear the images from them. No gluing yet! Just let yourself have lots of fun looking through magazines and pulling out pictures or words or headlines that strike your fancy. Have fun with it. Make a big pile of images and phrases and words.

Step 2: Go through the images and begin to lay your favorites on the board. Eliminate any images that no longer feel right. This step is where your intuition comes in. As you lay the pictures on the board, you’ll get a sense how the board should be laid out. For instance, you might assign a theme to each corner of the board. Health, Job, Spirituality, Relationships… Or it may just be that the images want to go all over the place.

Step 3: Glue everything onto the board. Add writing if you want. You can paint on it, or write words with markers.

Step 4: (optional, but powerful) Leave space in the very center of the vision board for a fantastic photo of yourself where you look radiant and happy. Paste yourself in the center of your board.

Step 5: Get out your mobile device and take a picture of your board.  This way, you’ll have it with you at all times.  Then, hang your vision board in a place where you will see it often.

Tomorrow we’ll talk about what I call “The Two Plates In Front of You”—and you’ll see why the vision board will be so helpful on your journey!

87 | What's Your Motivation?

So, here's today's question...

Why do you want to change?

No...really.  WHY?  Why would you do this 90 day challenge?

Why do you want to improve your health?

If you answered "to feel better" or "to look good" I have unfortunate news for you.  Your change will likely not be lasting.  

You might make changes at first, but soon one of two things will likely happen:

1) You'll have some measure of success and soon you will start to doubt that you need to continue and you'll go back to your old ways.

2) You will not have the success you're looking for, or at least not have it fast enough, and then you'll want to quit and return to your old habits.

Unclear motivation leads to a very predictable cycle:

• You take action steps
• You feel start to look and/or feel better
• The pressure to take action now lessens
• Your emotional conflict diminishes
• You don’t see a need to continue taking action
• Your original behavior returns.  

Be specific about all the thing you really WANT.  Grab onto something you can CREATE.

Here are two short stories to consider:
STORY #1

When Fear Comes Calling

Once upon a time you were lost in a dark forest.  The night sky was wrapped around you like a foreboding, menacing cloak.   You couldn't see more than a few feet in front of you.  With heart pounding, you put one step in front of the other in hopes to get out of the dense, dark wood.  And then, just when you thought it couldn't get worse, it does.

Wolves!

Despite your lack of clear vision, you begin to run.  The rhythm of your steps is keeping time with the pounding of your heart.  You can hear the beasts creeping in on you, so you look back to see if you can guess their distance.  THUD!  You trip over some vines and branches.  Your ankle twisted, your hands scuffed and your face bleeding, you find the strength to get up and keep on running.  Now you're stumbling, praying to God that you will get out alive, when suddenly a large fallen tree is in the middle of your path.  With hands throbbing in pain from your fall, you can hardly even think of how you can overcome this impossible obstacle.

Now you can hear their footsteps, almost feel their breath.

You throw your leg up over the tree, but you fall and miss your hurdle.  Don't stop now! you tell yourself, and despite your pain, you try one more time to get over the obstacle before you.  It seems impassable, and one more time you fail to clear the obstruction.  OH GOD, NO!

In hopeless surrender, you curl up in a ball and cry.  Tired.  Weak.  Injured.  And wolves...about to bear down on you.  There seems to be no escape.  You lay down and accept your fate.

Your last thoughts are of your family and how you never planned for this to be the end.

STORY #2

Where Treasure Awaits

You read the note again.

All the riches to sustain you and your family for the rest of your life await you under the Golden Gate Bridge.  You, your children, and your grandchildren will never want for anything.  The treasure chest has your name on it.  It's waiting for you to claim it.  All you have to do is get to it.  Oh, and you may not use any form of transportation other than your own two feet.

Would you go?  Of course!

You're out of shape, and it's a very, very long walk--so you better take some friends.  Make sure you have the proper clothing and all that you need for such a long distance.  Grab a map and...you're off.

It's a hard journey.  Much harder than you expected.  First, it's blisters on your heels.  Then pain in your thighs and calves.  Your back feels like you've carried bricks all day and your lips are chapped and dried from the sun.  You've hardly begun.

"Don't quit!  I'm with you!  Get up, and let's keep going.  Rest a day or two if you need to, but let's keep going," your friend says.

You cry, but know it's worth the pain.  You rest a few days and get back up to walk.  You limp, but others hold you and help you.  You rest when needed and walk when able.  At some points you even find the energy to run.

The Golden Gate Bridge is close now, but you begin to doubt.

"What if the treasure isn't actually there?  What if this isn't what I want?  I'm a total fool!"  You turn back and walk miles backward toward home, crying.

"You've come so far!  Please--don't go this way!  C'mon," your friend says.  "Just go look.  Go see if it's real.  Go see if it's really what you want."

For days you sit and think.  And then you get up and you keep walking toward the bridge.

There it is!  A treasure box with YOUR name on it, just like the note said.  You open it and begin to weep.  The journey was worth it!  You found exactly what was promised.

What's the Difference in These Two Stories?

A running from.
vs.
A running toward.

When fear motivates you--you will eventually lay down and give up.  It's too hard.  The inevitable will simply happen and you will be devoured.

When vision and hopes motivate you--you will press on at all costs.  When you see a treasure before you, you will find motivation to keep going even on the darkest most painful days!

So--what is motivating you?

Let's go back to today's question...

Why do you want to change?

Tomorrow we're going to starting talking about vision boards.  If you have some magazines handy, start flipping through them today...looking for images and words that inspire you!   My friends, we are all here together.  Not all of us will find it's worth it to go on this full journey.  But for those of you who can really find your "why"--we can be those friends that spur one another on when the trip gets difficult, when there's pain in our joints, when we doubt that what we want is really possible...

More on this tomorrow!