Are You Happy?

Are you happy?  That is a question that would benefit us all to ask ourselves.  What does it take to make you happy?  Is it always getting your way?  Is is always getting what you want?  Each of us must answer that question ourselves.  In this day of abundant technology, the TV commercials try to tell us what will make us happy.  If you use this toothpaste, or this floor cleaner, or eat this specific food, we are promised to be happy.  I don't think that is the answer to the question, do you?

I believe the greatest beginning to true happiness is a good relationship with God.  Without this relationship, our judgement is clouded by ambitions that might not be the best for us.  Happiness is within your grasp.  You can CHOOSE to be happy or you can CHOOSE to be miserable.  Our attitude is the greatest tool we have in our happiness tool box.  A lot of things are out of our control - the weather, the economy and many times what other people do.  We can either accept these things or go around mad about everything.  Everything comes in it's due season.  If you are having a bad day today, it won't last.  If the weather is cold and rainy today, it won't last.  On the other  hand, if things are going your way today, beware, it won't last.  We can choose to be happy regardless of circumstances that we cannot control.

That brings up another important point.  We are the author  of our own happiness,  There are many things within your control.  Don't like being in debt?  Start a plan to pay off that debt.  Don't like being overweight?  Start a plan to shed those unwanted pounds.  Don't like your health situation?  There are many things you can do to change a lot of health situations by eating better and taking better care of your body.  Are you getting enough exercise?  My son was just diagnosed with several blood clots in his leg caused by too much sitting in front of a computer and sometimes even falling asleep in his chair and sleeping there all night.  He has a choice to either continue this practice and die at an early age or choose to change his behavior.  Did you notice the word "choose" keeps coming up?  If you are happy, change nothing.  Just keep on doing what you are doing.  Take a good look at your life.  Could you be happier by changing something in your life?  The choice is up to  you!

Snack, Anyone?

If you are like me, I look forward to my snacks as much as I do my regular meals.  I have also learned that I do much better on my weight management program if I eat 5 to 6 times every day.  It keeps my metabolism up and I don't get hungry.  It keeps my body out of the "starvation mode" where it thinks it needs to hang on to calories instead of using them.  If you feed your body regularly, it gets in the habit of you giving it more nutrition every few hours.  What is very important to note, however, is that it makes all the difference what you eat as a snack.  The above list contains excellent choices for snacking.  My favorite snacks are the ones with the highest protein levels.  I feel much better with a higher level of protein in my diet and I seem to lose weight faster too.  My favorite afternoon snacks are hard boiled eggs, protein bar, fat free cottage cheese with a fruit cup (no sugar added) and turkey sticks or weight watcher string cheese sticks.  Watch your sodium and MSG content if you choose turkey sticks or jerky.  My go to snack that I have every evening before bedtime is a cup of Kroger Carbmaster yogurt with 1/4 cup of Post Grapenuts cereal or Ezekiel 4:9 cereal stirred in.  That gives me a hint of sweetness, lots of protein and some crunch.  It lays well on my stomach and keeps me from going to bed hungry.  Use your imagination and you will find some of your favorite foods will fit right into your snack time.  You could also even snack on leftover chicken breast from last night's dinner.  Listen to your body and see what it is hungry for right now.  Just be mindful of those calories and make sure they fit into your overall plans and goals.  Happy snacking!

Believe You Can

Your attitude goes a long way in controlling the outcome to your weight loss program.  If you spend your days feeling sorry for yourself, you are setting yourself up for failure.  I am speaking from experience.  I have spent a lot of time feeling sorry for myself since I couldn't have that dessert with the family or I couldn't have that sour cream and bacon on my baked potato.  Therefore, I have fallen off more programs than I care to remember.  This time is different and when I stop to wonder "why", I realize that my attitude has made all the difference!  I made up my mind that I am sick and tired of my energy being at rock bottom and my health steadily declining.  I am tired of being embarrassed to see old friends when I am out shopping.  I finally got sick and tired of being sick and tired!  When you come to this place, you will do something about it.  I believe I can make a difference in my energy level, my health and my looks.  I am seeing these changes in my body every day.  With each pound and inch that I lose, my belief gets even stronger that I CAN DO IT!  When my family has that pie or cake, I give myself permission to have one sliver (not slice).  A couple of weeks ago, I baked a blackberry jam cake for my family.  I always loved that.  When it came time for dessert, I cut myself just a very thin piece of the cake.  To my surprise, I have been off of sugar long enough that the cake tasted too sweet for my enjoyment.  I just ate a couple of bites and was finished.  That surprised me.  If I really want to taste something, I go ahead and have a very small serving of it just to satisfy my "craving" that I "think" I have.  I usually find out that it was more the thought than actually wanting it.  We always want what we think we can't have.  Give yourself permission to taste it.  My husband and I were at Lone Star Steak House the other day and my entree came with a small chocolate sundae.  I had already told my husband that I was giving it to him.  When it was brought to our table, I took one bite and found that it was too sweet as well.  At least I knew I really didn't want it as bad as I thought I would and it was over and done with.  The mind is so powerful.  If we make up our mind to BELIEVE we can, we will get it done!

