A New Day to Excel

"A new day to excel."  This is what our Parish priest told us that he says each day and I found that I liked that saying.  He says that we can learn from our mistakes and start fresh each day...a new day to excel.

Last night I began to think about this phrase.  I am in the process of knitting myself a sleeveless sweater jacket.  I started it in the Fall of 2010 and am really hoping to have it completed by this Fall.  Being the mother of two preschoolers and working around my Firefighter's shift schedule I have been finding it hard to find the time to knit my sweater.  Well, last night I had a big issue with my sweater.  I saw that the cabling section in the waistband that I had just completed was not done correctly.  I held it up to examine my work and saw that the second cabled row in each pattern repeat was done incorrectly.  I had to rip out 5 inches that took me weeks to find the time to knit.  In about 45 seconds of time my weeks of knitting were gone.

The picture above is what the left front side of my sweater now looks like after I ripped out 5 inches.

This picture is the back of the sweater which, thankfully, is finished.  The cabled waistband in this picture is what the front piece should have looked like but, unfortunately, it was not even close.

While I was ripping out my cabled waistband section I remembered the priest's saying, "a new day to excel".  I decided that he was right and tomorrow would be a new day to excel and that I was not only going to attempt that section of my sweater again but I was going to get it right and get it done!

I also started to think how this phrase could not only inspire me in my knitting but also in my weight loss journey as well.  Growing up I was always rail thin and never had to worry about my weight until I was in my early thirties.  I noticed then that staying in shape with my current eating and exercise was becoming more difficult.  Then I gave birth to my first little firefighter, G, when I was 38 and my littlest firefighter, M, when I was 39.  After that, forget the weight loss.  I tried Weightwatchers and it worked great for the first 11 pounds but then I let my eating habits slide back and I eventually put the weight back on.  I have tried Weightwatchers again, at home, and I had a problem sticking to the food journal..  I have a million excuses about it being too hard, too time consuming and that I'm too busy with the kids.  Well, I know that Weightwatchers works but it takes discipline.

Starting in the morning I am going to take out my food journal and tomorrow is going to be a new day to excel.  I have lost, and kept off, 5 pounds so far and I have 20 more to go to get to my ideal weight.  I know that I can do this.  If I am not eating as healthy as I should than I am not setting a good example to my children and I am not respecting my body.  Some days it is so hard though because it is so easy to grab that cookie or eat a quick hotdog.  I really need to sit down and actually do meal plans and stick to them as much as possible, not only for dinner but lunches and breakfasts too.  I need to take care of myself, my body and my health in order to be the best firewife and mom that I can be.  Saturday will be a new day to excel !!  With a lot of hard work, discipline, prayer and the support of my family I plan on sticking with it this time.

I have read a few books that have also helped me and I will be referring to these books along with following Weightwatchers on this journey.  The books that I have read on my Kindle are Your Last Diet!: The Sugar Addict's Weight Loss Plan by Kathleen DesMaisons, Ph.D., Made to Crave: Satisfying Your Deepest Desire with God, Not Food by Lysa Terkeurst, enLIGHTened by Jessica Berger Gross and, finally, Jump Off the Hormone Swing by Lorraine Pintus.  Each of these books affected me in a different way.  I have been able to take things from each of these books and incorporate them into my daily life and, combined with Weightwatchers and God's help, I really believe that this time I will succeed!  I will keep you posted each week on how I am doing on my weight loss journey.

Looking back on things, having to rip those 5 inches out of my sweater was really a blessing.  It shaped up my attitude by reminding me of our Parish priest's phrase "a new day to excel" which I am now also applying to my weight loss journey.