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I often forget that making healthy changes isn't just about moving more or eating more fruits & vegetables.  Making healthy changes is really about modifying our habitual responses to life and our old ways of thinking.  It's about stepping out of our comfort zone to discover who we really can be.

This week seemed to be all about stepping out and stepping up.  Sometimes it felt like being pushed, but I obviously needed the push.

My comfort zone was expanded first on Monday when I attended the Senior Strength class at Penn Training & Fitness.  Sure I thought it was going to be easy but as with all good classes I was able to start at the level I was at yet had plenty of room to grow.  And boy, did I grow.  I used muscles I forgot I had and I tried moves I would never have thought of doing.  It was fun and it was challenging.  I actually feel more confident after taking the class, even if I wasn't able to do as much as I thought I should have I stepped up and I tried something different.

The second zone expanding opportunity was on Tuesday.  I attended my Toastmasters meeting where I had volunteered to participate in the Evaluator Contest.  I volunteered because evaluating holds its own fears and personal doubts for me.  Sure I can give a presentation to a packed room, but standing up, thinking on my feet and providing feedback in front of that room has me shaking in my sandals.  But I decided I was going to take this growth opportunity, do what I know I can do, and practice the rest.  Well, I am now on my way to Honolulu for the next level of competition.  Yikes!  Okay maybe Yikes! wasn't my first word I thought but Yikes! is what I'm putting in print.)  I really, really, really didn't want to go to Honolulu and compete with all those other Toastmasters that are far better at evaluating than I am. What happens if I freeze up? What happens if I say something stupid? 
What happens if...?  The doubts, fears and uncertainties came piling on. But I decided that this was a great opportunity to expand my comfort zone.  Besides I really am not going to die of embarrassment; I say stupid things all the time and people haven't shunned me;  and I am surrounded by supportive people who are cheering me on for just trying.   Accepting this opportunity for growth and making the decision to step forward in this arena got me motivated to step up my commitment to my weight and my health.

I also realized that my emotional eating doesn't happen when I take the step out of my comfort zone, it happens when I don't take the step.  My stress eating occurs when I am afraid to grow, when I refuse to grow and when I'm disappointed in myself for not trying.  When I say YES! to something new, I get a rush of "can do attitude" but when I say no, I eat my way through the fear and the disappointment.  That's not to say I don't stress eat when I'm trying new things.  It just means that the pain and the fear of growing ends sooner if I step up then if I step down.