's motd Monday May 10, 2010

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YOU'RE NOT DONE YET

Monday, 10 May 2010

I have a friend I've been working with to help lose weight for years now. And like a lot of people, she's lost and gained maybe ten or twenty pounds from time-to-time. But then she always ends up putting the weight right back on. And when she does regain weight, she gets so disappointed and begins convincing herself that she'll never reach her desired weight and...a healthy weight. She has about 120 pounds to lose.

Well, since January, she's been on program every single month through today. First, she lost 10 pounds, then 20 and as of today, she's lost 42 pounds. She can't believe it, she'd never lost that much weight in her whole life. And as you might imagine, she was just thrilled!Her coworkers have begun calling her the "incredible shrinking woman" and she's been receiving lots of compliments. Boy, has she changed...she's dropped three dress sizes! She's gone from hating to see herself in the mirror to looking forward to seeing her reflection in the mirror. Oh, she's been looking so good!My friend was sharing all of this good news with me over the phone a few days ago. And after all of that good news, she said something that really got my attention...and not in such a good way, either. She told me, ", I'm really feeling comfortable at my new weight." (See, she said it as if she had reached her weight-loss goal.)

Hold it! I told her "You're not done yet. You've lost 42 pounds and...you should be very proud of yourself. But now is not the time to "turn off your stove." You've got 78 more pounds to lose. And even though you're doing a great job, you're still an obese woman."She was quiet for a few minutes after I spoke those words to her. But after thinking about it, she came to her senses and admitted, "You're right, ."Look, I want you to be comfortable in your own skin as you lose weight. But remember, if you haven't reached your goal, you're still on the running track and haven't reached the finish line yet. And don't you want to reach it? Don't you want to break through that yellow tape with your hands raised in the air shouting..."Yes, I did it!" Sure you do.

During my career, I've met many people who've reached their goal weights. And they tell me how much their lives have changed because of it. Look, I don't want you dwelling on losing "X" amount of weight. You know, "Oh, I have to lose 120 pounds!" You have to take it one day at a time and one pound at a time, all the way to your goal. You should journal your weight-loss to keep track of how much you've lost so far and how much more you need to lose. And if you've lost, say 42 pounds like my friend, you should feel really good about your success. Subtract your present weight-loss from what you want to weigh, look at that number and let it inspire you to go the distance.Did you exercise over the weekend? Did you sweat or did you do some toning? And how was your eating? Let this week be a healthy week for all of you. And tonight, when you go to bed, think about how good you're going to feel when you're finally...done!Love,