What Are You Waiting For?

Today is the day to get started on the New You!  Putting it off for even one more day is pointless.  Who says that weight loss programs have to start on Monday?  If you wait until Monday, you may have another pound or two to lose.  Don't even think of it as a DIET (that dreaded four letter word).  Instead, it is a lifestyle.  It is much easier to LOSE the weight than to KEEP IT OFF - UNLESS - you make your new eating plan a LIFESTYLE.  You will learn to love this new way of eating - honestly, it will happen.  You will learn to love your body!  You will learn to feel satisfied without being stuffed to the point of not being able to breathe after every meal.  Haven't we all come out of a smorgasbord restaurant knowing that we have overeaten terribly!  We had to try a little of this and a little of that and of course we had to have dessert because it was included!  Heaven forbid that we walk away from that!  So just a little cake or pie with ice cream on top, and oh yes, a few sprinkles and nuts and is that whipped cream I see?  Well, we've all been there, haven't we? For that reason, I DO NOT eat at smorgasbord restaurants any more unless they have a choice of an entree aside from the smorgasbord.  I do not want to put myself in a situation of that much temptation.  Get to know what presents excessive temptation for you and avoid those situations as much as you can.

Get in the habit of reading labels.  Know how many calories you are eating and what you are putting into your mouth.  It's your body.  Don't take it for granted!  I log my foods every single day so I will know how many calories I am consuming.  Always remember to count any condiments or butter you may use.  Otherwise, you are just fooling yourself and it will show on the scales. If I overeat early in the day, I have to make up for it at dinner time.  Sometimes, I can only eat a couple of boiled eggs at dinner, BUT I have made a conscious choice to do so.  For example, I love to eat at Lone Star Steak House, but the lunch has more calories than my usual lunch.  If I choose to eat there with my husband when we are out running errands, I know I will have a couple of boiled eggs for dinner.  I still feel in control of my diet, because I have made a CHOICE.  If you want an online version of a food log at no charge, go to  www.myfitnesspal.com and set up a free account.  I use the Fitbit Zip to track my activity and the free app that comes with it will let you track your foods, activity, blood glucose and blood pressure.  Whatever you choose, be faithful to log all of the food you put in your mouth as well as the water you drink (that's very critical to weight loss as well).  Pretty soon, this new lifestyle will become a comfortable habit and you will start seeing changes in your body as I have.  I have been on my new lifestyle program for a little over two months now and I am very comfortable with it and I am seeing wonderful changes.  Plan your own life and feel better than you have ever felt before.  TODAY is the day to get started!

Dangers of Diet Soda

I don't think anyone loves diet soda more than me.  I drank 3 to 4 cans EVERY day and enjoyed every drop of it.  I did that for years.  Then I started reading all of the bad information about it.  It wasn't doing my body any favors; in fact, it was most likely making me sick.  I have had Type II Diabetes for several years and I thought that diet soda was one thing that I could have as much as I wanted.  I loved to drink it with every meal.  I would even drink a can of diet soda with a candy bar or donut, thinking that I was at least saving some calories.  (Oh, the lies that we tell ourselves)   I figured it was that many calories that I wasn't drinking if I drank the diet version of colas.  I thought I would never be able to kick the habit.

When I committed to the Advocare 24 day challenge, the program prohibited any kind of cola, coffee, tea - nothing except water for the 24 days.  I actually did it!  I didn't drink anything but water and the Spark energy drink for the whole 24 days.  Surprisingly enough to me, I actually didn't miss the diet cola like I thought I would.  And the biggest surprise of all (to me) is that today is October 14 and I still haven't had anything but water and Spark since August 12!  I have gotten used to drinking only water and now that actually satisfies me!  We are all somewhat addicted to sugars and colas.  I know I was.  I did find it difficult for the first several days without these things, but once I got them out of my system, I am actually hesitant to put any of them back.  Oh, sometimes I think about having a cup of coffee, but so far I haven't even done that.

Eating and drinking clean definitely has it's advantages. I feel so much better and sleep wonderfully.  It's all in what you make up your mind to do.  It's your body and there is no one to take care of it but you!  Think about it!

10 Reasons to Keep a Fitness Journal

I used to think that keeping a Fitness Journal was a waste of time, but I started keeping one in early August when I started my weight loss program.  I have been very successful in losing pounds and inches and I give partial credit to my Fitness Journal.  Let's look at the reasons that it is a good idea to keep a journal:

