This morning I weighed and to my surprise, I have already lost a little over 3 pounds. I am really happy, but of course weight often drops quicker at the beginning that is does after a few weeks of changing one's diet. But it is nice to see the scale go down none the less, and if nothing else, it is encouraging.
I had my usual grapefruit and protein toast this morning with coffee, and for lunch I ate fruit salad (no mayo or fat dressing of any kind) and a cup of non-fat Greek yogurt. The fruit was delicious and filling. I felt completely satisfied. For dinner, I plan to have grilled scallops again on a bed of spinach. I had planned to have grilled or baked chicken, but still had a serving of scallops and Vito wanted the last of the turkey and stuffing.
It is probably in my mind, but I feel more energetic as I seem to already be experiencing a high degree of energy. I can also see a slight change in my face, which is usually where I see weight loss first. But after looking at myself in the mirror and believing that I already look a little better, leads me to also question whether I am seeing myself as I actually look or an illusion; a trick of the mind.
The reason I would even think about that is I know that mirrors are deceiving. You can see your image in one, and look like you have lost weight and feel great about how you look, then go to a dressing room at a boutique or department store, look in the mirror and find that you look like an over stuffed buffalo! I don't think it's just me, but has anyone else ever noticed that mirrors in the dressing rooms of clothing stores always makes you look fatter? If I were the proprietor of a women's clothing store, I would try to find mirrors and lighting that made women look their best.
Besides mirrors, a couple of months ago my husband and I went out to lunch with my brother-in-law, who is diabetic and chubby and then lost weight. The last few times I had seen him, he had gained some of the weight back, but was still not as large as he once was. My husband is not only taller, but has much more weight on him that his brother. I mentioned to Vito after we left the restaurant that Matt should be careful and try not gain back the weight he had lost. Vito made a comment to me that he also noticed Matt's weight gain and said that they were now about the same size. You could have knocked me over with a feather when he said that, as I realized that he sees himself thinner than he is in reality. Unfortunately, I told him that he is not the same size as his brother and he looked shocked and said, "Do you think I am bigger than him?" Me, being the honest person I am, but not being as tactful as I should have been, I told him that he is quite a bit larger than Matt. I obviously did not want to hurt his feelings as I love him. On the other hand, he needed to know that he was deluding himself if he thought he was that much smaller. And I have been worried about his health for a long time, and I wish he would take action to become healthier and get some of his weight off. But he never will if he thinks himself to be normal size.
Another incident happened to make me question the way in which we see ourselves. I knew that I was overweight and had to go shopping to buy something to wear to my 35th High School Reunion recently. The clothes that I wanted to buy did not look good on me at my current weight. That I knew to be true, so I bought something more appropriate that would look better on me. When I got dressed that evening, I looked in the mirror and thought, "O.K. Athena, you're heavy, but you look pretty good anyway." When I saw all the pictures from the reunion, although dressed well for a heavy woman, I certainly looked much fatter than I thought I was. Now the thing is, I am usually very photogenic, and believe I look better in pictures than in person. This time is was just the opposite.
The point I am making is I believe that many things we see in life are illusions and everyone sees things differently. As the adage goes, "Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder." We are not always seeing things as they actually are. But one thing is for certain, the scales does not lie, nor the size of my clothing. I am happy with my weight loss and although I feel that I look better, which may or may not be true, the fact is, I still have a long way to go and I need to be positive but also realistic. Again, the most important thing to remember is I am not just trying to look better, but I am trying to become a healthy person. Hopefully I will look better too.
TIP: Visualization techniques are very effective in all aspects of life including weight loss. Even scientists now admit when people visualize an outcome of something or an event, it can have a major impact on the outcome. For example, a person with cancer visualizing the cancer being destroyed often may see a decrease in the size of tumors even prior to treatment. Also there is much evidence that people who visualize or believe they are going to be successful at something, are far more apt to succeed than someone who could not visualize the success. For that reason, it cannot hurt to actually "see" with your minds eye, you being thinner, healthier, living longer with more energy. That is not an illusion it is just directing positive energy toward the outcome and may help to keep you focused on your goal.
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