succeed.

in a little over 24 hours, i went from failing to succeeding. i easily could have given in to the self-loathing yesterday and spent the day in bed feeling bad about myself and ordering pizza. but i went out and ate right and ran. today i got up and ate right and ran some more. and when i went to tops tonight, i had lost a pound for the week.yesterdayi was up 3.4 pounds, today it was all gone again, along with another pound. a little hard work, a lot of water, and some quality food. not every mistake can be so quickly erased, but i got rid of mine just in time to get on that scale. in the meantime, i had another milestone: i ran an 11:16 mile. for me, this is very good. my best ever, in fact. i'm typically in the 12-13 minute region. some would call that jogging, not running. but i think anyone who goes out and feels like a runner is a runner. 

the picture on the left is my tops badge. when you join our group, you get a big felt badge with your name on it. it's a blank slate. it symbolizes starting over with no mistakes and no judgement. and the goal is to fill your blank slate with positive accomplishments. at the first meeting of each month, awards are given out for 10 pound milestones, and you get a gold safety pin for every pound you lost the previous month. i just finished 6 months in tops, and here is my badge, filled with 65 pins, my ribbons for each 10 pounds, and then i have charms for each of those and a couple for other things like being the biggest loser for 6 months and the biggest loser in may. i'm pretty proud of this badge, and i look forward to putting it on each week. i've worked hard for everything that's on it, and there is a certain satisfaction that comes from putting it around my neck each week.

even if you're not in a group like tops, find a way to reward yourself for your accomplishments. try vases with the beads like i wrote about before, or put away $1.00 for every pound you lose and then treat yourself to something special when you hit a goal you've set. everyone should have something they can look at besides the scale to remind them of where they've been, and of how possible it is to get where you want to go. when i began with 100 pounds to lose, it seemed impossible. tonight someone asked me how far until my goal, and first i said 35 pounds, then i said, "wait, no, 45?" 35 just didn't seem right. but it IS right. only 35 to my 100 pound goal. i've done that already, nearly twice. home stretch, baby. home stretch. you can get here too. don't let anything stop you, because this feeling is something everyone deserves to experience. success. excitement. accomplishment. pride. and wearing clothes that didn't come from the plus or "women's" section of a store. that is the best reward of all.