Never Goin’ Back

I’m currently reading Al Roker’s (yes, the used-to-be fat, jolly weatherman as seen on the Today Show) book recounting his personal weight loss journey. Wait, what? Now, before you reach for your phone or something to try to contact me, keep reading. 🙂 I promise you that I am not trying to loss a massive amount of weight and put my heath in danger in the process. I am actually reading it voluntarily, hoping to still take away pieces of advice from him. I’m also reading it because back in February I heard about it on the Today Show (ironically-haha) and saw it displayed on a shelf in the library a few days after that.

I was watching and taping an interview with Nicholas Sparks on Valentine’s Day, as his new movie was set to premiere that very same day. The theme of that particular show was largely about V-Day but it had a couple of non-love related segments on there too. One of them was Al Roker talking briefly about his new book. At that moment, I realized he had lost a significant amount of weight. He looked great! Though I am not on a personal weight loss journey myself, I was interested in how and why he decided to get rid of his excess weight.

I don’t have a whole lot of time on my hands to just sit down to read but I still have been able to get through a large portion of it. It kind of helps that I use public transportation here. If I didn’t, I can’t say whether or not I would make myself sit down and read a book anymore…as sad as that sounds. I have always been an avid reader. I take after my dad’s mom who has worked in her local library in Nebraska for many years. (Enough said, right? haha) However, in the last few years, it has been hard to pick up a real book. I have tried both e-books and audio books in the past two years. While I have grown to love audio books, nothing beat a hard or paperback book in my opinion. The smell, the feel, the weight of it. To turn a real page with your own finger rather than click or scroll down on a screen with a mouse or stylus. Nothing beats real books.

Well, now that I took you down that rabbit trail, let me steer you back to the topic at hand. While Al Roker’s book does not speak to me in regards to weight loss, extreme eating habits or being addicted to food, it speaks to me on a more broad level: my self-image. Though I have been blessed with a very high metabolism and have never had to go on a diet or weight loss program in my life, I have struggled with the opposite things that Roker faced in his life. Things like he struggle to gain weight and looking both my age and like a real woman. I have since conquered that mindset and changed my thinking, but there are some days where I still struggle with self-image and self-esteem. I think if I didn’t, though, I wouldn’t be human! And when I feel like I’m slipping back into my old mind-set, I need to be encouraged and brought back to reality. This particular excerpt early on in the book did just that for me:

“To create a new habit, you have to change your old one. Your body may not want to cooperate, but your mind can alter it.The mind is a very powerful machine capable of believing whatever it is we tell it. It doesn’t have the ability to differentiate between a real or an imagined thought. That’s why negative mind chatter can be so debilitating. We’ve all been there. We tell ourselves we’re not good enough, thin enough, attractive enough and we believe it! It’ not easy but with the right frame of mind, you can change things up.
Thankfully I have a new mind-set that makes it a lot harder for me to let myself go. Once you make up your mind that living healthy is something you’re doing for yourself ad you alone, it doesn’t really matter what anyone else says or does. You will stay with your program come hell or high water. You have to get to a place where you believe that no matter what, you are important enough to stay the course. That’s what I had to rely on now to get myself back on track. I’d always heard the saying “Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels.” I finally understand what that means. When you finally feel great and look great, you’ll never want to go back to the old you.”

Some things to think about! / Algunas cosas para pensar!