What are You Thinking?

How many times have you heard we are what we eat? I believe we are also what we think.Often when we want to lose weight and get in shape, we think about two main things: what we eat and exercise. There is another very important component to wellness and that is what we feed our mind. This topic could be an entire book. In fact, there are several books on the mind connection. A few of my favorites are Battlefield of the Mind and Power Thoughts by Joyce Meyer and You Can Heal Your Life by Louise Hay.

I listen to Joyce Meyer messages almost every day as I do my morning exercises. I mute the volume on the TV and turn up Joyce's broadcast on the computer. It's a great way to start my day. I love feeding my mind with positive thoughts and faith. It protects my mind and enables me to think power thoughts that helps move my life forward. If I skip this routine, the stress starts to build up, temptations of the flesh flood my mind (like one doughnut or a few potato chips won't matter that much or wouldn't you rather just relax and watch TV than go for a walk...) and negative thoughts scratch at my mind's door like a hungry wolf. The main way I prepare for this daily combat is to nourish my mind with the word of God, pray, visualize, and mediate on what I want rather than what I don't want, and act "as if" what I want is already here. For example, I want to be at my ideal weight. If I act "as if" I am already there, then I am doing things that support that thought. I will eat as a 150 lb person eats, I will move around and be active, I will become in my mind first what I want to accomplish because according to neuroscience "brain" experts, imagined thoughts influence real thoughts. We know this is true. We cry at sad movies, we jump during the scary scenes, we are in awe of magic tricks. It's illusion and imagination, yet we react. And so it is with the thoughts we think. If we listen to upbeat music, we want to sing and dance. If we think sad thoughts, we get depressed, if we think positive thoughts, we feel hopeful and happy. If we immerse ourselves with thoughts that nourish our mind, it makes sense that our mind will become stronger and empower us to do whatever it is we imagine.

Another way I "feed" my mind is by continually learning. I read and study every day. I am taking a course on nutrition right now through Coursera, which I love because it's education from universities all over the world and it's FREE! There are 40,000 people in the nutrition class with me. What a unique opportunity to engage with and learn from like-minded people from around the world. I believe that when we study, we learn the truth and as we know the truth can set us free.

What are YOU feeding your mind? Is it nourishing you? Is it strengthening your mind, body and spirit?

Your thoughts lead to your destiny!

Watch your thoughts 

they become your words.

Watch your words

they become your actions.

Watch your actions

they become your habits

Watch your habits

they become your character

Watch your character

because it becomes your destiny. 

~ Lao Tzu

Kathy

WHAT A WORKOUT!

206.8

Lost 3.2 pounds

 

When I found out that I would be attending the group strength class at the Marion YMCA, all I could think about was how scared I was to go. What would it be like? Would everyone be looking at me? Will I fit in or will I look out of place? I had never joined the YMCA or any gym because of these negative thoughts that plagued my mind. As I walked into the YMCA, I was greeted by Marcy Moreillon, the Marion YMCA’s fitness coordinator. She was so kind, and she helped me forget about all of my negative thoughts. She explained the classes to me and gave me an overall good feeling about the YMCA. She then took me to the group strength class. So many people were in this class, and I was wanted to turn around and run, but it was too late for that. I just figured that I could hide out in the back of the room. Well, that never happened because there was only room in the middle facing a large mirror. The instructor, Laura Dodson introduced herself and explained how the class worked. Everyone in the class was so nice and they were all super focused. They were there to workout, not to look at everyone and judge who still had weight to lose. I had so much fun! It was hard, but Laura and the other individuals in the class made me want to push myself out of my comfort zone. I had to modify some exercises, but I made it through the whole class. After class I told Laura that I think that I had just lost 10 pounds. My daughter went with me and she loved it as well.

That night we went home, and I decided to cancel my order for an elliptical machine that I had placed earlier in the week and get a member ship to the YMCA instead. Why pay a lot of money for one workout machine when I can go to the YMCA where I can go for a swim, take a group class, play a team sport, and workout on an elliptical all for less money than I was going to pay for one elliptical. The next day I made the call, and now I am a member! This coming week I am going to spin class, and aqua aerobics. I am not scared of the gym now. I am excited to experience new classes and meet new friends! Take a look at the picture that was taken in the group strength class, don’t they look like a fun group?

