I had my first day back to work, and it was as hectic as I imagined it would be. I did love going out with students on a Wonder Walk (Georgia Heard). It is amazing to see what children will find that we would be likely to miss:

Children are designed to learn. They see everything as an opportunity to know more and as a teacher, I get to encourage and be part of that energy – I am very blessed.  I”ve talked about having a beginner’s mind at my WW meetings.  It comes down to lifting your presuppositions of the familiar and being open to new opportunities. I am striving to get closer to that.

It’s the rote nature of following the program that can be problematic. Packing your lunch, weighing and measuring your food, tracking. All of that can wear you down, and you find yourself disengaging and losing the energy for this work:

That’s why a new lunch box, a special shampoo, adding some lemons and limes to your seltzer or trying a new recipe may be just the fix to keep your energy up. A beginner’s mind looks for opportunities to try something new. I think this is very important.  Speaking of new, I told you yesterday that I’d share how my recipe came out. It was amazingly good!

Food Network

My Kitchen

I think there are many struggles to get to goal. After putting in all the work for making dinner, you just want to eat. But if you’re staying on the plan you need to weight and measure. I know that is something that I need to do, if I want to, in fact, get to goal:

Then there are the obstacle courses we run through just to go on an errand.:

If you’re in a bad place, you might leave the 711 with a giant chip on your shoulder. Sometimes, you just want a piece of candy. I do love candy. but not today. I really didn’t want it, and I was kind of stunned looking at the pictures, this is truly an assault on the senses!  Instead, when I left the store, I looked for a bit of beauty, and I found it:

Tomorrow is my meeting day. Last week I had a big loss. I lost 3.6 lbs. I’m not expecting to have another big loss like that. I know that I’ve done an amazing job this week, and that is enough for me.

I don’t want you to leave this blog thinking I’m living in some dream world. Believe me, I caught myself more than once this week at the absolutely WRONG angle. I’m not going to say it didn’t make me feel bad.  I could relive those moments over and over focusing on how much work I have ahead of me. It’s true.

I say no to that negativity, and I my hope for you is that you join me.  If you’re dealing with weight loss, and I guess you are because you’re reading this blog, be kind to yourself because this is hard. Let the voice in your head be generous and loving because that will help in the long haul. Do the work, don’t make excuses, and celebrate along the way.

More tomorrow…