Unintentional Inspiration: Small steps can make a big difference

A co-worker inspired me and she didn’t even know it.

Our paths would cross occasionally here at the Montgomery County ESC. But, last year, I went a few months without seeing SOITA Director Deb Tschirhart. Then, one day, she attended a Keowee Street staff meeting and her transformation was remarkable. She sat down next to me and at that moment the inspiration began taking effect. She looked happy and healthy, and I wanted to feel that way.

I knew I was overweight and generally not feeling well. Over the past three years I had gradually been putting on weight. However, I had it in the back of my mind that at some point I would begin the process of losing what I had gained, and then some. I’d get to it. On my own sweet time. It would be the proverbial piece of cake. Yummmm, cake!

Sorry, I digress.

Anyway, the exact “how” and “when” I would lose the weight were TBD — to be determined. I just needed the push.

Deb began her journey about 17 months ago. For her, it was a different kind of weight piling on.

“I was feeling so much stress in my life,” Deb says. “One day I realized I was not anywhere close to being on the top of my priority list, and that’s never healthy. I needed to regain control of my health and well-being.”

Deb has managed to lose 90 pounds in a year. That is so incredible. It’s not easy, but once the mind commits, everything else follows. Although she sets small goals along the way, her weight loss goals have not centered on the total number of pounds lost, but rather the priority to feel as good as the last time she remembered feeling good.

“It had been a long while since I felt good and felt good about myself,” she says. “Once my mind was made up to seize control, I began the journey with the mindset that it’s a lifestyle change and I am ready to do it. I wanted to feel good again.”

Every so often I would ask Deb about how she was losing weight. I still hadn’t jumped in and was still looking for the push. Deb’s advice to me was simple.

“You’ll know when to start,” she told me. “When your mind decides to do it, fully committing to the process, that’s when it’s right for you. Doing it any other way will most likely lead to a lot of failures, and that yo-yo dieting is defeating and deflating.”

Then the push finally came. A biometric screening in late February gave me the medical reasoning to lose weight, but my journey began officially the weekend of my son’s wedding in early March. Looking at the pictures of that special day set it in motion. I was finally ready. My mind had finally set the date, and that date to start was right then and there.

Clearly, people have different reasons for pursuing or not pursuing weight loss and more healthful eating. For Tschirhart it was realizing the stress was burying her light. Mine was at first a vanity piece, followed quickly by the realization I was extremely unhealthy. But the point is the same: Once your mind commits to changing, go for it. Your chances at success will be greater. Research and form a plan.

I didn’t feel like adding a walking routine until two months into the journey. Deb and I both feel frustration some days that we are missing out on “fun” foods. We both also realize we are human and some days the temptations prove strong. But our minds already made the commitment and it’s easier to regain the focus to get back on track.

When we compared notes on how we started the weight loss, both of us had the initial idea to identify the cause of the problem. Mine was cutting down my sugar intake, particularly with sugary drinks. Deb’s focus was to eliminate stress-eating. Once we identified our primary challenges it was easier to plan our respective strategies.

“I didn’t initially map out a diet,” Deb says. “I realized stress was causing my overweighting and poor eating. Once I figured it out, I then had to re-channel my energy from stress-eating to making better choices.”

Losing weight is a slow process with good days and bad days, and having someone to inspire you is a great thing. Knowing there are days it may not go well doesn’t mean you are a failure. It means you’re human.

After I lost my first 15 pounds I informed Deb she had inspired me without even knowing it. After that I would stop by her office or catch her in the hallway and pick her brain on grocery shopping and avoiding the feeling of starving. She always unwittingly gave me a brain nugget nearly every time I needed one. The one that stuck with me is this:

“There will be times you will make a choice and feel guilt. It’s not the end of the world. You most likely have had worse things happen to you. Get over it and move on to the next opportunity.”

Ashley Lockemer, MCESC psychologist and a member on our Educational Assessment Team, points out there will be ups and downs, the successes and the failures, and she offers this advice:

“Whenever we are trying to make a major change in our life, it is essential to remember that it won’t happen overnight and we are bound to encounter setbacks along the way. Celebrate your incremental successes, and breathe through the discomfort when it arises.”

By the way, there’s been an exponential result of my and Deb’s journeys: Our spouses have lost a combined total of more than 100 pounds.

It started simply, with one person losing one pound.