Thursday, July 15, 2010

Looking foward....

One of the key factors in my success of weight loss has been my mental approach to the process.

I have had a couple of days to bring things back into prospective – it has taken every bit of strength for me to stay on track the last couple of days. I have had to take a step back and focus on the bigger picture and really look at how far I have come over the past 10 months – I figured I have two choices – I can put the scales behind me and focus on where I am at or pack it all in and go back to where I was 10 months – which was not a good place…

There is only one choice - to keep moving forward – I am in a much better place today both mentally and physically that I was a year ago – I am happy, healthier and fitter than I have been for many years.

To do:

1. Calm down
2. Relax – focus on some “me time”
3. Sleep – go to bed earlier
4. Stress - reduce my stress levels at works
5. Take one day at a time
6. Exercise – take a calmer approach
7. Look forward
8. Trust the process
9. Calm down

p.s thanks for the comments – really helped.

3 comments:

  1. Good for you! Forward thinking is where it's at!!

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  2. Hi Jody

    I recently read an experience of Florence Chadwick, the first female to swim the English Channel in both directions. At thirty four, she also determined to be the first woman to swim the twenty two miles between Catalina Island and Palo Verde on the California shore.

    The weather on the day she made the attempt was not in her favor. The ocean waters were ice cold and the California coastline was veiled in a thick, dense fog. Support boats which followed her with crews armed with rifles to ward off prowling sharks were even obscured from her view.

    I imagine myself in bone freezing waters, hearing the humming of motor boats amid the occasional pop of a rifle. It's enough to deflate even the strongest will and determination.

    Chadwick swam for hours while, from one of the support boats, her mother and trainer encouraged her to keep going despite the odds.

    In A Fresh Packet of Sower's Seeds, author Brian Cavanaugh details the last moments of her attempt:

    "As the hours ticked off, Chadwick fought off bone chilling cold, dense fog and sharks...Fatigue never set in, but the icy water numbed her to the point of exhaustion. Straining to make out the shore through her swimming goggles, she could only see dense fog. She knew she could not go any further. Although, not a quitter, Chadwick shouted to her trainer and her mother in the boat and asked to be taken out of the water. They urged her not to give up, but when she looked at the California Coast, all she could see was thick fog. So after 15 hours and 55 minutes of fighting the elements, she was hauled into the boat... frozen to the bone..." (pg 42)
    Little did she know that only half a mile beyond the dense fog where she gave-up was the California shoreline.

    Cavanaugh notes what she told a reporter: "Look, I'm not excusing myself, but if I could have seen land I know I could have made it." (pg 42)

    It turns out she had not been defeated by the sharks or even by the cold; it was the fog which obscured the vision of her goal.

    One year later, she swam the Straits of Gibraltar in 5 hours and 6 minutes-setting a new record for both men and women. She also crossed the Bosphorus between Europe and Asia both ways, and crossed the Turkish Dardanelles-all within a few weeks.

    Sometimes obstacles get in the way of our goals too Jody, but the message here is that you need to keep your focus.You are getting stronger with each of these challenges - the fog is definately clearing so just keep your eye on your goal and keep swimming :)

    Cheers

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  3. Jody, good on you for trusting yourself and finding your mojo!! focusing on the future its a wonderful place. Hope your week is going well

    Liz

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