During a healthy lifestyle journey (particularly a weight loss journey), so many people get wrapped up in the number of pounds they want to lose. When I began my weight loss journey, I knew that I wanted to lose 100 pounds. I didn’t care how I did it. I just wanted to do it. It wasn’t until I began small and celebrated my small victories that the pounds started coming off.

When I did Weight Watchers, the program recommended your first goal be to lose 5% of your body weight. Well, at 265 pounds, 5% for me was 13.25 pounds. That was still to large of a goal for me. I kept getting frustrated that I couldn’t even lose 10 pounds. I eventually gave up on the 10 pounds and my weight loss journey.

Instead of saying, “I want to lose 5 pounds” I changed the way I said things. My new goal was, “I’d like to see 260 on the scale.” Eventually, 260 came! Then, I set a new goal and said, “I’d like to see 255.” Again, 255 came! At that point, I really wanted to see 249.9. I was so excited when 249.9 came that I continued setting these small goals.

My weight loss journey was hard. but setting smaller goals made the time go by faster. When I finally hit 199, I realized I no longer had 100 pounds to lose! The 100 didn’t exist AT ALL anymore. I finally felt normal. Instead of 100 pounds over weight, I was 30 pounds over weight. (Whatever “over weight” actually means. A different post for another time maybe.) I began listening to my body tell me how it felt instead of looking at the number on the scale. I was actually liking and appreciating what I saw in the mirror instead of saying, “Ugh. There’s fat there and it shouldn’t be.”

Hitting small goals are HUGE ACCOMPLISHMENTS! The picture here shows the day I woke up, looked in the mirror, and realized I had collarbones. I’m not even sure if I ever saw my collarbones before. I was extremely excited!

Another accomplishment was when I stepped on the Wii Fit scale to weigh-in instead of the bathroom scale. The Wii Fit said I was no longer obese but now just over weight! Hahaha!

These accomplishments meant more to me then any number on the scale ever would!

I now appreciate looking at myself in the mirror instead of glaring at myself in the mirror.