Taking Control Today

Have you had that moment in your life when you stepped on the scale and went "Holy Blue Bonnets Batman! When did I get this big? When did the number on the scale go up this high?" I actually know the answer to those questions. I have gradually been seeing the number on the scale go up for the past two years but I keep telling myself I'll take control tomorrow. But tomorrow hasn't came. I need to take control today and stop with the tomorrows. Because if I have learned anything in the past two years is that life can be short and tomorrows can be limited. I see my future if I don't take control of my health. Yes, I have my diabetes and high blood pressure under control but I'm 29 and already have those problems. My doctor has been telling me the same thing that my moms doctor had told her for years, “If you lose the weight you will get off the medication.” Did she lose the weight? No. Have I lost the weight? No. My mom died at the age of 59 with a whole slew of issues after being bed ridden for two years in a nursing home. That isn't the future I want for myself but my body is only going to be able to handle this excess weight for so much longer before it starts to break down.

I think I'm having a hard time getting back on the wagon because I had been doing so well two years ago. I had lost almost 40 pounds when my mom passed away. I remember telling myself to not let myself gain it back. I let myself gain it back plus about 20 more. I need to stop beating myself up about it. It happened and now I need to do something about it. My mom would tell me to learn from my mistakes and move on. All I'm accomplishing now is depressing myself further and making myself gain more. Not very productive. I feel it in my clothes and just in the way I carry myself. I want to feel good again.

So I'm challenging myself to live a better life. To cook more, to eat less fast food, to bake more weight watcher friendly sweets, to start exercising, and to start taking care of myself. I am worth it. I am worth living a long, healthy, happy life. But nobody can do that for me but me. If I falter I'm going to not berate myself but just pick myself back up, brush myself off and move forward. I know I can do this.

So I started today. No more waiting for tomorrow. For Christmas I received the Weight Watchers New Complete Cookbook. It has over 500 delicious recipes for the healthy cook's kitchen. Best of all it includes the Points Plus values. This morning I made the Basic Pancake recipe which I will be posting about soon. This book has a lot of amazing recipes and I can't wait to try them. I also found some amazing food blogs that I believe God steered me too.

I first found Dashing Dish: Healthy Alternatives to the Foods You Crave authored by Katie Farrell. The food she is dishing out looks crazy good and is good for you. It was on her blog that I stumbled upon It Sux to Be Fat authored by Jennifer Swafford. Katie and Jennifer have partnered up. Jennifer has lost 100 pounds doing Weight Watchers and she is supplying Katie with the WW points for her fabulous food. So I headed over to It Sux to Be Fat and I'm so glad I did because Jennifer is such an inspiration. Her weight loss journey has spanned the last three years and she has had some ups and downs but she has never given up and I think that is the key. I'm really enjoying reading through her blog.

Another great weight watcher blog is Gina's Skinny Taste Her recipes are fantastic and you don't have to worry about the points because she does the hard work for you.

I also love Hungry Girl. I have several of her cookbooks and I get her weekly newsletter. I wish she could just come cook for me. Wouldn't that be nice.

I'm ready to tackle this new chapter in my life. I'm ready to take care of myself because I am worth it. Now I just need to get rid of all the temptations sitting in my fridge leftover from Christmas. :)