Happy Monday!
Well here it is another Monday morning, April seems to be flying by. Both my daughters are waking up in Jamaica, blue sky's and warm water...next time I'll go with them. Although it may be a little cloudy and the local weather report tells us that we can expect rain, we still can choose to have a wonderful day. I think that I'm going to have a great day...since I can walk without a lot of pain this morning I know I'm going to get around much better than I did the last few days. Life is, after all what we make of it and our lives are a reflection of our attitude and our choices...I'm choosing happy.
Tough week for exercise aside the scale reported in at 173 and once again the small changes have paid off. Now I know I could do a ton of different things to make my weight loss go a lot quicker, but I also know with everything I have going on in my life right now, the small changes are what seem to fit. The last thing I want to do is try to cram so much into my life that I get overwhelmed and quit making any progress at all. Actually what I hope happens is that these small steps keep moving me forward until I am ready to fly.
I have noticed a change in my face, legs and butt, not however in the spot that troubles me most...my belly. Maybe this week I can put in some time towards helping that move a little faster...no pressure, it would just be nice not to have this belly bulge now that some of my old clothes fit my lower half.
So last week was a win and I'll take it. This week I'm going to work towards having many wins in my life...I'll let you know how that goes.
Have a great week and I'll talk to you on Monday.
Smile Often
Barbara
LifeTude
Monday, April 26, 2010
Monday, April 19, 2010
Monday April 19th
Good Morning!
It's Monday and I'm here, not for long though as I am not feeling well today.
It was a good week...a tough one, but good. It's hard enough struggling with your weight alone, but add all the other stuff you deal with on a daily basis and then the unexpected crap that always seems to creep in and you have just given yourself a boatload of excuses why eating anything and everything is a good idea...that is until after it's in your belly. I, for the most part was able to side step the over-doing it.
Things are moving in the right direction once again and I have a new loss to report, I think the scale is getting on board and this morning I checked in at 174! A two pound loss for any week is step in the right direction, but for such a stressful week it is an amazing accomplishment. I also have had to retire some of my pants and pull out some that I have not been able to wear in a very long time. The best part is that it really hasn't taken a ton of effort to accomplish this; the changes have been so small anyone can incorporate them into their lives.
All in all it was a great week and I am looking forward to having another...after I get over this bug.
Until Monday, Smile Often
Barbara
It's Monday and I'm here, not for long though as I am not feeling well today.
It was a good week...a tough one, but good. It's hard enough struggling with your weight alone, but add all the other stuff you deal with on a daily basis and then the unexpected crap that always seems to creep in and you have just given yourself a boatload of excuses why eating anything and everything is a good idea...that is until after it's in your belly. I, for the most part was able to side step the over-doing it.
Things are moving in the right direction once again and I have a new loss to report, I think the scale is getting on board and this morning I checked in at 174! A two pound loss for any week is step in the right direction, but for such a stressful week it is an amazing accomplishment. I also have had to retire some of my pants and pull out some that I have not been able to wear in a very long time. The best part is that it really hasn't taken a ton of effort to accomplish this; the changes have been so small anyone can incorporate them into their lives.
All in all it was a great week and I am looking forward to having another...after I get over this bug.
Until Monday, Smile Often
Barbara
Thursday, April 15, 2010
Thursday April 15th
Hello!
Sorry for the delay in posting...I've had a bit more than usual on my mind and my plate the last week and I have had to get a little creative with coaching myself through all of it.
Still holding my own, no new weight loss to report from Monday but I have a feeling that this coming Monday will be a better day for the scale...although no weight gain isn't a bad day for the scale either. A couple of weeks ago Sally Humphries, a friend of mine who writes a news letter to help people discover healthy all natural ways to better take care of their health, reported that scales lie...I'm truly inclined to believe this. I know the scale has reported that my weight has stayed the same over the last two weeks; however my clothes tell me that things are shifting a bit. I am currently able to wear clothes that I haven't been close to wearing in a very long time. Having said that I must admit the one place where I would truly like to see inches disappear from is still causing me to struggle with what shirt I wear. Yes, it's my belly, and it still has a long way to go.
