IFirst, let me say thanks to all of you who reached out to me after my last post. Sometimes you just gotta dump the negativity out into the world to get rid of it. Your messages to me on social media were exactly the boost I needed. I couldn't do this without you.

Thursday's WI had me down 1.8 pounds! I was pleased with the result after a full week of staying focused and accountable. I won't lie. I was a little disappointed it wasn't more. But, I stopped and thought how I would respond if a friend told me that news. I certainly wouldn't say, "Gee, that's good, but could be better." UGH. Why do we do this to ourselves?? I'm really working at trying to ditch that bad habit.

Did you catch on my social media accounts that I'm taking a No Diet Pop Challenge?

​As of this post, I'm 10 days in and doing fine! I really thought I'd struggle with caffeine withdrawal and get the classic headache, fatigue, etc. Color me surprised! Nothing like that so far (knock on wood!) The hardest part of the whole thing is when we go out to eat, I have to catch myself from ordering a Coke Zero. It's almost like it just wants to jump out of my mouth. 

If anyone wants to join me in ditching the diet pop, reach out! I'd love to be a support for you! It's never easy kicking a habit, especially one I've had for so many years. Leave a comment below or drop me at email at marierossiter@gmail.com! 

I'm on my way back to Ohio from Walt Disney World--will share more details on what I was doing for work down there and some interest health/food related stories tied to WDW after I get home and settled.

As for how i did with my eating plan, well...I cannot say I was an angel. But, if I'm living a heathy life, it's not always going to work that way. I can't be perfect. These two days were very important for me and I attended a number of business lunches and dinners. It was difficult to track it all. I could have tried harder in that area, but I did not. 

That being said, I was much more mindful of the choices I was making. Portion sizes were reasonable. I tried many new dishes (for me), including vegetarian and vegan options. Trust me when I say this is a stretch for my limited taste buds. And, 95% of the options were delicious! But, more on that to come!

I'm already back to full tracking and planning for the upcoming week. This is my life now: One or two days of iffy eating doesn't mean my week, or month, or year is shot. Just right back to it like nothing happened. 

Stay tuned! 

And here is one I made today, almost one year later:

This is not where I wanted to be at this point of the journey. I've been feeling a lot of "Woulda, coulda, shoulda" moments lately. 

The problem is I can't put my finger on what has gotten in my way, other than myself. 
A year stuck within the same 5 pounds, like riding a bungee cord, should have an explanation. Something is standing in the way of me staying focused for more than a few days at a time.

The reasons for the stall are pretty simple. Weight loss is primarily about calories in vs calories out. I'm taking too many calories in vs. how many calories I burn. I have been consistently tracking again for almost 3 weeks now, including the over calorie days. The numbers don't lie.

But, getting to the core reason behind my choice to go over on calories, even though I know I shouldn't, will be the key to getting me over this mountain.

You can see the frustration on my face. I KNOW what I want. I know WHY I want it. I need to make the choice to want it badly enough.

The good news in all of this is that I haven't totally given up. I have essentially maintained a 90+ lb. weight loss for a year. I've never done that before--EVER. That gives me hope. 

​Today, I weighed in at 293.4--up 2.8 pounds from last week. 

So, I dust myself off, look in the mirror, ask myself what I'm going to do to get where I want to go. Yeah, I'll beat myself up a little. But, not for long. I have too much work to do.

I don't know where I'll be in a year. I refuse to make promises that I'm uncertain I can keep.  But, I know I will work to continue to build and improve my habits and life to keep moving forward, no matter how small the distance I cover.

A few days ago, I started reading a book by Gary John Bishop called "UnFu*k Yourself: Get Out of Your Head and Into Your Life." To say that I've been stuck is an understatement. I'm not going to throw out a ton of excuses.

What matters is this: I have bounced around with the same 10 pounds for more than six months now. I'm tired of it. 

One of the first things Bishop talks about in the book is willingness. It has stuck in my head since I read it and I've actually gone back a few times to the chapter because I feel like it is a core element to my success. 

So, I asked myself, what exactly am I willing to do? What am I unwilling to do? I spent some time jotting down some thoughts and I wanted to share them. 

