Pep Talk

 

SPRING IS COMING!
 

I’ve had enough of this depressing weather! I have had enough, and I know you have too! This winter has lasted too long, and all I can think about is spring!  I even bought a yellow spring jacket the other day, and I already wore it on one of the few 40 degree days that we have had. I have decided to put away these awful looking winter clothes and slap the depression right out of me! NO MORE WINTER BLUES FOR ME! (I am trying to give everyone a pep talk if you have not figured that out). I might be cold when I wear my yellow jacket when I should be wearing a winter jacket, but I will just wear gloves. When I went to town the other day I stopped by the mall where I did some people watching while running errands. Everyone looked so down and depressed. I know in today’s world with everything happening it is hard not to get down.

I am telling you to get out of that blue mood. Wear something bright and cheery. Put on some upbeat music and just dance around the house. Be glad you have a new day to live. This is the day the Lord has made we will be glad and rejoice in it. Now let’s take advantage of this new day by picking ourselves up and get moving! I don’t care if you have 10 pounds or 100 pounds to lose, let’s enjoy life. There is no reason to beat ourselves up for the pounds we have gained. Every new day can be the start of a new life. Spring is right around the corner, and believe me I do know that for a fact. So let’s pretend today is a spring day with fresh air and tulips coming up out the dirt. I saw a challenger post a picture of flowers coming up in this cold weather. I saw hope in this picture! Thanks Jodie for posting that picture!

Now come on and repeat after me, “I am a special person. I am worthy, and I am worth allowing happiness in my life. Amen!

Julie

STRENGTH TRAINING

I admit it, I bought into the 80/20 rule on nutrition and exercise. I believed that being healthy and fit was 80% nutrition and 20% exercise, maybe more like 50/50, but I love what Tom Venuto and Shawn Phillips say in the Kryptonite Report and that is it's 100% nutrition and 100% exercise. Not just any exercise either, but strength training. They both say that strength training is the only way to sculpt your body. That makes sense too, which makes me ask myself why I have put such a low priority on strength training?

I have never been a fan of grunting it out in the weight room. I used to work at the YMCA when the weight lifting room was right across from the customer counter, so I heard grunts and moans all day long. It sounded painful to me and I don't like pain! My idea of a workout was to do step aerobics or go for a swim.

There was a time when I liked using the Nautilus equipment. In fact, I purchased that equipment when the old Y closed. It has sentimental value to me. I still use it from time-to-time, but I don't think I ever really understood how important those clanking weights are to my vitality as I age. I really enjoyed the story that Tom Venuto, author of Burn The Fat, Feed The Muscle, shares about the 90 year old man who trains with him - how much strength training helps him stay mobile and enables him to travel and continue enjoying his life. It even helped him prevent falling when he tripped and stumbled.

I am 51 and can see the writing on the wall. Either you strength train and keep your body strong so you can get around and enjoy life or you atrophy and pay the price with a ho-hum existence. So, off to the gym I go to listen to Tom's book as I strength train!

Stay strong, live long.

 Kathy

Overcoming PROCRASTINATION with DEADLINES

I think I could win an Olympic gold medal in procrastination! I've done it as long as I can remember, since high school when a report was due and I would hole up in my bedroom last minute to get it done. There is something about an approaching deadline that motivates me. Why I don't feel that sense of urgency from the beginning, I haven't figured out yet. I do know that I have accomplished many things in my life with deadlines. I have passed hundreds of tests and college courses, processed more work reports and business records than I can remember, published three books, and achieved nearly every goal that has a hard deadline.

The Great Weight Off ends March 30th. My goal was to lose 30 lbs during the 90 day Challenge. As of today, there are 28 days left in the Challenge and I have lost 2 pounds. Technically, I lost 6 pounds and gained 4 back! So, I have a lot of work to do during the month of March. Time to get my head in the game. With the deadline quickly approaching, it's making my laser focus skills perk up to help me get as close to my goal as I can in a healthy manner.

