Memories…today bought up a memory that made me incredibly proud of what I was doing at that moment in time.
Which was actually staring at the clock in the gym at minute 109 of my 120 minute double personal training session. As you know, Mr WLB is not well and decided that he didn’t want his PT session…so I took one for the team so to speak and offered myself up for two hours of agony! 
What I loved about it all though – in-between the GVT (German volume training) leg presses of 10 reps x 100kg x 10 sets with only 10 seconds rest between sets…along with three other GVT moments today – was the fact that all I could think was, “2 minutes versus 2 hours!” This was almost my mantra to get me through the workout.
When I first got my treadmill at home – way before joining the gym – and weighing in at over 37st, I could only manage 2 minutes of incredibly slow walking on the treadmill. I had to hold on to the handrails to support my weight and for balance, and had to sit and recover for a while after those 2 minutes. The memory of that was what kept me going today.
The memory of those 2 minutes versus the 2 hours makes me incredibly proud of what I have achieved…and what I will go on to achieve!
So memories then…I guess this blog is a fantastic way of capturing memories, as is the #100happydays project that I am part of on my Facebook page…there is always more that you can do though! 
Perfect moments can fade to distant memories – those moments that feel perfect and amazing, those moments that we spend our days searching for, can often occur without any planning…such as the look on my nephews face when we went to see Peppa Pig at the theatre – it was priceless and perfect!
Quite often the things that make us smile aren’t accompanied by fanfares and fireworks. In fact, whenever I have expected something to be amazing it has generally been a bit of a disappointment…those fanfares and fireworks resembled a toddler playing a trumpet and a damp squib!
I guess there is a lesson in there somewhere for me…something about enjoying everyday life and stopping the expectations of fairy-tale endings and miracles. Actually, since committing to the #100happydays project – in which you take a photo of something that makes you smile each day, for 100 days – I have started to notice the joy in everyday life…which I appreciate sounds a little bit naff – for all of you swear-word haters…I replaced the word ‘wank’ with ‘naff’…see, I am learning!
But there is joy in everyday life – honestly – it’s not naff at all! One fantastic way of capturing this joy and – more importantly – reminding yourself of this joy, is to create a ‘memory’ or ‘moment’ jar. Memories can fade…so capturing the moment in order to remind yourself of it at a later date is a fantastic way of celebrating your life.
As the year goes on, this moment jar fills with little pieces of paper – the challenge is to collect your best moments on those little pieces of paper…and then empty the jar as and when you need to – in order to remind yourself how fantastic life is.
We all experience change in our lives. This past couple of years for me has seen significant change in not only my weight, but my mind, and my general approach to life. I wrote on Twitter earlier that the older I get – I am the grand old age of 32! – the more I realise that I can’t please everyone…so that I am going to stop fecking trying! I used to worry what people thought of me, and would try and please people…who doesn’t like to be liked? But my experiences have taught me that not everyone will like what I say or do, and this is okay…I don’t have to agree with them, and they don’t have to agree with me…but the one thing I have also realised is that the more that people try and change me, the more I rebel – so I have to be the change that I need.
Anyway, I digress…memory / moment jars…
Appreciation of what you have now is crucial. There is no magic wand waved when you hit your weight loss target…life will still be the same, you will just be smaller than you are now. So you have to enjoy life now in order to enjoy life then…as the same shite will still be there! I reckon the memory jar would be a great way of being able to appreciate the experiences that you have…and I think that I will dip into mine when I get ‘those’ kinds of feelings that might make me want to turn to food.
I have a jar in my cupboard already…I just need to get decorating – I might get my niece and nephew to help me and then this can be my first ‘moment’!
My moments are unpredictable – I have no idea what might end up in my jar. I have read accounts from other people who have created ‘moment jars’ and there have been holidays with a best friend, getting a new job, running half-marathons with a family member, being with a friend when they got news of a promotion, getting an unexpected compliment. What I learnt from reading the accounts was the emotion involved – people talked about the fact that we often fail to reflect on our accomplishments and laugh at our wild nights come Monday morning. Sometimes, the past is better in the past, but other times, it needs to be appreciated. The thing that resonated with me the most was the fact that life’s greatest moments are about the people who share them with you.
