Yesterday in a motivational meeting at work for my team, my manager brought up the concept of walking backwards.
She prefaced it by saying she had been hiking the weekend prior with her boyfriend and their dog. They were on a particularly strenuous hike when they encountered a man slowly walking backward up the hill. My manager is the kind of person who can talk to anyone so she asked him what on earth he was doing. He replied that by walking backward he could see how far he has come and feel motivated instead of being overwhelmed by the monumentous climb ahead.
We were supposed to then state what we could see in our "path" here at work by walking backwards. We listed our accomplishments and all came away feeling pretty good about it.
A little light bulb went off in my head when I applied this to my weight loss journey. By walking backwards I can see the great changes I've made, I can see each pound that I've lost, the 70,000 calories I've not eaten or burned, the fast food habit I've quit, the bags of cookies and chips that I've left behind, the 6 packs of beer that I haven't drank, the new whole foods I love, the mounds of spinach I've eaten, the gallons of water I have drank, the new scale I bought, my new walking shoes, the thinner waist I have and the size 24 jeans that now fall off me. I can see the efforts I've made to get where I am now! I felt so much better looking at my journey that way instead of looking at the 80 lbs (might as well be Everest!!) ahead of me.
I thought I'd share as this really was a motivational moment for me! What do you see in your journey if you walk backwards??
Last edited by Michelle98272; 04-29-2010 at 01:41 PM.
I pretty much see an entire pond of pop I have not drunk. Backwards I see the beans I've learned I like, the garlic I've learned to cook with, the fish oil pills I take, the lower blood pressure, the lower heart rate, the many, many miles I've put into Spin Cycle class, the laps I've swum, the mile I ran (just today), the many pounds I've lifted and each and every glorious pound I have lost. And most importantly, I see my husband and our little boy following me.
I agree, some wonderful, inspirational posts today and I am glad for them. I would have to sit and think back on mine so I will make a post later (maybe). Thanks for sharing this.
I see 72.4 pounds off of me. I see the 253,400 calorie deficit I created in order to shed those pounds. I see clothing sizes I never thought I'd get into falling off of me. I see miles and miles that I have done on the elliptical, the treadmill, the bike, the road. I see the beautiful muscles I am developing. I see all the lovely veggies I have eaten and enjoyed even without salt, butter, or cheese. I see gallons and gallons of mountain dew I have not drunk and cartons of cigarettes unsmoked. I see me no longer even able to shop in a plus size store. I see me happily freaking out over weighing less than I did when I started high school. I see all the makeup that I don't have to wear because my skin is in so much better condition. I see me learning to flaunt it! I see the me that had absolutely no self-love or self-confidence fading into the distance as the me that I am now gets further and further from her.
Last edited by FitGirlyGirl; 04-29-2010 at 02:13 PM.
I see the miles of laps I swam. The hundreds of trips back and forth from the gym alone in my car at night. The friendly faces at the Y who took the time to learn my name. I see the track that I've circled hundreds of times. I see the weights I've lifted. I see the huge bags full of plus sized clothes that have gone to the Goodwill.
I also see a fat, scared, middle-aged lady-- scared of failing, scared of being ridiculed, scared of being forced to appear in public, scared of not having anything to wear, scared of dying young.
She's standing at the bottom of the mountain and she's waving goodbye.
This thread is something I really needed, with no weight loss and the fact that I've put on a few pounds from stress eating, I've been feeling like a failure. But looking back, I did lose 51lbs so far since I started my weight loss journey and 51lbs is no joke! =D Thank you for this thread!
Walking backwards (It's a long one!)
