In Gratitude

Just a short note today to express my thanks for all my friends, family and WW tribe.

A special shout out to my WW buddy Theresa.  She was so kind as to mention this blog in our meeting as a source of inspiration for her amazing 60+ lb weight loss.  Great job Theresa!

Of course the truth is that she did all the hard work.  No one could do it for her and she is a total star!

I could never express how much all of my tribe mean to me and how much your support has helped me along my path.

By just being who you are you uplift me. <3

Of course a lot of people ask me about weight loss but I think for me there is no ONE key to weight loss.

It's everything- the meetings, a great leader(Love you Nancy!), CONNECT, my trainer, my coach, reading things that motivate me, prayer, meditations, exercise, music and a multitude of other things.

The thing I'm really coming to understand is that this really never does end.

You just keep learning and that's not a bad thing.

What I now know is that most of my life I've been in such a hurry to lose weight that I didn't take time for all the lessons, all the trials I'd need to go through in order to build the tools I'd need to lose weight.

People on CONNECT often joke about being part of the "Turtle Club", meaning that they're losing really slowly.

What they don't realize is that they're doing it the right way.

After making Lifetime and gaining some of my weight back I am now more present and taking more time to get back to my goal.

I have my former WW coach and friend to thank for that.

I touched base with her a while back and was sharing my experience with her and the realization that I'd come to that I had missed out on some learning opportunities as I zoomed to goal.

We talked about strategies to move forward but there was one thing that she said in particular that really struck me.

She said "Carrie, I hear what you're saying but what I'm going to ask you is this- Are you in a hurry to get back to goal NOW?  Why not take the time you missed out on before?  Why not intentionally give yourself those experiences?".

Of course she was spot on.

I've gained 15 lbs back after making Lifetime and I'm taking my sweet time to get back to goal.

But I'm also learning much more as I go this time.

I'm giving myself more opportunities to go out to eat and be successful and find balance.

Sometimes I have my old fatty favorites and sometimes I have something much healthier.

I'm going through the holidays and celebrations with less trepidation.

I'm learning what it means to fall and really and truly hold no self loathing but rather be in a place of self compassion, self love and mindfulness for growth.

I'm learning to move forward and I think, for me, this just takes some repetition.

It's not something that's one and done.

It's over and over again like forgiveness.

We don't forgive one time.

We don't forgive seven times.

We forgive seven times seventy seven.

And that goes for self forgiveness too.

And so we keep going and we keep forgiving and we keep learning and eventually we come to a new place of understanding deep inside ourselves.

And when that day comes...

Well, let's just say that is truly

Beyond The Scale.

In Gratitude,

Carrie