Sunday Confessional

Once again, my confession remains the same. I will justify it by saying I crossed 3 other things off my list that have been on there for a REALLY long time! I rank them higher on my list than exercise, so I am proud of what I have accomplished this week.

What are you proud of this week?

Motivation

Motivation: Motive meaning why? and ation which is missing it's "c" for action!
And now I will wave my magic wand and you will all be motivated to lose weight!
Yeah, I made that up, and it sounds good doesn't it. Almost as good as having a magic wand!

So what really is motivation? I think maybe a better question is, what is YOUR motivation? Or how do YOU get motivated?

Tips:
~Eliminate fear and procrastination.
~Focus on positives not negatives.
~Make a list off all your reasons for weightloss including health benefits.
~Reward yourself! Getting something for your efforts can be encouraging.
~Keep records. Seeing what you have accomplished so far gives motivation to do more. What could be more motivating than results?
~Listen to music or books on tape, etc. If you're exercising inside, set up a TV so that you can watch it while exercising.
~Train for a local 5K or 10K walk or run in your area. This can be great motivation to exercise on a regular basis. Don't think you can't do it...YOU CAN!
~Join a team or support group. All for one and one for all. GO TEAM!
~Read motivational articles, blogs or quotes, choose one as your theme or mantra.
~Make the effort to look as good as you can while you lose weight to boost your morale. What makes the best weight loss motivation - You slopping around in old baggy clothes, thinking about how bad you feel, or looking your best at whatever stage you're at, wearing clothes which fit and being optimistic?
~Get rid of any clothes that are too big for you as soon as you lose weight. Anyone with a fat set of clothes is expecting to fit them again and actions often follow expectations, before you know it you'll be wearing them again.

"'Now' is the operative word. Everything you put in your way is just a method of putting off the hour when you could actually be doing your dream. You don't need endless time and perfect conditions. Do it now. Do it today. Do it for twenty minutes and watch your heart start beating."
Barbara Sher, I Could Do Anything If I Only Knew What It Was (I have not read this book, just found the quote on a website.)

Sunday Confessional

I took the week off from Blogging, I hope it was a successful one for everyone.
My confession for last week, I ran out of inspiration.
My first post for this week will be on Motivation. I could use some right now.

What else can I do for you?
More research articles? More generalized topics? More on how to lose weight? More stats? More Wellness Coaching stuff? What else?

Sunday Confessional

Hard to believe a whole week has gone by already. Mine was a little stressful. I had fully intended on being able to tell you I did some exercise this week, but alas, it was not meant to be. I did play tennis, but I wanted to do more.

Tell me 3 things you did this week to further your weight loss?

Tell me one thing you could have done better?

Tell me about something good that happened to you this week.
I got to go to a friends house for dinner for the first time. We had great food and even better conversation. Oh, and I ate dessert and was it good!

Get it? Got it. Good!

Changing the way you eat can help you eat less and not feel deprived.

It takes 15 minutes for your brain to get the message you have food in your stomach. Eating slowly will help you feel satisfied when you've eaten the right amount of food for you. You will feel full sooner and therefore eat less.

Here are some tips:
Chew each mouthful 20-30 times. This takes time and allows you to savor each bite.

Using smaller plates helps to moderate portions so they don't appear too small. Use your salad plates or even purchase a beautiful, playful or extravagant small plate just for you.

Serving food from the kitchen instead of at the table can help you be less tempted to eat more.

Drinking at least eight glasses of water type beverages each day will help you feel full, possibly eat less and benefit you in other ways. I love tea. There are so many wonderful flavors. You'd be surprised.

Instead of food snacks, chew gum. It gives you a nice taste, freshens your breath, and it's always fun to blow bubbles!

Pouring food from large packages into smaller ones and keeping them slightly further out of reach can prevent overeating. Consider single serving sizes.

Find foods and snacks with lots of items per serving. One serving of Hershey's chocolate chips = 30 chips vs. 3 Hershey's Kisses, or my favorite, 2 pieces of Licorice and if you let it get hard it takes even longer to eat! All for just about the same amount of calories.

