Dreaming and Dreaming BIG!

Drea-ea-ea-ea-eam, dream, dream, dream. Drea-ea-ea-ea-eam, dream, dream, dream . . . " This song by the Everly Brothers keeps breaking into my thoughts -- not for a love I'm longing for as the Everly Brothers sing about, but for the hopes and dreams I have.

Last night at our weekly meeting with Phil and Amy, Phil talked to us about  "Keys For Success."  Obviously he's already trying to get us to think beyond this challenge and he should -- we only have 4 more weeks left.

Keys For Success:

• Feed your hopes and dreams - so many times we shut our dreams down
• Ask, "Will getting to my goal weight and maintaining it benefit me with my health, career, and relationships?
• Focus on the benefits, not the negative
• Write down your hopes and dreams
• Dream Big!
• Turn dreams into bite size pieces so they won't be so over-whelming
• Be brutally honest with yourself. What are you going to do to make your hopes and dreams come true?
• Write down hopes and dreams and put them up where you can see them and read them every day
• So much of this is mental . . . get help if you need it
• Find new activities that you love
• Reach BEYOND yourself
• Make every day count
• Tomorrow's a new day. Practice forgiveness (especially for yourself)

When feeding your hopes and dreams, think of positive things. Start thinking about what you can do --  not what you can't do. Also, put things on the calendar and commit yourself. Two weeks ago I definitely put this into practice without realizing it was a key for my success. I committed to rowing a 1/2 marathon and it's tomorrow. If I didn't commit and have this on my calendar, would I be doing it? Probably, but what others things will I do in the future if I sign up, commit, and put it on my calendar?

This week think of your hopes and dreams. Think of things you always wanted to do and make a plan. That's right . . . even if it seems impossible, turn it into a bite size piece . . . break it down . . . do a little first. You will never know if you can do it if you don't try. Just like my 1/2 marathon. I will never know if I can actually do it if I don't try.

Now, go get your sticky notes and start putting your hopes and dreams before you. We didn't sign up for the challenge and do all this work just to see a number on the scales. No, we did this for a life change, so start thinking of ways you want to change your life as you become a "new you!"

photos courtesy of photobucket.com

Thursday Quotes

Thursday nights are the highlight of my week. Not only do I get some great ideas, tips, and motivation for the challenge, I get to talk to so many of my fellow Fitness Challenge friends. Tonight's question:

What have you learned about yourself 

in the midst of this challenge?

• Nancy - "I can give up Diet Colas."
• Jim - "That I am weak!"
• Elizabeth - "If I don't stay focused on the material in the book, exercise, and eat healthy food, I will fail."
• Marlene - "I have learned that I need to plan meals, even if it's just for one."
• Mike - "I was so stupid to let myself go."
• Diana - "I feel much better when I exercise."
• Malinda - "That I hate to exercise . . . love to play sports but not exercise."
• Celeste - "I have learned to substitute my desire for other things for the desire for food. A great thing I have learned to do is when I want to eat something sweet, I make myself drink a bottle of water."
• Dean - "Calories are not the worst thing you find in food, it's sodium."
• Bob - "I'm surprised I'm still in the program!"
• Me - "That I can train myself to eat differently, that I feel so much better exercising, and I love indoor rowing!" (But then you knew that last part!)

I want to thank all of you who take time to answer my questions each week.  It's not only encouraging to others, but helps us all realize that many of us feel the same way and we have the same failures and successes. I love the honesty when I ask these weekly questions and am always excited to pick up a new  tip or idea.

Phil gave us alot of information tonight and I'll pass some of it along in a later post. I did want to go ahead and list the website he and Amy mentioned from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute: www.nhlbi.nih.gov. Go online to this address and order cookbooks from this institute for FREE (there are 4 cookbooks available). Also visit the Keep the Beat: Deliciously Healthy Eating Website at: http://hin.nhlbi.nih.gov/healthyeating

Enjoy your t-shirts and get your grocery list ready again for all the healthy snack food you need to buy for next week. It does work. I lost another 3 lbs. by planning my meals better, and most of all by taking food in my cute lunch bag and eating all day. I will definitely do it again next week! Eat all day and lose weight . . . gotta like that! Hope you are having successes of your own!

images courtesy of photobucket.com

Never Give Up

"Never, never, never give up." -- Winston Churchill

I don't think Mr. Churchill was on a Fitness Challenge when he made this statement, but it is something we need to be reminded of daily. At least I do. Personally I have trouble with the giving in part more than the giving up part.

I like what Amy said on Day 40 in her book "Nothing worthwhile in life is without struggle" and "If you're finding the road to health difficult, then that just proves great things are on the horizon. Never give up because something is hard. Keep going until you reach your goal, because that is your reward."

Do you remember what your goals are?
Have you taken time to assess where you are in the this challenge?
Have you given yourself credit when you have reached a mini goal, or survived a difficult struggle?
Are you taking notice of how much water you drink now and how many less sodas you're drinking?
Do you notice what foods you are choosing . . . more healthy?

Many times we concentrate on our defeats . . . the weight we gained in a week, the sweet tooth that got out of control for awhile, the sweet tea habit that tried to take root again, or the lack of discipline to exercise. If you are going through a slump, or a bump in the road, begin writing down what you HAVE accomplished. List the healthy foods you have added to your diet and the unhealthy foods that you no longer eat as often. What about the ounces of water you drink. Now that is probably a big change for all of us. Write it down. List the exercises you do now and how they make you feel. Concentrate on the accomplishes.

