A Slap in the Face

cheripugh1 · January 2014

Hi, maybe I should say a huge wake up call? but at the time it felt like a slap in the face! I was reading about those of us, and I think we all have to fight this, comparing yourself to others which typically results in thinking you need to lose more weight even though you are at or near your goal.

For me this was a wake up call, I was walking with my sister at an open mall recently and I saw this gal about my age and I said "wow I wish I looked like her!" She had my size chest (DD) a small waist and small hips with very nicely shaped legs. and my sister said; "you use to". Which stopped me dead in my tracks.

For those who do not know my history; I had brain surgery for a ruptured aneurysm, in that process they removed 10% of my brain, I had to relearn everything and there are things (memories) that went in that hazmat bag so 1. I have no memory of certain area's in my life and 2. my family has gotten use to filling in the blanks, in other words she never thought it would upset or insult me she was automatically filling in a blank for me.

It seriously made me think and I hunted through some old photos and dang, yep. So if I use to look like that lady, why do I look this way now? How can I make that wish come true? After all it is possible since I was there once upon a time. Which has lead me to this journey now and it helps stop me from comparing myself to anyone else. If I get to a decent weight and fix my health I have won, maybe I will not reach a size 5 but hey a size 10 would not be bad and I can continue to aim for that 5. For motivation I cut out a pretty suit I would love to have and I posted it to see each day, I can look wonderful in that suit, I can see this me in it too!

ChelseaGoneAwry · January 2014

First off, AVOID thinking about how great you "used to look" because there's no going back to that. You will never look exactly like that again, so just forget it!

Second, your goal should be to FEEL good. If you focus on that, you'll find very quickly that the better you feel, the better you look. Exercise shouldn't be about losing weight or looking like you used to. It should be about extending your life and being healthy! You are beautiful at absolutely any size. Own that!

Francl27 · January 2014

As far as excuses go to get overweight, you have a pretty good one, to be honest.

Best of luck! I agree that you will probably not look 'like that', but you can definitely get close enough. If it's any consolation, I was thinner than I am at some point too... and I can't remember it either. Heck people tell me they remember me being thin and I laugh at them. Sometimes it's just very hard to see yourself as thin.

cheripugh1 · January 2014

Kind of what I was trying to say here:

[If I get to a decent weight and fix my health I have won, maybe I will not reach a size 5 but hey a size 10 would not be bad and I can continue to aim for that 5. For motivation I cut out a pretty suit I would love to have and I posted it to see each day, I can look wonderful in that suit, I can see this me in it too!

]

It motivates me or tells I can do this and like I said maybe not exactly like I looked then, which would be impossible but it made me stop and think and set a goal for myself with the confidence that I can get to my NEW goal.

I guess I was trying to share that it often is something strange, a comment or whatever that gives you a wake up and helps feed your drive to change.

cheripugh1 · January 2014

It looks like you are doing great! Thank you but I have no real excuse, I simply ate wrong and I got fat, I could have and should have stopped when I had 20 to lose or 50 or 80 but I have taken it to 100 lbs. and now I have to fix myself!

uconnwinsnc · January 2014

You conquered that ruptured aneurysm and losing a chunk of your brain, I think you can do this. You're a champ.

jessspurr · January 2014

I just wanted to say that I see from your ticker you lost three pounds and joined MFP in January. That is AWESOME. Grab on to all of your achievements in your fitness and hang on to them and cherish them and dwell on them and then they will start building on each other. Great job!