"Anything that's dificult to do builds your self esteem."

"I am constantly talking to myself building up my self esteem, I'm worth it, I can do this, I am going to keep doing it until I get there."
-Eileen, my weight watchers leader-

This is the main message I gleaned from my meeting in the wee hours of this morning. Oh yeah & tools too. In fact, my goal for this week is to follow the healthy guidelines according to WW. There are eight of them.
1-consume whole grains,
2-limit sugar & alcohol,
3-Take a multi vitamin-mineral supplement,
4-make sure you get enough protein,
5-drink at least six glasses of water a day,
6-Eat at least 5 fruits & vegetables a day,
7-include 2 servings of milk products a day unless you are over 50, a teenager, nursing mom, or over 250lbs., then eat three,
8-Eat two teaspoons of healthy oil per day.

So I didn't lose this week & I didn't gain. Though I do actually feel thinner, more confident & more energetic this morning & for me that counts for a lot.

I believe what Eileen says about doing something difficult. Losing weight happens to be difficult for me. So as long as I am either losing or not gaining, I am accomplishing something that is difficult. Eileen talked about how when we begin to achieve our weight loss goals we build our self esteem & it starts to transfer over into other areas of our lives. We start to feel better about ourselves. We think thoughts like, if I can do this, I bet I can do this other thing that's not so easy too.

I also feel that is what starting running has done for me. I never liked running. The day I started running I was looking for an attitude adjustment. I wanted to feel better mentally. Luckily for me it worked immediately. Looking back on it now, I believe it was the positive action of taking better care of myself (another difficult thing for me) that made me feel just as good as the endorphins did.

Now I am starting to see how one positive action begets another, encourages another, & empowers another. Yesterday afternoon I planned to run 3.2 miles, & walk 1.6. I hadn't run all week & was starting to miss it-not the actual running part, but more so what it does for me mentally & physically. Dreading the run, I noticed about 5 minutes into it that it wasn't as hard as it usually is. By the time I realized I was nearly finished running the 3.2 miles I knew I could easily run the 5th lap-so I did & I surprised myself. The funny thing is, just about a week ago I was complaining to my husband about how I wish I was excelling more at my running. I thought I would be a little faster by this time. I've been running since October 3rd. He encouraged me saying as I lose weight, it will get easier & I will get quicker. I am thinking my 5.8lb. weight loss must be helping me with my running. I think my smart hubby may be right!

Please pray for me as I continue my journey to wellness and know that I will continue to pray for all those in need of love & support too.