Tag: #weightwatchersreimagined

Positive Body Image…. Getting There

On By TerriIn Mindset2 Comments

This week’s topic in WW Workshops is on Body Image. A hard topic for many of us. And it does not matter if you are old or young. It does not matter if you are male or female. It does not matter if you are overweight or thin. Many of us struggle with those negative body images.  Some of those thoughts have been ingrained in our minds for years, said by others to us, or just said to us by us.  And it doesn’t help that we are bombarded, daily, by images on social media and on TV that show us the “perfect” bodies.  The struggle is real for so many of us. 

Do you struggle with finding positive things to say or think about your body? I do. 

Do you find yourself speaking negatively about your body?  I do. 

Maybe it is your arms, or your neck, or your legs or your stomach or ???

This week, WW helps us to identify the negative things we think and/or say about our bodies and then gives us tools to help us change the way we think. Techniques that help us turn the negative to a positive. A shift in mindset.  And one that is HARD.  It requires awareness and honesty with ourselves.  And it requires INTENTIONALLY focusing on something positive rather than ALLOWING the negative to define us. 

As I sat in a workshop yesterday morning, I heard the negative things I have said and what I still say about my body. I do not like my arms, those who attended my workshops knew that.  I have shared it in workshops when we had body image discussions.  And I have been working on changing that mindset.  I am finding it a little easier and sometimes even automatic to say a positive about my arms now, but it took me time to get to this place.  I look for the good my arms can do now, rather than focusing on the jiggling loose skin on my arms.  The more I have practiced saying the positives and focusing on the positives, the more it has become automatic.  I am starting to like my arms.  I am wearing sleeveless shirts at home now, but not yet ready to venture out into the world….. almost there. 

But yesterday morning in that workshop I heard other negative things about my body. Ugh! Too many.  When did this happen?  Have I always been so negative?  I never noticed before because it was ingrained in me and automatic…. Said and thought without noticing what was happening.  Like being on autopilot….it just happens. 

Hearing those thoughts hit me.  Hard!  I wasn’t aware before, but I am now aware.  And awareness is the first step in making a shift in my thoughts, the first step in changing. 

So, this week, thanks to the workshop, I am working on shifting how I see just one body part.  Just one.  That I CAN do.  I am focusing on how I see my stomach/abs. I do not like my stomach/abs. Period!  NEVER have!  Loose skin sucks— a negative thought.  Stretch marks are incredibly ugly—another negative thought.  Look at those rolls…. Ugh— another negative.  I look pregnant from the side in this shirt—negative!  And even more negatives run through my head, especially when I look in the mirror—with or without clothes, it really doesn’t matter.

The leader asked us to come up with something positive, something that part of our body can do for us.  Hmmm….. I struggled with this.  My first thought was- “Really?  What can this do?  Nothing.”  But then I really started to think.  And I came up with something—

–-My stomach is strong enough to help hold my spine steady, keeping me from throwing my back out and landing in the hospital.  Okay—positive.

And…. Well….. nothing else comes to mind, just yet.  So, one positive right now.  And that one positive is better than none.

Now, to do an old activity from a WW Workshop in the past—this week, every day I will stand in front of my mirror and look at my stomach (THAT is going to be hard, but CHANGE is HARD!) and I am going to think about the positive, the one positive I have come up with (and I will try to come up with another).  By practicing saying and thinking about the positive, then it will become easier and eventually will replace the negative.  Eventually…..

What ONE body part are you negative about?  What ONE body part can you focus on this week?  What positive thing can your body part do for you, right now?  Once you pick the body part and find the positive(s), then practice saying them while looking in the mirror….or, if you cannot look in the mirror, then practice saying the positive while visualizing your body part.  The more you say it, the more you will believe it.  And that is how we shift our negative thoughts to positive!

Can you do this one thing this week?

Will you do this one thing this week?

I can and I will!  I am traveling this imperfect journey and changing my body image along the way! 

Advertisement

A Powerful Question

On By TerriIn Inspiration, Mindset5 Comments

I was on Facebook this morning when I happened to see a post from a friend, she was sharing a post from a marathon runner website and my friend shared her thoughts as well.  And she asked a question.  A powerful question.  One that made me stop and think…. And think….

