Weight Loss Tip: Start Where You Are

This may sound like an obvious statement, start where you are. Where else are you going to be when you start, right?

The truth is most of us try to start losing weight from just about any place EXCEPT where we actually are.

The idea is that you are who you are right now and you will move to being who you will be...but only if you do what you can right now. Maybe that didn't help...let me try saying it another way...

I used to be consumed with thinking about what I "should" do. What this book, that expert, this video and that teacher told me were the right exercises to do and the right foods to eat. As long as I allowed all those other peoples' voices to dominate my head I made little progress. At least not on a permanent basis.

I'm not saying they were wrong...it was just that they were coming from THEIR place and I was trying to force myself into that place. And I found that didn't work.

I was a very, very round peg...and I wasn't fitting into their less round holes!

When I felt bad because I wasn't able to work out as long or as hard as I was told to...it was completely self-defeating. I ended up feeling bad about myself which in the end, led me to stop exercising and to eat more and gain more weight.

When I felt guilty or deprived, or wondering why I wasn't satisfied by the "snack" of half a macademia nut (no joke! in one of the many "fitness" programs I bought, that was a snack!)...in those moments I was making myself wrong, or less than someone else.

Making ourselves less than, whether it is less beautiful, less smart, less fit...or any other adjective...is our way of keeping ourselves down.

Instead, let us have the goal of lifting ourselves up! We do that by recognizing we are all unique, beautiful, powerful beings. We each have our challenges and our gifts. We deserve to shine our light in the world and the world deserves to feel that light!

The place to start is wherever you are...right now. Know in your heart, deep in your spirit, that you are worth the effort...that you do deserve health, energy, vitality.

If you are in a lot of physical pain, like I was when I started, then start moving more while you are sitting on the couch or even lying in bed. Don't plan to run a marathon next month if you can barely walk to the mailbox!

If you don't have the knowledge about what foods are healthy for you to eat, start to learn. Don't expect to become a gourmet chef overnight if you have been the take-out queen for the past 30 years!

Start by making one small change. Believe that it is possible. I know it is, and I know you can do it...one step at a time...it you live your life and start where YOU are. Your path will be revealed to you and you will have a wonderful, healthier life...for the rest of your life!