dancingbear

Have you ever really, really, really wanted something and just knew you could do it and somebody comes around and tells you its impossible, but you do it anyway?  Or have you had something so close, so close you could almost touch it and then it seems to slip away.

How many times have you told yourself you couldn’t do it?  It will never happen . . .it’s just not meant to be????

Where ever did you get that idea?  There is nothing that you can’t be, do or have.  That includes being healthy, losing weight, being happy, getting that new job . . .

So many of our limits are self imposed.  I always tell people that the only limits I have are between my ears.  If I don’t think I can do it, I won’t.  If I don’t think I can finish it, it will never get done. . . .

Everyday I am going to make a conscious effort to listen to my self talk, banish negative self talk and replace it with positive phrases.  But do you know what is just as important as changing your self talk?  Imagining that what you want is already yours!

This is a true story.  There were two basketball teams.  One team practiced nightly.  The other team was not allowed to practice, but was taught how to use their imagination.  They were to imagine that they were scoring baskets, playing the best defense, faster than lighting . . .The team that used their imagination to picture what they wanted out performed the team with steady practice.  Once they believed that they could win, they did!

What limits are you going to push past today, this week, this month?

My goal for the week is to BE HAPPY!  It is a simple goal, yet is one that can be so powerful in our weight loss efforts and our lives!  In any situation, you always have a choice to focus on what you choose to.

For instance, my situation was that I lost 0.4 pounds this week.  The old me would have been pissed, wanted to quit, told myself it is not worth it and maybe I am not worth it.  Those thoughts crossed my mind for about a minute.  Then I decided to give myself a break and be happy . . .I just completed one of the toughest semesters of my life–normally I would have gained wait, but I am down for the semester.  I am more in tune with my emotions and how to make them better and am liking the person that I am becoming.

So here is the new situation, I lost 0.4 pounds this week.  Wow, that’s incredible with all of the stress that I have been under.  I did overeat a little this week, but I stopped before I trashed the entire day.  I am making progress and I am happy about it!

How can you put a little more happy into the situations you are facing?

Craziness ruled my day–as usual! Work is crazy, school is crazy! Doing so many things for so many other people and there is no time for me! That would be OK if it just happened once in awhile. But it never happens that way. This is how I gained weight in the first place!! No time for me and time for everyone else.

IF I WANT TO LOSE WEIGHT I NEED TO MAKE AND KEEP ME A PRIORITY. I need to repeat that to myself. It is so true. How many times have your plans been pushed aside to help out someone else? This is one of the reasons I got fat in the first place!!!

So now I am scheduling my exercise, my schoolwork, my time with the girls, my blogging time . . .My schedule has some flexibility, but I need to be consistent to get the results I want.

How many of you never have time for yourself? What can you do to carve a little time for you in your life??

When things aren’t going the way that you want them to, it is easy to focus on the bad. For instance when the scale keeps giving you bad numbers–I have such a fat butt, why even bother, last week was a waste all that working out for nothing, I ate a piece of cake, I might as well keep eating. . .

Thoughts like that are definitely not going to turn the situation. If you are like me you have had days like that.

Next time one of those thoughts happen, stop and pivot your thoughts. Find a thought that feels better . . .
My booty really is looking better. . .I like it when it feels tight after working out, if I just keep on pushing myself, I know it will get better . . .
I did work out all last week, it really was worthwhile, I made some new friends, I like shimmying and shaking at zumba, I laughed a little and it made me feel good
I ate a piece of cake and ohhhh it was good. Once in awhile it is ok to splurge. I was craving chocolate and now it is out of my system. Its ok to enjoy food every now and then, I can still finish the day eating well . . .

This journey that we are on is tough. Sometimes finding the good in a day is harder than you can imagine. If you are like me and never gonna give up, pivot and find a thought that feels better.

What can you do to turn your day around?

Hi fellow macs. I just got a mac and now I can’t seem to cut and paste on this blogsite. It will take the picture and covert it to the url that I got it from. what is up with that? How do I fix it? I love sending cute boosters so I want to figure it out. Send me your brains, please! Thanks!!!

Many of us are overwhelmed by stress lately. On top of our daily stressors, we put the stress of weight loss into the mix. Losing weight is not a bad thing, it will do amazing things for our health and mental wellbeing. The problem is that when we are not seeing the results we are looking for, many of us beat ourselves up which further adds to increasing stress.

Why is stress such a big deal in weight loss? Stress releases a hormone called cortisol. Cortisol is one of our adapting hormones in our body to help us deal with fight or flight situations. A persistent level of stress causes cortisol to be continually released. Guess what cortisol does? It puts the body on alert and it weakens the immune system. Initially the cortisol boost feels better and helps the body adapt to stress. This is the adaption phase. Many of us live in this phase where cortisol is continually released. This leads to increased belly fat, decreased metabolism and problems with sugar metabolism.

Do any of you notice you get sick a lot–maybe more often than you used to? Maybe you are experiencing the same problem that I was–not losing weight no matter what you did and beating yourself up for it creating greater stress.

