Just Keep Going
by Leah from My New Ending

Almost everyone has seen the Pixar animated movie “Finding Nemo” that came out years ago, and we all remember the easily likable Dory.  She was the sprightly blue fish who forgets everything almost immediately and who becomes a friend to Marlin at the beginning of his journey to find his son, Nemo.  At one point in their search, Nemo’s father gets so very vexed that he becomes depressed, feeling like there’s no hope left of ever finding his son.  Suddenly Dory is singing brightly, “Just keep swimming!  Just keep swimming!  All you gotta do is swim, swim, swim.”  This is only one of her many attempts to encourage Marlin along the way, and thankfully it proves helpful as he continues looking for his son.

Like Marlin, there have been many times I have wanted to give up in my weight loss journey.  I’ve felt like there’s no hope.  “What was I thinking?  Me, thin?”  Sometimes thoughts of “I’m never going to change.” have invaded my mind, and I’ve wondered why I try. But somewhere deep inside comes a little voice telling me to keep going on.  “Don’t give up.  Just keep trying.” And I know that little voice is what has kept me going these eight months.

My weight loss journey is not a spectacular one of dropping large amounts of weight each week and seeing these amazing changes take place for all to see.  Instead it has been a slow, steady journey of changes coming from the inside and working their way out.  Along with days and weeks where I’ve done well and seen a loss I’ve also had weeks where I’ve struggled through food issues, or just not really cared at all about what goes into my mouth. Somehow through all of this I’ve just known in the back of my mind I’m not giving up.  I think that is where this journey is so very different from all the other attempts I’ve made at weight loss.  No matter how slow the weight is coming off, it is coming off and I refuse to give up until I’m in a more healthy state both physically and mentally in regards to food.

I’m learning what works for me, eat less and move more, and along the way I keep telling myself something similar to Dory’s little encouragement song, “Just keep going.  Just keep going.”  By not giving up I’ve seen a loss of twenty four pounds so far and I’ve seen myself reach levels of fitness I never thought I could.

If I can encourage anyone in trying to lose weight I would tell them the same thing, “Don’t give up.  You are worth it and you can change.  Just keep getting back up and try again.”  In the end, like Marlin, you’ll reach the end of your journey and you’ll be so glad you didn’t give up when times were hard.  In fact, we can all reach our goals if we just keep going.

——————————————————-

Thank you Leah!