After having assessed my less than stellar weight-loss performance last week, I have to say I was left wondering, where do I go from here?
It’s a big question after all, since things haven’t turned out quite the way I had planned.
Plans do sometimes get derailed for one reason or another; but it doesn’t necessarily mean that a person should stop pursuing a worthy goal. My goal is most definitely a worthy one.
Weight loss is one of the best goals I could have at this stage in my life. It is a healthy goal for sure – and it could quite possibly be a life changing one too.
I have to admit I was a bit nervous after writing last week’s column. I truthfully wasn’t sure how it would be received and I wasn’t sure what that would mean for me.
A few kind words from a few readers calmed my fears a bit, and for that I have to say I am quite grateful.
It’s nice to be able to be “real” and have that be okay. My aim in this weight-loss journey has always been to portray my weight loss with an authenticity that sometimes doesn’t come through in its entirety when stories are told after the fact.
This story is authentically mine.
I’ve been through a lot in my life. The post-traumatic stress I experienced and wrote about in my last column is just a small part of that story.
The thing is – everyone has a story of one kind or another. My experience with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) unfortunately is not unique. I wish it were, because then there wouldn’t be so many people out there experiencing it. I truly feel for those going through what I’ve been through already and in some ways I am still going through.
The experience with my previous weight-loss attempts gives me, in a way, all the more reason to continue on in my quest; because even though I haven’t done well yet, if I manage to finally become successful I will have not only lost weight, but I will have overcome one of the more stubborn aspects of PTSD. I will have overcome my unhealthy coping mechanisms and the fear that drives them.
It’s definitely worth continuing on for and that’s my plan.
Only this time I’m not going to ignore the gaping hole in my original plan – the hole in that plan being the part where I have unaddressed issues related to PTSD. I’ve already begun doing something about that, and hopefully it brings about a much healthier and happy me.
If you want to follow my weight-loss journey, read about it occasionally in my column, “Healthy steps”, or you can watch my weight-loss journey unfold and show your support by liking the page https://www.facebook.com/GretchenGetFit on Facebook or following me on Twitter @GretchenGetFit. Contact the writer at gbalshuweit@thedailyreview.com.
Healthy steps is written by Gretchen Balshuweit, news editor and now health and wellness page columnist for The Daily Review in Towanda, Pa. as she pursues her own journey to health and wellness in hopes of losing a total of 200-250 pounds of excess weight.
