What Not To Wear

Do ya’ll just love this show or what? As ruthless as they are I would love to be on there. I’ll be the first to raise my hand to wearing clothes that just don’t flatter me and yes my favorite word is “comfortable” BRRRRR just must make Stacey and Clinton shiver when they here that.

I thought that today I would talk about some of things that you can do during your journey to feel better and look better. I mean after all this is a journey and we are learning about ourselves in all aspects why should learning how to dress ourselves in a flattering way be any different.

1. Take an inventory of all your clothes. If you have been holding onto them for the last few years until you could fit into it, you probably shouldn’t be wearing it even if you could fit into it J let’s just get rid of it and move on, shall we?

2. Go and get fit for a good undergarment. Ladies undergarments are essential. We need to have “the girls” where they belong and it isn’t in our mid section either. No matter what size you are good fitter undergarments are a must.

3. Do some research on the type of body you have and dress IT to the nines! It will change over time so make sure that you are re-evaluating as time goes by. Plus size gals can look and feel great about themselves in the clothes that are available in many of the stores.

4. Accessorize, accessorize, accessorize. Remember how you loved playing on your mom’s jewelry. A pretty pair of earrings, a necklace and some bracelets goes a long way to top us off. A pair of nice shoes with open backs and toes also helps to accessorize and elongate our bodies.

5. Take time to see what colors and fabrics fit you best. Take a friend with you that can help you see the different styles and such. This is no time to bring little Joey or little Sue, this is your time so take it and enjoy.

These are a few things that you can do to help you through the transition. It doesn’t have to cost a lot of money. Share clothing or shop at a local thrift store. You would be amazed at what you can find if you take a little bit of time.

You are changing during this time and need to show yourself and everyone how far you have come even if you aren’t at your goal. You are beautiful on the inside and a little bit of planning and preparation can show the world that you are on the outside too.

The Patterns of our Journey

“To understand is to perceive patterns” Isaiah Berlin

Have you ever looked at quilt, checker board or anything that has a pattern and thought, WOW, that isn’t right, or perhaps you felt it was a complicated pattern but when you step back the entire picture just works. It works because of the pattern. It might not be something that you understand but the artist or whoever put it there, because it works for them. Others might or might not “get it”

Our eating and exercise lifestyle has a pattern and when we understand that pattern we will be in more aware of what we are doing.

A great way to figure out your pattern is to:

1. Write down everything you eat and drink and WHEN.

Why you ask does it matter when I eat something. It matters because you need to establish your own unique pattern. You may not be eating enough, you may be eating too frequently and if you don’t really know, then how can you make a correction.

2. Write down how you are feeling and your physical satisfaction when you eat.

You may find that by writing down how you are feeling that you really aren’t hungry. You are reaching for the food because of some other reason. Again, recognize a patter.

3. Make the adjustments as necessary.

Once we have identified the when, what’s and why’s we can make adjustments as necessary.

Finding out pattern and learning to change it when it is necessary is a key to being successful in this journey.

Tell me what you see as your pattern.

Fire it Up

Wow, it has been some time since I've jotted down the crazies that run through my head. So much has happened. I'm starting a second WW meeting as a leader. I just love the one I have now, I'm working towards my Personal Training certification and can't wait to fire up some people over exercising or moving more and eating healthy.

So many times I hear people say that they lack "the motivation" to continue or get started on a healthy eating and exercising plan. Here are a few things that you can do to get motivated.

1. Write down what you want. Not just a simple statement either. Write down, how it will feel, look, smell or even taste. Yes, success has a taste!

2. Start planning how you can make the goal become a reality. If you don't know how, then reach out for help. Attend a Weight Watcher meeting or get with an on-line trainer. Our Phit-n-Phat.com group is a blast. We workout hard, eat right and encourage people.

"Motivation is the fuel, necessary to keep the human engine running" Zig Ziglar

What is your fuel?

So you don't have the willpower?

The definition of will power by Encarta is ‘a combination of determination and self-discipline that enables somebody to do something despite the difficulties involved.”

I have heard on so many occasions people say they don’t have the will power to eat right, or make the right choices or exercise to be fit. I’m sure I’ve even said it myself when I was working towards being healthier and more fit. It’s almost as if each individual person believes that somewhere deep within themselves they either have or don’t have this innate control.

