I don’t know where you’ve been, but I felt a sense of relief in just seeing your photo pop up on my screen. People pull on you a lot, but that’s because seemingly you have all the answers, and most times ya do. Know that your life exudes an energy that seers right through to the core of people. You are one of His greatest gifts Jeff. I pray that His love would continue to pour out from your pores and that in return for such a gift your life would be elevated without weights. His power is your power and to be available in obedience to That gift is why He calls you friend.

The truth is no one knows you like you and no one can tell you what each triumph in your journey means to you. Most folk are only privy to the “right now” moments of your life. They have no idea who you’ve been, where you’ve’ been and what it’s taken for you to Stand in the power of who you are right now.

It’s been wonderful receiving all of the emails, photos and, kudos and encouragement after having lost 159 pounds. I know the days I wanted to quit, the heart pulling strength it took for me to get up time and time again. Pushing foods I love away, deciding to become disciplined, finding my power and center for the goals I’ve attained and what challenges I’ll meet next. What’s been interesting is delving through the layers of hurt and reasoning it took to put the weight on in the first place.

Don’t get me wrong; some of us simply love food! They way it makes us feel, the gaps it closes the hurt it over lays and buries – food for a lot us is a healing agent in uncountable ways. Our days are structured around food, our mood, what we wear, where we go is all contingent upon our food schedule. Unbelievable for most but very true for me, I’d become crippled by all kinds of life circumstances, disappointments, and even wins.

You see, food doesn’t care what the situation is and like any other drug you’ve succumb to it won’t stop unless you tell it to. For a time you believe you can’t survive without it, and it helps you believe that you cant. For a time a rested in that belief, food was my champion and I it’s slave. Breaking free only came because I truly saw the effects obesity had rained on several persons I hold dear to my heart. For this I’m grateful.

Tear jerking moments seeing folks I love deteriorating, not from the food per se however the toll of carrying the weight, inducing high blood pressure, poor kidney health, heart conditions etc, not to mention all of the pills the body has to now become accustomed to simply operate because of poor dieting and healthcare.

One of the things I encourage those of us on the weight loss journey to live is our personal infallible truth that only you know what’s driving you to make the shift, that one thing that keeps your heart moving toward the mark. Remember, not everyone knows the distances you’ve traveled in your journey. A win from one person could be the complete opposite for the next person. They meet you today and you’re 100 pounds down from 300 pounds but in their immediate sight isn’t someone they’ve watched run, fall, push, scrape and fight. But that doesn’t mean that none of this has happened it simply means you can’t find your light in their darkness.

I use the word darkness only because they have no light on where you’ve been or what you’ve done. They see the right now, it’s up to you to know the TRUTH and LIVE that. I’m not suggesting that you carry a “before and after” picture around though I do for my personal reasons. What I’m saying is that you cannot allow an outside influence to distract you, discourage you and pull you back. An uninformed being that in all honesty has been put in place just to see how much fight you got in you, a distraction. Stop listening and looking for outside validation on your journey to your new life, look in the mirror and know that you Did It! Of course compliments are nice and who doesn’t want their accomplishments acknowledged? We all do. So no one is knocking that. But make that Goal Diary and every marker met your best encouragement. Make yourself the final say, besides; who are you doing this for anyway!

Every pound you lose will trigger some kind of thought, no different than a scent sparking a memory. When those past hurts come into play stand up and stomp them out. They no longer exist. When you shed those pounds you also shed your old way of thinking.

You’re no longer alone, isolated and unworthy. You Are Enough and screw anyone who disagrees.