Motivation?

Wow! Since I've been "gone" I've noticed that a lot of us are on the same page these days...as in lacking the motivation that once fueled us when we first started out on this journey to "less of us". All I can say is - DON'T GIVE UP! The same reasons we all decided it was time to shed the lard are still there. If we give up now the strides we've made will slowly disappear as the weight creeps back on. And then some. Right? We all know that! We always gain a little more than we lost...

And in a few months - after we've eaten ourselves silly and dragged out all the "fat" clothes again (that this time will be even more snug than before) we'll start hating ourselves for ever giving up in the first place.

And contrary to what the little guy on your shoulder is telling you - we were NOT meant to be fat. We've just learned bad habits along the way that (or never really learned any good ones to begin with) that have put us where we are today.

Hubby's a mechanic and I've learned a lot about how machines run watching him in his shop as he putters. Our bodies are machines too! (I'm leading up to an analogy here.....) If a car sits for months at a time and the engine doesn't get turned over - it won't run very well - if at all. The battery will be weak or dead. Things start to corrode. Animals start nesting under the hood. It's not a good thing. And even if a car gets driven daily - if it doesn't get highway mileage - you know, really letting the engine hum and do it's thing - it will still suffer. (can we say exercise...?) And then there's the whole fuel thing. Give an engine bad gas and you ain't getting anywhere. Give it what it needs and it'll purr like a kitten and never let you down!

God designed our bodies to run smoothly and efficiently if we give them the right fuel and use them to their full capacity! If we do that - we won't be fat! Sure...some will still have bigger hips than others....some will have wider waists....thicker ankles...but that's our SHAPE! We're all different makes and models - but we can still look good!

I'm not giving up (though some days I desperately want to and I show it by eating every item that isn't nailed down) but the thing is - if we get back on track we don't need to return from "whence we came."

I'm not perfect. I need encouragement and pep talks and downright smacks in the head sometimes from you guys. Today it's my turn to return the "favor".

Hang in there guys! Don't get disillusioned by the journey ahead. Just take one day at a time. That's all God gives us the strength for anyway. And a lot of strong days makes a lot less of us!