It's all about retraining your mind and your body. We can do anything we put our minds to!

"Be Like Mike"/Sunday Confessional

I've seen on other blogs a feature called Sunday Confessional. I'd like to take this opportunity to introduce this to our blog. Use it for what ever you want to confess, report or discuss.

Like I said before, I am not an expert in weight loss. I am a stay at home Mom. I worked for 10 years in Cardiac Rehab. Now don't judge, (I promise I will do the same.) I don't exercise regularly. But....other than driving the 100 mile commute to school for the kids and being on the computer, I never stop moving, and even at that, my car is stick shift, so that counts for something, and I get interupted so many times on the computer its a wonder I can even complete a sentence! I am fidgiting my foot as we speak.

I am 32 years old. I am 5'6", 125-130lbs. Size 4-6. I have a slight baby pooch but it doesn't prevent me from wearing a bikini and I am actually quite proud of my "badge of honor". I don't love my butt. I not telling you this to brag, there is no way I'm entering the miss fitness contest any time soon. I too would love to look more like the ladies in Hollywood. I don't need to lose weight, but there are plenty of improvements in my body composition to be made.

Some things about me that I think are key to my weight:

I don't love any particular food and I centainly don't fear or manipulate it. Food is not a reward or a comfort. It's something your body needs to be healthy and strong. Ask my kids, they can repeat that verbatium. Early on my Mom gave me these tools. I never had to correct bad habits. It's just the way I am and hope to raise my kids the same way.

I don't drink soda, coffee or alcohol and I avoid processed foods and chemical substitutes. I haven't researched this, but I feel it in my gut. If your body is full of chemicals and toxins, it can't function properly and by that I mean get rid of excess waste/weight. There is more out there about this, and I'm sure you will learn the same if you looked.

That being said,
I eat what ever I want, when I want. Sometimes an A&W is just so refreshing or I am too lazy to make popcorn so I eat the microwaveable stuff, and licorice is such a yummy treat! Nothing is off limits.

I eat when I am hungry and stop when I am full. I don't care what the clock says. Usually every couple of hours. Small frequent meals. I don't skip meals, especially breakfast. I barely ever eat dessert. If I do, I wait 30 minutes or so until I have digested my meal. Who can pass up birthday cake or Baked Apple Pie in a bag with Ice Cream!

I see a chiropractor when I am feeling achey or unwell. I know how I feel after an adjustment and can confidently say this keeps me from getting sick. My kids also go and they have rarely been sick. They were adjusted days after being born and my daughter was even done in-utero. This may seem extreme to some, but this is how strongly I believe in the practice.

I don't take vitamins regularly, but wish I did. I just can't develop the habit. When I do, I take a super-multi (vitamins and minerals with a bunch of other herbals). I do think for digestion and enhanced immune function, probiotics are important.

These are just some of the things I think make me healthy and keep my weight from being an issue. I'm sure I've got some good genetics and metabolism. I believe the other things help too.
You don't have to "Be Like Mike(Me)", but it might help.

Think Thin

Losing weight is the easy part. Keeping it off is where the real challenge begins.
You're off the "diet", you're starting to splurge again. Your new found, regular exercise routine is still going strong so you're feeling pretty good. Then it's Thanksgiving and Christmas and work/life gets crazy and two months of holiday eating, stress and little exercise and you've gained 10 lbs. How do you prevent this?

In addition to diet and exercise, behavioral changes need to be made. You need to "Think Thin". Or in Star Wars terms, "Use The Force". Techniques such as problem solving, involving social support, goal setting and stimulus control are essential tools for weight loss and especially maintenance.

We all encounter problems in our lives. Situations that prevent us from living our lives the way we want to. Navigating through these periods with foresight and a plan can bring you through less weathered and weary. Consider of list of possible barriers or set backs. Think of a few ways to address these.

Social support - gotcha covered. That's what this blog is for. Feel free to expand your network as far as you need. I'm not the jealous type.

We talked about goals. Knowing where you're going and how far you've come.

