A push in the right direction

I just spent part of the afternoon with Tim Gibney of Woodstock, Ontario. Tim, who has been dubbed The Resilience Doctor, volunteered to be a life coach for me back in May 2015 when I embarked on a weight-loss journey. When he heard that I had put on about 10 pounds during the Christmas holidays, he thought he would stop by my house to help me get back on track.

In our afternoon session, Tim asked me several questions, leading up to why I want to lose weight. After going through some exercises with Tim, I replied I want to remain healthy to confront injustice and help those who are less fortunate. I do that, I believe, through the several hats I wear through Woodstock, Ontario’s Operation Sharing and the Oxford Self Help Network. I write for publications of both of these organizations (both of which help the impoverished and people with mental health issues) and by keeping healthy – mentally, emotionally and physically – I can do a better job of helping the less fortunate. Keeping healthy – through exercise, near-vegan eating, not drinking alcohol, taking medications, etc. – helps keep my bipolar disorder at bay. I would not be in a position to be of much help to anyone in a manic or depressive episode.

My post-Christmas weight was about 348 pounds, which is still down from an all-time high of about 400. However, I want to get down to 250 pounds or lower and I’ve given myself until mid-November 2016 to do that. Tim reminded me of why I want to achieve that weight-loss target – but when I told him he had given me a push in the right direction, he replied that it was I who had actually given that push. He’s right… it came from my own words. Regardless of where the push came from, I’m celebrating a renewed weight loss effort.