Celebrating Success Now

Credit: http://www.facebook.com/followyourdreamstoachieve

I was reading Lisa’s post from yesterday and was struck by how she was embracing who/where she is right now, most specifically with her running.  While I’m not a runner, her post really got me thinking about how often I sell myself short, too.  I let myself get discouraged by how much weight I still need to lose to get to my goal (or even just to a healthy weight that would make my doctor happy).  I get so focused on that to the point I forget to celebrate my progress and success.

Why is it that we are so often our own worst enemy when it comes to our success?  We focus so much on what we still need to accomplish that we fail to stop and see how far we’ve come already!  We’re too busy beating ourselves up for how long it might be taking us to reach our goal rather than celebrating how far we’ve already come.

One of the main ways I’m particularly guilty of this is when someone asks me how much weight I’ve lost.  Most of the time, I respond by telling the person about how I lost 138 pounds several years ago, but then go on to tell them about how I regained nearly 100 pounds and proceed to explain the life circumstances (back surgery, divorce, yada, yada, yada) that lead up to regaining the weight.

I never seem to talk about how I got myself back on track and how I’m getting the weight off again.  I never really talk about how much I’ve lost since getting myself back on track.  I just focus on my past success of how much I lost in the past followed immediately by my past failure how much of it I regained.

Why do I do that?!  Why do I feel the need to explain that to someone, particularly to someone I didn’t even know back when I lost the weight in the past?  Why do I denigrate all the hard work I’m doing right now by instead focusing on the past?  It’s time for me to STOP doing that!  It’s time for me to start celebrating my progress and success NOW instead!

So, in keeping with Lisa’s post yesterday, here’s my truth that I’m celebrating NOW:

My name is Mel and I’m 48 years old.  I currently weigh 282 pounds and I’ve lost 55 pounds so far.  I may not be a runner, but I can walk a 5k.  I may not be a cyclist, but I make it through an hour long spin class.  I may not be able to make it through a boot camp, but I can Zumba for an hour.

What about you?  Do you sell yourself short?  Do you focus on how far you still have to go rather than celebrating how far you’ve already come?  What’s YOUR truth?  Blog about it and link it up in the comments section below, or just leave us a comment and share your success thus far!

P.S. – I’m sure you all know by now that I’m a member of Weight Watchers.  This week kicks off their 5th annual Lose for Good campaign.   For the pounds lost by members between Sept. 2 and Oct. 20, Weight Watchers will donate up to $1 million to benefit Share Our Strength and Action Against Hunger.  If you’ve been considering joining Weight Watchers, now is a great time because you can help fight hunger while working on your own health, too!