As I excitedly rang in the new year to celebrate 2010 with my family, I decided to not follow the common tradition of making new year's resolutions. Instead, I decided to focus on a few simple and attainable goals to improve my life this year.
In 2009, I was excited to have made dramatic changes in my health, wellness and body by eating more organic, raw and whole foods following an anti-yeast diet. Once I became determined to practice my new lifestyle, I began walking outdoors, swimming, eating nutritiously, taking healthy supplements and staying more active. After following this new wellness plan for over four months, I was thrilled to gradually lose a total of 26 lbs. It was the highlight of 2009!
Fortunately, I have been able to maintain my weight for eight months. However, I am no longer following the intense anti-yeast diet. In reality, the strict diet required me to eliminate a large amount of food groups and I became bored with eating the same foods day in and day out.
No doubt, it was a tough diet to stick with for a lengthy amount of time and I discovered that I definitely need variety in my diet. Therefore, I made new changes in my wellness plan to begin eating a wider variety of foods to "spice up" my life!
What works best for me is balancing healthy, nutritious foods with the occasional tempting indulgences, such as pizza, dark chocolate or Mexican food. My motto is "WHATEVER WORKS!" As long as this works for me, I am going to enjoy it!
Have you made traditional new year's resolutions? If so, was weight loss, fitness, anti-aging or a radiant complexion part of your plan? My suggestion is to consider choosing 1-2 primary goals for yourself, instead of a long list of unrealistic idea's about drastically dieting, going into debt for plastic surgery or managing to look like the gorgeous model on the front cover of Vogue. The point is to keep it simple and attainable!
Begin by writing your goals onto an index card to post throughout your home. For instance, I posted my goals on my bedroom mirror and bathroom mirror. Another idea is to post your 2010 goals on your car dash board, on your refrigerator or on your desk where you will continually be reminded.
If you are like my sister, Doreen, you may feel the urge to bring your 2010 goals to a whole new level by adding creativity and self-discipline. As a teenager, Doreen was extremely frustrated with her weight. When she encountered road blocks with dieting, she radically bumped up her weight loss goals to take drastic measures into her own hands.
I will never forget the incident in which my sister wrapped duct tape around our refrigerator door to prevent herself from overeating! Another hysterical weight loss trick that my sister practiced in an attempt to work off extra pounds was to firmly roll plastic wrap all around her body prior to exercising to increase perspiration. (Hey, I give my sister extra credit for coming up with those brilliant idea's!)
Although, Doreen struggled with losing weight as a teenager, she successfully lost 122 lbs after spending one year actively following a low fat diet, walking outdoors, persevering and overcoming rough challenges. Doreen looks amazing! I am in absolute AWE at how dedicated she was to dramatically take charge of her health and make a positive difference in her life!
To read more about my sister's inspirational weight loss journey, read "SEASONS OF CHANGE" at this link:
http://writing4theheart-n-soul.blogspot.com/2009/04/fabulously-fat-free.html
It was Doreen's incredible weight loss success that encouraged me to try to eat healthier and exercise more often. I knew in my heart that if my sister could lose 122 lbs by changing her diet, reducing calories and becoming more active then I could lose weight, too.
When I began eating organic, raw, whole foods, started walking outdoors 3-4 times per week and began aqua therapy, I was truly aiming to lose 10 lbs. I can imagine right now that some of you readers are wondering, "ONLY 10 LBS? FOR CRYING OUT LOUD, THAT IS NO BIG DEAL!"
Actually, I am feeling quite ashamed to confess this, but I did not believe that I could ever lose weight or even 10 lbs last year. While it may sound ridiculous or pathetic, I truly reached the lowest time in my life when my weight had relentlessly climbed shockingly high to the point of people asking me if I were PREGNANT! No joke! Talk about the most HUMILIATING experience to suffer in public!
