[Image from my Operation Beautiful Book Tour Post]
‘I don’t have a goal weight, I have a goal life.’
I heard this quote while watching an interview with an Extreme Weight Loss participant and it really clicked with me!
Along my journey, I realized that a certain number on the scale wouldn’t magically make my life perfect. For years I chased this number while becoming more and more unhappy.
I now focus on creating the life that I want, by taking small steps each day. It’s about how I feel each day when I wake up. If I wake up happy and eager to start the day, I know I’m on the right track. A certain number can’t dictate my happiness, but I can make changes in my life to feel my best.
While, I’m busy baking up orders today, I thought it would be fun to have a Glo Bar giveaway!
Leave a comment below sharing a lesson you’ve learned along your journey or simply share one of your favourite quotes.
One lucky winner will receive a delicious box of 10 Glo Bars! Goodluck!
Coming up, one of our favourite recipes so far in 2011….get excited!
I’m learning that weight should not define me, or consume my every thought. It’s a daily struggle, but I’m working on it.
I am slowly learning that it’s more important to eat and be healthy than count calories and go by the numbers on the scale! Love your blog!!
“Your journey has molded you for the greater good. And it was exactly what it needed to be. Don’t think that you’ve lost time. It took each and every situation you encountered to bring you to the now. And now is the right time.” -Asha Tyson
I’ve learned that achieving happiness and contentment has virtually nothing to do with my outward appearance.
One of my favorite quotes that’s become easy to remember and repeat to myself is “Always bring your own sunshine” by Anthony J. D’Angelo.
:)
“A journey may be long or short, but it must start at the very spot one finds oneself.”
-Jim Stovall, The Ultimate Gift
“You need to fail in order to succeed”. So true!
One thing I have definitively learned is that the weight you reach wont stay, so whatever you “happy” weight is will either go down or up and will never stay the same. So if you only feel happy at that weight, you need to separate yourself from both the scale and your diet/obsessive counting and focus more on enjoying your family and activities you love to do.
However, being a teen I also learned that you will be surrounded by many, many girls with eating disorders. In my case my best friend, but you can’t change them, because they need serious help not just my “wisdom”. Although it may be hard, you have to know that in the end they will most likely go back to restricting no matter how much advice you give.
Hey Angela! Thanks for the giveaway. Like you, I have struggled with anxiety for many years now. I often find myself obsessing and worrying about things that are literally years away from happening. This quote always seems to ground me a bit when I start feeling overwhelmed.
“Always remember that the future comes one day at a time.”
“Forgiveness is giving up hope that the past could be any different than it was.”
I learned life is too short! and that the only opinion I really needed to go by was my own.
Growing up and in grade school, I was always the quiet and shy girl even though at home and with my few close friends I was completely different – loud and funny! For some reason, I held my real personality back because I didn’t want to stand out too much or subject myself or jokes to criticism from kids whose opinions I cared too much about.
I finally started to feel more comfortable expressing myself SENIOR YEAR (gahh!) and I realized how much happier I was and that I actually found myself with a bigger social life and people who wanted to spend time with the real ME. To say the least, I was able to start college without holding my true self back and those 4 years totally rocked!
I’m afraid my favorite quote is this one:
Every time a friend succeeds, I die a little – Gore Vidal
There is a positive element within, however. When I see my friends or husband making healthy choices, sometimes I get a little surge of jealousy, but at the same time it motivates me that if they can do it, I can do it too. Plus, it is positive because it makes me smile every time I hear it or read it. I have a weird sense of humor.
Better every day.
“The beauty of life is to experience yourself.”
If I remember to live by this quote, every day is a new adventure. I have loved your recent posts, Angela. So honest and inspiring.
“Every now and then a clear harmonic cry gave new suggestions of a tune that would someday be the only tune in the world and would raise men’s souls to joy.”
(jack kerouac)
long time reader, but first comment!
“That pesky scale doesn’t know how to measure fabulousness.” A friend wrote that to me in an email when I was frustrated about gaining a few pounds during my triathlon training. I think about it now when I get stuck on a number, and remind myself that it’s not about losing weight anymore, it’s about doing amazing things and being fabulous while doing them!
The most important thing is that I am happy.
My favorite quote is: “help someone be more than they think they can be”
This ties in with the greatest lesson I have learned and continue to learn in my life…it’s not about what you’re getting, it’s about what you’re GIVING. Thinking about what I’m giving to others, to the world, has been the greatest change I’ve made in myself. I find that I am more compassionate, more generous, more readily forgiving, more patient, more humorous, more open-minded, more everything…and the greatest benefit is that I am making a positive impact on people and this world (I hope!)
Whenever I get stressed or unhappy with a situation I stop and reframe my thoughts from what I am getting or not getting, to what I am giving…because there is always a direct correlation!!
My favorite quote was actually my senior quote many years ago. In the great words of Gandhi
“Be the change you wish to see in the world.” Every day I’m growing and changing into the person I want to become to make the world a better place.
Angela, I absolutely ADORE your blog! Your last several posts have really resonated with me. I find myself struggling with a lot of the issues you discuss here, and it’s so comforting and empowering in a way to know that other people struggle with the same issues.
Today, I like to consider myself a “healthy” person. Before I started respecting my body and health, I was obsessed with calorie counting. Morning, noon, night. Gotta count the carbs, fats, protein, fiber. Only 60 calories and practically zero nutritional benefit? I’ll take it. 160 calories with fiber, omegas and other healthy fats? Mmm… that’s extra time on the elliptical… Pass. I didn’t care about fueling my body with the right nutrients. All I cared about was calories in and calories out. I did lose weight doing this, but looking back, I was the unhappiest I’ve ever been. I felt like the number on the scale had this debilitating grip on my life that robbed me of any shred of confidence and self respect I had. Slowly but surely, I began to be good to myself, but the problem was that I was now obsessing over my nutrition. It’s just as easy to become obsessed with BEING HEALTHY. Today I’m much happier person with a newly found respect and appreciation for health and wellness; one major lesson I’ve learned along this journey (and still have to remind myself of daily) is that your “health” means your entire being is healthy. Spiritual, emotional and physical. It’s easy to get caught up in the physical part and neglect the other areas that are just as important.