148.0 Fitness and Confidence

 I love several things about this photo, but mostly I love how confidently I am standing: shoulders back, chin up, feet moving forward. Looking at this, I see that it is so true that confidence draws people to you, like moths to a flame. I feel drawn to myself, here.

Confidence came to me through setting a goal for myself and accomplishing that goal. I wanted to be healthy; that was my ultimate goal. Clothing sizes and weight numbers were benchmarks along the way.

I remember being a teen and having no goals for myself beyond surviving through high school and getting a boyfriend. Yes, I went to city college and eventually made it to Berkeley, but that came later. I was sort of dead inside when I was a teen. I didn't have any goals. I was drifting. I had very little confidence in myself. Realizing this, next year whenever I substitute teach I am going to encourage high-school students to set goals for themselves in life.

Part of what makes video games so fun for me is the frequency with which I set and meet goals in them. "Oh! I've got to clear this level! Oh! This sim needs to meet that sim! Oh! I have to GM tailoring tonight!" Video games are all about setting goals and meeting them. They give you an addicting sense of confidence, which is awful, because then your confidence is all about your ability to play a stupid game. This keeps you on the couch, getting fat.

Fitness is so great for building confidence that is real and not limited to a game. Even if you get in shape by playing basketball, your fitness carries over into everything physical that you do. It doesn't only make you good at playing basketball.

Anyone can become more fit than they are now, so anyone can build confidence through taking on a more active lifestyle and learning what foods are healthy. Just set realistic goals, and your confidence will grow as you meet them.

The aggravating part is that too many people are out there lying to folks, telling them they can't lose weight because their hormones are out of balance, or they are big boned, or they are too old. BS. Join with me and fight all that BS whenever you hear it.

I gained .2 pounds yesterday, but that is OK as I am inside my goal of weighing 145 to 149.9. I walked our dogs a mile in the park, and then Scott and I took them to the dog park. We ran around with them there. We also shopped at Wal-mart for their flea and tic treatment, and applied that to their skin. Here is everything I ate yesterday:

Sliced Fuji apple candied with 4 tablespoons chunky peanut butter and 36 dark chocolate chips
Beef and bean burrito with salsa
Half a can of Cattle Drive chili and three slices of American cheese eaten with a cup of corn tortilla chips
Child-size chocolate shake from the McDonald's inside our Wal-mart