I am glad that I had this opportunity to go to the YMCA. We all say we do not have the time to exercise, but somehow we make time to watch TV at night. We all have to stop making excuses and just do it! Make the commitment to exercise, and make it a priority in your life. Before the Great Weight Off started I gave every excuse that a person could possibly think of to avoid working out. Exercise gives me more energy to get out of the bed in the morning, and it makes me a better friend, co-worker, and mother. Every morning I would wake up in a grouchy mood. I did not even like myself. Now that I am taking time to exercise and eat right, my outlook on everything looks better. Think about it, are you worth taking time for yourself to feel better and have a healthier attitude about life? Yes you are!

Julie

Strength Training vs. Water Exercise

www.grantcountyymca.org

I am pictured at the far right in the black sweatsuit with pink shirt. Julie is standing to the left of me. 

Great Weight Off Community Challenge

Week 5 of 12

Kathy Gerstorff

Weight: 298 lbs

"Satisfaction is in the effort, not in the attainment; full effort is full victory." ~ Mahatma Gandhi

Five weeks into the 12 week Great Weight Off Challenge and the scales still haven't budged. It makes me ask myself if I am giving my full effort. Am I eating clean? Yes. Am I exercising regularly? Yes. Is it my full effort? No! My body feels like it's in hibernation mode. I don't want to go outside in sub-zero temperatures, not even to go to the gym. I just want to stay snugly warm inside until it's at least above freezing! At the same time I am determined to give my full effort to this Challenge and turn my health around in a positive direction, so last week I stepped out of my comfort zone and went to the Y for some exercise beyond the half-effort DVD workouts I have been doing at home.

The first class I tried was Group Strength Training. I expected it to be a lot of exercises with dumbbells and kettle-bells. I was in for a big surprise! While the instructor did use weights, that was only part of the variety of exercises in the class. She had us doing mountain climbers, burpees, planks, squats, lunges, tricep dips, and a lot of other exercises using your body as the weight. As you can imagine, my body was screaming like I was in a battle zone. My knees and feet went on strike! The pain was excruciating. I have been doing exercise classes off and on since I was 18. I worked at the Y for many years, so I know the number one rule very well, and that is safety first. There is a big difference between muscle burn and sharp pain. Although, you often hear “No pain, No gain,” especially in a gym, you take a big risk of injury if you ignore pain. So, I modified most of the moves and did stretches at the end. I decided that class is what I would consider advanced for my physical condition. 20-30 years ago I would have been dancing between the circuits instead of limping between them!

The next class I tried was water aerobics. Ah, that's more my speed. I used to teach water exercise and swimming at the Y back in the day. I love the water. It's so soothing on my body and uplifts my mood, especially in the dead of winter. It makes me think of warm weather and sunshine, which makes me happy! I haven't been to a water exercise class in years. The instructor had us doing cheerleader kicks, jumping jacks, cross country skiing, and a lot of other moves that would have been impossible for me on land. It felt so freeing to exercise without pain. I was moving all around and enjoying the workout. The next day I felt a little muscle soreness, but no pain. In fact, my knees and feet felt better. That's how exercise is supposed to be – fun, challenging, and strengthening to your body, mind and spirit.

So, it's clear to me that in order to give my full effort, I need to spend more time at the Y, in the pool. I signed up for their 100 Mile Swim Challenge. I'm looking forward to my aquatic journey to victory!

Kathy

HOPE

Today I walked in the Grant County Rescue Mission's "Walk-a-Mile In My Shoes" which is an annual fundraiser they host to help provide food and shelter to our community. I was happy to be a part of it and help in this small way. Within a few minutes of the start of the walk, the group of walkers disappeared out of site. I was limping along pulling up the rear. My feet hurt so bad. At one point I fell on the slippery ice, my grandson did too. We are both OK, but it sure make me grateful that we have shelter and heat. As I walked, I pictured the day I could walk pain-free. I prayed for the homeless and people who are without heat. I also prayed that those who are hurting have hope and know that there are people who care. I believe faith and hope are the most powerful things a person can have to turn their life around. I will never give up. I will keep the faith and keep the hope that I will be healed and healthy. That is my prayer for YOU too!

