Showing posts with label confidence. Show all posts
Showing posts with label confidence. Show all posts

Thursday, October 9, 2014

October 9th, 2014 Enjoying Our Food

October 9th, 2014 Enjoying Our Food

Weather coverage has kept me up late tonight. The weather hasn't been anything severe, just light to moderate and at times heavy. Around here, even when it's not severe, it's important for us to be on the air saying it isn't, because it certainly can sound that way at times! If it's important for us to be on the air when severe weather is threatening, it's also important to be a voice of calm reassurance when it isn't.

I had a great food day. I was creative and I love it when I get creative in the kitchen! One of the things I didn't focus on enough in yesterday's post was the importance of eating foods you enjoy. If you're eating what you enjoy anyway, it makes it much easier to be consistent! If we choose to choke down things we can't stand as a means to lose weight, but we're miserable in the process, we're less likely to remain consistent. This "eat what you like and nothing you don't" point seems to be an obvious one, but is sometimes overlooked in our pursuit of fast results.

Once again, it was a busy day. I did have a late morning to early afternoon nap in the middle--simply because of two things: We were short handed at work and needed someone from on-air/production to stay late in the afternoon and I was anticipating the weather coverage--which did happen, keeping me up very late. I headed back to work at 1pm and stayed for the 2nd half of my day.

I'm on the board of directors of the arts and humanities council and tonight we were hosting a big concert at the Hutchins Memorial Auditorium. Since I'm the radio guy on the board, I get elected to make announcements before the fabulous concerts. We had a good crowd tonight for the Tulsa Playboys! I kept getting positive reactions about my weight loss. One gentleman approached me after my first time on stage tonight, saying: "Sean, I listen everyday and I remember you when you were at your heaviest. You're looking incredible, man!" That was awesome. 

 I also remember when I was at my heaviest. It's throwback Thursday--Here's a "before" picture from years and years ago!
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I naturally do a better job when I'm feeling confident and I certainly had an abundance of confidence this evening. I was wearing a pull over type shirt with a collar-- no over-shirt. The extra amount of compliments was because I was actually wearing something that fit properly for where I am, today.

I covered some weather at the studio--then took a quick break to run to the YMCA and get my workout in before they closed. I barely made it--but I made it, and although I was struggling some against going, I'm glad I did. It didn't take long to get into the right mindset and groove where I get a dose of energy that pushes me even harder than before. I returned to work post-workout for a while--and now I'm home and headed to bed. Goodnight! Or--if you're reading this Friday morning--Good morning!

 My Tweets today:
















Thank you for reading and you wonderful support,
Strength,
Sean
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Friday, August 22, 2014

August 22nd, 2014 These Days

August 22nd, 2014 These Days

I started my day exactly like I started yesterday and it was refreshing. I finished my morning routine, poured my first cup of coffee and opened an email from a reader who is experiencing some severe anxiety about the time this journey is taking for her. I requested permission to anonymously use the text of her email in tonight's blog, but she hasn't replied as of this writing. I replied to her in the best way I knew how, trying to give her my perspective and experience when it comes to confidence and patience along this road. It's something I've written about many times, I call it a "confident patience." This reader inspired me to share a micro-blog on Facebook before leaving home this morning to do my radio show.

"Do you proceed along this road with a “confident patience?” Our physical transformation doesn't happen overnight. It takes weeks, months and for many of us, years. Finding confidence happens easier when the main focus is taken away from wanting immediate results and placed on the daily fundamentals of our extraordinary care. If we center our focus on what we can do today, we can find confidence. And this confidence gives birth to patience. When you proceed with a confident patience, you'll experience a peace and calm over the process. Results may come euphorically fast or frustratingly slow, either way, adjustments can be made. Releasing ourselves from the frustration and often times derailing “fast and furious” results based focus and focusing instead on the smaller goals of today, gives us the best chance at waking up someday to incredible results."

I've lived this "confident patience" and I'm telling you, it all comes down to the age old philosophy of one day at a time. I can remember weight loss attempts where I mapped out my weigh days for an entire year, complete with a goal weight for each and a place to write my actual weight. On the surface it seemed like a great idea for me. I'd proudly gaze at the calendar and say things like, "See that date? I'll weigh 100 pounds less by then. Isn't that amazing?" It was such a matter of fact tone--not at all considering the different variables I would encounter along the way. How could I have known? I'd never experienced long range success. And keep in mind this "projection calendar" would typically be created in advance of actually starting anything. I had to wait until a predetermined start day and that meant I was free to gorge as much as I wanted in the meantime. In fact, I'm pretty sure I made several of these projection calendars while eating a giant bowl of ice cream at midnight.

The problem with this was, as soon as I didn't meet or best the written goal on the calendar, I'd become severely discouraged because now I was behind!! And after a couple of less than expected weigh-ins, another marked up calendar would find its way into the junk drawer only to be found months or years later, prompting a wave of "calendar regret," as I realized aloud to anyone within earshot "Wow, you know that failed weight loss attempt? Yeah--had I stuck with it I'd weigh 250 by now."

Sticking with it was almost impossible because of my enormous impatience and high expectations. I was setting myself up to be disappointed. And personal disappointment breeds all kinds of negative self-talk. Learning to relax into a day by day approach and allowing a natural evolution of good choices has been a very difficult perspective to adopt--and critical to my success. Not once have I recently sat down to "map out" where I'll be by a particular date in the near future. I'll be wherever I am and it will be okay. If this was a race or a competition, perhaps a results now focus would be useful, but it's not a race--it's life. And I'm confident in my day to day practices and the results they'll bring. This isn't what I'm doing for the duration of a calendar--taking extraordinary care is what I'm making important for the rest of my life. Losing my previously narrow focus has made a monumental difference for me in successfully losing weight.

I've enjoyed a wonderful day. I spent some time this evening with my oldest daughter. We had a fabulous conversation over dinner about the challenges she's facing in this, her first year as a special education teacher. It's all brand new to her. And she's going to make it. I love the conversations with my daughters. I'm so proud of both--their ability to meet challenges and how they overcome, is a source of incredible fatherly pride. If ever I look back on my life and I start focusing on my perceived failures, I must immediately remember, My ex-wife Irene and I did right by our girls. We absolutely did and we can always be proud of this fact. And really, does anything else matter as much? 

I made sure to get a good elliptical workout tonight at the YMCA. I ate well and exercised very well today. I feel fantastic. I'm doing a location broadcast tomorrow morning and getting a workout in tomorrow afternoon before spending some time with Heather.

I think back to where I was not too long ago and I'm astonished at how quickly things have turned around in my life. I must pause and give abundant thanks for this personal revolution. I'm very happy, very confident and very patient these days.

My food Tweets today:

 












Thank you for reading and for your continued support,
Strength,
Sean
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