Family, Friends and Food

I just had this huge rush to write. I have a friend who is working towards eating right and exercising more. She has come so far in the last eight weeks and I know that the next eight weeks can be even better.

Her dilemma this weekend is to get through two or three activities with friends and family and food. It’s like the three big “F” words (lol)

I gave her some suggestions and I’m hoping that she will follow them and end up being successful in the end, getting her one step closer to be powerful over her life and food demons.

· Activities involving friends and family do NOT and I repeat, do NOT, have to revolve around food. Seriously, are you there to visit the pie and the mash potatoes, or are you there to celebrate the person’s life or event.
· Take your food with you. As soon as you get there and people starting eating, pull it out and put it on a plate. Do you honestly think someone will question you about where you got that and if you do, tell them you brought it from home!
· Drink plenty of water. Bring your cooler and keep it full of water bottles. Have water in your hand to sip keeps you busy and keeps you full
· Lie, yep, you heard me say it. If you have to lie, this is one time I believe it is okay and really it might not be a lie. Tell them you are in training. You are right, you are “training” yourself to be a healthier you, so really maybe it isn’t a lie.

And for people that are reading this and are “food pushers”. STOP I’m begging you! If you care about the loved ones around you and want them to be with you for the rest of your life, please don’t push them into eating foods that are not healthy and they don’t want to consume. It’s hard enough to say no to these foods without you tempting us. We want to be there to watch you celebrate and to be a part of your life but we want to do it without the food being the center of the world.

Juggling

As we approach fall we sometimes have a sense of looking back at where the year as gone. I see this more frequently with individuals that have children in school. School sort of exemplifies the end of the year because once school is in session, it is the never ending running hear and there, homework and PTA meetings. Where does that leave us and our healthy fit lifestyle? Juggling that is for sure.

Here are a few tips that you can use to help get you back on track or at least running in the right direction.

Plan, plan and then plan some more.

Why I list planning three times, you might wonder, because, how many times do we plan something just to have a wrench thrown into it and then be stuck not knowing what to do next. Have a couple of plans so that if the first one doesn’t work we are prepared for what to do next.

Take some time to prepare things up front.

We all have to grocery shop and we all want a quick and easy fix, weather it be a choice of a snack or a meal idea. After you are done grocery shopping, take some time to cut-up and bag some raw veggies, wash your fruit or package your almonds. That way when the morning comes you can grab and go. You can even cook some of you meat products in advance and use them for a couple of meals during the week.

Schedule your “me” time.

You schedule everything else and this should be no different. If you make a date with yourself and block that time out for you then nothing else should come up to take its place. You are NO LESS important that someone else.

I would love to hear your input on what things you do, to help you get through this period of time and if you need some help, post up that as well and we will see if we can help you.

Looking back

Looking back into what we used to do or how we used to behave can be depressing or motivational.

Perhaps in the past we ate healthier, we were thinner, had a little less grey hair. However, if you are following my writings then you probably are on fitness and weight loss journey and looking back on where you used to be could be motivational.

Think of how many changes we need to make during this transformation. We are learning to make better food choices, eat portions that are meant for us and fuel are bodies like a fine tuned machine. None of these changes came overnight and so many times we are beating ourselves up over what we aren’t doing or what we could be doing better. Yes, we all can improve, but we should all also be proud of the small changes that we are making to bring us closer to the goals we want to achieve.

Give me a shout out of some of the changes that you have incorporated into your life and are proud of.

Moving towards the dream

After reading my last few posts I thought all of this sounds great, but what do we do to make those dreams come true. I mentioned believing is the first step as if you don’t really believe in the dream how on earth can you get it to come to fruition.

Then I ran across this quote and it brought to mind a few more elements that need to be addressed so that we can truly live our dream.

"Our self-image and our habits go together. Change one and you change the other."

This is so true. What we do each and everyday molds us into the type of person that we are and can help to change us into the person that we want to be. So, how do we go about it?

1. Identify the habits that are contributing to the poor behavior. Are you not choosing the healthiest foods are you making excuses to not exercise?
2. Decide on how you can make a change in that habit.
3. Execute the new habit. Plan better; ask for help from someone, read some books. Hey, just get up off the couch and move a bit more.

Now you aren’t going to make these changes overnight and some days will be easier than others. But through consistency it will become a new routine. As you embrace the new habit you will begin to see yourself as a different person, a stronger person, one who has more desire to try new things to be unconventional and standout from the crowd.

Today choose your new habit and begin to watch the new you emerge.

Dorothy and her Friends.

My brain is a strange thing it comes up with some of the craziest things and at the strangest times.

I wrote yesterday about dreaming and the importance of it. Dreaming is the first step in the process. We have to believe that we are capable of accomplishing that dream. We may need more money, more education or a change in something else but we should believe that no matter what we can accomplish the dream.

When I think of the Wizard of Oz and the characters in the movie it makes me think about how each of us have many of the tools inside of us to bring those dreams to a reality, we sometimes just need someone to point them out to us or perhaps a brushing up on some of those skills.

It’s important for us to take an inventory of the skills and abilities that we do have and to cherish them and use them to better ourselves.

Tell me what skills and abilities do you have that are helping you to move in the right direction?

The Wonderful World of Disney

Most people have been to Disneyland or at a minimum have watched Disney movies.

Walt Disney said " If you can dream it, you can do it"

and he did. The Magical Kingdom is that because of the dreams and aspirations that Mr. Disney had. It takes us to a place or time where anything is possible. The underdog wins and all is good.

So many times in our fitness and weight loss journey we think of little things. Yes, all those little things will add up to something bigger but are you really dreaming dreams and stretching yourself to think of the possibilities that are bigger and greater than maybe you even thought possible.

As long as we think & dream small we will stay small, we will never achieve those bigger results because we haven't put them inside us. If we dream of not just the possible but the nearly impossible and keep it in front of us we are likely to move closer to it.

Dream large and live life.

Props to the girls

This week I had the honor of running with Karen, Deb and Michelle. They are three WW members in my Monday night meeting. During the spring I gave an open invitation to my members to come and walk or run with me on Saturday morning.

We started the Couch to 5K program. It's an awesome program for anyone that wants to learn to be a runner. One year ago I started the same program. http://www.coolrunning.com/engine/2/2_3/181.shtml

It was just amazing to watch these ladies transform over nine weeks. I'll never forget the first impressions I had of them. One I thought for sure was doing it just to drag her friend along. What a great friend she was to support her friend in this weight loss adventure. The friend, I thought would never come back after week one. The lady who I think of the most though was so concerned on week three when she would have to run three minutes. She actually told me that she wished I would NOT have given her the schedule.

Now, nine weeks later these ladies are wanting instructions on how to train for a 10k race coming up in September and I think next year I'll have them on the 1/2 marathon wagon with me.

What this shows me is that little things we do in our lives can have enormous impact on those around us.

So this week my hat is off to Karen, Deb and Michelle. I'm so proud of you three. Keep it up and never look back!