Not Gonna Lie....

During the Labor Day Holiday we will be having a week of family and fun! Yesterday we did the food shopping for the week and nothing but good stuff landed in our cart. No sugar or "yummy" goodness found its way into our grocery bags!!!  We purchased nothing but good meats, some fruit and veggies. That's all!!!!

 I'm not gonna lie and say that I wasn't feeling just a tad jealous when looking at all the other Labor Day shoppers.  Geez, in their carts, all I saw were chips, cookies, candy, beer, beer, beer....did I say beer?   I also saw people buying donuts and bread and ICE CREAM  and  soda and cake!!!!!!!!

Not gonna lie.  I wanted some.  OK I wanted a lot of it.  Oh ICE CREAM!!!!!!

Fortunately my good senses kicked in and I realized that I'm not deprived. I have excellent food to eat and some sugar free snacks. I REALLY AM SATISFIED with what I have. To get over that yucky feeling, all it took was that I stayed focused on my shopping list, I persevered and got out of the store. And very soon, all was well!!!

Bonus part is.....If I just keep focused and not lose my head I will see a significant weight loss on Monday.  Imagine.....losing weight even on a holiday!!!

How about you...On holidays, do you just do what you always do and buy your traditional goodies and yummy goodness? Or do you stay focused on your health and fitness plan during a holiday?

How about this year...we stay focused!!!!!

Are you with me?!?!?!?

It's not what it seems....

We live in the country. Sort of....We are 1 minute from farm lands and about 10 minutes from the mall. We recently got new neighbors. They live in the old farm house behind our house and they have about an acre of land and I can see their comings and goings from our upstairs bedroom window.

Yesterday morning, it was kind of a fall like morning. Kind of hazy and foggy and cool. There was really a delightful feel in the air...all crisp and fresh. I happened to look out at my neighbors farm and I saw...through the fog...what I thought was a deer.

It's a rare thing to have such a sighting and I was delighted to get the opportunity to view wildlife while standing in my bedroom.

This little deer was majestic and really beautiful with the silhouette of its body standing strong in the fog. I was reveling in the moment and enjoying all of my senses experiencing this amazing time. The sights and smells were truly over the top and really hard to describe!!

After some time of watching my deer friend, I realized that it did not move for quite some time. I thought, hummm is it hearing something and getting ready to take off....is it sighting some delectable  yummy somewhere... What could this beauty be doing?

So after a considerable amount of time watching, I regretfully had to get ready for work...all the while thanking God for such a beautiful sight and thinking how lucky I am to be living where I am able to see such a thing.

I hurried to get myself ready so I could spend some more time watching nature through my window. I could not get done fast enough!

Soon I was back at my window, perched on my chair... and I realized that that deer still had not moved and it had been over a half hour since I last saw it. Humm...I wondered...what could be up?

Then suddenly....I realized it was a lawn ornament deer!!!!

No wonder the dumb thing did not move!!!

Geez!!!

Now I had a choice to make about this situation....

• I could chalk it up to just another dumb thing I got myself into.
• I could have allowed it to ruin my day.
• I could have beaten myself up for not realizing the obvious.

I could have done a number of things to discount that beautiful thing that happened that morning.

Just like our health and fitness journey.

We can go through this journey....doing all the right things and the minute we get on the scale all the good things, happy feelings, accomplishments, goals, success, happy times, and determination can go right out the window, because of what that scales says. We choose to let that happen. We choose to let that scale tell all. If we lose, well we are awesome.....but if we don't, then we are........

Losers

Lam

Stupid

Ugly

Crap

Disgusting

Self Hating

FAILURE!!

and on and on.....

We can allow that thing to tell us all that. Or we can remember that that scale does not tell the whole story. Just because that number did not change, it does not always mean that you're a failure or a loser. It's just not what it seems.

If you are working your plan and staying true to what you know you need to do. Then you need to remember that other things are going on. If you are working out, you are getting stronger, leaner and healthier. If you are keeping your calories at the fat burning range, you will get thinner. If you are doing all the right things to get healthier. Then it will happen. You will see success!!!

So don't allow the scale to tell the whole story. Just do what you know to do. EVERY DAY!!! Don't give up and keep pushing through!! You keep focused and your will reach your health and fitness goals.

Are you with me?

Keep focused!!

Back to Normal!!!

Another week down and I'm back to last year's weight (205.8). If I keep it up I should be in wonderland in about 3 weeks. I have not been at that weight for over 32 years!!  Can't wait to see 199!!!!!

Last year at 205 pounds I felt pretty skinny.  This year....not so much. Glad I'm no longer comfortable here.  Ready to move on!!!!

Yesterday I had a pretty emotional day.  Usually when I have a day like that. I would turn to my "comforts" - food!  Instead of going there I busied myself with other things.  I've been doing this behavior for quite a while, so yesterday's moment of wanting to go out and find junk only lasted a very short time. The more I practice turning my attention elsewhere. The easier its getting to distract myself from food.  I finally have other "comforts" I can turn to.  Example - my Hubby, Family and Friends are great to turn to. My doggies, Bentley and Beemer are always ready for love and hugs. I have a fun game I like to play. OK I love it. Not gonna lie.  Reading is a good comfort as long as I don't get too snugly...that can cause me to think of food.  Also, because I have more energy I'm having fun in my house. Who knew how fun it CAN be to clean, sort and redecorate things.   I also have flower gardens to tend and of course my sewing projects. So I have many distractions!! Who has time to be bogged down with stuffing my face, which always makes me feel bad after I'm done.  These other things bring me much joy!!!

