Perseverance

 "You've got to say, I think that if I keep working at this

and want it badly enough I can have it.

It's called perseverance." Lee Iacocca

 

I teach an introductory Education class...it's for those students wanting to explore teaching as a possible career choice.  I also teach an education class that is the final capstone of our Education AA degree.  It's always fun to see how far my students have come a few years later.  This week a student emailed me for an appointment to plan out her final course.  Her name seemed familiar to me...but when I saw her face I just couldn't make a connection. I thought perhaps her name was familiar because I had had her in an online class. 

 "Mrs. Spencer," she said, after greeting each other. "Don't you remember me? I had you for Introduction to Education a few years ago." As I looked at this young woman, sporting a pixie hair cut and measuring under 5 feet tall,  I was impressed with her outgoing and cheerful personality; one I was surprised I didn't remember. I asked, "Did you change your hair, Lorena....was it a lot longer when I had you in the Intro class?"  She said yes...and that she had also gotten it frosted. "Do you like it?" she asked, and began again.  "Maybe you don't remember me because back then my self-esteem was in the toilet. I stayed quiet, hid in the corner and tried to be invisible." She then giggled... "Oh yes, and maybe you don't recognize me because I've also lost 70 pounds."
 
She really looked wonderful, hard to imagine her as a once obese lady.  I asked her how she had done it.  This was her reply.  "I just got tired of being fat and miserable, so I decided to start getting some exercise and eating healthy!"  She said she had tried all the crazy fad diets before, and most of the weight loss programs we see on TV, losing a dozen pounds in a short amount of time. But those pounds always came back and brought a few more of their friends with them."  Lorena continued, "When I finally started changing my daily eating habits for real, that's when the pounds slipped away and stayed away. I eat lots of fruits and vegetables, lean meats and whole grains now.  No magic really.  Just sticking with it."  Lorena told me she started out exercising with a very short, slow walk around the block. She said she was too embarrassed to ask anyone to go with her because she moved so slow and was totally out of breath.  Now, she's jogging along the canal.  "The weight came off slowly," Lorena explained; three or four pounds a month.  Sometimes it was really hard, but I persevered. And now it's two years later and I'm 70 pounds lighter."  I hugged my student and told her how proud I was of her.

We all know it, don't we..as much as we continue to look for it; there is no magic to losing weight and being fit. We know the secret isn't the latest diet fad, or calorie formulas, quick fixes, or a pill...it's a lifestyle change. Slowly... step by step; eating healthy, getting regular exercise and persevering; that's the answer.

And that leads me to my 2014 goal from one of my RESEARCH categories-  

H- Heath - Goal: Intentionally plan, practice and persevere in making healthy choices in order to enhance my life experiences and inspire others to do the same.

 

How about you...is changing your body image,  one of your resolutions for the year?  Are you looking to lose some weight, gain some, or become more fit?  Let's do it together...  let's do it like Lorena.....small steps, a few pounds at a time, making healthier choices to enhance our life experiences.

You can email me at: smallsteps4bigresults@yahoo.com