Are you sure it's not a Facade?

That was the question my therapist asked me back in the early 90's when I told her I didn't need her help anymore. Everything about therapy had become a facade.  I got two things from therapy.  I was in my late 20's early 30's and had never dealt with my fathers death when I was 12.  I had dealt with it. Big Deal. He was an alcoholic. An abusive man. And he was gone. He didn't do anymore for me alive than he did dead.

The second thing was is that I didn't like silence. If it was quiet, Mary had something to say. I can't say I've stepped away from it but I can acknowledge it. 

What she didn't know is that the rest of my stories I shared with her were nothing but lies. Within the first 15 minutes of my first session I sensed her judging me. Was she really or was I just listening to the voices in my head? Probably both. Judging is human nature. I can't honestly say I know - but I do know I didn't want her to know my dirty little secrets. ... I guess I'll keep you in suspense because I've shared more with you reading this than I ever did with her at about $90 a session.

I wanted her to diagnose me. I wanted her to give me the answer that caused my food issues. Why do I refuse to eat tomatoes that are too cold? Why do I not lose weight? The only answers she ever had was throw out your scales, take all the mirrors out of your house and buy more than you can eat in one sitting. Wow. She just challenged me to eat 2 boxes of Twinkies in one sitting rather than one. This is a goal I can lose at every time! Thanks, that was great advice. Here's my credit card. Ching Ching. Go buy yourself a new Coach. It's cute. Can you please consider removing your shitty wicker furniture, my ass doesn't fit so well...
Care to share the third box of Twinkies with me?

I'm going to cast blame here for a moment.... don't remove your mirrors.

I think I stopped looking at them for the last 10-15 years. I failed to recognize my beauty and worth because I couldn't look myself in the eyes and tell me I'm worth it. You are worth it too. Go tell yourself that. It's not a facade.

What Do You Believe and Who Told You To?

I had a very successful day yesterday. I stayed within my calorie range, felt revived and ready to hit this thing full force. I was reading an article about stopping negative thinking - the author was discussing that there are dozens of deep psychological reasons why individuals get caught up in negativity and reminds us that we don't have to know WHY we do it but to just STOP doing it. I've added a new page that is called Feed Your Head. I'll be adding articles that I run across that are helpful to me in this journey.  Maybe you'll run into something there that can help you.  After all we're all in this together. So many of you have reached out and offered your support. Tricia wrote about blogs she likes to read and included mine in her post and my followers tripled. It is really cool to get followers and I love comments so don't hesitate to give me a shout out. Additionally, I found some more really cool blogs to read and I added them to the list.

Another thing that happened yesterday was I ran into Jack's post which led me to this guy named Sam.  Before I talk more about Sam, a co-worker brought me a picture of me from when I was 14 or 15 years old (we used to hang out in school) I looked at me and really liked me. My face was thin, I could see me cheek bones and I had the most obnoxious wide-ass smile I could imagine.  I showed some of the other girls I work with and one said something that punched me right in the gut.  "You don't smile like that anymore." Yep, I don't. Sure, I can cut up with anyone and poke a joke to get a laugh, but it's not the same ...Hell, I even noticed my face getting smaller in the mirror because my frown lines were more prominent. But back to Sam, he declared that he had an epiphany and would share with his readers tomorrow and by golly he did. And he couldn't be more spot on when he says that he values himself based on his weight. I read that and was just in awe that Yes. I do that too.  I'm not trying to steal any lime light away from Sam at all but I do recognize that he may have shed some light on my own thoughts and I'm going to be exploring those - I wrote the other day about getting a letter from my mom and how there had been some resolve between us. She wrote about how proud of me she was and this meant a lot to me - it always has as she's never been one to recognize anything about me rather than my weight and how fat I am and how much I've lost and if I'm really trying to lose weight.  We've even had arguments about whether a banana should ever be eaten because don't you know? They are one of the worst fruits ever to eat? ... blah blah blah. I learned to place value on myself based on how much I weighed from the way my mother placed value on me. Today and from now on, I will teach myself to reverse those lessons. I am valuable because I am a loving wife and step mother, a provider, educated person with a Master's degree, a teacher, cancer survivor, caring, funny, loving, dedicated, insightful, analytical, honest, accomplished, dedicated, committed, self-improved woman that is worth every step in this journey.

I definitely ran into something that helped me. Thank you, Sam.

Feed Your Head - Mental Health Will Drive You Mad!

I am in a serious funk. I had a lot of "screw it" moments this weekend. I didn't meet any of my goals. Some of them, I didn't even try to meet. I'd think about them and I'd be "blah to goals". . I know how to diet. I know how to eat well. I don't know how to shape my mind though.  Folks, it's messed up. I'm working on it though. Seriously, I am. I struggle with having to be honest here and admit I blow it.  I contemplating leaving the whole blog world. I didn't want to share my story anymore.  Who wants to read about a failure? They'll unfollow... and in that thinking, I realized something. I worry too damned much about what other people think. ALL THE TIME.  Don't get me wrong, I love comments and when I get followers but I have to remember that I didn't sign up to entertain people.  I did this to hold me accountable and in the short time I"ve been writing I"m learning so much about me.  So, I won't be going away anytime soon. Another thing I discovered is I spend too much time worrying about my past. I've let my past shape my future a lot and I think I need to shape my future and let go of all these memories - I blame myself for so much and guilt myself for things I had no control over. My thoughts are so powerful and irrational at the same time... a perfect example is this past weekend marked my first husbands death 6 years ago.  He died on May 8 and on Mothers Day so Saturday sucked and Sunday sucked - it's like I got whammied twice in one year. I have blamed myself for years that "I couldn't save him" (He died of cardiac arrest and had been in kidney failure on dialysis for 3 years) but why am I blaming myself? It isn't my fault he was diabetic and chose to not take care of himself. It was his. I think it's OK to mourn my loss but I didn't have complete control of his destiny. I need to forgive myself for even thinking that way and move on. I"m sorry if this post is all over the place I just have a whole lot running around in my head... and I'm going to work on my mind set of this whole eating thing and let the food and stuff come second. If I'm not in the right frame of mind, this will only be temporary and once I get to my destination I want it to be a one way ticket. The ticket might have some lay-overs but I"m not returning to this body. 

In order to do this, I'm going to start doing the Mind Over Body 10 Step Plan over at Spark People.  You can see the full series here.  In summary, the plan looks like this:

The Awakening

The Awakening


A time comes in your life when you finally get it. When in the midst of all your fears and insanity you stop dead in your tracks and somewhere the voice inside your head cries out- ENOUGH! Enough fighting and crying or struggling to hold on. And like a child quieting down after a blind tantrum, your sobs begin to subside, you shudder once or twice, you blink back your tears and through a mantle of wet lashes you begin to look at the world through new eyes.



This is your awakening.

You realize that it's a time to stop hoping and waiting for something to change or for happiness, safety and security to come galloping over the next horizon. You come to terms with the fact that he is not Prince Charming and you are not Cinderella and that in the real world there aren't always fairy tale endings (or beginnings for that matter) and in the process a sense of serenity if born of acceptance.



You awaken to the fact that you are not perfect and that not everyone will always love, appreciate or approve of who or what you are...