Kathy

Eating Healthy For Your Eyes

I have blogged before about going to the doctor and getting a blood test, I am now going to harp on you about going to the eye doctor. I went the other day, and I could not believe all of the different tests that they have now. Wow, has technology grown by leaps and bounds. They even gave me an x-ray that showed me the shape and outline of my eye. It was incredible. After my test was done I was informed by the eye doctor that I needed to take vitamins for my eyes. Because I have blue eyes, light completed, and I do not eat very many green vegetables, I am at an increased risk of getting macular degeneration. I cannot do anything about my eye color and complexion, but I can eat more vegetables. This was another wake up call for me. They put me on a special vitamin for eyes, and I am eating more green leafy vegetables. I go back this month to see if my score on the test has improved. If my score does improve, it will show that eating more vegetables and taking my vitamins have directly helped the health of my eyes. It is really neat that in today’s times they can look ahead and possibly help prevent macular degeneration which can be a scary disease. Our eyesight is not to be messed with, so I am taking this all seriously and doing what the eye doctor ordered! Also, make sure to wear your sunglasses even in the winter to protect your eyes.

 

Julie

Diet Tweaks

Last night, I complained to my friend Katherine Nilbrink that the scales haven't budged for me even though I have been eating clean and exercising regularly. Katherine is the right person to help me through this dilemma. She is a plant-based nutrition coach and instructor for eCornell University and the T. Colin Campbell Center for Nutrition Studies. She suggested a couple tweaks that I'm going to try.

First the adds (for added nutrition): One is to eat at least a cup of beans or lentils every day and the other is to add whole grains. I'm not big on eating beans. I like the flavor OK, but I don't like the way it bloats my stomach and gives me gas. I know you can soak and rinse them, which I have done before but two things happen, one is it takes away some of the flavor and the other is it still has the bloating effect. I don't eat much grains either. Sometimes I have a bowl of oatmeal with walnuts and raisins for breakfast which leads me to the subtractions: Nuts, Nut Butters (like peanut butter which I love to eat with carrots and celery) and Vegan Shakeology (which is probably going to be the most difficult of the three to give up). I have been drinking Shakeology for over a year and while I haven't lost much weight, something very important has happened. I have stopped craving junk food. I would say that the plant-based diet did that and I am sure it helped considerably, but I know Vegan Shakeology played a vital role in helping me overcome food addiction because when I would go without drinking it for a couple days the cravings would come back! Plus, I knew if I drank Shakeology, that I would be getting my B12 and whatever vitamins I may be missing in my diet. But, something isn't working right in my diet so I am going to make these tweaks and see what happens. Losing only 1 lb in five weeks tells me something needs adjusted. I'm not expecting the weight to melt off 10 lbs a week, but I do expect to shed 1-2 lbs a week. That should be happening and I am determined to get to the root of it in a healthy manner.

The other tweak I am making is going back to using MyFitnessPal. I have been off and on with it, but when I spoke to Katherine, the first thing she asked me about was my food diary. What have I been eating? When I entered the things I had ate for the day into MyFitnessPal, I saw that it only added up to about 800 calories. I know without being told that eating less than 1200 calories a day can take a body into starvation mode and not release fat. I don't want to be in starvation mode and I don't want to be in diet mode either, which in our podcast interview Katherine said focusing on tracking calories can do. Until I can accurately gauge the amount of food I need to eat to nourish my body, it's what I need to do.

Those are the tweaks I am making as I continue my journey to health. What tweaks are you doing? What is working for you?


Kathy


Not a vegan or vegetarian? Check out this diet tweak that helped a doctor out of her wheelchair and overcome MS! Even if you do eat plant-based, she shares helpful information about plants that is good to know.

Clean Out the Closet

I am tired of wearing all these big clothes! I have every size of clothing in my closet. Does this sound familiar to any of you? I keep shoving my closet full of clothes that I cannot wear anymore. I have clothes from size 5 petite to 2X. This is crazy. I shop at Goodwill and other thrift stores because I do not want to spend a lot of money on clothes.

 

It really hit me when a girl at work said that I need to start dressing younger and less depressing. I told her that I like to wear black because you cannot see how much I weigh. She said “Girl, it does not matter, I am going to take you shopping and I am going to make you look hip.” 

 

Why do we hide behind dark colors? I never thought about how what I wear can set my mood for the day. I am now shopping for brighter colors. When my coworker made this statement I really had to look at how I dressed, and I realized that I do dress like a depressed person. I am now shopping for brighter colors. I still wear dark clothes, but this summer I will be dressing in lightweight colorful dresses with sandals. I am going to lose this weight and enjoy being me! I am going to start dressing happy! I am going to get rid of my depressing black and brown pants and their matching black and brown shoes. This is another goal that I have for 2014. I want to dress for happiness and success!

It is time for me to clean the closet out and start shopping with a new perspective!

Note: Even when I do lose this weight I will continue to shop at Goodwill and thrift stores because I love finding all kinds of bargains! I will just have to look in the small sizes for great deals!

Julie