What am I doing today to get me closer to my goal?

Wow!  I have been asking myself this question all day. 

I have my goals —

  • To get back to my official WW goal weight
  • To then lose more to get to my personal goal (one I never reached) of losing 100 lbs. 
  • To finish my fastest 5k EVER in January 2020 at the She Power 5k
  • To be my healthiest and fittest self by my 55th birthday in January.

These are my goals.  They have been my goals for a long time.  And I have struggled.  But I am determined to get myself there.  I am determined to NOT give up.  I am determined to see what that version of “me” looks and feels like!

There are a lot of things I can do to get myself to those goals.  I can…. Yes, a lot I can.  But will I do them?  Will I do the work necessary?  Will I create the habits needed?  Will I make the healthy choices?  Will I shift my mindset?  Will I change how I think about exercise and sweat?  Will I believe in my abilities? 

Every WW workshop has an activity to work on for the week, relating to activity, food and/or mindset.  As a coach I would present the weekly topic and then lead members in a discussion about the weekly topic.  At the end of the workshop I would present to them the thing to work on for that week and I would end the workshop with two questions to my members-  Can you?  Will you? 

Yes, we can.  Yes, I can.  But the real question is Will I?  Will You? 

“Will you?” has always been a powerful question.  One that made me think and made me commit. 

But this question my friend posted today, for me, is even more powerful. 

What am I doing today to get me closer to my goals?

Well, it was NOT the small packet of mini-doughnuts or the bag of Doritos that I had for breakfast.  I didn’t plan to eat those.  I didn’t plan to buy them.  I had my plan in place for a healthy breakfast of eggs and bacon.  I could have had that healthy breakfast.  I was willing to have that healthy breakfast….But sometimes life happens. I was awake extra early this morning, taking my husband to work (before 6am) and running my son to an early clinic appointment with a stop after for something he needed. And the plan went out the window!  I picked up the mini-doughnuts and the bag of Doritos.  And I ate them when I got home.  UGH!

No, that definitely was not getting me closer to my goals!

I know what I am doing that is keeping me from reaching my goals. 

So, what am I doing today to get me closer to my goals?

Forgiving myself.  Being kind to myself.  Not letting the slip derail my plans.  I tracked my breakfast (40 smartpoints!  Oh my!  Good thing I have all those weekly extras!  They were needed today!) And then I moved on.  A healthy lunch and a healthy dinner planned and prepped.  That is what I am doing today that is getting me closer to my goals. 

This journey is not perfect.  I am human.  I slip up.  But being kind to me is one of the things that gets me back on track.  No more beating myself up…. That would defeat my efforts. 

The question posed by my friend got me back on track today.  The question kept me from throwing in the towel and going down that hole. 

That question is powerful. 

What am I doing today that will get me closer to my goals? 

Not what I will to do tomorrow?  Not what can I do next week?  Not what happened yesterday? 

That question puts the focus on TODAY.  This moment.  Right now.  It doesn’t matter what happened yesterday or earlier in the day and it doesn’t matter what tomorrow will bring or what my plans are.  It is all about THIS MOMENT.  And the ONE thing I am doing right NOW, today, that will get me just a step closer to my goal.  And if each day, I do one more thing, just one, that gets me another step closer, then before I know it I will reach my goals! 

One-step-at-a-time.  One-day-at-a-time.  One-moment-at-a-time.

I am going to ask myself this powerful question.  Every. Single. Day.  What am I doing today to get me closer to my goals? 

What are you doing today that is getting you just a step closer to your goals? 

That “E” Word

On By TerriIn Activity, Inspiration2 Comments

That “E” word.

 Exercise.

 I am not big on exercise.  I lost my weight originally without exercise.  Which kept me from developing a habit of exercising.  I just watched my food, tracked it all and really paid attention to portions and I lost the weight.  I was proof that exercise was NOT necessary to lose weight.  But I wish I had developed the exercise habit while losing weight.  It would be much easier to keep the weight off and to get back on track if I exercised, regularly. 