So with the finish strong plan in mind, I created what may appear to be a grueling workout schedule and nutrition plan for this month. I'm putting it out here to make myself accountable to do what I say I'm going to do. You would think publishing my weight in the local newspaper every week would be enough accountability, but apparently not as much as a countdown to the end of the Challenge. 28 pounds in 28 days? We will see! Philippians 4:13.

Kathy

My Exercise and Nutrition Plan for this week

"Footprints in the Sand"

"Footprints in the Sand"

When you get down and out, read this story.

This last week three of my family members had birthdays, and I went out to eat for all three. One place that I tried to prepare myself for was eating at a Mexican restaurant. I love Mexican food. I cannot stop eating those salty, crunchy chips. I really have a hard time controlling myself when I eat Mexican food. I used to eat at a Mexican restaurant once a week. This is pure weight loss suicide for me, but I do enjoy my chips. So I faltered a little bit this last week, but I have not given up. What happens when you fall off the wagon? We have to brush ourselves off, and get right back on the healthy eating saddle. We are only human, and there are times when we do overeat.

 

Another thing that we can do is work out. This weekend when I did not eat well I knew I had to get my act together and do damage control. Monday I went to the YMCA’s yoga class. I really was not prepared for this class. I did not know anything about yoga walking into the class. I just thought yoga mainly consisted of people who could twist themselves into a pretzel while looking great at the same time, and I sure knew that was not me! I went anyways, and I really enjoyed the atmosphere that the relaxing music created. I also could not believe that I could actually hold some of the yoga poses. Monday kicked off the start of a six week yoga class. Marcie, the instructor introduced us to yoga, and she explained how yoga is important to your health. After the class was over I was glad that I had made it through the class, and I did not even have to be double jointed or pop my joints out of place once. (It will take some time for me learn the yoga technique, but I am up for the journey.) Do you know even men go to this class? They are pretty good at yoga. I was impressed!

 

Another class was I attended was Kick Fit. This was quite an experience. I really liked all of the punching and kicking. It really takes the stress right out of you. The people in this class were so much fun! I plan on going to this class regularly. This class can help anyone overcome the guilt of overeating, because you work those calories off quickly!

 

Even though I did not eat the best last weekend, I knew that I still had to weigh in on Wednesday. I had to get my act together in order to lose weight for the week. Frankly, I was scared to weight in, but I worked through the fear. This goes to show that one bad day or even a couple bad days do not have to derail your progress. You can decide to pick yourself back up and work harder than ever. I went to yoga and kick fit, and that was the trick. The workouts helped me refocus. Thank heavens! I know that exercise and eating healthy go hand in hand, and that you cannot choose only one. I know when I leave one of these out for a longer period of time the weight will slowly creep up on me.

 

I went shopping last weekend, so I did more than just eat out. Maybe walking through the departments stores helped burn some calories. I bought a new outfit a couple sizes smaller than usual. I felt good in my new brightly colored outfit.

 

Now I am back in the saddle, onward to week nine!

 

Julie

Falling Off and Getting Back on The Health Wagon

How do you define falling off the wagon? I used to think it was a long period of time where you ate or indulged in whatever your vice is whenever you wanted. My definition has changed because I no longer go off the healthy eating and exercise plan for days at a time, but even indulging in a little junk food here and there can slow down progress as I am seeing this week. I now think of falling off the wagon as eating past the point of feeling full, deviating from my healthy eating plan, and/or skipping my daily exercise. How often do I do this? At least once or twice a week. It used to be daily, so I am making progress. I have learned that it is a journey and the hardest part is not beating myself up along the way.

If there was a degree in falling off the healthy eating and exercise wagon, I would have a PhD! I probably hold the world's record. I would say I have fallen off the wagon every week (for many years it was every day) for 50 years! I fell off the wagon when I didn't even know I was supposed to be on the wagon. I have always been interested in riding the health wagon, but I kept falling off. Stress would throw me off like a bucking bronco, still does sometimes.

I may be voted off of an episode of the Biggest Loser for not dropping weight fast enough, but I would probably win Survivor because my body is very efficient at storing energy! I have to remember that the only person I'm competing with is myself. My health matters most to me. Good health is what will keep me around for my family. It is what enables me to pursue my dreams and help my community. I will just keep getting back up and getting back on the wagon as many times as it takes. Wellness is a journey.