1. Keeps you accountable.  If you record what you eat (be honest and list everything) you will be less likely to eat that chocolate donut or cookie.  Those things look wicked in a Fitness Journal.
2. Shows you your habits - You may see that you are most tempted to overeat or cheat on your program in the evening while watching TV or when you have had a bad day at work.  You may see an overeating pattern emerging.
3. Makes your goals seem more real - It has been said that it is a dream until you write it down and then it's a goal.  Set a weight loss and fitness goal for yourself and write it down in your journal.  This makes you accountable to yourself.
4. Helps you to see what works - You can see, for example, that you lost more weight on the days after you ate more protein or you were slow losing pounds if you skipped your treadmill all week.
5. Helps you to see what doesn't work - When it is in writing, maybe eating too many carbs is what caused the scales to stop moving.
6. Shows you are serious about fitness - When you keep a journal of all your foods, weights, activity and measurements, you prove to yourself that you are taking your program seriously.
7. Helps you to keep track of your food - If you are counting calories or carbs, writing it down helps you to stay within your target range.  I write down a whole day's food in my electronic journal every morning to make sure I stay within my target calorie range for the day.  It's a good feeling knowing what I am going to eat for the day.
8. Helps you to keep track of workouts - Maybe you are going to walk 3 days per week and do Zumba a couple of times.  Your journal helps keep you on target and motivated.
9. Helps you track your progress - It's great to see your weight and measurements go down.  It shows you that all your hard work is paying off.
10. Helps you track your motivation - This is a big one.  Unless you stay motivated, you may just skip the workout or go ahead and eat that piece of chocolate pie in the refrigerator.  You must have your journal handy so you can look at it often.  When you see your progress, you just don't want to spoil it.

Keeping a journal is actually fun, once you get started.  It can be as public or as private as you want it to be.  I even take pictures of myself (front and side views) once a month and tape them on my journal pages.  My progress that I can see in my photos helps keep me motivated to keep going.  Your journal can be a notebook pad or even a fancy leather bound journal - as long as you write it down, you will gain strength from it!

Meet Fitbit Zip

Meet Zip™. Get fit. Have fun.

ZIP™ WIRELESS ACTIVITY TRACKER

Get a kick out of fitness with this little device. It tracks your steps, distance, and calories burned – and syncs those stats to your computer and select smartphones. In doing so, it celebrates how much more you do each day. Zip™ encourages you to set goals, challenge friends, and go farther - one step at time. That's how you turn everyday life into a social, achievable, awesome path to fitness.

I just received the Fitbit Zip a couple of days ago.  I really like it.  It comes in four great colors and it is small and discreet to wear.   Guys can wear it clipped on their pockets and it is so small, ladies can wear it in the center of their bra (on the inside) without it showing through their clothing.  This is how I have chosen to wear it.  It came with a port nub that stays plugged into your computer and whenever you get within 20 feet of your computer, it will update and sinc automatically.  I also downloaded the Fitbit app for my iphone and it will also automatically update.  You can add your daily items you eat via the computer or iphone.  You can choose the diet plan you want to be on, from easy to very hard.  Of course the harder the plan, the more calorie restrictions you have.  I love the fact that whenever you enter your food eaten, it will calculate how many calories you have left for the day.  It will also track your water intake as well.  It can tract your weight loss, BMI, blood pressure, blood glucose, active times, steps taken, calories burned (based on your weight, etc) if you choose to track these items, although you do not have to track them all if you don't want to.  It has a lot of food items in it's library or you can add something if you want.  It allows you to add the nutrition facts on the item as well if you want.  You have the choice to have your stats published on Facebook or not.  You also have the choice to join a fitness community or group if you wish or just stay private (which is what I chose).  This is one of the neatest little gadgets to help you track your stats.  I just love it!

The Naked Truth

Well, I looked the naked truth right in the eye this morning.  And you have heard the saying that the truth hurts.  Well, let me tell you, that is the truth!  I knew my bathroom scales weighed less than the ones at my doctor's office, but I always made excuses for my old bathroom scales .  I said, "Doctors scales always weigh more anyway."  Since I have started watching my diet and losing weight, I always had that nagging thought in the back of my head.  Besides, when I had days that it seemed the scale didn't move, I thought that if I got those new accurate digital scales that show weight in increments of .2 pounds, I could see if I lost even part of a pound.  I figured that would be encouraging if I had only lost a fraction of a pound on some days.  So today was the big switch over.  First, I weighed one last time on my old scales to make sure of my final weight loss on those scales.  Then I climbed onto my new fancy digital scales.  Well, I almost fainted!  They weighed me 13 pounds heavier than my old ones.  Oh no, that means I weighed 13 pounds more when I started than I thought I did.  I was the heaviest I had ever been in my entire life!  And I still weigh 13 pounds more than I thought I did!  That means I have 13 pounds more to lose before I reach my goal!  I had to really talk to myself, "Ok, so you weigh 13 pounds more than you thought.  It's better to know the truth.  You have already lost 22 pounds.  You can do this!  Keep up the momentum. "  After the heart palpitations stopped and the light headedness went away, I could think more clearly.  So what if I have 13 more pounds to lose, I will get it done!  I know what I have to do.  I will become friends with these new scales.  They are just telling my the truth.  And I can see when I have even lost a few ounces on these scales.  Yes, the naked truth is always better than the best dressed lie!

You May Have Lost More Thank You Think!

So you say you have ONLY lost 5 pounds?

Or maybe you have ONLY lost 10 pounds?

Lean muscle takes up more real estate on your body than fat tissue.  So if you haven't see the scales go down as much as you think they should, take your measurements.  You may have lost inches.  Whenever you have lost ANY fat, you have succeeded.  If you are not sure, just carry around a 5 pound bag of sugar all day and see how much of a chore it is.  Don't give up!  You ARE making progress if you are sticking to your program~