Update

So lately I have had very little time to do more than a small blurb on my blog...Thought I would update a little more thoroughly. I'm having a really great week this week. I feel motivated, focused and in control. I am on full Optifast formula (800 calories), and have made it to the gym 3 times so far since Monday. At the gym I have been running on the elliptical for 30-35 minutes, and I have been doing some strength training as well. So right now I feel pretty good about things. My weightloss ticker is updated below according to my home scale this morning.

I have been trying to start a new habit, that focuses on my emotional health--a gratitude journal. Each night I am writing down at least 5 (I always have more than that) things that I am feeling grateful for that day. This was the suggestion in a book I am reading: "Simple Abundance". I am finding that I have been "standing knee deep in a river and dying of thirst" (song title). Along this journey I have learned to not take so many things for granted, and to not get too caught up in the details. I definitely feel like my gratitude and contentment with life is related to my eating. It is as if I had been trying to fill a hole in my heart with food for years and years, and now I realize that there are so many other things to put in that hole. So many things to be "full" of instead of food....

Something else I wanted to comment on--when I saw my doctor again after several months one of the questions he asked was whether or not people treat me differently now. The answer is, yes, absolutely. People I have known for years have suddenly become much kinder to me...I feel like I have gained a lot of respect from people. And while this may seem nice, it bothers me alot. Because I was no less wonderful when I was heavier. I was still smart and funny and caring--some people just didn't/couldn't see past the weight. Sad. But another thing my doctor said made a lot of sense--really it is on an unconcious level that people make judgments. They probably don't realize that they were discriminating based on weight...Interesting...

That's all for now. OH---one more thing. Reading another weightloss memoir "Diet Girl"--Shauna Reid is a fabulous blogger and author. Very inspiring.