Tags
Determination, Failure, Fashion, Food, Goals, Inspiration, Journey, Motivation, Shoes, Stilettos, Success, Weight Loss, Weight Watchers
Today we walk barefooted as we sit in my closet of shoes trying to pick the perfect pair for my twenty-ninth blog entry (which happens to be my age as well).
For the past six weeks I have struggled heavily with my weight-loss journey. I gained nearly 10 pounds and my super cute clothes that I bought last month for my southern adventure where becoming too tight! I found myself eating at my favorite time of night – the stroke of midnight, and found that those foods that I was shoveling into my mouth were not Weight Watchers appropriate. So you ask – what happened? Why did this girl who has worked so hard the past year and two months suddenly take a dive into the sea of indulgence? My answer is this…I chose the wrong pair of shoes out of my closet.
Instead of walking a day in a pair of Christian Louboutin red-back heels that scream confidence, drive, perseverance, and just a bad-ass chick, I chose to walk in the easy, comfy plaid ballet flats that contradicted every outfit I wore. I didn’t want to track my points, or plan my meals out. I wanted to eat away my fears of decision-making. Wearing those flats enabled me to comfortably make many trips to the kitchen late at night. I would tell myself “Oh just one more ice cream bar and then I’ll brush my teeth and get ready for bed.” Or “Wow a PB&J sounds so good right now. But then I need something crunchy to go along with that. Maybe I’ll add some crackers too.” And again this is late at night when I have no business eating that much food right before bed. I find once you put that pair of shoes on it’s incredibly hard to take them off because they feel so good on your feet. Walking a mile in padded, comfy flats, or in five-inch Italian leather stilettos…hmmm?
What I have learned from this experience is that taking the easy road only leads you to sticker bushes and a rough terrain ahead. If you spend the time and energy to pave the road yourself and clear the path one stick at a time the end result is much greater than you could ever imagine.
With losing weight comes more attention from guys, higher confidence in your appearance, the ability to shop at more stores because you can actually fit into their clothes, and just an all around self-esteem booster. All of those traits do apply, but most importantly it’s one of the most humbling experiences one could ever hope for. Instead of staring in the mirror incessantly, to actually stop and listen when people tell you that you’ve helped change their life. To have friends & family members share their success stories and to hear that you were one of the inspired ingredients to their weight-loss is truly remarkable.
Before I wrote this blog I was reading some of the success stories on Weight Watchers to gain a little inspiration of my own. To open up with your friends and family about your struggles with food and emotional eating is hard enough, but to open up to complete strangers and to allow them in your life with such intimate details is honestly terrifying at times. It is a vulnerability that can never be hidden again once people read it. But in order to impact lives with my story I have to share private details of success as well as my failure. I got to read those success stories and visualize what it will be like when my own story is completed. That is the moment where I can finally disclose the un-Godly weight that I started at in April 2011. I can finally reveal my magical goal-weight number & celebrate each and every pound that lead me down this humbling road to inspire. At that moment I can finally be free of all burdens that have prevented me from achieving the things that I have wanted to, but couldn’t because of my weight. I will no longer have to worry if a guy will reject me because I’m too fat, or worry if my hips are too big for the roller coaster ride. To have approximately 155 pounds shed off of my body (which is literally the size of another person) will be worth the blisters I get from walking in stilettos instead of complacent flats.
I lost 4.2 pounds this week putting me at 65.6 pounds lost. I have another 4.4 pounds to lose before I hit my 70 pounds mark for the second time! Then I can continue on and FINALLY hit my 75 pound milestone. If you can inspire one person this week to make a positive change for themselves regardless of what it is, I urge you to do that. You never know just how much people listen and value your words. “The man (or woman) who removes a mountain begins by carrying away small stones.” ~ William Faulkner
So which pair of shoes will you decide to walk in today?