Progress is progress

Matt says I'm too hard on myself.  Perhaps I am.  I need to work more on accepting myself.  As we strive to become better people, and strive for perfection, we are also our own worst critics.  So after much consideration I have decided to post a few of my before and after pictures from Chalean Extreme.  I need to be reminded that I have made a lot of progress these past months.  Even though my weight won't stay below 150 pounds I know I have lost fat, and become more toned.  Focusing too much on the number on the scale has led me to feel like a failure and become more depressed.  You can see a very big difference in these pictures and I know that I need to focus on the positive instead of focusing on the negative so much.  It was only after talking to my mom about these pictures that pulled me out of the depression and self pity cycle that I had wound up in.  Therefore progress is progress, even if it isn't the type of progress you are looking for.  The scale hasn't gone down, but my body fat has, and the inches have also gone down. 

So without further ado, here are four pictures, before (left): 153.7 (beginning of February), after (right) 151.7 (beginning of May)

And since I am still doing my feel great in 8 challenge, at the end of this post you get my gratitude journal
Today I am thankful for my Mom who is always supporting me and knows how to make me feel better when I get too hard on myself.  I am not finished yet, and no one said that this weight loss journey was going to be easy, I didn't know how long it would take, there was no definitive end date and as long as I keep moving forward and keep trying and don't give up I'm a winner.  This journey has been and continues to be grueling, difficult, and challenging not just physically but mentally and emotionally.  It has been hard to keep everything in perspective, it has been hard not to jump to extreme methods and to resist the temptation of short cutting my weight loss by adding junk like diet pills and other methods that promise quick results.  But slow and steady wins the race.  I set out on this journey determined to see it through to the end and that is what I am going to do.