And My Grand Total Pounds Released for the Week is….

Yeah, you’re going to have to keep reading to find out. Come on, my little devil has been behaving all week. So figured I’d let her have a little fun with this blog. 

Course, my little angel will give you a little update regarding the term “released”. Our group health coach, Melissa, is big on us avoiding certain words that could sabotage us achieving our goals. For example, she doesn’t like the word “try”. If we’re really committed to our goals, then we have to say “I will” or “I am going to”. Saying “I’ll try” says you’re not fully committed, so I need to break the habit of saying I’ll try and just say I will. She also prefers that we not refer to our drop in weight as “losing” weight. Her thought is that most “lost” things are “found”. But when you “release” something, its permanent. So, from now on, you’ll get to her about how many pounds and inches I’ve “released”. 

This week’s group meeting topic was Self-Esteem & Confidence. Melissa gave us Webster’s definition for “confidence”:

“The quality or state of being certain. A feeling of being unstoppable. “

Being one who often struggles with low self-esteem and confidence, both my little angel and devil were all ears for today’s meeting.

First, she talked about ways our self-esteem get destroyed. She asked if anyone in the room felt they had bad self-esteem. Knowing that being 100% honest is the only way for me to breakdown all my obstacles, I raised my hand. The health coach asked me when did I first notice I had low self-esteem. My little angel gave me strength to be honest as I said, “my self-confidence has been on an up and down roller-coaster all my life.” At that point, she reminded everyone that what is said there stays there (so we build trust by not talking about others outside the group, but I can talk about myself). So then she asked me, was there a particular moment I can remember. Knowing that this was only an hour session and wanted to give others a chance to talk, I decided to just summarize it.

I just spoke briefly about some of my illnesses as a kid, moving, then losing my very close cousin, Michael to leukemia, and my other real life angel, Teresa Foley, who died tragically in a bathtub accident a little over a year later.   I learned years later that all these experiences proved that I was a natural survivor, but at the time, I lost a lot of self-esteem.  It was just the first of many times over the years my emotional roller coasters would knock down my self-esteem.   But I can say that I now know I am a strong natural survivor who can overcome any obstacles, which my little angel reminds me is the reason why I know I am in the best mind to be successful finally at this goal.

Next, we spoke about ways to build our confidence and self-esteem.  A few items she mentioned were pretty obvious after she said them.  Dressing confident and having good posture will give you that natural confidence.  Self-talk, like being positive and telling yourself you can, will also help build or maintain confidence levels.  Through a little in class exercise, I also learned that by taking on risks to conquer my fears, I improve my self-esteem significantly.  I'm not ready yet to have tons of pictures of me taken, but by setting like goals to conquer something each week or month, will have me ready for a full photo spread by next summer.  While my little angel is quite happy about this thought, my little devil is excited about being able to divert some its stored energy into helping me take some risks to help me get over some of the fears that sometimes prevents me of trying new things.  Don't worry, my little angel is making sure its all legal and safe.  

She also gave us a list of about 20 Basic Needs that if they aren't met, our self-esteem and confidence level can be low.   As I looked over the list, I can tie in some other moments in my life where my confidence & self-esteem were low to a specific need that was missing in my life at the time.   So, it was all starting to make sense.   My little angel tells me to hang on to this list.  I can use it as future warning of potential triggers & develop a plan to stop my little devil from sabotaging my goals.   Course, all of us laugh a little when one of them is "being touched".  If people don't not experience other human touch after a while, it can have a negative impact on their self-esteem too.  However, we're not laughing at the concept, but more at how my sister, Deb, who is one of the most confident people I know, yet, we lovingly refer to her as our "Don't Touch Me Sister".   :-)

Finally, we touched on our SMART goals.   I created 3 goals as I was supposed to, but I'll need to redo one of them.  I got kudos for attaching a reward idea to each, but I forgot one of them had to be about a nutritional goal - all 3 of mine were physical goals.   However, she still likes my goals and said adding a 4th  would be OK if I wanted.

Oh wait....I guess that's not really final now is it.   My little angel has reminded me that I've left you in suspense long enough.  How much weight did I release this week?  After giving up all sugar, with the help of a great support system, managing to exercise 3 days in this heat, I released a total of ...............................7.2 pounds!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!   My little devil couldn't help but do a little dosey-do with my little angel in celebration when the number came up on the scale!   Woo Hoo!!!!

Needless to say, this has been a great boost for my self-confidence.   I did notice after week 2 of group classes, that to really insure achieving my goals, I do much better with the individual one-on-one health coach sessions.  So I approached Melissa after this class and asked her if I could sign up for the separate one-on-one health coaching too.  She was very excited to tell me yes, and that she would be my health coach for all them!   So I will have my first official session with her next week!  I'm feeling even more excited and optimistic about finally getting where I need to be in the natural healthy way.  

Oh..one last note.   She also asked everyone if they felt they had a support group outside of the group sessions.    There were only 2 of us who said we did.  So thank all of you for your wonderful comments & actions of support.  And those of you who have offered to work out with me, I will take you up on those offers soon.    

Thanks again and until next time, have a wonderful week!