I used to have a food concession business called, “Health Wagon Concessions.” It was in the early 90's. I set up at fairs and tried to sell healthy foods such as raw veggies and fruit kabobs. You can imagine how well this business did going up against elephant ears and deep fried corn dogs. I suppose the literal health wagon concept was before its time. Now, as baby boomers are aging and more concerned about health, maybe we are more willing to consider healthier alternatives, even when we eat out.

How do we get back on the health wagon? You know the answer as well as I do and that is to get back up, dust yourself off, and saddle up again and again and again until you reach your destination. Once we arrive to our healthiest place, we should be a pro at knowing what it takes to stay there!

Some things that help me get back on the wagon are to have plenty of healthy foods around and keep the junk food away, especially when I'm away from home or traveling. If I get too hungry and there is junk food around, forget about it, the temptation becomes overwhelming to eat the chemically addictive sweet and salty treats. As far as exercise, it helps me to schedule it in like an appointment or do it first thing in the morning. Otherwise, the day gets away from me and the excuses come rolling in.

Getting on the wagon is a metaphor for living your healthiest, happiest life. What makes you want to get on the wagon in the first place? What is your why? Why bother? Why keep getting back up again? Once you find a strong enough why it makes the how possible. For me, I want to feel comfortable in my skin again. I want to live a quality life full of activity and adventure. I don't want to have to limp around and look for the nearest bench when I go for a walk. I want to walk normally and have abundant energy. I want to see my grandchildren grow up and take them to do things without wearing out. My reasons for continuing to get back on the wagon are strong. I may continue to fall off, but I will NEVER GIVE UP.

Kathy

“What can I do today that will make me healthier than I was yesterday?” ~ Kevin Gianni 

Cinnamon Coffeecake

Do you like cinnamon? I love anything that has cinnamon in it. New studies have shown that eating cinnamon might help reduce your blood sugar. This has not been 100% proven yet, but if they do prove this to be right, hip, hip, hooray! I like to make a recipe called Cinnamon Coffeecake.  I found that the grocery stores now carry a brown sugar substitute. It is a blend of artificial sweetener and real brown sugar. I thought that I would try to make this recipe with the sugar substitute, and it turned out pretty good.  I had made this recipe at least three times this winter when we have been snowed in. I love the way the cinnamon smells in my kitchen when I bake this recipe.  I also enjoy eating it! I would like to share this with you.

This is a good dessert to make on snowy days when you want to eat some comfort food. Invite a friend over, make coffee, and enjoy.

Cinnamon Coffeecake

1 ½ cups flour (I use white-whole wheat flour)

¼ tsp. salt

¼ cup grape seed oil

½ cup skim milk

1 Tbs. baking powder

1/3 cup sugar substitute or (¾ cup of regular sugar)

2 eggs

2 tsp. vanilla

Mix all ingredients together and pour into a greased 8 x8 baking pan.

½ cup brown sugar substitute or (2 Tbsp. plus 2 tsp. regular brown sugar)

1 Tbsp. flour

2 Tbsp. cinnamon

3 Tbsp. butter

Mix and pour on top of the already mixed batter, and blend in with a knife in a zig zag pattern. Bake at 375⁰ for 20 minutes.

Julie

What's Your Kyrptonite?

What's Your Kyrptonite? I remember Shawn Phillips asking that question. I have followed Shawn since he was featured in Success Magazine where he was working with Darren Hardy and his team at Success Magazine to host a 90-Day Fit for Success weight loss Challenge. I lost 30 pounds during that challenge! I was obsessed about being in Success Magazine because it is my all-time favorite magazine. I read Shawn's book, Strength for Life, and became meticulous with my food choices and daily exercise routine. But, I felt "deprived" the whole time, like I didn't want to die without ever again eating a Hershey Pie! I was glad when the contest was over so I could get a few "cheat meals" in. 

