Stalled but not Stopped

Nearly at the one year post-op mark...officially it will be October 27th and as predicted, the weight loss has significantly declined.  I've lost 126 pounds so far, which is great, but I still have another 100 to go.  I feel like I have stalled but I haven't given up!  The boys continue to give me great support.  A few weeks ago both of them said I was "rockin'" some denim capris I had gotten.  Then this past weekend when Matt was home and we had an impromptu family gathering when my younger brother came to town, he gave me a great compliment.  As we were driving he said, "Wow!  I just realized how much weight you've lost by the amount of room between you and the steering wheel."  Yes, it's true, I no longer have the steering wheel fighting with my belly for control of a turn.  Those little things make a big difference in my confidence and excitement.

I've also taken other steps for life improvement.  The Center for Surgical Weight Management offered a seminar titled "Building a Better Life From Your Complaints".  That clearly was a seminar designed with me in mind!  There were 8 participants along with the leader and that allowed for some fabulous conversation.  We talked about how our choice of words, phrases, tone and inflections are a result of our thoughts, feelings, beliefs and emotions.  It ended with us creating positive affirmations.  Which totally took me back to the Saturday Night Live skit where Stuart (I think he name was Stuart Smalley) would say, "I'm a good person and dog gone it, people like me!"  We had to create daily affirmations using only positive words.  So for instance you couldn't say "I am not going to be mean" since both not and mean are negative words.  You'd have to say "I am going to be nice".  I wasn't ready for that level of commitment yet, so I started a bit more realistically.  The leader says she has hers taped to her bedroom ceiling so she sees it when she wakes up, on her bathroom mirror and refrigerator.  Yes, I too had to restrain from sarcasm when thinking where I "post" my daily affirmations throughout my house.  Anyway, below are the four I wrote.  I'll write more when I know these are really embedded in my brain.

"I am an awesome mom!" - This one is going over Andrew's bed too, ha ha!
"I am a hard worker doing quality work" - This one I need to post in the boss's office.
"I am important" - Necessary to remind me to take care of myself too.
"I am blessed" - This is my daily reminder of how much God has already done for me and how much more He has in store!

I'm off tomorrow and plan to do something special, just for me.  I'll let you now how it goes, weather pending.