So although I may have had a couple of tough weeks with no loss to show for them, I have learned once again that by adopting small changes that fit within my lifestyle I was able to maintain my lower weight without much of an effort, this is good news.
Things haven't settled down much for me but I have been able to slide in another change and I think that it will help the scale on Monday. It feels pretty good knowing that once the scale starts moving down again it won't be starting over from square one. I don't know about you but what has happened with me over the years is I would start a diet, lose a little weight, give up and end up putting it all back on plus a couple pounds and then try something new. With my current focus on smaller changes it seems as though the "Yo Yo" string finally broke.
Well since it is Thursday and Monday is just a few days away we shall see how things go, I have a good feeling about this.
Have a great weekend, Smile Often and we will see you on Monday.
Barbara
Sorry for the delay in posting...I've had a bit more than usual on my mind and my plate the last week and I have had to get a little creative with coaching myself through all of it.
Still holding my own, no new weight loss to report from Monday but I have a feeling that this coming Monday will be a better day for the scale...although no weight gain isn't a bad day for the scale either. A couple of weeks ago Sally Humphries, a friend of mine who writes a news letter to help people discover healthy all natural ways to better take care of their health, reported that scales lie...I'm truly inclined to believe this. I know the scale has reported that my weight has stayed the same over the last two weeks; however my clothes tell me that things are shifting a bit. I am currently able to wear clothes that I haven't been close to wearing in a very long time. Having said that I must admit the one place where I would truly like to see inches disappear from is still causing me to struggle with what shirt I wear. Yes, it's my belly, and it still has a long way to go.
So although I may have had a couple of tough weeks with no loss to show for them, I have learned once again that by adopting small changes that fit within my lifestyle I was able to maintain my lower weight without much of an effort, this is good news.
Things haven't settled down much for me but I have been able to slide in another change and I think that it will help the scale on Monday. It feels pretty good knowing that once the scale starts moving down again it won't be starting over from square one. I don't know about you but what has happened with me over the years is I would start a diet, lose a little weight, give up and end up putting it all back on plus a couple pounds and then try something new. With my current focus on smaller changes it seems as though the "Yo Yo" string finally broke.
Well since it is Thursday and Monday is just a few days away we shall see how things go, I have a good feeling about this.
Have a great weekend, Smile Often and we will see you on Monday.
Barbara
Monday, March 29, 2010
Monday March 29th 2010
Normally I look forward to Monday mornings. I don’t wake up in a bad mood because the weekend is over and I have to (as some may put it) “get back to reality”. Instead I view it as an amazing gift, another opportunity to create my own reality, one that I love no matter what day of the week it is. However after living in pain all week and just trying to “get through” each day, I found myself struggling with the thought of another Monday morning. I knew I hadn’t put any effort into my weight loss goals last week as well as this week and I just couldn’t bring myself to face the scale…and that’s why I missed last week’s report in.
It took me last week and most of this week to realize what I was beginning to do and put a stop to it. I was doing a little self sabotage. It is true I was sick and at times the pain was almost unbearable. However I could have easily stayed the course food wise and held off on the exercise. But I’m not going to dwell on it, instead I will focus on the fact that I recognized the behavior before it sent me spiraling backwards.
So here I am and although the last two weeks have been less than perfect, less than I would have hoped for I still managed to weigh in at 176! I have lost yet another pound. Still on track; still headed in the right direction, lucky I didn’t let my imagination push me too far off the path. One of the best things is I am beginning to feel a difference in the way my clothes fit…and I really, really like it.
My struggles are variety with healthy food options to work into my menus…there are so many things that I just don’t like and some that I am allergic to that I sometimes I feel like my options are limited. Also although I do notice the change in the way my clothes fit my belly still makes me look and feel huge so it’s going take a little more time and some creative imagination in the kitchen before I truly feel like my plan is a successful one…it’s working though, I’m headed in the right direction so I guess it is successful.
Have a great week and I’ll talk to you on Monday
Smile Often
Barbara
It took me last week and most of this week to realize what I was beginning to do and put a stop to it. I was doing a little self sabotage. It is true I was sick and at times the pain was almost unbearable. However I could have easily stayed the course food wise and held off on the exercise. But I’m not going to dwell on it, instead I will focus on the fact that I recognized the behavior before it sent me spiraling backwards.
