Lessons Learned: What’s Next, Mama?

So this morning, as I was getting ready for work and teaching my middle one about brushing her teeth (i.e. stick the toothbrush in the water and suck the water off, only to repeat numerous times), my oldest one wakes up and comes into my bathroom. We are in a routine of picking her clothes out the night before and setting them out so that she can get dressed herself when she wakes up (however, her underwear and socks have been moved to a lower drawer so she can reach them. She likes to get those on her own…this is an important note for later).

As you might guess… she was not dressed. She proceeded to sit on the floor and whine because Jada got to brush her teeth and she wanted to do that. I calmly responded that she could brush her teeth with her new bubblegum flavored toothpaste if she went back to her room and got dressed first. She responded with enthusiasm and went off to conquer the task. When she returned, she was rewarded with her turn to sit on the counter and use her new toothpaste. I noticed she was missing socks, so as we went back to her room to get them, another thought popped into my head… her socks are in the same drawer as her underwear, I wonder if she’s missing those too. She was. After several requests and a deeper explanation of why we wear underwear than I ever thought I would give, she agreed to put them on.

Now, we were finally ready to go downstairs. The youngest one was waking up, ready for a dry diaper, change of clothes and a bottle, the middle one whining because she wants her breakfast, and here’s my oldest… “What’s next, Mama?” She always wants to know what’s next, what are we going to do now? I smiled to myself as I went to get Daddy for another pair of hands.

When it comes to losing weight, sometimes I feel like I want to be a little kid again. I want to take shortcuts to get to my goal faster. I want to skip exercise some days for some lame excuse, or eat all healthy meals, only to sabotage myself with an impulse on sweet snacks. I want to sit on the floor and pout when the scale doesn’t show me the results I’m looking for. I want to look for a new solution or a quick fix, because obviously everything I’ve tried just isn’t working.

Just as I know Hala will eventually understand why we wear underwear, we need to understand that taking shortcuts with our health will not lead us to successful weight loss. The lesson learned? Patience. We know how to eat. We know how to exercise, it’s just waking up in the morning and deciding I’m going to do it right today. No shortcuts. What was your mindset when you woke up today? What will it be tomorrow?