OK, so how do you fix all of this to feel better and lose weight? Stress reduction is number one! “Without stress reduction, all therapeutic and support measures will eventually fail.”

So lets think of some ways to decrease stress–exercise–but be careful not to overdo.

1.Attitude adjustment–I have been working so hard to find the good and stay positive. Meditation. Hypnosis (many websites have free downloads or inexpensive downloads. I listen to them before I sleep and then I sleep like a baby!). Get sugar out of your diet.

2. Get sugar and anything white that is not natural out of your diet. In the bodies effort to process sugar, cortisol increases. The more frequently you have swings in your sugar, the more likely your cortisol levels will remain high and you risk having insulin resistance.

3. Make time for sleep.

Believe it or not, I have been fighting with the scale for three months. I have lowered my response to stress and the pounds are FINALLY dropping.

How is your stress level? What are you doing to bring your stress levels down?

Information adapted from: http://www.advance-health.com/cortisol.html

As I participate in this group and write this blog I am learning how often I reach for food when I am not hungry.  I always knew that I was a stress eater, but now I realize I eat when I am happy, excited, sad, bored, lonely, studying . . . You name the emotion and I put the food in my face!!!  The hardest part for me is figuring out why I am reaching for food. So, what I have learned to do is STOP!  STEP AWAY FROM THE TABLE!  PUT THE FORK DOWN!!  Then I try to take a breather and figure out what is going on inside of me.  Food is not going to make me feel better!  If food does make me feel better it will be temporary.  Then the feeling better will turn to a series of being upset with myself and eating more and this is the vicious cycle that I know so well!

Instead of eating, I pick up the phone and call a friend, check with my friends on buddyslim or step away from the situation and go for a walk.  In my head I try to imagine that I have a big pair of scissors and I cut the tie that links that emotion to the food.  Get to that emotion and make it better in any way that you know how.

What emotions are driving you to eat?  What do you do to stop emotional eating?

This is a tough one for me.  I don’t want to believe that I am responsible for some of the thoughts that I think!  Not only are we responsible for the thoughts that we think, we are responsible for what we give our attention to.

Before I became aware of this little factoid, I never understood where my self-defeating attitude came from.  Then someone asked me what I say to myself.  Well, in the morning it was “I am so tired I don’t want to move.” Then I would get on the scale and it went up again “So what else is new, it is not worth all of this hard work.  I will never be thin, why even bother?” You get the picture.

Here is the thing that a lot of people do not understand.  Your subconscious mind is awake 24/7.  What you tell yourself about yourself is believed to be true by your subconscious.  So if you tell yourself you will be thin your subconscious believes that is what you desire and helps you accomplish that goal. Hmmmm . . .is that what I really wanted?

So try changing your self talk and your attitude.  Try waking up and saying “I know this is going to be a great day!”  Maybe you might try “I can’t believe how well I am doing on eating healthy!”  Writing this blog is improving the way I feel on a daily basis.

What thoughts are you thinking today?

Hey, we all know that weight loss is a struggle and it seems like the longer I am at it the more I think of giving up.  Hmmm . . .I am in my 40’s now and I started journaling about losing weight when I was 13!  Looks like I have been at this a while.  Now I may not have the to die for shape yet. . .but I never give up on my dreams.  I think the person that is most famous for not giving up was Thomas Edison.  It took him 10,000 failures before the “lights clicked” and he invented the lightbulb.  He said he kept  trying because he was running out of ways to fail so he knew he would have to  get it right!

Wow . . .I guess that I am probably close to 10,000 times!  I probably am on the verge of something great too!  I have learned patience, persistence, a positive attitude.  In addition, I have learned how magnificent out bodies really are.  How can I have mistreated mine for so long and it always bounces back?

No matter how many times you have failed . . .NEVER GIVE UP!  You are worth it!  You can do it!  You will do it!!!!!

What have you learned along the way?

I often say that this is not who I really am . . .I am trapped in a fat body!  Has anyone else ever felt like that????  I think one of the coolest things about losing weight–hooking up with buddies and blogging– is the journey.  Being thin will be awesome–it has escaped me my whole life.  However, being “me” has escaped me for a long time, too!  I have spent so much of my life trying to fit in.  It never worked. 

Over the last three years I focused on finding me.  I made a list of things I like about myself (that was really hard to even come up with one thing when I started : ) ) I made a list of things I wanted to change–and why I want to change them (I am making progress) and I made a list of things that I can be OK with (my stretch marks, my thighs being out of proportion,etc)  What I am trying to say is that the journey is about learning to love me and make the most out of my life.  In those three years, I lost 60 pounds and kept 50 off. I made it a habit to find a reason to feel good.  It really wasn’t that hard. 

 However, some where along the way, I lost track of me again.  So it is time to focus on the self discovery, self appreciation and the finding me aspects of my journey. And it is time to get the rest of this weight off!

What do you appreciate about you?