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Reflection + celebration

Posted by Jennifer Campoli on September 1st, 2010
Filed under Coaching, Goals, intuitive eating, My Journey to health | 2 Comments »

Afternoon all!

I bid you hello today from sunny Seattle! I had a top top secret trip planned to surprise my husband out here during his work training. Yesterday morning I snuck on a plane, flew across the country and was waiting for him when he got back from work. It was brilliant and my best surprise yet. The look on his face was priceless! I love doing things like this for people we love. It is so fabulous!

My plan this post was to talk about running…something I have recently started to do more of.

But…I think today calls for a bit of reflection and celebration, don't you?

A surprising number

Five years ago I was invited by my now husband to a weekend away in New Hampshire. A group of his friends met every Labor Day on a gorgeous lake at a camp called Sandy Island. It was to be a weekend of fun, lots of sun, good friends and relaxation. Along with memories of fun, sun, good friends and relaxation, I remember lots of worry and frustration.

I didn't eat much the week leading to our time away. I didn't eat much while we were there and I was constantly worried about how I looked.

I would stare at the wonderful comfort food that I so wanted to partake in. Peanut butter n fluff, macaroni n cheese, s'mores were a few things that I remember dying to have. But I wouldn't let myself (too many calories, too much fat, I wasn't allowed). Until the last evening.

And then I lost control.

I ate and ate and ate. My stomach hurt more than ever and I felt miserable. On the car ride home I was already cooking up my next diet: no this, no that, all this and none of that. Start day: Monday.

That is typically how my mind would work in those days. For over 15 years I spent my day thinking about what what to eat, what not to eat, how to eat, how much to eat, guilt, shame, frustration, desire and deprivation. All revolving around my body and food.

Well today my friends I can look back and honestly say that everything has changed. It has taken me over two years to get to a new place but I am finally here!

I made a decision in June of 2008. I was going to leave behind that world. I had to change my relationship with food.

I wanted to find peace with my body. I wanted to feel balanced. And I finally have.

Though I rarely weigh myself (I have no real desire to know the number), I found myself in the hotel fitness room this morning and there was a scale. Why not, I thought. Let's see what it says. I couldn't believe it when I saw it. I had to get off and get back on again.

I have lost 59 pounds!

Now, I'm not here to celebrate the number friends. I could care less about the number.

I'm here to celebrate who I have become and HOW I did it. So please, if you would join me, I would like to share some of the lessons I have learned in the last two years.

My Lessons

Visualize. Last year I remember sitting at home one day and thinking about who I wanted to be and how I wanted to change. I had never given much thought to the details before. Instead of focusing on what I didn't have, I began to visualize and focus on what I wanted my new story to be! I created a vision board and I found words, pictures, thoughts, quotes and ideas that portrayed my new story. And this visualization became a source of motivation every day.

Begin small. Change takes energy, it takes drive, it takes motivation and it takes desire. But it also can begin with something small. I decided to change one thing at a time. One week, I began with breakfast. Rather than worrying about every meal that day and feel utterly overwhelmed, today was all about breakfast! I was over the regimented set of rules that someone else dictated! I had to start small and then move on from there.

Recognize that there will be bumps and plan for them! No road is straight nor easy friends. Expect the hard days, expect the unexpected and plan for it. If you think through potential road blocks or things that could knock you off track, you will have a tool box to turn to when they hit! Create a support system around you that will help you rally!

Forgive. Always forgive yourself for the mistakes. Allow mistakes to become a chance to learn and opportunities to grow. I know, easier said than done. Yet what you will start to realize is that your mindset, your attitude, and your ability to view things in a positive light will help you push through anything in this world. Your experience is so dependent upon your frame of mind.

Fuel the desire. Think often about what you want. Think about it daily. Instead of looking at yourself and acknowledging what you don't have and what you are lacking, fuel your desire by thinking towards what you want! Look forward friends.

Listen. Listen to your body. Allow your body to guide you towards what it needs, how much and when. Your body is an incredible source of knowledge. All of the answers to your questions are right there. You just have to listen! Spend the next week writing down some of the signals you get from your body and see how it influences what you eat and how you move during the day.

So friends, these ideas that have worked for me are not going to work for everyone. My weight loss has been a process of establishing a very lost connection between my mind and my body. It wasn't about pounds, numbers, macronutrients or calories. I had to redefine my relationship with food before I could ever think about how to build a meal that fueled my workout or provided me with enough protein to leave me satisfied.

Now, I have so much more room in my mind to focus on my life. The guilt, shame, frustration and worry about food is gone.

And through this experience I have found my new love: coaching! I would spend every hour talking with someone about how to change, improve, or enhance their health, nutrition, well being or overall happiness. Call it irony but considering food and the body used to be the LAST thing I would ever talk about with others…now I can't get enough.

So, I hope you enjoyed a bit of this personal share.

Have a wonderful day!

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