​

Bishop also talks about the importance of owning what we're not willing to do to meet our goals. I never thought about it that way, but I gave it a shot.
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After I wrote down these things, I felt at ease and in control for the first time in a while. Now that I know what I'm willing to do and not willing to do, I have a clearer sense of what needs to get done. I'm not going to have all the answers and I'm going to try to embrace uncertainty as I move forward.

What are you willing to do for yourself to meet your goals? What are you unwilling to do? The answers might surprise you! 

When it comes to goals, you've probably heard all about DREAMING BIG and don't limit yourself. Hell, I've said that in this very blog. The issue, though, is that I believe there's a difference between dreams and goals. We use the words interchangeably and maybe it's time to re-think it.

Over the past couple of days, we've written down a list of things we want to accomplish. Let's call those our dreams or our hopes. Today, we're going to start to move from daydreams to getting things done. And, that's where GOALS come in.

For me, goals are all about making a commitment to making my dreams come true. It's taking ACTION. 

After I wrote down my list of 50 dreams, I decided to narrow in on a few I wanted to address sooner rather than later. These became my goals for 2019.

Here's my list of 2019 goals: 

1. Complete my book manuscript
2. Get to "Onederland" (in other words, get out of the 200's on the scale)
3. Read more books
4. Weekly date night with Jon
5. Make more time for friends

 
Are there other things I want to do this year? Absolutely! But, these are the five things I've decided to commit to on a regular basis this year. 

But, looking at that list is still a bit overwhelming. I mean, finish my book draft? Lose 80+ pounds? Read more? Socialize more? HOW HOW HOW??

By being as specific as I can and then breaking it down into bite-size pieces (hard to resist the eating metaphors.)

Let's take a look at a couple of my goals. I've wanted to complete a book manuscript for 15 YEARS!! Just thinking about it has given me writer's block. It's a lot to process.

But this year, I've committed to writing a minimum of 500 words a day. That's it. 500 words. For me, that's a pretty easy number to reach. It doesn't seem like much. But, if I did that every day of 2019, I'll have 182,500 words down! That's probably two manuscripts' worth of material there. 

Have I written every day? No. But my goal is manageable enough that if I miss one day, then I can make it up pretty easily. Less is more in this case. It allows me to show myself some grace (which is a MAJOR challenge for me.) At 500 words a day, I should be able to finally get a crappy draft done, which will hopefully lead to bigger and better things in the future. 

I have to start somewhere. Why not small?

Because small often seem like not "enough."

My perfectionist, all-or-nothing self HATES the word "enough." It sounds like settling. 

I call bullshit. Bullshit on my thinking and bullshit on yours.

What is your "enough" when it comes to your goals for 2019? What's a small step you can take that is enough to get you farther than you ever have before when it comes to one of your dreams?

Will I finish all my goals in 2019? Who knows? But, I'm pushing aside the fear and doubt and moving toward it one tiny step at a time.

Today, take the goals you chose from yesterday and figure out the small steps you can take to get closer to it. Share it with me in the comments or send me a message. Whatever you want! 

You are enough! Doing a little bit of something every day is enough! Let's take the stigma out of "enough" once and for all.

See you tomorrow!

~Marie

Yesterday was all about getting all that clutter in your brain out so you can sort through it. I talked about doing a brain dump. This is just where I sit down and list all the things I want to accomplish or am dealing with in this busy brain. 

The planner my husband got for me for Christmas had a page specifically for goals. 50 of them, to be exact. My perfectionist self almost peed my pants with anxiety. But, I spent some time with it and was surprised at what I came up with in a short period of time. 

There are goals on there that are so far out in the distance, it can be hard to imagine it. Some of them I didn't even know I really had on my "bucket list" until I put it down on paper. You may notice some are very general: let go of past mistakes Yet, others are very specific, like "run a 5K fully."

I found once I got them down onto paper (or in a file, if you prefer), they were easier to manage. 

From this totally overwhelming list, I narrowed down three to five to start focusing on for this year. Will I get it done by December 31, 2019? Ah, don't jump ahead of me. We'll get to that later this week.

Tonight, I want you to look through your list and choose just a couple you might want to focus on first. Don't worry about timelines or anything. Just find something that is meaningful to you.

Tomorrow, we'll start looking at how to go for them!!

Until then, keep dreaming!

​~Marie