What’s Different This Time?

February 16th, 2009

This week I asked my weight loss buddies, “What’s different this time? Why do they think that they will lose the weight after failed attempts in the past?”

Around this same time last year, I was completely devastated by the fact that I had a new boss who was so diametrically opposed to my own way of thinking that it would invoke nausea every time I thought about interacting with him. Everything was so tragically emotional at the time and I had a really hard time coming to terms with the fact that things were changing. By March I had resigned on my own terms. In April, because tensions were so high, I was asked to leave early. This completely messed me up.

You see, I spent about good 40-45% of my day working or thinking about work. This amount of time might be good if you were passionate about the things that you were working on … but I was not. When you consider that 30% of my day was spent sleeping and the remaining 25% was allocated to “other” things (like being a parent or running errands or tending to my broken relationship), this virtually gave me zero time to pursue anything that fed my soul. 

After my time was “suddenly” freed up, I went into a tailspin of WTF do I do now? I had to come to terms with what it meant to spend 7 years helping to realize someone else’s dream and not my own. The bitterness born from that notion eventually turned into the courage to deal with my self-esteem issues, my weight issues, my avoidance issues and all the things that kept me from pursuing my life’s purpose. All this work eventually led to me figuring out how to lead a more meaningful life. I vowed never to veer so far away from things that brought me joy again.

So what makes this time different? I’m different. I’ve changed on the inside, which coincidentally has manifested change on the outside. I am the happiest that I’ve been in quite some time and it has had nothing to do with looking a certain way or having a boyfriend or being financially secure (not that I don’t wish to have those things). I think all those things will come in time, but for now, who cares? I’m having a blast.

Read what everyone else has to say:

Joie De Vivre:

“To tell the truth, I’m not sure I will ever reach my “goal” weight, but this time IS different.” to read more click Joie de vivre:  An amateur gourmet’s guide.

Nurit:

Dinner time. I help myself to another serving of… whatever. “What about portion control?” my husband asks. “Well…”, I say as I take another scoop, “I said it’s still a challenge…”

Keep reading at 1. Family. Friendly. Food.

Sunny:

“So first, do I think this time is different?  Yes!  Why?  Well, I think I’ve finally learned what works and what doesn’t work for me…”  read more at www.ThatExtra20Pounds.blogspot.com

Tags: cnn, ireport, weight loss photos, weight loss stats

This entry was posted on Monday, February 16th, 2009 at 10:29 am and is filed under Weight Updates. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.