Midweek update for the Eve to Easter Challenge

Well folks, only a week and a half left to this challenge. I'm hoping to finish strong!
I'm so glad to have been a part of this challenge! I've gotten to know so many wonderful people, and I think I ended up with the best buddy! ;) And I've been motivated by all of you to get up, start moving and start losing.
Last year was difficult for me, not any particular reason, I had just lost my motivation for anything. Ok, yeah, I was depressed.
Two years ago we had a death in the family almost monthly. Two of my mom's uncles, my husbands aunt,  my grandma, then one of my dad's sisters and then another, then my mom's brother, my husbands uncle and finally my grandpa. That was 9 deaths in 11 months that affected my family. It was so hard, but I was not in a depression like last year. Maybe it was delayed? I had been on anti-depressants for a few months after our youngest was born. I don't think they helped, but I don't know what would've happened if I hadn't been taking them. So...
I had seen Betty participate in the Christmas dress challenge that Mir had hosted and was not brave enough to participate. And when this challenge came up, I was so hesitant. I still wasn't motivated to lose weight, but I knew I had to do something soon or I'd gain back the 26 lbs I had lost the year before. (I did regain 15 of those)
So, I signed up, and I faked it! I did not have the desire to do the work, I just did it. I did not lose the 15 I had regained, but I'm almost there. I still have not come up with the best meal plan for me and my family.
But every day I know I'm being held accountable for the goals I've set myself. At times I find myself doing this for you, because I don't want to disappoint. I don't want Mir to regret letting me join this challenge. I don't want Julie to be sad that she doesn't have a better buddy in this challenge. You know, all those people pleasing things that you other people pleasers worry about.
But I also want to be the best I can be, not for you wonderful people, not even just for my family, and really not even for me. I want God to find pleasure in me. I want to please Him with the choices I make. I want to be glorifying Him with my body.
No, I'm not at a place where I can say I'm successful in that area, but I know that I'm never going to be done. I'm always going to be a work in progress. But I want to be a WORK in progress. That means I'm going to have to be working, too.
I remember Chantel Hobbs saying something about going about this whole weight loss thing as her job. She had to go there and do the work, or it was not going to be done. That's the attitude I'd like to have. And I'm so pleased to have some co-workers  (co-bloggers) making the job fun, rewarding and challenging along the way.
So, I guess the moral of this longwinded post is... don't wait til your ready, or motivated or have to want-to to lose weight. Just start, just do it. Every day. Look for the reasons you want to lose weight. Make the good choices. Do the work like a job. Somedays it'll be a job you hate and want to quit, other days you'll get a promotion, and will have reached that goal you never thought you'd make.
These are the words I need to tell myself daily. I don't want to quit. And when I want to, I won't, because... well, I hope I won't because I have found a bunch of friends who are holding me accountable and are encouraging me and inspiring me.
So, thank you!!
Casey