Self Care Saturday

Hey everyone.

I hope everyone is having a great weekend.  It is still super cold in Toronto but I still strapped on my boots and got to the gym this morning.

Since last February, Saturday mornings have become a ritual for me.  I wake up, go to my weight watchers meeting and then catch a Zumba class.  It’s a morning full of  self care but it allows me to recharge for the week ahead.    So how did this week go?

Last week I gained 1.8.  I was able to lose .8 but the holidays are super hard to stay on track. We all agreed this morning that it is challenging to stay on plan this time of year but being mindful is a really helpful tool for everyone.  Which leads me to the topic this week:

Ah yes, reflection. I discussed New Years Resolutions and reflections yesterday so this week’s topic came at the perfect time.   For the last 16 weeks, I have hit a plateau.  To say it has been super frustrating is an understatement.  My plan was to be at goal by now, and I’d being lying if I said I wasn’t disappointed in myself.  While I’m not where I want to be yet, I’m still committed to the program. I know it sound like a Pollyana with all this positivity but truth be told I have a habit of adopting all or nothing thinking.  In the past, this way of thinking would lead me to abandon ship and give up.  In order to move away from this thinking, I set smaller goals for myself. Today, I took some time to reflect on the goals I set over the last few months.  Here were my top three.

BEYOND THE SCALE GOAL #1: Work out at the gym 5 days a week HOW IT WENT:  I hit the snooze button more than I intended.  NEXT STEPS:  Get to bed earlier, pack my bag the night before and do some workouts at home if I can’t get to the gym.

BEYOND THE SCALE GOAL #2:  Change my language when it comes to food.  HOW IT WENT: I banished the word diet from my vocabulary.  I also stopped saying the word “can’t In reference to food.  For instance, instead of saying, “I can’t have sugar”, I am changing my vocabulary to “I’m choosing not to have sugar”.  By making it my choice instead of something restricting, I am way more in control and less likely to set myself up for failure. NEXT STEPS:  Stop looking at foods as “good” or “bad”.

BEYOND THE SCALE GOAL #3:  Learn to accept a compliment.  HOW IT WENT:  This has been a work in progress.  When people give me a compliment, I go on a tangent that includes and is not limited to putting myself down, deflecting the compliment or rejecting it all together,  NEXT STEPS:  Say thank you.  Show humility.  Pay it forward.  Repeat.

So in spite of being plateaued, writing all this down gave me the opportunity to look back at everything I have accomplished and how to move forward.  And while I’m writing this as I’m wolfing down an egg roll and won ton soup from New Ho King (full transparency…I promised you:  this is an imperfect journey), I’m going to take time to reflect and then move forward. Because at the end of the day, what good is it to stay in the past?

That’s all I have to ramble about for this evening.  Stay warm and please join in the conversation.  Is anyone out there?

Jen