All of us have people, places and things that we hold dear,
but a value is a belief or a philosophy that is meaningful.
Whether we are consciously aware of them or not, 
every person has a core set of personal values.

Values can range from the commonplace, such as the belief in hard work
and/or punctuality, to those that are more psychological, such as self-reliance,
concern for others, and harmony of purpose.

What do you value most? What are the guides for how you behave,
or are components for you of a valued way of life?

These issues are important when considering one's goals
for weight-loss and for maintenance.  How important is this to you....truly.
Is what it takes for you to lose and maintain a normal weight 
... the effort of lower-calorie food intake, and exercise... 
worth the trade-off for you, personally?

  If it isn't, then don't do it.

You can spend all your life on a diet,
but if you're not content with the person you are
it is a waste of time,
because you're still going to be the same person
whatever size you happen to be.

Self acceptance doesn't mean you stop growing,
changing, and evolving into the best you you can be.
It just means you forgive yourself your short-comings,
you relinquish guilt and blame.
You accept that you are human and humans make mistakes.
You accept imperfection.

For those who are following my "Ask Grandma" videos,
click to see my latest one: "Cosmic Panda is a Bear too"
which is located in DietHobby under RESOURCES, Videos, Ask Grandma.

Learning to love ourselves as we are
is important for our mental peace,
and often helps us move forward successfully in life.

Body image is what one believes
about their physical appearance,
and how one feels about their body.

When body image is healthy, it is positive,
appreciative and reasonably accurate.
Negative body image involves inaccurate self-perception,
shame and negative self-judgment.

So what can one do to improve one’s own body image?
The diet and fitness world has many suggestions.
Some of these were helpful to me,
and some were personally unhelpful.

While I was obese, I implemented many suggestions that I found personally helpful
and found that, indeed, doing this did improve my own body image.

I’ve spent a lifetime yo-yo dieting,
with a lifetime high weight of 271,
so I’ve been up and down, fat and less-fat many times.
This created many appearance problems, temporary and permanent.
 I’ve been maintaining a normal weight for almost 7 years now,
and despite the fact that my body does indeed have many flaws,
I feel very good about it, and I feel I have a very positive body image.

One of the things I found helpful …starting while I was still fat….
was to surround myself with large and full-length mirrors.
and look at myself frequently. I did it fat, and I do it now.
I found this to be an extremely valuable tool in my quest
to improve my own body image.

I put a full-length mirror on the door at the end of my hallway,
where I see myself anytime I travel toward the bedrooms.
I have another on the side hallway wall where it intersects with my kitchen,
so that I see myself when I enter the hallway.
I have mirrored sliding closet doors in my bedroom;
other large mirrors in my path toward my bathroom;
and large counter-top-to-light-fixtures mirrors in my bathroom.

 I look at myself in the mirror inside my own home wherever I go.
This has an added side effect in that it causes me keep myself well-groomed
and dressed attractively, even if I’m not going to see another person
all day long, because that is the reflection that I prefer to see in the mirror.

Every day I dress in comfortable clothing that compliments my figure,
clothing that covers flaws and is styled to be flattering to my body type.
I do this because that’s the image of myself that I like to see.
I do this for me…sta...

There is no one-size fits-all approach to maintaining weight-loss.

I’ve been working hard for the past six plus yearsto be one of the 5% of “weight-losers”
who manage to keep it off over time. and the one thing that I can say for certain is the above-stated Truth.

 The challenges of weight management involves both biological and psychological factors.

While it is true that some people regain weight simply because they eat a little more and exercise a little less, sometimes almost without noticing it, there are quite a lot of people around…like me…who have taken the idea of a “permanent lifestyle change” to heart.

Like many people, for me one of the biggest and most difficult challenges of keeping the weight off, is the fact that my body thinks I have lost too much weight, and is determined to put some or all of it back on.

Those who have always gained weight easily, have a history or obesity, and especially if they’ve had to struggle with weight plateaus, food cravings, and increased appetitive, should expect that keeping it off is going to require a great deal of special attention.

 The body of a reduced obese person easily puts back on lost weight.
It accomplishes this with a complex set of metabolic adjustments that will cause one to gradually gain weight, even though one is maintaining what should be –on paper—a balance between calories ingested and calories expended.

40,000 years ago, such a person would have been one of the “lucky” ones whose genes made them a lot more likely to survive hard times. But in the present days of supermarkets and fast food, it becomes a liability.

 The mind of a reduced obese person is also an important issue.
It tends to use often unconscious, assumptions when we explain to ourselves why we do what we do, and why we get the results we get.

We can help ourselves by watching how we talk to ourselves with things go wrong.  Being unkind to ourselves isn’t helpful.

It is counterproductive to assume that we have a personal flaw or a characteristic …like weakness, incompetence, lack of willpower, self-indulgence, etc….. that is responsible for the problem; or to assume that this personal flaw is permanent, something that can’t be changed through education, practice, or personal growth; or to assume this personal flaw is pervasive – that it affects all areas of their lives rather than just the immediate problem.

 In such situations, we need to interfere with the negative...

Do exactly what you can do, no more and no less.
Do not judge yourself if you falter on this journey
because it is about progress, not perfection.
And most importantly, never judge yourself against others.

Each of us are unique individuals going on a very personal journey.
We can support, inspire, and motivate each other along the way,
but in the end this is a very personal experience.

So be kind to yourself.

  I am pleased to be able to report to you
that I am making progress with the recovery of my wrist and hand,
and yesterday I was able to make another new cooking video: Chocolate Milkshake
You can find it at DietHobby in the RECIPE section under Sweet Tastes,
although it could also be used as a Mini-Meal.