This is a artical on Roni's weigh loss blog, if intersted I will get the exact website for you.
I found this article very interesting, and very true. So often we dont give ourselves enough credit for the little things we have accomplished along the way. So I sat back after reading this and decided that for five minutes I was going to contemplate all the things that I have accomplished with my weigh loss efforts this week. It took the whole five minutes and the more I thought about it the more little things i came up with. I walked away from the computer feeling more motivated than ever before. I also walked away with the catch phrase "I own that!" I posted a reply to this question on her site and on it I wrote this was an AhHah moment for me. I tell my daughters a hundred times a day, be nice. how often do we tell ourselves to be nice, give yourself some positive self talk, I know it helped me today.
See ya
chels
That’s great! I only managed 4 miles today."
That was one of the comments I received after I posted about finishing the 10 mile race on Sunday. As soon as I read it I knew what the Question of the Week needed to be. I’m so guilty of this it’s not even funny and I know some of you are too. How many times have you uttered a phrase similar to this…
"I ONLY lost 1 pound this week."
Every time I see that I want to say…
"WHAT?! You better own that loss! You WORKED for it!"
When we use words like "only", "just", and compare ourselves to others we undermine our own efforts. Think about what that original commenter did. She totally disregarded her 4 mile run. FOUR MILE RUN! A run, any run, should be celebrated. The fact that we get out of bed in the morning should be celebrated. Every time we chose an apple over chips OR make dinner instead of ordering in OR go for a walk instead of plopping in the front of the TV OR when we stop eating when we’re full. ALL OF IT should be celebrated.
Don’t get me wrong, I don’t think we need to call mom up every time we make a good choice but if WE don’t recognize our own efforts who will? Some may say it’s gloating, I don’t think so. I think it’s got everything to do with attitude. If you you don’t feel good about the choices you are making, if you aren’t proud of them then what motivation do you have to continue down a healthier path? Why bother?
Let’s rewrite our "only" comment to change it’s tone…
"That’s great! I ran 4 myself! Aren’t we AWESOME!"
Now…. isn’t that better? There’s no need to undermine an amazing accomplishment like a 4 mile run! If you are being so kind to support someone and lift their spirits then do yourself a favor and lift yourself up as well. It’s not a competition, we are all in it together.
OK, now it’s fess up time… Are you guilty of undermining your efforts? Do you sell yourself short? Do you say "only" a lot?
Interesting that you post this today. Just yesterday I was talking with a group of quilters. We were discussing our habit of pointing out our mistakes. When someone gives us a compliment we are quick to say yes But I made a mistake here or I chose the wrong color fabrics or that seam is crooked. It's the same way with us. If someone gives you a compliment on your weight loss do you say "Well, it's taken me 2 years"? instead of Thank You or I've stuck with the program for 2 years. We are our harshest critics.
Chels, Thanks for the positive ideas. I think we ALL do this more than we realize. Just last night we were talking about WW and I said I had been lifetime for a little over year but it took me a really long time to lose 75 lbs. When I was reading your post I thought about what I said totally different. I shouldn't focus on how long it took to lose it, just that I did lose it.
