Perspective. This is life. Everything we see comes at us through a filter. I am reminded of that every day that I look in the mirror, take a selfie, see someone that I deem more beautiful than myself, and on and on and on. Every person’s experience is influenced by past lessons, observations, and experiences. To make changes in our lifestyles, we have to learn to shift our perspective from the negative to the positive.

The Experience of Someone Else’s Negative Perspective

Perspective is often felt as a one-way street because somewhere along the way, humans began comparing their attributes to other humans in a negative way. I am a home health nurse and I was talking to a 40-year-old patient of mine a couple of months ago. We were talking about how we view each other. It started as a discussion of his rapid weight loss after starting a medication to help him get rid of a bunch of extra fluid he was carrying around. He lost 20 pounds in 2 weeks. I commented that he looked great. I didn’t verbalize this part, but he looked a lot healthier when not swollen to the point that he was uncomfortable bending over. He disagreed. He said he hadn’t been this weight since he was a teenager and it made him feel uncomfortable. He felt like a walking skeleton. He also pointed out his bald spot I didn’t notice. Instead of brushing him off with a “you look great” and moving on to the next topic, we talked about how much our perspectives of his physical appearance differed. He told me later that discussing it gave him more to think about beyond what he saw in the mirror. I have thought about that conversation a lot. This perspective of another person’s insecurities caused me to question my perceptions of myself.

Thinking About How We Perceive Ourselves

The question of how we view ourselves is one that we have to ask as we start the process to change our lives. Physical appearance will be the most visible sign to the world that our weight loss journey is successful. What the world won’t see is how we perceive the weight loss and the other changes it brings with it. I have lost over 30 pounds. I’m wearing a smaller pant size. Shirts that were borderline tight now flow like they were intended. The one thing I notice most is how much easier it is to bend over and pick something up off the ground. Another is how much more energy I already feel. These last two things are the two that make me feel the most invincible. The things we can now do that we couldn’t before influence how we perceive our lives. It helps remind us that while others will see us differently, our perception is the one that gets us out of bed in the morning. It is the one that keeps our hand reaching past the peanut butter cups for the apple. We need to harness this power and use it to drive ourselves forward.

The Way to Change Self Perspective

I make a list once a week of new things I’ve noticed. This is something I have started since I began my journey towards a smaller, healthier version of myself. I always try to list five things on Saturday, which is also my weigh-in day. It helps counteract any gains and reinforces the losses shown by the scale. I use it to take the emphasis off the scale by reinforcing the non-scale victories I keep achieving the further down the path I go.

Start the Perspective Shift

My challenge for you is to keep your own list. Don’t give up until you have five. If you can’t identify five new ones, list the ones you are still proud of no matter when you first notice them. One I always list is that I no longer need a seat belt extender on an airplane. Another is that I can put my palms flat on the floor when I bend over. 30 pounds ago I could do neither. Take this opportunity to celebrate yourself. You deserve it!

I have tried to lose weight more than once. I would keep up the momentum for maybe ten days. It wasn’t until my son was born that I realized that I was unable to keep my journey going because I was missing a crucial landmark on my path. My son (nicknamed Squiggy) was that missing landmark. I know how cliché that sounds, but his future and my role in it has been my catalyst for change.

My Landmark

I was 310 pounds when I got pregnant and was still 288 pounds at delivery. I felt great about my weight loss right after he was born. The weight stayed off while I was nursing, but the minute I stopped nursing, that weight came roaring back. It seemed like I gained back that 22 pounds overnight. I felt even more uncomfortable than I did before my pregnancy, and I was so disappointed in myself. I also worried about keeping up with Squiggy as he grew. I could imagine not having the ability to keep up with him at the playground as a toddler. I worried about having the stamina to play catch or soccer or just get up off the floor without struggling after Monopoly when he was in grade school. I could see myself missing essential parts of his high school years because I had carried so much weight for so long I had to have my knees replaced. I was anxious about not seeing him get married or meeting his kids because I was dead thanks to a preventable issue that my weight caused. Some of these anxieties were blown out of proportion by my postpartum anxiety, but with the scale tipping over the 300 lb mark, none of them were that unreasonable. I guess to be fair; I have to say that my motivation was a fear of missing out. That’s because my son has brought so much light and laughter in my life, I don’t want to miss a second of his.

Finding Your Landmark

So far, I am down 34 lbs. It hasn’t been easy, but whenever I think of quitting, I see his little smile, and I keep pushing forward. I started writing this blog to help others keep moving forward too. I cannot provide that catalyst for you, but I can help give you the tools to make the changes you need to make to sustain your motivation through the dark moments when quitting would be so much easier. Please don’t ever quit. This journey isn’t just about weight loss. Weight loss is only a drop in the bucket. This journey is about healthy changes, so we have more time to enjoy the things and people we love the most. Find your favorite picture of whatever it is that keeps you going and keep in close. Memorize it. This physical memento is your landmark as well as your light in the dark.

Sounds silly, doesn’t it? How can doing the dishes, specifically doing dishes right after the meal is over, or even as you make it, have anything to do with weight loss? You might be surprised. I was. I used to be the queen of putting it off. Changing when I did the dishes was a multifaceted step in the right direction that is now one of my most important tricks to staying on track.

Move Yo’self

The number one reason that doing the dishes after a meal is that it keeps your body moving. This aids in digestion and adds some steps to your day. Talk about a double bonus. Sometimes doing the dishes just entails loading the dishwasher, but that’s better than plopping my butt on the couch right after I eat. Join me in keeping our butts off the couch.

Clean Dishes = No Excuses

I don’t know about you, but if I had a quarter for every unhealthy food choice I have made just because I didn’t want to do dishes before I could cook myself something reasonable, I would be a wealthy woman. My family and my waistline both suffer when I don’t clean up the last meal long before the next one is due. I do work as a full-time home health nurse too, so not only does having to wash dishes and then cook after a busy day just make me tired to think about, but it also results in my family getting their meal later too.

Free Your Mind from Menial Tasks

The third plus of doing the dishes after dinner is that you get that one menial thing off your mind. If you are like me, you have way too much cluttering up the space between your ears already. Getting this task done takes one of those things off your mind. For me, that means I have a little more time to do something important, like reading another book to my little boy or getting my charting done sooner so I can get paid.

A Complimentary Lifestyle Change

I am not the neatest person in the world. For the longest time, I put off every household task I could for as long as I could. The change in that behavior came when I got serious about losing weight and realized it was so much harder to talk myself out of cooking a healthy meal if I didn’t have to waste time washing the dishes. I made this change, and I haven’t looked back. This change isn’t solely responsible for my weight loss to date, but it has played an important role in it.

Do you have something that has been a game changer in your journey? I would love to hear about it in the comments if you do. Great minds not only think alike, but they also learn a lot from each other.