By Charlene M Brown
“I can now say I have lost 50 lbs” was the triumphant declaration in my mother’s text message this morning.
I text back accolades and suggest she should celebrate the milestone.
But my Mommy, Sandra Brown, has been on this road for awhile. It is for this reason that I am highlighting her as a Renaissance Woman. (For purposes of this article, I’m gonna call her Sandra!—and stick my tongue out about it! 
)
This journey began about four years ago, when she was looking at photos from the 25th Wedding Anniversary Celebration we, the offspring, put together for her and my dad. She said when she looked at those pictures, she decided that she didn’t want to be that heavy.
She would like to live to see grandchildren (which none of us have yet produced—I hear the subtleties here 
) and the current path she was on at the time was not making her any guarantees.
Thus began a Journey back to health!
And amazingly, it all comes down to attitude!
“When I saw those pictures, I knew something had to change. But I also knew that it wasn’t going to happen overnight. I focused on 5 lbs at a time.”
Sandra never said she wanted to lose 50 lbs—that goal was too big. She said that she wanted to be able to get to a place that she could maintain—she decided that she was losing weight to keep it off.
It was a whole lifestyle change. Some techniques she’s used have included: to keep moving, eat meals that have vegetables as a base, and focus on whole-grain pasta. She also tries not to eat late, but that doesn’t always work for her, so she has adopted a can-do attitude.
She already liked vegetables and she enjoys having a full plate of food, so for some meals vegetables are the base instead of grain. This is a far, but wonderful cry from the pasta/meat/sauce/cheese meals that my siblings and I were raised on.
Sandra focuses on green vegetables and orange/yellow vegetables. “Vegetables are ‘free,’ they are all goodness, even the starch vegetables.” She enjoys fruits too, but notes their sugar content and lets vegetables be her mainstay.
And keeping active! Sandra goes walking a few times a week and also has regular attendance at Curves, the women’s fitness facility.
I told her the other day that she was such a skinny- minney that she was disappearing. She grinned at the prospect.
And as cute as my mother already is, she is even cuter now that she has confiscated a pair of my dad’s suspenders to keep some of her clothes from falling down. This too is a beautiful thing.
I have watched with genuine delight as my mother pulls out the waistline of her favorite skirt that is now big on her to show the dramatic difference.
“Slow and steady wins the race”, she says. “All my goals were small—I looked at it in 5lb increments because I felt like I could do that.”
And I declare that whatever else she is going to do in the future, she has already won the race!
I am so proud of you, Mommy!
Do You Love Your Life Now!? I DO (Because I have a happy Mom!)!
Related posts:
- Googling the Renaissance: Real Women and Feminism!
- The Big Switcheroo!
- Is Marriage Overrated!?
- Becoming The You You Want to Be: Be Your Own Renaissance Woman!
- Changing The World: One Woman At A Time!
Want this article for your own website or ezine? Feel free to use it as long as you include this box.
© 2009 You Can Love Your Life Now!
Tags: can-do attitude, charlene brown, charlene brown articles, charlene brown life coach, charlene m brown, charli brown, charli brown articles, charli brown life coach, eating vegetables, grandchildren, happy mom, keeping active, losing weight, positive attitude, real renaissance women, Renaissance Women!, slow and steady wins the race, texting your mother, weight loss journey, you can love your life now
December 6th, 2009 at 8:46 am
Hi Charli! It was great meeting you at the garden thing on Friday. After you told us you were writing a post every other day, I thought I should check it out. I agree with this idea of small goals – big goals are too scary and make you want to give up. I’ve been using time-on-task goals instead of achievement goals for my writing, in the spirit of Write Your Dissertation in Fifteen Minutes a Day (a great book!). I decide how many hours I’m going to work on this project this week and do it – even if no clear result comes out of it, I’m making progress. And many times, I do get concrete results. Have a great day!
Julia
December 6th, 2009 at 11:55 am
Hi Julia, Also great to meet you! One of my philosophies is to always break things down into pieces you understand! I think you have a wonderful strategy for your dissertation. Keep it Going and you will get there!
December 10th, 2009 at 12:23 pm
Thank you! I would now go on this blog every day!
Have a nice day
Socco