This month, nine years ago, I met my Weight Watchers
goal set by my doctor. Nine years ago, I
stood in a dressing room in both disbelief and tears of all I had
accomplished. Nine years ago, I lost 130
pounds.
I’d like to say that I am still at my goal weight as
I was 100% positive that I would keep the weight off. Sadly, that isn’t the case. Even though I am no longer at my goal weight,
I’ve been working hard to get back there.
Honestly, I didn’t think it would take me this long either.
The have learned many lessons along my maintenance journey and the most important lesson is to be kind to myself.
The have learned many lessons along my maintenance journey and the most important lesson is to be kind to myself.
When I lost the weight, in addition to being very
public during my weight loss journey, I got so many wonderful compliments. When I kept the weight off for several years
after, I continued to get compliments but they were geared more towards the
longevity of staying at my goal weight.
As the scale started to creep up, nobody said anything. Talking about weight gain is so taboo where
talking about weight loss become so natural.
Plus, I was already beating myself up enough that I didn’t need anybody reminding
me that I wasn’t as thin as I had been.
This is why kindness is so important. I am no less of a person after re-gaining
weight than I was at 304.8 pounds. And
while I am continuing to work hard to get back to goal (some days my motivation
is more on track than others) I have also learned so much about myself through
this process. I am not the same person I
was when I got to goal so I can’t expect to get back to goal in the same way.
I have lost almost 30 pounds of my re-gain weight…and
it feels so good to be able to say that on this nine year milestone
anniversary.
I will admit that seeing some of the photos from our
recent Vegas trip didn’t make me very happy.
But, I also remember that at 175 pounds, I was still picking myself apart
in a photo. Some days I have to look in
the mirror and say, “there is nothing you can do about how you look today so go
out there and be as confident as you can.”
Regardless of what size I’ve been in my life, I
notice that I’m always smiling in my photos.
Try and find the positives in your life and above all, be kind to
yourself.
Here is a look back at my other goal/maintenance anniversaries:
1 comment:
Such a great post, Lindsay. It's amazing how we pick ourselves apart no matter where we're at. I struggled to see myself in photos at my heaviest, yet during the few years when I was thin, I obsessed about my image constantly. As I'm working my way back down again slowly, I hope I can be more practical about these things, to make peace with who I am today instead of constantly trying to be someone that doesn't exist.
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