I have posted it twice in the last day in response to some other folks, so I thought I'd post it here in it's own subject line.
Weight loss is a struggle. For people without extra issues but losing a LOT of weight like 30, 50, 100+ lbs? The journey is long. You are not immune to “weight loss funks” and feeling all “Yargh!” with it sometimes. Something you might not face as much or at all if your total weight loss was smaller – like 5, 10, 20 lbs.
Then for people with extra mental health burdens (self esteem, confidence, anxiety, depression, etc) or extra physical health burdens (hypothyroid, diabetes, PCOS, mobility impairment, etc) it can change the volume of the funks from “Yargh!” to
“YARGH!” even if the actual weight loss amount is the same or smaller than the folks above. The extra burdens make it feel so much more frustrating.
We cannot help what we feel when we feel it. We CAN choose how to react to to those feelings and we CAN choose how we talk to ourselves in our heads. And attitude wise? It's like the dog/wolves. The one that wins is the one you feed. The story is below.
When that bad dog starts barking bad thoughts in your head, tell it "BAD DOG! Shut up!" and teach it to heel and obey you. Because YOU are not bad. It's just the bad dog barking its noise making it hard to think straight.
Feed the good dog so it grows strong, your inner cheerleader and builder upper. Do not feed the bad dog, your inner critic and bringer-downer. Let that one grow weak and pale and anemic! He will never disappear, but his barks can be less loud and come few and far between.
The dogs will follow the owner forever but remember YOU lead the pack! YOU train the dogs.
Just throwing it out there as general encouragement for whoever needs it today.
Enjoy!
A.
A Cherokee Legend
An old Cherokee is teaching his grandson about life. "A fight is going on inside me," he said to the boy.
"It is a terrible fight and it is between two wolves. One is evil - he is anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego."
He continued, "The other is good - he is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and faith. The same fight is going on inside you - and inside every other person, too."
The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather, "Which wolf will win?"
The old Cherokee simply replied, "The one you feed."
The one that wins is the one you feed.