Without going into an in depth story, much of my weight gain occurred from 11/06 to 3/09 when I had been diagnosed with 4 bulging discs, advanced degenerative disc disease, sciatica, wacky hormonal imbalances and fibromyalgia. (If that isn't enough to send the average female frantically over the edge, I don't know what will!)
The moment I began taking steroids to reduce my chronic pain and inflammation, my petite and thin body suddenly blew up two sizes overnight! Alright.....that may be a teeny weeny bit exaggerated.....But I did gain much weight rather quickly.
Keeping that in mind, you can probably understand how frustrated I felt when I had to buy clothes 2-3 sizes larger than what I had previously worn. Sadly, I went from wearing size 6 to wearing size 12. My passion for shopping at the local mall and trying on new trendy clothes suddenly became a NIGHTMARE!
As I recall the physically and emotionally painful challenges that I was coping with for three years, my turning point was in March 2009 when I made the bold decision to have more faith in God, have more faith in myself, to push forward and to change the direction of my life.
When I confidently took that very first step to actively make positive changes in my life physically, spiritually and emotionally, I made a realistic list of helpful steps that would eventually lead me to a higher quality of life. By organizing a realistic plan, taking one step at a time, I kept my focus NOT on what I was sacrificing, such as delicious cakes, greasy burgers, creamy milkshakes, addictive Starbucks latte's and spicy Mexican burritos. Rather, I kept my focus on what I would GAIN!
In my mind, I could clearly see myself in the near future being healthier, happier, stronger in faith, slender and living a life with purpose. I had no doubt in my mind that what I was gaining was far more meaningful, positive and life-changing than what I would sacrifice to reach my goals.
There were occasional times, in the beginning of my organic, yeast-free diet, I used to stroll through my favorite dress shops and longingly admire the adorable fashions in smaller sizes. Silently, I would cheer myself on by saying,"DON'T GIVE UP HOPE! YOU CAN CAN DO IT!"
The most exciting moment was when my size 10-12 jeans were too big to wear! After one month of consistently consuming organic, pure, nutritious foods, enjoying all of the wonderful recipes and staying physically active, the hard work was actually paying off!
Within two months of persevering with my new lifestyle goals, I was no longer able to wear any of my larger clothes. As I tried on my dresses, slacks, blouses, jeans and shorts, I was delighted to look in my bedroom mirror to see my large-sized clothes slide off of me because they were all too big! What a better way to celebrate this exciting victory then to go on a fabulous shopping spree?
What I have learned about myself in 2009 is that I have far more determination and faith than I give myself credit for. No matter how difficult life may become, living with chronic pain, trying to eat healthier foods, forcing myself to walk outdoors for 30 minutes or go to aqua therapy for warm water exercises in hope to improve my life, God has continually been my comfort and strength.
Another meaningful lesson that I learned is that regardless of my weight, size, shape, color of skin or color of hair, my Heavenly Father loves me unconditionally. No matter how distorted the world may view beauty, in God's eyes we are all BEAUTIFUL, RADIANT, ACCEPTED, CHERISHED and ETERNALLY SIGNIFICANT.
The bible says in Psalm 45:11 "The king is enthralled by your beauty; honor him, for he is your lord." Can you imagine that......God doesn't just think that you are average, He is downright ENTHRALLED with YOUR beauty! This is something SPECTACULAR to jump up and down about, sisters!
If this new year finds you frustrated, disappointed or teary-eyed as you look at your reflection in the mirror, I want to encourage you to begin looking at yourself through a brand new lens: THE EYES OF GOD.
Instead of criticizing yourself or silently thinking negatively about your outer appearance, STOP! Please consider to stop for 5-10 minutes to sincerely view yourself through God's eyes.
When you begin opening up your eyes to see yourself through a brand new lens, you will clearly see yourself become transparent right before your very eyes. For it is only when we clearly see ourselves through GOD'S EYES, we are able to look beyond our outer appearance to suddenly discover deep within the core of our heart and soul who we really are.
Copyright © 2010 by Dana Arcuri. All Rights Reserved.
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