The Rest of the Story

I have waited until now the post anything further about my weight-loss journey because I had to give a speech about it last weekend at our Women's retreat and I didn't want to give all the info our beforehand.

I have come to realize that the weight battle is 90% mental and 10% at the scale. Meaning, I have fought so much of it in my mind. Its totally the reason I have been overeating my entire adult life...and its a viscous cycle. You feel bad about yourself or your situations and to deal with it, you eat some fatty or sugary something to numb the pain and then you feel bad you ate it and back and forth and back and forth it goes. To go into specifics would be far too lengthy and complicated for any one blog post but lets just say that lies have been fed into my head by the author of lies and I have believed them...and society, friends and even well-meaning family members continually confirmed the lies. So much of it has been my perception because when you buy into lies, you view the world through the filter of lies so that it all looks like truth.

For me, the answer to exposing the dealing with the lies has come through God's Word, His healing grace and several books that have dealt with spiritual, emotional, and physical issues. I also found inspiration in a Television show called, Ruby, who once weighed over 700 pounds and has lost almost 400. I figured if she could do it without surgery or weird diets, I could do. I also connected with the struggles that she faces within her weight loss journey. I also have another friend who lost some weight and looked 10 years younger and I wanted to look younger too....and I wanted my life back!!!!!

I knew a diet was an important part. Once again, I had given up on all diets. I know myself and I know that I need an organized approach to eating...a good, healthy plan with some fairly quick results...I mean let's face it, at some point, you do need to see results on the scale.

While browsing through the "new book" section at the library, a title jumped out at me...."The 17 Day Diet." I wasn't looking for a diet book but the 17 day thing intrigued me. Once I read it, it made so much sense and I knew this was exactly what I was looking for. I felt it was something I could follow long-term because lets be honest here....once a dieter, always a dieter....I will ALWAYS have to pay attention to the food I am putting in my mouth. I decided the only way to know if this eating plan really worked the way it said it would was to follow it to the letter. I did and I'm thrilled to say it has worked out better than I could have imagined. I'm exercising (walking) almost every day and my life has gone from sedentary to active.

To date, I have lost 51 pounds and 22 inches without much of a struggle....and I have my life back and I feel better about myself than I have in years. I have received inspiration from people like Ruby and my friend, Robin and in turn I hope and think I'm inspiring others. At least 5 of my friends have started the 17-Day Diet and I wish them nothing but success!!