Then there were some amusing and silly moments…like the first date movie ticket stub, and a note about randomly snogging people in clubs…these things count too!
I used to set little challenges on the blog for myself relating to weight loss. Now, I like setting challenges that increase positivity and enjoyment of life as it is. Join me in this challenge if you wish – find a jar and start collecting your moments. I have a feeling that we will appreciate our lives and the people in it a bit more than we do now…I might open my jar on New Years Eve – which seems popular…as I don’t really ‘do’ New Years Eve. Then again, I am quite impatient and will probably open it way before then…just like I used to with my advent calendar – I would eat the chocolates and close the doors!
Once my jar is ready, I will take a picture and share it with you!
Other than my gruelling PT session today, I spent an hour in the field with the horses…feeding them, grooming them, scratching them, and sitting in the field with them just having some quiet time. They all enjoyed themselves. My Shetland had a good old scratch and was ‘grooming’ me back – as did my youngest lad – whilst my Welsh boy was just determined to tip me off the little mounting block that I was sitting on…he settled for a bit of a snog instead! Then I went home, made lunch, got showered and changed, and headed out for a couple of Slimming World talks that I gave tonight – which were great…a lovely bunch. I got to meet a psychologist and we sat chatting for a while, and a lovely beautiful lady who was helping me with some diet advice for Mr WLB…although I did touch her boob by mistake! It is so lovely meeting fellow Slimming World members, but I really must scale back these talks for a while so that I can focus on my university assignments…and myself – it pays to be a little bit selfish and grab some ‘me time’ every now and again. So it has been a long and busy day…but very rewarding!
Breakfast: Banana, boiled eggs, and ham.
Lunch: Burger in a bowl (2 x HEA and 1 syn).
Dinner: Spiced chicken and veggie wraps (2 x HEB).
Snacks: Nakd bars (14 syns).
A good food day. I added some ham to my breakfast as I was heading off to endure a 2 hour PT session and felt that I needed a bit extra! Lunch was the infamous ‘burger in a bowl’ with my own twist…smoked paprika and smoked chipotle chillies…it was lovely. I just fried off my onion, added the mince, some black pepper, chillies, Worcester sauce, smoked paprika, and smoked chipotle chillies…and then let that cook whilst assembling the salad. Gherkins are a must in my opinion! I added a couple of tbsps of the Hellmann’s Lighter than Light mayo and my cheese and then ate it all. Dinner was some of the leftover kebabs from last night that I took to eat in-between my talks this evening, and my snacks were enjoyed when I got home.
Exercise: 120 minutes of PT followed by some horsey activities in the rain and mud…today has been tough but well worth it!
Thank you for reading,
Weight Loss Bitch xxx
WeightLossBitch
On a health and fitness driven journey to lose over 32st / 448lbs / 203kgs – yes, it is a considerable amount – I am committed to losing my excess weight without the aid of weight loss surgery, diet pills, or quick fixes…as there aren’t any! Changing my eating habits and building up my fitness levels, along with addressing the ‘head issues’ will be crucial in order for me to achieve my goal. Living in England as a 31 year old super morbidly obese woman can be challenging to say the least. I have been shouted at in the street and verbally abused far too many times to mention; hence the name ‘Weight Loss Bitch’…the day I am just called a ‘bitch’ instead of a ‘fat bitch’ will be the day that I know I have cracked my weight loss! With many reasons to lose this weight I am documenting my journey for a number of reasons. Firstly, I would like to keep a record of the ups and downs, the highs and lows, and the challenges I face with such an enormous task to tackle. Secondly, I would also like to inspire and encourage other people who are in a similar situation and to show them that significant amounts of weight can be lost naturally…with a bit of motivation, hard work, dedication and will power. Thirdly, all of the blogging, Facebook-ing, Tweet-ing, Pinterest-ing and YouTube-ing keeps me occupied and keeps my fingers out of the fridge!
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