So here I am and although the last two weeks have been less than perfect, less than I would have hoped for I still managed to weigh in at 176! I have lost yet another pound. Still on track; still headed in the right direction, lucky I didn’t let my imagination push me too far off the path. One of the best things is I am beginning to feel a difference in the way my clothes fit…and I really, really like it.
My struggles are variety with healthy food options to work into my menus…there are so many things that I just don’t like and some that I am allergic to that I sometimes I feel like my options are limited. Also although I do notice the change in the way my clothes fit my belly still makes me look and feel huge so it’s going take a little more time and some creative imagination in the kitchen before I truly feel like my plan is a successful one…it’s working though, I’m headed in the right direction so I guess it is successful.
Have a great week and I’ll talk to you on Monday
Smile Often
Barbara
Sunday, March 14, 2010
Monday March 15tht 2010, 2nd full week
Monday March 15tht 2010, 2nd full week
Ok so I didn’t add anything. However by focusing on the positive (what I was able to do this week) I was able to stay on course and not go backwards. I kept drinking my water, kept the pasta to one night only (multi grain), took a couple short walks during my work day, didn’t pig out on junk, made sure to eat breakfast, took my supplements, continued working on eating slow & consciously, and even made a few substitutions. Maybe for most people on a “diet” that wouldn’t seem like a whole lot of effort, but then again wasn’t that my point? I wanted to do this in a way that I could easily fit it into my life, without overwhelming myself or guilting myself to the point where I feel the need to come up with excuses so that I can make it easy for myself to…quit. That’s one thing that is unacceptable.
After realizing that I was still ok, that things weren’t as bad as I was starting to imagine they were, I was able to calm down and give myself permission to coast for a week. Doing that opened up my mind and although I may not have added any of the steps I had originally planned to I did discover a few small changes that I could make without much effort. One of the things I discovered is; not all turkey products taste like cardboard! Now I know there are many people out there that simply love ground turkey over ground beef, and they even love turkey bacon, but I’m not one of them. Cardboard is cardboard and although I don’t mind packing my “stuff” in it I certainly don’t like to eat it. That’s why I found it so surprising that I do like turkey kielbasa and turkey sausage. I know, I couldn’t believe it either, but it’s true. Butter Ball makes an awesome Turkey Kielbasa that made it difficult for me to notice the difference. I don’t think I will ever get to the point where I will choose ground turkey over ground beef, but this was a victory for me and it makes me hopeful that I may just find a few other healthy substitutions that I enjoy.
With all that said when I woke up Sunday I wasn’t expecting to see movement on the scale…but I did. Two more pounds! I am now down to 177! No extra effort, small steps…consistency is the key. I know it’s not as fast as many would like, but if you’ve done fast before and it hasn’t stuck then continuing to do the same thing and expecting “this time” to be different…well why don’t you let me know how that works out. If it works for you, great I will celebrate with you, if however you find yourself once again struggling to keep up the pace maybe it would be worth the effort to try the slow and steady way. The way I look at it is that steady loss with easy adopted changes is much better than the rollercoaster ride I was on.
So after my second full week I’m feeling pretty good. I’m happy with my progress and I’m going into week three with a positive attitude. I am looking forward to next week and being able to share my new measurements with you.
Have A Great Week & Smile Often!
Barbara
PS If you have any healthy substitutions that you have tried and liked please share them with me…not the cauliflower one, been there tried that and it’s almost as bad as the cardboard!
Monday, March 8, 2010
Monday March 8th 2010, first full week
What a great weekend!
So my first full week came to a close last night…I must admit I was a little concerned getting on the scale this morning, I didn’t accomplish all that I wanted to. I got in a couple of days of “exercise” not nearly as much as I had hoped to, but two days more than I had been getting in…progress is good. I did ok with the “slow” eating, but I know I can do better. I need to pay closer attention to my sugar/carb intake and keep it around 16grams sugar and 22grams carbs per day. All in all it was a good week below are this week’s wins;
