If It Sounds too Good to be true. . .

We have all heard this saying, “If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is” In the last couple of days the new buzz or word on the street is Alli. It is going to be the new miracle drug. Able to help us shed our pounds with a single shot of a pill a few times a day. All for the small price of about $60 which will last you 30 days; such a small price to pay for the body you have dreamed of right?

When I sit and read this I almost find it comical. I look at all the information for this new drug it tells us that we are encouraged to have a healthy diet, plan on losing the weight slowly and not have more than 15g of fat per meal. It also says we should count on eating smaller portions and be committed to making time for physical activity. I read this and shout “Say What!” Isn’t this what we have been told to do all along?

We are so quick to pop a pill in our efforts to obtain our goals. We are positive that the one little pill will magically change us and we promise we will do all the things necessary to have the “little magic pill” be effective. Can’t we just do this on our own and save the money or instead invest it into healthier foods or a gym membership or some other type of activity? Who knows what the side effects of this drug will be on us years from now or even weeks from now and all we had to do was to practice healthy eating and add a little more activity. It really is that simple. No pill required.
I’m sure this is too good to be true, what do you think?

Alice In Wonderland

Another great story that we can learn so many lessons from. The author of Alice In Wonderland, Lewis Carroll, wrote:

"If you don't know where you are going, any road will get you there"

How true is this statement. So many times we just aimlessly wander through life without any final destination in site and then wonder how come we never got anywhere?

My fitness goals have been that way over the last month, just doing the workouts, eating the right things but not really sure what road I'm on or should be or even want to be. At first this really wasn't such a bad thing but as I began to think about it, the lack of the goal was also keeping me from really working out to the best of my abilities.

So, I've decided to start a new running program. In the next 6-8 weeks I will learn to run a 5K. Perhaps, even enter a race. My goal isn't really to win the race, just enter it, start and complete it.

Put a goal in front of yourself to keep yourself motivated. Perhaps it is just to walk a particular distance, walk/run for a cause or like me just to say that I can do it. How exciting to have something to work towards and at the end know that it is one more thing that if I set my mind to can become reality.

Dream big!

The Nestle Quik Bunny said. . .

Patience is a Virtue.

Mmm... I loved chocolate milk growing up and it is a healthy and nutritious snack. It is wonderful after a good hard workout as it provides carbohydrate and protein. So not only was the little bunny smart intellectually but he also chose a nourishing drink.

The Nestle Quick Bunny really wanted to guzzle his milk. He just wanted to finish that glass as fast as he could. He missed savoring the flavor.

We are that way too in our journey. We are so intent on the end result that we forget to savor the journey. Now I’m not saying to take your eye off the prize but, the journey and the living of it, is so full of rewards and lessons that if we skipped it and just got to the end we would be missing some of the most important elements and components. I mean after all, is everything that you are doing really that bad?

We are learning lessons in food selection, variety and mixture, new and expanded exercise regimes and an entire host of personality traits that would never come to the forefront and be recognized. If we never embrace the development and if we just skip to the end without that schooling, we will soon find ourselves back at the beginning wondering and kicking ourselves, asking, how did I get back to square one?
In closing, the reward is in the journey, patience is a virtue and chocolate milk is mm good!

Olley Olley Oxen Free

When I was little and we played Hide and Seek or Kick the Can, when the game was over to call in all the players still hiding we would use the above free. Perhaps you have wanted to call me back from my hiding place too.
I've been around but busy on a well deserved vacation with my son. He has been home from California visiting and will return tomorrow. I have been able to stay on track for the most part and have exercised with him almost daily. How much fun to have your 20 year old son as your spotter and workout partner.
I will confess that I have had to go back and read a couple of my own blogs to inspire myself to get back up and realize that this small hiatus is not a collapse but a relapse as well as my all time favorite The Little Engine that Could.
It so important in this journey to have a support group and have those people around to help during difficult times. I had a couple of rough days and in talking with my PT, she helped me recognize that I probably was having some issues with knowing that my son would be leaving and that I was medicating myself with food. WOW, what a slap in the face and an ouch but amen at the same time. After really thinking about this, I'm sure she is right. I've been so happy to have him home and we have had so much fun together that the thought of him leaving and probably not seeing him again for a couple of years was really weighing on my heart.
I do know that he is really supportive of my efforts and is so excited about seeing my transformation that I don't want to have my month of June be less rewarding and exciting because of his visit. He would want to know and feel that he had helped reach my ultimate goal and that he was apart of it.
So, with that being said, I swung my leg back up into the saddle yesterday and started again with spot on eating and a walk. Today my eating was great and another walk. I will be starting my new routine on Thursday and will be ready to complete the rest of the month of June.
I did take a new picture so if you have a moment, take a peak at what four full complete months of healthy eating and exercising can do.
Roll on little doggies, roll on!

Help I’ve Fallen and I can’t get up!

This is an all too familiar phrase. It was made popular back in 2002 by Life Alert Emergency Response. But I bet many of us have this same feeling as we progress to our fit and healthy new lifestyle.

How many times have we been to a party or some sort or had a stressful event that just pushed us over the edge. Before you knew it, a half gallon of ice cream and 17 Oreo, no wait, Pepperidge Farm cookies have been downed and you are onto the left over Halloween candy from your child’s pumpkin. Now come on, raise your hands. I know both of mine are up!

We know we will have opportunities or challenges during this process and even after we reach our goals that will test our abilities and strengths. Sometimes we will conquer them and other times, we will fall down. Making sure we have plenty of healthy food choices in the house and a support network will help us when these situations arise but their may be times that we don’t have any of those options available and I know, that the gas station carries many things that would make me feel better and if needed I would drive to fulfill that desire :)

However, if this happens, we are not failures, because as a Chinese proverb reads “Failure is not falling down but refusing to get up”. So, the next time this type of situation arises and you handle it with less than a stellar performance, remember to pick yourself up, brush your knees off and get moving again on the right track because you CAN get up!

A thought from Buddha

Buddha wrote: "What we think, we become."

It is such a simple statement and yet so profound. We are constantly flooded with images of fit women and the world telling us that this is the image that we want or should be. However, we normally just tell ourselves that we could never be that fit or never could wear those types of clothes and so we don’t.

We continue to live in the same routine and believe the same thoughts about hips being too big, waist to large or thoughts of not being strong enough to complete a race, smart enough to get a promotion or too old to change a career all occupy our reflections. Since we never think we can do or be anything else we reel in our similitude and continue to be unhappy.

However, if we think positive thoughts about ourselves in terms of our physical appearances and our God given abilities we will become these things. We will work hard to create the beautiful, strong and brilliant individual that resides with each one of us.
I am beautiful, smart and strong!

Eleanor Roosevelt

You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself, "I have lived through this horror. I can take the next thing that comes along." . . . You must do the thing you think you cannot do. -Eleanor Roosevelt

Wow, another powerful and strong statement from a woman. We certainly are smart aren’t we? Especially when we look at our challenges in the way that Mrs. Roosevelt did.

If we look at something that has happened to us in our life that we consider a “horror” and then compare it to our transition to a healthy lifestyle that we are working towards why oh why wouldn’t we think that we could embark upon this endeavor? We are strong and powerful when we believe in our selves and realize and recognize all of the difficulties we have conquered.

So, with this written down, I’m now challenging myself to do something that I have never done before. My challenge will be to purchase a piece of clothing that I would normally not wear and have a picture taken with me wearing it. After all, I lived through one teenager, how hard should this be?