I hope to be posting 199 pound pictures soon!!!  

Making it happen!!!

How about you are you making you Goals happen?  Lets do it!!!!

Keep focused!!!!

Short Term Sacrifice...Long Term Goal!!!

It's been so long since I've been on my Blog that I forgot my password...Geez!

I've not Blogged, for a long time, because....well you see....I did not have any Nuggets of Truth to share. Well I guess if I could have written that taking my focus off of my "original" goal of losing weight and putting my focus elsewhere...like running events, not really watching my food intake, suffering with injuries and wasting time...Well then my Nugget of truth would be....That these things have not helped me reach my goal of losing weight!! In fact, I gained a few back!

So now...I have to put these distractions on the back burner, because now it's time to get this done!!!

• No more extensive training...no crazy running..no strenuous rowing, no crazy biking and no more long running events. Now it's time for moderate exercise ~ Running, walking, biking and weight lifting.
• No more calories in the plus 2000's. Now it's back to low calories ~ low carbs and fat - - nothing but protein, some fats and fruits & veggies!!
• Water....yeah lots of it!!
• Injuries - I'm going to listen to my body. When it hurts, I'm not pushing through...I'm going to take care of it. Lots of stretching in my future!
• No more excessive weighing. Yep it's just once a week for me!
• No more obsessing and frustration about how bad I'm doing. I've got a postive attitude and my eye's are on the goal!!

I'm putting my focus on the next 10 months!! My goals.....

• To lose 65 pounds
• Train and participate in the Shamrock run in March. Just a 10k - That's moderate for me! 
• Be ready by June 2014 to....Water ski, run 1/2 marathons blasting past my prior pace times, row, bike, horseback ride, and tons of other stuff!!!

I'm willing to sacrifice today and each day until June to get this done!!

So far.....because I've already set this thing in motion....I've lost 6.4 pounds in one week!!!

I've go this!!

How about you? Are you ready to sacrifice today so that you will be able to reach your long term goals?

Keep focused!!!!!!!

My Downfall....

Where I went wrong with my health and fitness plan, is I lost my focus. Geez for years I was so focused on my goal, focused on what I put in my mouth, focused on what exercise I did...I was focused on everything.

Then somewhere along the way, I thought..."I got this!". I know what 3 oz of meat is, I know how many calories are in that. Sure I exercised 5 times this week. You bet, I got my water in.....When in reality, I was not tracking anything and obviously I was thinking wrong!! I was not eating in proper portions, I was not exercising 5 days per week, I was not getting all my water in.

Because you can't, at least I can't gain 12 pounds if you are doing everything right...right?

So I've been back on track.....really for the past couple of days. I've REALLY tracked all my food and kept my calories in line with my plan. I've exercised at least 3 days per week (hoping for more soon). I got all of my water in. Plus I've had a great attitude and in 3 days I've lost 2 pounds.

Not a lot, yet....but just putting the focus back on my plan and keeping my eye on what I'm doing is helping. Seriously, the past months it would take me a full week to lose 2 pounds.

So I'm encouraged. I have learned my lesson. I know now, that I will always have to focus and keep sight of what I'm doing to have success.

Ah....

How are you doing?

I'm going back to my....

Keep focused!!

Pep Talk

Miss Joy.....Right now you are in a tough place. I know you are disappointed....You are not doing what you should, you are not where you want to be, you've added some pounds back....12 of them! You are mad at yourself.....ashamed.....sad.....embarrassed....and you are feeling like such a failure.

But you know...the only time you are a real failure is if you quit!

In the past...dark....8 months you have not quit. Far from it!! Even though, it's not been perfect...you still were fighting. You're still here! You still have your focus, though off track at times...it's still there! YOU HAVE NOT GIVEN UP!!

So be kind to yourself today......Give yourself some grace and get back to your plan!!

For those of you who are in the same boat as me. It's not the failure that is the worse part. It's the quitting. You just can't let that happen. Even if all you can do is make one small good choice each day. It's better than nothing. Before you know it...if you keep at it...that one small choice will grow. And if you don't quit and you stay diligent, those good choices will grow and soon enough you will begin to see success!

I'm on my way back up! I've been at this climb for a while....each day I've added back my healthy choices....just one at a time and now....I'm back to where I was prior to the grand ole slide that I've been on. I'm tracking my food DAILY! I'm drinking my water DAILY! I'm exercising at least 3 days per week, sometimes four! (Not quite to where I was 8 months ago, but I'm getting there) Side note.....I have to brag on myself just a bit. Even though I've been really unhappy with myself and I lost my way for a while, and I added some pounds....I did not give up on my exercise. I still met with my trainer weekly and I kept running. I've done a 5k and a 15k race and I did one half marathon already this year. And even with the extra pounds I'm running faster than I did last year. Just think when I get this weight off, I will be even faster ~ so cool. OK enough bragging....anyway, back to the healthy things I've put back in place. Attitude...instead of fretting about where I'm not. I'm giving my plan and my body to the Lord and letting Him help me to make my goals. I have realized that I cannot do this journey on my own. The minute I yielded my plan to Him, I mean the instant I did this, I was so filled to overflowing with His peace and joy and it seemed the dark blinders fell off and I could finally see my direction. This is huge for me!

So I want to encourage you, should you need it, to just do one thing at a time and get back to it. Don't fail backwards....go forward and reach for your goals.

We can do this!!

No FEAR!!!

Checking In

I'm working it...working it...working it!!

Oh Yeah!!