I went through a stretch in January where I saw no weight loss, which was followed by a steady weight loss for four weeks in a row, which was followed by a week of no weight loss. This week to be exact. In my attempt to get at the reason behind it, I scoured my Fitbit and MyFitnessPal applications, because, well, applications make the world go around. Looking through my history on those two apps I discovered really, only one glaring difference. This week I ate exactly four individually wrapped jolly ranchers. 2 watermelon flavored, 1 blue raspberry (whatever the hell that means) and 1 apple. Full disclosure, if there had been any cherry flavored ones, it would have been 2 watermelon and 2 cherry, even though the woman in charge of the jolly ranchers gets upset when everyone takes only the red ones.
In my warped sense of reality, those four jolly ranchers are the entire reason I did not experience any weight loss. Four individually wrapped candies stood between me and version of me who weighs one less pound. Keeping in mind just how ridiculous of a notion that is, it got me thinking about the little things. I mean, things do not get much smaller than individually wrapped pieces of candy. The decision to park on the third level of the parking garage instead of the ground floor, even though there are spaces on the ground floor is a little thing. (If I had more time, I would park at the top floor.) This little decision pays pretty big dividends every day. It forces me to walk faster to get to class on time. It forces me to go down stairs, then back up them after class. For someone in much better shape than I, it is no big deal, but for many many years I would take the elevator to avoid even a single flight of stairs.
A few days ago I posted a photo on Instagram and Facebook that showed the four books I am planning on teaching for AP Language, and a former student from my student teaching days commented that she wished she could go back to high school to have me again. I imagine to her it was a little thing, and in reality, a comment on Instagram is a little thing, but that little thing made my entire week because I spent much of this week putting out fires at school that another teacher started. To think that a twenty-one year girl with an entire life of her own would think to comment that she wished she could have me a teacher again was pretty remarkable, especially because while I was her teacher, I was worried she hated my class.
Little things have a big impact. A smile here, a high-five there. Parking far away from the grocery store to get more steps. Working out for two minutes longer than you expected. Getting in bed 10 minutes earlier. Listening to your favorite song. Cutting yourself a little bit of slack at the end of a bad day. I have been reading a poem a day in 2016, and it takes no more than five minutes on any given day, but it feeds my soul. Little things are important. maybe four jolly ranchers kept me from a pound of weight loss, and maybe they did not, but choosing to not dwell on that fact has made all of the difference. It is not about forgiving myself for eating the candy, it is about me realizing four pieces of candy over the course of seven days are not going to be a problem in the bigger picture. Some weeks the weight comes off and some weeks it doesn't.
All of those little things add up, and in my year of focusing on the positive, taking any sort of time for something good, is allowing me to feel better even in the face of tough times. I have had a few people tell me over the last two weeks that I look lighter, not thinner, but lighter. My walk is lighter, my smile a bit wider, my laugh a little more full. I do not succeed at the good little things every day, but the good little things are starting to outweigh the bad little things in a major way. Think of what could happen if you changed a few little things!
