The Biggest Loser: Change is Hard

I gained .3 pounds. And I know why, too.

I ate too many processed things and over-ate a tad at a barbecue on Saturday. But I don't feel too bad because my eating habits have still improved. Drastically. Not slightly. Improved drastically. And that, dear reader, has made all the difference in the world!

Thoughts on the Show:

I can't stand Melissa. I was so upset she made it back on the show. Victoria making it, though? Awesome. AWESOME!

I was also very, very sad to see Stephanie go. I liked her so much.

Thoughts on Weight Loss:

I really like what Jillian and Bob say on the show about stress. Stress causes so many problems, and it can really inhibit weight loss. Why? Because stress makes the body go into panic-mode, thereby making it save everything it can to survive. I honestly think part of my success now (besides eating so much better) is letting go of the stress around me.

Did you know, that besides my church service (which is invaluable to me), my only responsibility is to be a mother and wife? Yeah, those are heavy, heavy, and exhausting responsibilities, but! They are my choice. And my happiness. Realizing that I can now put every effort into being a great mom and wife (rather than trying to gain approval for external desires) has lifted such a burden from my shoulders. I'm so sad it's taken me over 9 years to figure this out.

In Sunday School, we were learning about how we can alter our way of thinking to avoid becoming angry with our spouse or family members. It made me think of the story that I try to share often, because of it's profound affect on me (and is relevant to this blog post, I promise):

I wanted Brandon to eat family dinner with us each night at 6PM. I knew he could be home at 6PM and I wanted to eat then. Eating together was my goal. But every night, Brandon would come home at 6:10PM. Or 6:30PM. He never came home by 6PM! If he did, it was rare. This made me so angry! Why couldn't he see how important it was for us to eat together? Why was he being so selfish? I talked to him about it. I demanded it. I was firm. But nothing changed. Just more apologies and more missed dinners.

And then one day, I had a profound thought (that came from the Holy Ghost, I have no doubt): Why don't we eat dinner at 7PM?

It completely changed everything.

Why not, indeed? My goal was to eat as a family, right? We can just as easily do this at 7PM as we can at 6PM. I can give the kids a snack at 5PM if I have too. Why not?

So I changed it. And from then on, we ate together as a family. Without anger, without resentment, without late-ness.

Sure, people could say that Brandon was being selfish in not changing. But they could just as easily say the same thing about me. It wasn't about him or me --it was about the goal to eat together. And by compromising my idea of what had to happen, it worked.

That's how it can be with your weight-loss journey. Sure, it's easy to say that you can't change. That you won't, don't know how, that it's impossible. But you would be wrong. Because you just need to think outside the box. Think of your eating habits and exercise habits and food in general in a new way. What can you change? How can you change? What do you have to do to make it work?

It's possible. I promise.