"I want to be the type of person my dog already thinks I am."

This quote comes to my mind a lot lately.  Not because I want to be the person Max thinks I am; because, I already know I am totally awesome. LOL  This has popped into my brain and been reworded lately.  It sounds something like this, "I want to see the person that others appear to see when they look at me."

When I am at the pool, the mall, the beach or most of anywhere I see someone and say that is what I want to look like.  The person I am with will comment that I am almost the same size as the individual I have pointed out.  In my brain I am thinking they must be crazy because I am no where close.  This has happened more than a few times now, so I am starting to think they are seeing something I don't.  At first, I just figured it was flattery or they just really loved me.

Losing weight has definitely had an impact on my self image.  When I was close to 300 pounds there was a much smaller version of myself in my head.  She was really good at convincing me there was no harm in having that milkshake, pizza or bowl of cereal.  Really how much harm could a few extra calories have, you deserve it, it has been a rough day, or some other reason would be presented.  It never took me long to agree with her.  As long as I avoided mirrors and did not have my picture taken, I never had to face the truth.

So you might be asking what happened to this when I lost weight.  Well, it was not exactly what I was expecting.  Now the person in my head has gained much of the weight I have lost.  That darn fat girl can certainly tell me what I can't do too.  I find she will appear when I am jogging or pushing myself really hard.  She is there creeping doubt into my head about my efforts to be successful on this journey. I may have to battle her for a while, but with each passing day I am getting stronger.

Whatever in your life you are trying to change; whether it is losing weight, eating healthier, taking on a new challenge, there will be obstacles and there might even be that voice inside your head saying it can't be done. I am here to tell you that it can be done.  The journey might take longer than you expect, there might be more obstacles and setbacks than you want, but you can do it.  Take it one day at a time.  You can't change the past, but you can learn from it.  The present is a great time to do something to change your future.  Don't wait one more minute to start, reconnect with or continue your journey to success.