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Recognition…

Wednesday, January 16, 2013

It’s such a mood booster. After reading the blog that I posted about last night it got me thinking. How good does it feel when people tell you how good you’re doing?

I’ve been on this journey, this time anyway, for almost 5 months. In those five months, through three major holidays, I have managed to lose 37 pounds. Well today one of the bus monitors at my work stops me in the hallway and asks how much I have lost because I look really good.

Up until she said something, I honestly didn’t think that people have noticed the weight loss. My day went from so so to really good. Just how important is recognition for this kind of journey?

In other news I woke up and got on the scale this morning, I was happy to see that it read 265.6! I’m slowly getting there. My long term goal is to lose an additional 100 pounds. I know I can do it. I just have to stick to my mini goals along the way.
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  Member Comments About This Blog Post:

TENNISJIM 1/17/2013 6:26AM

    Awesome. Slow weight loss is more beneficial than losing it all at once

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1STATEOFDENIAL 1/16/2013 4:33PM

    Like in my comment on your last blog, sometimes people are afraid to say something because 'what if I'm wrong?' or 'what if they will take it like I thought they were looking bad before now?' How people react is unpredictable, even if we know the person well. What has been happening in their life just before we mention something could cause them to take what we say in an unintended way. Sometimes we wait to say something 'to be sure'.

For those of us who want someone to notice the change, we feel ridiculous asking someone to notice. But maybe that's what we should do. Don't yell out 'NOTICE MY WEIGHT LOSS' or something that is ridiculously obvious. Instead, why not get some new form-flattering clothes, change your haircut to fit your facial changes, or even ask someone if they would like to take a walk with you for exercise? "I'd like to have someone to talk with as I walk, would you like to come with me?" When you get into conversation you can bring up how good it feels to eat better and move more and you're glad for your friend's/family's support. I'd bet they will be mentioning how good you look/how good you're doing/etc!

Also, there is nothing wrong with wanting some recognition. We all want to know that what we're doing is 'right', 'working', and that 'I am/going to be okay'. If we can't get that from elsewhere, how about getting it from ourselves? Self-recognition does work. Try writing a positive statement on a sticky note and leaving it somewhere that you'll see it the next day. How good would it feel to tell yourself 'I LOOK BEAUTIFUL!' when you look in the bathroom mirror first thing in the morning? How about reading 'Eating healthy foods help me feel healthy!' when opening the fridge for lunch? When you try on new clothes for the first time, say 'I am healthier now and proud of it!' before you think anything negative about how something fits. Every single bit of self-recognition - even if it feels foreign and ridiculous - is worthwhile. De-sensitize yourself to feeling awkward about getting a compliment by giving them to yourself. (This is something I SERIOUSLY need to work on, myself.)

Between self-recognition and opening up opportunites for recognition from others, it's possible to get some great positive support to keep moving forward.

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ARUN4ONE 1/16/2013 3:30PM

    emoticon emoticon emoticon emoticon

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