August was an especially tough month for Nonie and she ‘only’ lost 4 pounds. BUT, that’s still a pound a week. That’s still quite significant. I know quite a few people in weight loss programs that would love to say they lost 4 pounds in a month! Yay Nonie – you’re staying at it even when dealing with life’s stresses, and like I said, August was tough. Life isn’t always going to go exactly the way we have it thought through in our heads and Nonie was ready for it.
She had done several different mental ‘exercises’ that helped her go through some tough times. Writing down 10 positive things that she appreciated about herself was a good one. Doing a month-long exploration of ‘things-I-love’ and every time you find one, writing it down. When she finds herself getting down mentally, she goes back to her lists and reminds herself of the good things. It keeps the temporary ‘oooops’ from becoming a ‘crash-and-burn’! Life isn’t always going to cooperate, but we can be ready. There are lots of other little techniques and strategies to help keep your mind tracking where you want it to rather than allowing the meandering or negative thoughts to prevail.
Over 50 pounds off since April!
Doesn’t she just look brighter and happier in this picture? She has overcome so much. One of her bad moments when life was not cooperating led to looking for and finding a long lost bag of candy – Cadbury mini-eggs (nobody likes those, right?… ha!) and she at the whole bag, but then that was it. She did not continue. She stopped it right there. She went back to eating healthy and right portions. These are huge victories if you’ve EVER (and I think many of us have) done any binge eating. Just stopping is HUGE! Remembering all the good things. Valuing yourself. And not wallow in self-pity afterwards. She is making great strides in self mastery.
She also attended a wedding and was disappointed when people didn’t say anything to her about the weight she’d lost. She learned a new perspective on that. Many people are hesitant to speak with someone who is heavier regarding their weight, even to say you’ve lost it and look great. They are concerned that maybe they are ‘seeing things’ and maybe they hadn’t really lost any, or that maybe the person is ill and don’t want to bring up anything that would hurt – especially at a special occasion like a wedding. She has come a long way in a short amount of time and we want to continue to encourage her in her journey!
The other exciting thing that we’ve been focusing on this month has been the DREAMCOACH(r) Program. We spent two sessions just discovering her “Purpose”. If you’ve never done these exercises, it’s a real fun process in self-discovery and such a treat. Your Purpose is kind of a definition of who you are- an essence – putting into words something that is intangible at times. Everyone has an essence to them that we try to bring words to. An example of an essence is when you may be in a room full of people and someone walks in and the attitude and feeling of the room change – that person brought something different with him or her and that is what we try to put into words. For Nonie we came up with the statement of who she is as: “I am connected free and honest wholeness.” She always works toward connectivity and you feel her free attitude and straightforward integrated self being candid and open. (There are lots of words you can use to describe the same thing.) Her Blessing is to: “Bring connection and support without judgment to enable freedom, energy and flow to grow.” Wow! She loves it and really has something tangible to look at and help her base decisions on. She can now ask herself – Does this activity enhance who I am or detract from it? Yes or no come much easier when you have your purpose. That is just one of the activities we go through in the DREAMCOACH(r) Program.
