"Those jeans"

We all SAY we are doing this program because we have lofty goals....to be healthy and fit, to live longer, to take care of our bodies, yada yada.

But let's face it, we don't start this to 'reach a healthy BMI'. (Although we may SAY so...LOL).

We do it because of ....
THOSE JEANS.

THAT's why we do it.

You know the ones I'm talking about.

The ones hanging in your closet or folded carefully in your bottom dresser drawer.

Your absolute, all-time, FAVORITE pair of jeans.

You haven't been able to get into them since 1982, but hey, where there's LIFE, there's HOPE, right?

So you carefully preserved them....and you remember how wonderful you FELT when you wore them because Man, they made your butt look AMAZING.

You feel like a million bucks when you wear them. They fit you PERFECTLY. You can do no wrong when you wear those jeans.
Everyone says you look great....and so you strut your stuff!

But the problem is you haven't been able to get them past your KNEES in....well....let's be real....YEARS.

In fact they may even be out of style by now (although personally I think bell-bottoms are coming back LOL).

You know what I'm saying. Right?

We do it because we want to pull those jeans on, have them SLIDE right on, no problem, and look in a full-length mirror and go "YESSSSSSS!"

Instead of lying on the bed, gasping for breath, trying desperately to pull them on and then CLOSE them. THERE. Done.
You can't MOVE but they're ON. LOL.

That was the start of it, remember? They got tighter and tighter....until eventually you sadly, reluctantly, had to put them aside and buy a new pair, in a larger size (although you told yourself it was 'just temporary').

So you carefully folded them up or hung them up, put them away and tried not to think about them.

But THEY are why we start this.

So guess what?

It's time to get those jeans out of the closet. Pull them out of the drawer.

YES, I'm serious.

No, you aren't able to get into them 'yet'.....but 'YET' is the operative word here.

YOU WILL DO IT. Come hell or high water, you will DO it.

Doesn't matter how long it takes...could be months, could even be years. But if you set your mind to it, you can do it.

You CAN fit into those jeans again.

So YES, take them out....put them where you can see them. Don't try them on yet...there's no need to get yourself all upset....but put them where you can SEE them when you get out of bed in the morning, and right before you go to bed at night.

They will REMIND you to stay OP. They will URGE you forward....and every time thoughts of sludge or 'extra' food go through your head, immediately FLASH on those pair of jeans....and you'll be able to say NO.

Because you have your goal. And NO, it's doesn't have to be a lofty goal like achieving a healthy BMI or optimal health or anything like that.

THOSE things will come WITH the territory. Believe me. Once you lose the weight, and you ARE able to fit into those jeans, you will ALSO love the fact that you can MOVE more, be more flexible, fit into places you haven't been able to fit into, easily put a seat belt on, have ROOM in airplane seats (!!), do the rides with the kids, have energy to work in your garden, WANT to exercise, WANT to strut your stuff for your wonderful husband and even (gasp) make love with the lights on LOL....

All of the wonderful things that come with good HEALTH will be yours when you fit into those jeans....IF you stay OP and you follow it.

Don't stress over it, don't agonize, don't jump on and off the scale, don't sweat the small stuff, just WORK THE PROGRAM, and the program will WORK. Period.

Do it today. That's all. Just today. In honor of those jeans and how you felt when you wore them.

Tonight look at them and say "I did it...! I ate the right things to get BACK into you today. YAY ME!" and go to bed with a smile on your face.

Tomorrow morning, get up, get your meals ready for the day, all laid out....and just REPEAT it.

That's all. One day at a time, one meal at a time.

And by the way, if you're TRULY committed? Birthday parties, anniversaries, weddings, celebrations, dinner out, vacations, holidays, NONE of it will matter if you're really and truly committed to THOSE JEANS. LOL

Seriously! Think how many 'events' there are in your life. If you avoided each one for the sake of losing weight, you'd basically be holing up in your house all the time, right? Can't do that....so you MUST find a way to stay OP when you're 'out' as well as in your own home.

Whatever that takes.

Today I have two back-to-back exercise classes, followed by an appointment with my fibromyalgia specialist (one hour away). I'll be gone for pretty much the entire day....I hope to get back late this afternoon.

So I had my MF breakfast, and I have a bar in my purse (to eat in the ladies room at the gym between classes....YES I really do this), and I have PS ricotta mixed with my MF cereal for 'lunch' (I split my lean) which I will eat in the car in the parking lot of the doctor's office, and I have MF pretzels for my afternoon snack on the way home.

Oh - and I have about 6 bottles of Propel fitness water (just the bottles, I fill them with our tap well water) in my car ready to go.

IT CAN BE DONE.

NOTHING is impossible if you put your mind to it.

Keep on keepin' on! ... in HONOR of, 'those jeans'. And when you reach goal? You'll find a ZILLION more reasons to STAY there. INCLUDING a healthy BMI, lower body fat percentages, and all the rest of the 'good stuff' that comes when you reach a NORMAL weight for your height, which incidentally doesn't have to be a size 2. LOL.

Have a great day!