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Celebrate Your Weight Loss Milestones

At the end of July, I hit my halfway weight loss milestone.  When I started this journey on March 16, 2009, I was 50 pounds heavier.  At that time, I set a goal of losing a hundred pounds.  It sounds excessive, I know, but that is how much weight I needed to lose to be within the healthy weight range for my height.  It seemed impossible at first.  In fact, I could barely get my head around it.  So, I did what I usually do when faced with a major challenge:  I jumped in feet first and tried to tackle it all at once.

At first, I was impatient to take off the weight as quickly as possible; however, both my WeightWatchers coach and my doctor reminded me that since I didn't put on the weight overnight, I couldn't expect for it to come off overnight.  They were right. It took me twenty three years to put the extra weight on.  If it takes me a couple of years to take it off, then so be it.

Over time, I learned to approach my weight loss journey one pound at a time and to celebrate the smaller milestones.  In the WeightWatchers program, you get little gold stars, bookmarks and other signs of recognition when you lose each 5 pounds, hit your initial 10% weight loss goal,  etc.  At first, I thought I was back in kindergarten but then I realized that celebrating those smaller weight loss milestones helped to break up the journey and made the road seem less interminable along the way.  It also gave me incentive to reach the next milestone.  And of course, the closer I get to my ultimate goal, the less likely I am to stop or backslide.

They say that people who lose weight slowly tend to keep it off longer than those who take off a lot of weight quickly by starving themselves or doing something drastic.  That's because quick weight loss is usually the result of activities that can't be maintained on a long-term basis whereas slow weight loss is usually the result of a change in lifestyle.  Well, my lifestyle has certainly changed and I can't imagine letting myself go back to where I was when I started.

So, what do I mean by celebrate?  The first thing I used to think of when I thought of celebrating was having a celebratory toast or going out to have dinner and drinks.  Since that would sort of defeat the purpose, I needed to look for other ways to celebrate.  Here are a few suggestions:

1.  Treat yourself to a new hairstyle (get a new haircut, a new color, braids or a perm)

2.  Treat yourself to a spa day (get a massage, a manicure, a pedicure and/or a facial)

3. Treat yourself to a show (do you like musicals, plays, concerts?)

4. Treat yourself to a movie (go see that new action movie or chick flick)

5. Treat yourself to a new perfume or cologne (wow the opposite sex with your new body, confidence and scent)

6. Treat yourself to a new exercise class (want to try yoga, aikido, bellydance, or pole dancing?)

7.  Go shopping and buy an outfit or two in your new size (buy a sexy dress or outfit you wouldn't have dared to wear before)

8. Treat yourself to a cooking class (want to learn how to chop veggies like a chef or how to cook Thai food?)

9.  Treat yourself to a new book by your favorite author

10.  Treat yourself to a weekend getaway

There are a million non-food related ways to celebrate your weight loss milestones – whether you celebrate with friends or a partner or by yourself.  And they don't have to cost a million dollars either.  For example, your new book could be a paperback, your exercise class could be $15 or less (the same price as the movie ) and your sexy new outfit could be on the clearance rack.  The point is to celebrate the journey.  Let me know how you choose to celebrate.

Peace

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