1. Increased water intake
2. Continued with supplements
3. Meditated 3 days
4. Switched pasta to a multi grain (didn’t care for the whole wheat)
\5. No out of control cravings
6. Worked in two days of exercise
7. Worked in a couple of short walks, breaks from my work day
8. Left food on my plate, stopped eating when I was satisfied
9. Said no to late night snacking very easily
10. Lost inches!
11. Weighed in at 179!
Simple steps that fit into my life without a tone of extra effort…down a total of 5lbs! I think this is great! Imagine the results I could see if I step it up a bit (remember part of the goal is to make this as easy and as simple as possible, adopt habits and methods that fit into my life easily so that I once I reach my goal I will be able to continue my new lifestyle never feeling deprived of the things I love…YES, I love sweets, junk food, pasta, bread. I may not eat a tone of it but I do not want to cut it out of my life all together and when I eat it I don’t want to waste any time convincing myself that something taste just as good as the “real” thing. So good tasting substitutes are ok but if my taste buds say “Ya, right” I’m not going to force the issue, I would rather have a purely “sinful” indulgence ever so often than a nasty tasting copy more frequently. I may not be dropping a ton of weight but the diet isn’t consuming me either. That’s just me; being honest with me and making it work.
Now I bet you want to know if there were any changes in my measurements, well here they are;
Starting Current
Abs: Upper 41.5 Lower 45 40/44
Hips: 45 44
Arms: Left 13.5 Right 14 13/13
Thighs: Left 25.5 Right 26 24/25
Neck: 15 14
I’ve heard it said that “every journey begins with a single step”, it looks like even small steps pay off, and losing 5lbs and a total of 7 inches is pretty good. This week I’ll add in more exercise time, work to nail the “eating slow” thing, get the carbs & sugar grams down. I think that if I can add these steps to my plan I’ll have an even better week this week.
Last week ended on a high note and I’m getting closer to wearing some of the clothes I avoid because they make me look and feel like I’m seven months pregnant. It’s been kind of fun looking for the small things I can change to make this improvement, things so simple that anyone could adopt them into their lifestyle.
Have a great week, see you on Monday March 15th th
Smile Often,
Barbara
So my first full week came to a close last night…I must admit I was a little concerned getting on the scale this morning, I didn’t accomplish all that I wanted to. I got in a couple of days of “exercise” not nearly as much as I had hoped to, but two days more than I had been getting in…progress is good. I did ok with the “slow” eating, but I know I can do better. I need to pay closer attention to my sugar/carb intake and keep it around 16grams sugar and 22grams carbs per day. All in all it was a good week below are this week’s wins;
1. Increased water intake
2. Continued with supplements
3. Meditated 3 days
4. Switched pasta to a multi grain (didn’t care for the whole wheat)
\5. No out of control cravings
6. Worked in two days of exercise
7. Worked in a couple of short walks, breaks from my work day
8. Left food on my plate, stopped eating when I was satisfied
9. Said no to late night snacking very easily
10. Lost inches!
11. Weighed in at 179!
Simple steps that fit into my life without a tone of extra effort…down a total of 5lbs! I think this is great! Imagine the results I could see if I step it up a bit (remember part of the goal is to make this as easy and as simple as possible, adopt habits and methods that fit into my life easily so that I once I reach my goal I will be able to continue my new lifestyle never feeling deprived of the things I love…YES, I love sweets, junk food, pasta, bread. I may not eat a tone of it but I do not want to cut it out of my life all together and when I eat it I don’t want to waste any time convincing myself that something taste just as good as the “real” thing. So good tasting substitutes are ok but if my taste buds say “Ya, right” I’m not going to force the issue, I would rather have a purely “sinful” indulgence ever so often than a nasty tasting copy more frequently. I may not be dropping a ton of weight but the diet isn’t consuming me either. That’s just me; being honest with me and making it work.
Now I bet you want to know if there were any changes in my measurements, well here they are;
Starting Current
Abs: Upper 41.5 Lower 45 40/44
Hips: 45 44
Arms: Left 13.5 Right 14 13/13
Thighs: Left 25.5 Right 26 24/25
Neck: 15 14
I’ve heard it said that “every journey begins with a single step”, it looks like even small steps pay off, and losing 5lbs and a total of 7 inches is pretty good. This week I’ll add in more exercise time, work to nail the “eating slow” thing, get the carbs & sugar grams down. I think that if I can add these steps to my plan I’ll have an even better week this week.