But I DON’T like to sweat!  So, therefore I don’t like to exercise.  I find exercise mundane, at times boring, difficult and mostly a chore.  It is hard to get going and hard to stick with it.  Though I have found ways to partake in some sort of exercise over the years and even found some I enjoyed… for a bit, I still have not been consistent.  And I need to be.

Exercise has many benefits.  There are health benefits, especially for my heart.  There is the mood boosting benefit.  If every time I was angry, hurt, worried, anxious, bored or lonely, I exercised… what a big impact that would have on my health and my journey to lose and keep weight off.  Not to mention my mood.  I would be a very happy person…. Maybe….. but I don’t like to sweat.

One way to begin to change how I view exercise is to approach it with a different mindset.  Instead of saying “exercise”, I am now saying “activity”.  Activity doesn’t sound as boring or difficult as exercise does and it elicits more positive feelings.  By changing just that one word, then I will change how I look at it.  The mind is a powerful thing.

But, I still don’t like to sweat…. have I mentioned this?  And that means that my activity is not as consistent as I would like it to be or as I need it to be.  I have spent some time this week thinking about the times when I have stuck with activity, the times when I have enjoyed it and I found that there was a “reward” associated with the activity, one that made it enjoyable and made the activity feel less like a chore.  A reward that made me ignore the sweat!

I know that to create a habit and make it stick, I need to get something from it, some sort of reward.  And I don’t mean a reward that is food related or monetary.  No, the reward for me needs to be impactful, meaningful and fun.  So, I started looking at my activity and how I can get something out of it that would motivate me.  And I found that there are a few rewards that keep me wanting to move and to be active–

–Bling!  Why do I do 5k’s or 10k’s?  The bling of course!  I love the bling!  So, yes, I will sign up for and walk (sometimes adding in a little jog) for a 5k race or a 10k race for the bling.  It makes it worth it!

–A goal!  I have set a few goals related to activity the past few years and those goals give me something to strive for.  A goal makes me focus and makes me get out and exercise.  The goal didn’t always get me to really commit to the training, but it did get me to go do that race or to keep swimming.  And achieving the goal, that is the REAL reward!  The PRIDE I feel when I realize that I DID IT is invaluable!  I set out to do something and I DID IT!  Yes, that pride in myself is a GREAT reward.  And so is seeing the pride in my husbands’ eyes when I finish my race.  THAT is PRICELESS!

–Companionship!  For me this one is HUGE!  What got me to go to spin classes regularly for a period of time?  A friend to go with.  What got me to do my first 5k’s?  My husband doing them with me and my friend doing my first big 5k with me at Disney World.  What got me out walking, even on hot, muggy Louisiana days?  A friend to walk with.  That time was therapy!  What gets me out hiking?  My husband and friends that I hike with (and my camera.. I do love photography!)  And what has got me signing up for and completing 5k’s and greater distances this past year?  Friends!  A group of ladies who make walking fun and keep me accountable.  Better together could not be truer when it comes to being active!  Any activity is better with others and being with others makes me tolerate the sweat!

–Inner peace!  This one is why I swim.  It is my “me” time.  It is a time when I can shut out the world around me and just be.  The water is calming.  The solitude is calming.  The inner peace is necessary.

Now, realizing what rewards motivate me and keep me going, I can find ways to keep moving.  I have always said that awareness is the first step to change.  Being aware of what works for me to get me moving is the first step in making real change, in creating new habits.  Knowing the rewards means I can find ways to be active and find things I enjoy. And enjoying activity is important.  If I don’t enjoy it, then no reward will work. 

To get me going and to help me stay motivated I created this board— My activity motivation board.

On this board are quotes that help motivate me.  The bling from my races hang on the board as reminders of what I can do and have done.  The map from the Amerithon Virtual challenge is on this board because I am continuing, on my own, after my team of 8 finished the race—3521 miles across the USA.  And I have a goal to finish all 3521 miles no matter how long it take me!

All of this will help to motivate me as I prepare for my next activity goal—to finish the She Power 5k in January with my fastest 5k time, EVER!  My goal is to beat my Disney World 5k time of 40:26 from 2009.  I have a goal to strive for…. a reminder to keep me focus.  And with my bling, my family and friends, and a change in mindset, I WILL reach my goal and be more active while doing it.

All while not liking to sweat!  I will work on that another day!