Avoid a chain reaction. Learn what social or environmental cues encourage undesirable eating or health decisions. If you know what triggers your backslides you can do several things. Separate the association of eating from the cue. (ie...Eating in front of the TV). Avoid or eliminate the cue. (Don't buy problem foods, or buy them but put them out of reach.) Changing the environment can also be helpful. (Get together with friends for mini-golf instead of the bar or BBQ.)
Triggers and consequences: 80% of our behavior is controlled by consequences which either strengthen or weaken behavior. Retrain your self to think and act in the positive. Your new behaviors will change your frame of reference and encourage new or forgotten strengths and abilities.

Another important component of weight loss is self-monitoring of eating and exercise behaviors. There is consistent evidence that individuals who self-monitor these behaviors are more successful at weight loss than those who are inconsistent with self-monitoring. Write it down. You can be as vague or precise as you want.

When you "Think Thin" you change the behaviors that are keeping you "fat" and start to live the new lifestyle you have chosen for yourself. There is life after a diet!

Let's Get Physical, Physical, I wanna get....

PHYS-I-CAL!!! 'Little Olivia Newton-John for ya. One of the tapes I used to listen to in my basement while dancing around with my sister.

Everyone knows they should exercise. I'm sure you know why, but I still feel compelled to list them: Disease prevention, Stress Management, WEIGHT LOSS, Strong Bones, Improved Quality of Life, on and on.

There is so much information out there, and so many ways to be physically active. Any time you move your body you are burning calories: Sit instead of laying down. Stand instead of sitting. When you do strength training (lift weights) you make your muscles better calorie burners so you can burn even more calories by moving your body.

Find little ways to be more active. Sneak it in: Ditch the TV remote, Leave your phone on the charger....in the basement, then pace while talking on it, use the bathroom on a different floor; and everyone knows about taking the stairs instead of the elevator and parking in the furthest spot from the door!

Research has shown the best method for losing weight is a caloric defecit. Expending more calories than you consume. Combining diet and increased physical activity is the most effective way to create a defecit.

There are some technical ways of figuring out the exact numbers, but I hate math. Here is the bottom line. You are already losing weight by changing what and how you eat. Lets add the physical activity in for even more weight loss. This will be especially important for weight maintenance, when you start adding some of those calories back in.

Here's the good news: Every little bit counts.

Here's the bad news: To be most effective you need to accumulate 280 minutes a week at moderate intensity.

Now that I freaked you out. (Yes that's 45 minutes on 6 days a week!)

There's more good news. Modest weight loss can be achieved with only 150 minutes. (30 minutes on 5 days a week.) But more importantly significant health benefits can be achieved.

So remember, every little bit counts. Start by doing those little things, and just moving your body more. This is physical activity. Add them all up. Then there is everyone's friend, exercise. Exercise is done continuously, it involves large muscle groups, it gets your heart rate going. When you're ready to step it up. Add in some exercise. Walking, biking, swiming, jumping rope, rollerblading, playing sports, pick one.

What can you commit to? One day? Two days? Three 10 minute segments? Two 15 minute segments?

Start slow and build up. Your body will adjust. It may be hard, tiring, sweaty, painful, (not if you do it right, blame Jane Fonda for that one) but little by little it will become easier and you might even (gasp!) like it! (I'm still waiting for that one.) Pick a starting point and add on. Add time, increase your intensity. Experiment. If you go too far, pull back. Slow down, cut back til you find a comfortable level and then try again.

So how 'bout a little dance....

Sing with me - "Let's get physical, physical....

Can't believe my Mom let me listen to that song. I was so naive!

Goals Suck

I know.... writing goals is like a trip to the dentist. Even if you don't write them, atleast think about the questions.

Stages of Change

Research has shown changes in our behavior follows a set path. There are 5 stages of readiness.
Precontemplation (I won't or I can't in the next 6 months.)
Contemplation (I may in the next 6 months)
Preparation (I will in the next month)
Action (I am doing it now)
Maintenance (I've been doing it for the last 6 months)

The following is a short quiz used by WellCoaches to determine how ready you are to change a behavior. With regards to eating you are most likely in the action phase, but be as specific as possible. Our up-coming topic will be physical activity. Think about your answers for both topics, or any other changes you'd like to make.

