I’m staring at a mountain. It’s huge, it’s in my way, and there’s no path around. What am I going to do?
I need to lose 40lbs, preferably 60.
That’s the size of a standard poodle!
How am I ever going to get there? It seems impossible.
Fortunately for me, I have done this before so I know that it is possible. So it’s time for me to revisit the lessons I learned last time.
Last time, I didn’t understand that BMI was complete bunk and thought that I had to lose 100lbs. (I would learn that I naturally have a large BMI and if I were to reach the “ideal,” I would look emaciated.) 100lbs was a very scary number. It stopped me in my tracks and I just couldn’t figure out how I would every achieve something like that.
Then, I took a deep breath and asked myself, “If I can’t lose 100lbs, what can I do?”
I know I can lose 5lbs.
So I did. Then I lost 10. Then 15. Then 20. Then 25. I kept losing weight until I had lost 55lbs and learned that I didn’t even need to lose the full 100. I had torn down that mountain bit by bit and discovered it wasn’t as big as I thought it was.
Setting smaller, more manageable goals makes any monumental task achievable. Each achieved goal moves you closer to the end, boosts your confidence, and teaches you valuable lessons about the challenge in front of you.
I had a mantra I had used last time and still use when I feel overwhelmed:
Do what you can do. Then do it again. And again. And again. Do it enough, and you’ll find you could do the impossible all along.
Do something easy. Do something positive. See where it takes you. It could be the greatest achievement of your life.
Could You Diet For Me? 
Well Kimberly…. Aren’t we alike in a lot of ways! Wow. You are right, most of us that fight emotional eating end up this way. We lose and then gain back because we haven’t really found a way to manage our stress, anxiety, hurt… etc. I am happy to have stumbled upon you blog and have started following you. If you’d like, stop by my blog and look around. I just started in a few months ago and struggled a little with what exactly I wanted to convey through it…but each and every day I work toward it as I know it will help keep me accountable. Plus there are so many people here so far that are very encouraging. I hope to hear more of your journey….. Debi 🙂
Thanks for the support, Debi! It is so much easier to get the blog ball rolling if I know I’m not just talking into an echo chamber!
It’s so true. Sometimes people focus to much on solving the symptoms and not the cause of their weight problem. They might get slim to fit in that wedding dress but they haven’t really learned what they needed to know.
Support and encouragement can sometimes mean the difference between struggling and succeeding and I’m glad that you found that here!
Reblogged this on Saving My Life and commented:
Such good advice
Such great adivce
Anything is possible, but we need to provide a path. One step at a time! It’s not linear and if we are disciplined and patient, we will get there. Glad to have found your blog!
Thanks for the support! I couldn’t agree more. There’s a picture that makes it’s rounds from time to time that shows two drawings with arrows and it about success. One says “what people think it is” and shows a straight arrow. The other says “what it actually is” and shows an arrow with a squiggly mess in the middle that eventually reaches the end.
That’s what most projects are like. As long as we try to learn from what doesn’t work and move on, we will never truly be a failure, just further down that squiggly line.
Thanks for the support! I couldn’t agree more. There’s a picture that makes it’s rounds from time to time that shows two drawings with arrows and it about success. On says “what people think it is” and shows a straight arrow. The other says “what it actually is” and shows an arrow with a squiggly mess in the middle that eventually reaches the end.
That’s what most projects are like. As long as we try to learn from what doesn’t work and move on, we will never truly be a failure, just further down that squiggly line.
I posted that one on my blog a few months back. That really describes it, doesn’t it?