Pretty one more time!

First of all, many thanks to those who have written supportive comments. It is touching that complete strangers reach out with words of kindness and encouragement. The world is full of wonderful people, and it renewed my faith in humanity to virtually meet some of you. All of your blogs give me a glimpse into your weight loss journey and struggles. I see your triumphs too and that makes me want to succeed . So thanks for sharing, and I hope I can give something back that might help you.

 I wanted to mention a commercial I saw the other day for Jenny Craig with Carrie Fisher in it. Often I just have the TV playing in the background, not paying any attention to what's on. However, I stopped for a minute when I heard Carrie say 'thanks for letting me be pretty one more time'. I even took a moment to jot that down. It struck a chord with me.  She's lost thirty pounds and feels pretty again as she once did many years ago.

Another aha moment for me. Part of the process of gaining weight, is that with every pound you gain, I think you lose a little bit of your self. It's can be gradual, like the weight gain, and before you know it the inner you is changing. I think you lose a little self confidence & self worth with every pound you gain, and I also think you lose some physical stamina and physical attractiveness. Attractiveness is subjective of course, but many people who are overweight don't feel pretty or attractive. I don't.

Some of these feelings I attributed to getting older. I have little laugh lines and crows feet, hair that's not so soft and silky anymore, etc., etc. . Part of it I attribute to people who only look a few years younger than me, calling me Ma'am!  But a large part of the reason is because I need to lose weight. I don't feel good about myself.  I don't like the way I look in photos, or the glimpses of myself that I see while passing by a store mirror or window. When I would get dressed up for a family gathering or party I swear I looked  pretty darn good when I left. But then someone had to share their photos on Facebook, and my first thought was 'where is the old me, and who is that woman?'

I'm not saying that you can't be pretty if you are overweight.  I know that true beauty comes from within. Let's face it though, looking better, feeling better and being healthy are the real benefits of being at a normal weight.It's want I want to achieve. 

So, I want to feel pretty again one more time just like Carrie. I want to have a spring in my step and a glow on my face (even with the midlife wrinkles!) More importantly, I want to gain back some of the inner self that I have lost over the years. Self confidence, self worth, self esteem,  Maybe in the past I felt prettier because I took more time for myself, took better care of myself and sometimes put myself before everyone else. Marriage and children, work and family, all got put ahead of me over the years. Now's my time to look pretty!

One last thought, when my boys where little, I read a story of a woman who had a little saying that she said to her children as she hugged them goodbye each morning. I copied that idea and whenever they left for the morning bus, or even later as they were driving out the driveway, I would say the following "work hard, place nice, be kind, go to your destiny, fear nothing". I said that everyday, wrote that in their yearbooks, on birthday and graduation cards, and still say it when I see them. I think I will make that my sign off for this blog. It really is a  nice saying with wonderful meaning.

Goodbye for now! Work hard, play nice, be kind. Go to your destiny! Fear nothing!

Thought for the day:

"Tomorrow is the most important thing in life. It comes into us at midnight very clean. It's perfect when it arrives and it puts itself in our hands. It hopes we have learned something from yesterday"  John Wayne

What's exciting me today:

*The heatwave is gone, the air is cool and clean and a breeze is blowing. Windows are open, AC off!

* Got new contact lenses and seeing better than ever!

*My pepper plant has little peppers on it, and seeing lots of growth in my garden.

*lost a little over a pound!!! (would have been more, but there was that paella incident!)

*Master Chef is on tonight (my husband says maybe losing weight wouldn't be so hard if I stopped watching cooking shows so much! LOL! He may have a point!)