1. The goal or behavior I want to work on is:
(Goals should be S.M.A.R.T. = Specific, Measurable, Active, Reasonable and Tangible.)
Lets start with 3 month goals. In 3 months I will....

2. My reason for wanting to accomplish this goal/change this behavior are:

3. The obstacles standing in the way of my goal/changing this behavior are:

4. The efforts I made toward my goal/changing this behavior in the last week are:

5. My goal for next week with respect to this goal/behavior is:
(The big picture is scoring a run, each week we get closer to first, second, third and home base)

6. My readiness to change to reach this goal/behavior is, I won't do it, I can't do it, I may do it, I will do it, I am doing it, I am still doing it.

Take some time to think about these. Only do it if you want to. I know its a lot to ask. I will be gone until next Tuesday, if you want to do it, have your answers by then. Also let me know if you would rather e-mail me. I do feel the comments can be helpful to everyone, but if you feel inhibited it's not worth it.

Four Letter Word

"D-I-E-T is a four letter word."

That being said. I don't care what method you choose to lose the weight. So far we have the South Beach Diet (SBD) and Weight Watchers (WW) Any other takers for another method?
(SBD reminds me of Beavis and Butt Head - "Pull my finger, Heh Heh!" MTV's site has some clips, I couldn't find one of them saying "Silent But Deadly", but this show still makes me laugh, such twisted humor.)

I am personally all for this natural supplement called FucoThin. My hubby took it for two months and did lose weight. He travels for work and we didn't address the other issues, but only taking this and doing nothing else he lost 8lbs.

I haven't tried this, but did the research on their website. (As long as you can over look the fact that they used the same people with different names and locations. ) IntelliTrim They will pay you $10 for every lb. you lose. The product is $40/month plus shipping. Cheaper for a 6 month supply up front. So essentially you pay them then they pay you back. One of their other supplements was recommended by a Cardiologist (browse his blog sometime) I have worked with and really respect, and all their products are pharmaceutical grade, which means what they say is in there is in there. The main ingredient is CLA which is also beneficial for Heart Disease prevention. (Ahem, Homecky).

There are many ways to lose weight. You might agree it's actually quite easy. Keeping it off is the hard part. What ever you do, be sure you can make changes that are permanent. This takes time. I hope through all this we will find those things that need changing and change them for good. Who's with me?!

Visualize....

When I say LIVE YOUR BEST LIFE NOW. What does that mean to you?

How do you determine if you are living your best life? By people, places or things? Being at your best does not mean that all your dreams have come true and you have a "perfect life." If you attach being perfect to living your best life…you will be waiting a long time.

What moments are making life hard, easy, mad, sad, glad and/or all the above?

What does being at your best mean, feel like, or look like?

How will you know when you're living your best life?

You get to choose the moments in your day. Maybe you can’t choose your circumstances but you choose what is put into your every day.

My challenge to you this week: With regards to your weightloss, picture yourself living your best life. What size clothes are you wearing? What are you eating? How often are you exercising, what are you doing for your exercise? How are you rewarding yourself for your successes? How are you dealing with difficulties in your life?

Lean on Me

With in a week two friends expressed interest in weight loss. Both from opposite sides of my life. I am by no means an expert in weight management.
~I have a bachelors degree in Exercise Science.
~I am an American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) Certified Clinical Exercise Specialist.
~I've taught a weight management class along with a dietitian and Behavorial Health Specialist.
~I've taken a Well Coaches certification class
~I maintain a healthy weight and live a healthy, active lifestyle.
But most of all,
~I genuinely like helping people.

This blog is to provide encouragement, motivation, information and what ever else it becomes.
I've always been creative with names. Since I could only pick one name for the blog, the others will have to make their way into post titles.
I think this title gives a little comic relief to the whole idea. If it were only that simple!