Someone from Success Magazine contacted me and said they wanted to run my story along with before & after pics that I submitted during the Challenge. I was so excited. My dream of being in the magazine was coming true. I remember when the magazine arrived in the mail. It had Joel Osteen and his wife on the cover. I'm a big fan of Joel and was elated to be mentioned in the same magazine as him. I was beaming as I flipped through the magazine to find my article, but my smile quickly turned to a frown when I saw someone else's picture by my name and story! Disappointment is an understatement of how I felt. I internalized it immediately. My self-confidence took a nose dive right then - maybe they didn't want to use my picture because my after picture didn't show that much of a change. When you weigh 300 lbs, losing 30 lbs doesn't look that dramatic, at least it didn't for me. 

The negative voice in my head was chattering away and I used that as an excuse to eat junk food. I went and bought a dozen rolls with cinnamon butter from Texas Roadhouse! I think I went through half of the rolls before I got the voice to calm down, mostly because my brain was starting to focus on my aching stomach. It didn't take long to gain the 30 lbs back plus a few more pounds on top of that. Every time I have ever went on a "diet" when I went back to my regular eating routine, I gained even more weight than I started with. 

This Great Weight Off Challenge has been having the same dejected effect on me lately. When I weighed in this week, I had gained back three of the four pounds I lost the week before. It hit me like a ton of bricks. That negative voice came creeping back, "What's the use, you're yoyoing all over the place, same as you've done for 50 years." I just wanted to drown out the pain of feeling like a failure at this "diet" thing, so I decided I would have sweet tea with my lunch. Sounds innocent enough, but it set off a three-day sugar binge like I haven't done in over a year. It left me feeling so exhausted, like a weight has been put on my shoulders. This totally exhausted feeling reminds me of kryptonite. Sugar is my kryptonite! 

Most people associate the word kryptonite with Superman. I associate it with Shawn Phillips because of his question, "What's Your Kryptonite?" and his podcast, The Kryptonite Report! I haven't listened to his podcast in a while, so I was curious to see what's new. I went to his website where I saw a blog post that I really needed to read, "When You Stop Chasing Fit, Fit Will Chase You," which is about accepting yourself unconditionally. Do you believe in divine intervention? I do. I believe when we set our intention the Universe conspires on our behalf and sends us the resources we need to succeed. It doesn't mean we won't have obstacles, but there is a path around, over, or through those obstacles and it often comes in the form of wisdom from someone who has blazed the trail before us. 

So many things Shawn wrote in his blog post resonated with me. My fitness journey has been such a struggle. I'm so tired of the fight. I just want to be. I don't want to associate eating sugar and junk food with "being bad" or "unacceptable" even though I certainly feel that way at times. My weight has affected my life in SO many ways that are very painful both literally and emotionally. I wish I could go into detail, maybe I'll do it in a book someday, but I'm not ready to talk about the pain and suffering, I really just want to let it go. I don't want it to define me or plague me, I just want to be free, to feel complete, and love myself unconditionally. 

I am grateful for people like Shawn Phillips who know how to get to the heart of the real issue behind obesity. Yes, it's about eating healthy food and consistent exercise, but I can tell you from personal experience it's about the soul and mind too!

So while my kryptonite appears to be sugar because it certainly makes me feel sick and weak, I believe my true kryptonite is self-acceptance, that's what brings me to my knees. I believe that once I love and accept myself unconditionally, my struggle will be over and the fitness I have been chasing for a lifetime will come to me because as Shawn said, "Fitness is actually the authentic, organic expression of who you are." 

I really needed to read what Shawn wrote to help me get past this self-defeating obstacle that I did not not understand on the level that he so eloquently expressed it. I am going to work on finding my center, self-acceptance, and just being. I hope one day my journey and words will help inspire someone like Shawn has inspired me. 

What's YOUR kryptonite? 

Kathy

"What if getting fitter is a choice made from a place of love and compassion? What if you get to stop the “running from” and “running to” and see what being is like. And from being, you freely choose a different level of being, physically. Imagine the energy that might come back to you. The fuel you will have access to when you no longer have to cycle the story of pain and suffering." ~ Shawn Phillips