photo credit: onesevenone via photopin cc
I’m almost done. The finish line is in sight. I see the flag waving. I’m preparing to change gears perhaps lanes but I know the direction I am heading. I’m not ready to move on, I don’t think. I’ll phrase it another way. My goal of achieving 14 days on the South Beach Diet, Phase 1 is nearing completion. I can almost exclaim: I did. Not yet, though. I need to wait, to be patient, to allow that end to surface. To celebrate the 14 days, I will weigh and measure myself, and yes, I will write it down and compare it to where I started. Did you hear me self, I said celebrate so you better change your silly ways and remember that I will joyfully acknowledge, I will pat myself on the back, and I will excitedly jump up and down no matter what the scale says. I want to be abundantly clear with my psyche and my emotional self. I am going to be happy with my accomplishment. Yes, I am.
photo credit: brizzle born and bred via photopin cc
To be honest, I am scared to get on the scale. I remember how I felt a bunch of days back when I weighed myself. A heated conflict exists between my healthy, productive, positive self that knows the darn number means nothing in comparison to how good I feel versus my crumbling unhealthy, doubtful self that screams “if it’s not this number, then you failed”. Oh, I am ripping that naysayer self to shreds and trying so hard to eliminate those thoughts and feelings. Yuk! Get out of my head, please! Writing this down gives these feelings credence and me power to combat the negative stuff that fills of our heads sometimes. I am forewarned and armed with everything I need to get to the good stuff.
So, I’ve learned a lot over the past 13 days, and here are few that I would like to share. First of all, I can do anything I set my mind to, work hard at, and make a plan for success. I’ve been using the following phrases a lot in my everyday life since starting the South Beach Diet. When approaching food and a whole bunch of other things, I’ve been saying {to myself}, I don’t eat that or choose to do that or make that selection instead of dreadfully and woefully saying {again, to myself}, I can’t, I can’t, I can’t. The change in word selection {from can’t to don’t} had a huge impact on how I feel about things. I do not feel I am denying myself anything. I feel empowered because I am making a choice. It feels good. It really does. What else? I’ve learning that when eating the right foods for me {and eating more often}, I am less hungry, I am less cranky, and I am eating more with a purpose as well as an understanding that food is fuel. I am no longer eating when I am bored or eating the wrong foods when things get chaotic or when I am emotional, exhausted, frustrated, happy, or whatever. I am more in tuned with my body, with my hunger, and with rhythm of my day.
As many of you know, I love to cook, I love to eat, and I love to feed my family and friends. Because of the South Beach Diet, I feel more connected to the food I am purchasing, cooking, and putting on the table. The past few days, I have found some incredibly delicious and fulfilling South Beach recipes that were new to me this time around {to name a few: tomato and leek frittata, Middle Eastern steak and chickpea salad, chili-rubbed tilapia with asparagus and lemon, and homemade Caesar salad dressing}. I even had the lovely opportunity to make these meals for my in-laws who have been so supportive of me and my journey while visiting us this weekend. Thank you, Nancy and Larry for being so wonderfully accommodating.
photo credit: GlasgowAmateur via photopin cc
I could write and write about this week and my journey but I’m going to hold off until the 14 days are officially and successfully o-v-e-r. Thank you for supporting me, for commenting on the blog, posting on my Facebook wall, getting in touch through email and text, and especially for those wonderful in-person gestures of kindness. Your words, your encouragement, your shoulders have provided much more than I can express. Thank you for walking besides me ready at any moment to pull me in from the window.
I’m almost there… Are you?
Yay, Nikki! So glad you FEEL good, and you’re right, no matter what the numbers say, it’s about how you feel.