I don’t think that we are born with a certain level of willpower. I think that as we grow and learn that we hone this type of skill. Small children have very little willpower over what they do or don’t do and as they grow they lean how to exercise more of this. Hence, the terrible two’s :)

However, a quote from James Gordon can really sum up the debate of willpower. He states “It’s not that some people have willpower and some don’t. It’s that some people are ready to change and others are not.”

So where are you in your journey? Are you ready to change, really change?

2007 in Review

Many times when we are in the midst of changing the change is so slight that we forget how much really IS changing. I’m like this frequently and honestly it isn’t a good thing.
I’m really hard on myself and forget that once I’ve reached a goal that I should take at least a little bit of time and reflect on that particular goal and really relish what I’ve done so far.

So as we are now in 08 and I thought what a great time to do just that. Reflect on where I have come from before I start the next chapter of my journey.

Total weight lost 38.6 pounds
Total inches lost 41
Obtained WW lifetime status August 08
Ran first 5K August 08 in 36 minutes, placed 4th in my age group
WW receptionist September 08
PNP moderator September 08
WW leader October 08
Ran first half marathon December 08 in 2 hours and 34 minutes

I know I have so many others that I can’t even measure. My level of confidence has increased, my knowledge of health and fitness has improved friendships have grown and people’s lives that I have touched for the positive are all examples of immeasurable progress.
Most of these things I did without even having a plan, can you imagine what we can do if we actually sketch out our goals and actually work towards them!

A Change is coming

“Change has a considerable psychological impact on the human mind. To the fearful it is threatening because it means that things may get worse. To the hopeful it is encouraging because things may get better. To the confident it is inspiring because the challenge exists to make things better.”- King Whitney Jr.

Which of these are you, are you fearful, encouraging or confident? Our weight loss and fitness journey can take us through all of these emotions and often we can be stuck for a period of time in one of them.

Our ultimate goal should be to find a change as a challenge; an opportunity to make our body fitter, healthier and better. If we can recognize the process and embrace each step of it then all of the steps that get us from one level to the next won’t become so daunting.

I have to admit that right now I’m between fearful and encouraging. I’ve just started to lift heavy so that I can put on a few pounds of muscle and this means going against everything that I have been doing for the last 11 months. I’m eating more calories and with this I will put on some fat. It is terrifying, yet I know, that if I do it with healthy food that the fat will be minimal and I’ll be able to strip it off in a few month at which time beautiful, strong muscles will appear. However, as the scale goes up the fat girl emerges her ugly head and laughs at me. She is telling me that I have failed. Conversely, the phat girl is boldly shoving her aside and telling her that in the end she will win.

Change… embrace it.

And she’s off…

I just came back from finishing the Las Vegas Half Marathon. This has been a culmination of 14 weeks of running, lifting weights and fueling my body like a machine.

The event was wonderful and I was able to share it with friends and family that traveled to come and watch me. I never would have thought that I could have completed such a feat. I suppose not that I thought I couldn’t just something I never thought of doing and as I was running at about the 12 mile I wondered if I could complete it. I knew I would but wasn’t sure if my legs would carry me through. Having this wonderful, fit and strong body is stimulating and knowing that I had trained for this made some of the discomfort bearable.

However, the strange thing was that on return I found myself sad or almost in a state of depression. I would have thought that the euphoria would continue for days or even weeks. It was if I had nothing else to look forward to. This goal has been my focus for so long that now I felt I had nothing.

So today I pulled out a 08 calendar and starting jotting down the rest of the years schedule. I have things planned through June of 08 and figure that by May I’ll have some more goals in mind for the balance of the year.

I ran across this quote from George Bernard Shaw and I think it sums up how I feel.

“I dread success. To have succeeded is to have finished one's business on earth, like the male spider, who is killed by the female the moment he has succeeded in his courtship. I like a state of continual becoming with a goal in front and not behind”


I don’t know that “dread” is quite the adjective that I’m looking forward but I think the fact that we should always be looking forward and not behind is accurate. Don’t be content in your current state continue to move forward.

I’ve also uploaded a couple more pictures from the LV race.