No, we are not giving up (or giving in) . . . we have come to far!

Bathroom Mirror Quotes

We all need encouragement as we continue pushing through this challenge. I've given us some Fridge Quotes about healthy food and weight loss, but I thought I would pass along some quotes to encourage and motivate, you know the kind of quotes you might put on your bathroom mirror to see each day. See if any of these encourage or motivate you.

• The only way of finding the limits of the possible is by going beyond them into the impossible. -- Arthur C. Clarke
• If you don't know where you are going, you'll end up someplace else.-- Yogi Berra
• The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. -- Lao Tzu
• If you aren't going all the way, why go at all? -- Joe Namath
• There are no gains without pains. -- Adlai Stevenson
• You are never a loser until you quit trying. -- Mike Ditka
• The difference between the impossible and the possible lies in a person's determination. -- Tommy Lasorda
• There are no secrets to success. It is the result of preparation, hard work, learning from failure. -- Colin Powell
• Your thoughts are the architects of your destiny. -- David O. McKay
• Some men succeed because they are destined to, but most men succeed because they are determined to. -- Greame Clegg

  
  
  
  image courtesy of photobucket.com 

  
  

Bathroom Mirror Quotes

We all need encouragement as we continue pushing through this challenge. I've given us some Fridge Quotes about healthy food and weight loss, but I thought I would pass along some quotes to encourage and motivate, you know the kind of quotes you might put on your bathroom mirror to see each day. See if any of these encourage or motivate you.

• The only way of finding the limits of the possible is by going beyond them into the impossible. -- Arthur C. Clarke
• If you don't know where you are going, you'll end up someplace else.-- Yogi Berra
• The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. -- Lao Tzu
• If you aren't going all the way, why go at all? -- Joe Namath
• There are no gains without pains. -- Adlai Stevenson
• You are never a loser until you quit trying. -- Mike Ditka
• The difference between the impossible and the possible lies in a person's determination. -- Tommy Lasorda
• There are no secrets to success. It is the result of preparation, hard work, learning from failure. -- Colin Powell
• Your thoughts are the architects of your destiny. -- David O. McKay
• Some men succeed because they are destined to, but most men succeed because they are determined to. -- Greame Clegg

  
  
  
  image courtesy of photobucket.com 
  
  

  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

Cute Lunch Bags & Snacking

Zip lock bags, small containers, and cute lunch bags. Two of these three things I never really used before I began the challenge. Zip lock bags I have always used, and who hasn't. However the small containers and lunch bag have been a new addition to the assortment of things I carry out to the car as I go to work each day.



Today in my cute lunch bag (might as well make this fun and carry something cute, right?) I had:

• 2 halves of a chicken salad sandwich on wheat bread in zip lock bags
• Grapes in a zip lock bag
• Carrots in a small container
• Dressing in a small container
• Cardboard, I mean some kind of natural whole wheat crackers in a zip lock bag
• Cheese

Tomorrow I plan on having:

• Lettuce in a zip lock bag
• Tuna in a small container
• Grapes in a zip lock bag
• More cardboard crackers and cheese in zip lock bags
• Nuts in small container

And of course there's always water with me!

Planning and eating this way is totally different than me running out the door each morning and driving through Hardees, Bogangles, or Chick-fi-la for breakfast, then either missing lunch or driving through another fast food establishment. When I did take a sandwich it would be a homemade pimento cheese sandwich on wheat bread. Now I do have to brag here, my husband makes the BEST pimento cheese, just ask our family and friends. Problem is - what makes it so good is all the DUKE'S mayonnaise's . . .  hey we are in the south here!!! Now pimento cheese is only made for special occasions and eaten in moderation at our house.

Yes, the zip lock bags, small containers, and cute lunch bag are a big part of my new life and even a bigger part since I'm being more disciplined about preparing all this food each day. Need a boost and want to see the numbers on the scales go down? Then join me in snacking all day and together we will see the results of our efforts.

Oh, and about the cute lunch bag . . . whatever makes you happy!












images courtesy of photobucket.com

Sunday Reflections

As I sit back and think about this past week the words that come to my mind are:
          Busy
                    Enlightening
                                          Open

• Busy because with my usual obligations, morning rowing classes, and meetings I also had a speaking engagement that took a lot of time and energy.

• Enlightening because I realized that I have not been all in when it comes to making the right choices of food, drinking enough water, and being disciplined.

• Open because I am open to taking another step in this challenge.

Each week of this 90 Day Fitness Challenge has had it's ups and downs, and there has definitely been a learning curve. But there's always one when a person is learning something new, and this healthy lifestyle is definitely new to me.

Once I again I'm ready for a new week, focused on staying on track and meeting the goals I have set for myself, both with exercising and eating right. If you've had an "off" week, or have gotten off track - tomorrow is a great day to start over. If you are right where you need to be, doing all that you can - I applaud you and encourage you to continue.

I can already see that when I look back over this challenge I will see that this is going to be a defining moment that will affect my life in a positive way. And, not only my life, but my families also.

Looking forward to another chance to reach new goals in yet another week of my challenge!