Losing me, Finding Me

Gratitude I am thankful for the Spirit within that upheld me and pushed me onward in my journey to integrated wellness. It is the Self with a capital S that kept teaching and loving the self with a lower case s who had gone her own way, losing weight, gaining more. However, we humans are not made to live alone and without the encouragement of family and friends I could not have lost 140 pounds or persevered in learning how to maintain and keep healthy. This book is about changing habits and most of the habits I changed came from suggestions and observations of others. There are more, many more who supported and encouraged me on the way, whose names I do not know. I mention only two here, a clerk in a clothing store and a grounds maintenance man at a resort. I mention these so you will understand how very important your smallest moment of kindness may be to another. I had entered a clothing store to look at a blouse that I thought I could wear for my birthday. I decided to try it on.The clerk stepped up to the rack and found my size without asking and handed it to me as she turned to lead me to the dressing room. Tears welled up in my eyes as I saw that she had given me a size small. She recognized me as small. I used to wear 2 x! A year later and very close to goal weight, I was looking for a hiking trail at a resort. Not finding it I asked direction from a man in the grounds maintenance building. He took me to the entrance of the trail. I guessed he was concerned that I might get lost and wanted to remember what I looked like so he said “ black pants, yellow top…then he stopped, looked up at my face, grinned and said. “You are gorgeous”. So I am gorgeous I tell myself looking in the mirror. And I thank the man who told me so. With your help and encouragement I made my goal and wrote this book. Thank you. How it works! Every week you will have a lesson for each of the 5 week days to read (1-3 pages), to understand, & follow-up with answers to questions or actions. It is suggested that you have a journal in which to write the answers to questions and make notes as you go, but you can also write in the spaces provided in the workbook. You have the week-end off for time to catch up if you missed a day. There will be a week-end page with reminders, encouragement and an affirmation. You will be asked each week to note habits you want to lose or add. If you are meeting with a group weekly you can weigh in then, if you like or not. This project is meant to inspire, inform and encourage you. So there is nothing included to cause a response of “guilt”. The only “rules” you break are yours. I suggest walking daily, starting at 5 mins a day in the 1st week, ending at 60 mins a day by the end of 3 months. You are the one who decides how healthy you will be and how fast. You can do this class by yourself but in most cases, it works better to meet in small groups weekly for about 1 to 1.5 hrs. I hope you have as much fun doing this, as I did in writing it and living it. My favorite celebration at the end was buying size small and x small clothes, having started at 250 pounds, wearing size 22 (2X). There are 140 pounds lost in all. Not all was lost in three months but over years. Three months is a good start. “For Starters, let’s just get down the hill.” Sam to Frodo Be mindful Be mindful of what you are eating, when, how fast Be mindful that you are eating what is making a healthy you Be mindful of the grocery purchases that you do not need to make Be mindful of how long food sits in your refrigerator Be mindful of taking care of yourself Be mindful of loving others, of listening and of caring Be mindful of keeping your body moving and in good condition Be mindful of resting your body in sleep allowing your cells to maintain, repair and clear out the extra fat Be mindful to not take other’s behavior personally Be mindful of old outdated food on your shelves Be mindful, all the time, of the vision you have of a beautiful, healthy you Be mindful of the new thoughts you carry about who you are and allow the old thoughts to dissolve and disappear Be mindful to avoid conflict and create peace, so you may live without stress Be mindful to do and say what you believe Be mindful to smile and live with joy Be mindful to keep creating the new you and keep helping others to see the best in themselves. Be mindful so you may be at peace and be well Postscript The light of the world is wherever you are. Evolution happens within us by saying “yes” To the dare to believe that we can. When we imagine it and visualize it, we can create it. Be about creating your integrated healthy life. Life well, live long and prosper!