Last week ended on a high note and I’m getting closer to wearing some of the clothes I avoid because they make me look and feel like I’m seven months pregnant. It’s been kind of fun looking for the small things I can change to make this improvement, things so simple that anyone could adopt them into their lifestyle.
Have a great week, see you on Monday March 15th th
Smile Often,
Barbara
Monday, March 1, 2010
March 1st 2010
Good Morning!
Well today will be day four, since I started pulling my actual eating plan together so I think we can skip the measurements until next Monday. I did however get on the scale yesterday and my day three weigh was…183! One pound three days, I think I’ll take it, and if we want to get technical we could say 182.8 but I rounded up. Not bad for the first few day, not bad at all. I figure as long as I’m going in the right direction It’s all good.
I have to admit I didn’t hit the ground running. However I never thought I would, which is why I chose to combine the plans that I did…quality, I want it to last. If I do have a week where I lose big great I’ll take that too, but for now I’m happy with 1lb.
I made some small changes that wouldn’t take too much effort to work into eating and life style and that I can continue to build upon. Here is a list of the changes I made so far:
1. Increased my water intake and added lemon juice to it.
2. Started taking all the supplements that I had previously listed.
3. Eating slower put my fork down between every bite. Giving myself time to notice when I’m full.
4. Cut out almost all Splenda (I just can’t give it up in my morning tea…yet). Not sure if you are aware but Splenda, Equal, and Sweet-n-Low all cause stomach bloating and can cause you to hang onto belly fat.
That’s it, that’s really all of done the last few days. This week I will be adding in a few more steps and some exercise. It’s a busy week for me so I know I am going to need to push to get some exercise in. I also want to add in the meditation CD from I Can Make You Thin
. Those two things alone will be a challenging since I am always giving up what little time I put aside for myself…can’t do that now need to learn to put myself first once in a while and practice a little “extreme self care
”.
I have a couple of stressful weeks coming up so it’s going to be interesting for me to see how I manage, but I am excited…I’ve lost 1lb! So many of you are on the same journey and I would love to hear how you are doing. Maybe something you’re doing will help one of the other readers…or maybe it might help me.
See you on Monday March 8th, I will be down a few more pounds and have my new measurments.
Smile Often,
Barbara
LifeTude/testimonials
Life Lessons
Well today will be day four, since I started pulling my actual eating plan together so I think we can skip the measurements until next Monday. I did however get on the scale yesterday and my day three weigh was…183! One pound three days, I think I’ll take it, and if we want to get technical we could say 182.8 but I rounded up. Not bad for the first few day, not bad at all. I figure as long as I’m going in the right direction It’s all good.
I have to admit I didn’t hit the ground running. However I never thought I would, which is why I chose to combine the plans that I did…quality, I want it to last. If I do have a week where I lose big great I’ll take that too, but for now I’m happy with 1lb.
I made some small changes that wouldn’t take too much effort to work into eating and life style and that I can continue to build upon. Here is a list of the changes I made so far:
1. Increased my water intake and added lemon juice to it.
2. Started taking all the supplements that I had previously listed.
3. Eating slower put my fork down between every bite. Giving myself time to notice when I’m full.
4. Cut out almost all Splenda (I just can’t give it up in my morning tea…yet). Not sure if you are aware but Splenda, Equal, and Sweet-n-Low all cause stomach bloating and can cause you to hang onto belly fat.
That’s it, that’s really all of done the last few days. This week I will be adding in a few more steps and some exercise. It’s a busy week for me so I know I am going to need to push to get some exercise in. I also want to add in the meditation CD from I Can Make You Thin
. Those two things alone will be a challenging since I am always giving up what little time I put aside for myself…can’t do that now need to learn to put myself first once in a while and practice a little “extreme self care”.I have a couple of stressful weeks coming up so it’s going to be interesting for me to see how I manage, but I am excited…I’ve lost 1lb! So many of you are on the same journey and I would love to hear how you are doing. Maybe something you’re doing will help one of the other readers…or maybe it might help me.
See you on Monday March 8th, I will be down a few more pounds and have my new measurments.
Smile Often,
Barbara
LifeTude/testimonials
Life Lessons
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