Today and every day

Be thankful and make good choices, choices you will be proud to blog about :-)

Happy Thanksgiving!

Choose Joy

They happen to everyone. Why should I (or anyone else) be an exception to that rule? Sometimes life really sucks. It sucks bad. Babies die, kids are molested, people are raped, beaten, tortured. There are natural disasters, marriages dissolve, cancer eats away at flesh and bone, mental illness twists our minds, eating disorders, panic disorders, sexual disorders - you name it, bad stuff happens. To everyone. EVERYONE.
It's an inescapable fact of life.

But good stuff happens too. And if I'm too busy wallowing in the bad stuff, I'm gonna miss it. If I stuff down those bad experiences away with crappy food, I"m not going to be in any shape to enjoy the good stuff. Being a healthy size won't make my life perfect, but it will help me take advantage of the little glimpses of perfection I am shown. And they are EVERYWHERE. A little child smiling and greeting a new friend, an older child appreciating the cuteness of a baby, old friends finding happiness in themselves after many years, sisters who were born to other parents standing by you when things aren't perfect. Laughter, family game night, fun restaurants, Ohio sunsets, bloggy friends who "get it" and jamming to the newest Taylor Swift CD in your tween kid.

There's good and bad all around us. It's our choice what to focus on. If we focus on the negative and are needy and clingy and sponges that suck the life out of others . . . we will end up old and alone for sure. However, if you can find the JOY in life every day - even if it's something really small like hearing birdsong - if you can find that happiness, and share it and wear it on your smile . . . that's when you'll finally feel a little more successful, a little less hopeless. And when that happiness starts oozing out of you, people will be drawn to you like you wouldn't believe.

Now, I have to go stuff down some joy so nobody bothers me for a while, but I wanted to dribble a little out there today because know what? This time of year is really rough!

Don't forget to change your clocks!

Choosing to end suffering

I'm reading a GREAT book right now, recommended by one of my IRL friends, and not about weight loss. Or is it? As I've learned from reading other blogs, almost ANYTHING can be related to weight loss. This book is chock full of wisdom.

It's called This is Not the Story You Think it Is by Laura Munson. And right now? It's bargain priced at like $8 instead of the $25 I probably shelled out for it.

I'm not giving away anything by saying that on the first page, her husband leaves. Maybe he doesn't love her anymore - is incapable of love. They've been together for a long time, and have young children.  But she makes up her mind that she is not going to suffer, or "wallow" as I would call it. She's not spending her time feeling sorry for herself or desperately clinging to her husband who is clearly having his own crisis. And so far, she's not stuffing her face with chocolate cake, brownies, or chips. Mmmmm. .. . chips. 

I'm just begining the book, as I said, but it's got some great quotes and wonderful pieces of wisdom in it. If I had my way, I"d curl up with it all day today and absorb page after page. Alas, the family will wake in a while and want me to be part of it. Which, I admit, I love.

Where will you be in 5 years?

I read something pretty absurd recently about there being no bloggers in this realm who have been dieting for 5 years.  I know, I know - Math is hard. However, most of the people I have read are people who have been dieting for their WHOLE LIVES and I'm pretty sure they're more than a few years old. When you keep doing the same thing and it doesn't work - it's time to try something else, like blogging.

I always hated the question "where do you see yourself in 5 years?" because I realize that it's unknowable. Before I was much older than 5, my life was completely unpredictible and sometimes quite unsafe. As much as we'd like to, even as adults, we humans cannot fully control our own destiny. Make good choices with the circumstances you are handed, sure! But to say you "know" where you will be in 5 years is pretty presumptous in my opinion. When put on the spot, I would always tell prospective employers that I hoped to still be working for them in a mutually beneficial role. I never had trouble getting gainful employment.  Today, it's the same thing. In 5 years, I hope to be continuing my healthy lifestyle that I've started now, living as a healthy (not obese) person physically and mentally. Things will undoubtedly happen that are beyond my control, but I have confidence at this point in my life that I can continue to make beneficial decisions that will keep me moving forward. I could lose life or limb and that would effect my health - duh. Nobody knows when or if that will happen.


Within five years? I think that weight loss bloggers of today will either succeed and not longer need a weight loss blog, or they will fail for various reasons and close their blog, or change it to something else that works for them. What you can control is your own attitude right now: try, do, achieve. Make goals and work towards them, sure . . but if things don't go as you planned, you'll have to adjust those plans to what.works.for.you.  Others may think they know what's best for everybody, what works for everyone, but they don't know. Usually these people are so devoid of compassion or empathy that they can't possibly imagine a life different than the one they themselves are living. These are often the same people, of course, that are constant "victims" of circumstance or making themselves out to be a martyr.  The bottom line is what works for you WORKS and judging others about their own choices is not going to support or help anybody.

Dr. Watkins, I presume

I really like my doctor. She is so kind and supportive that I can almost overlook the annoying fact that she is thin and pretty in a Halle Berry kind of way.  So, when she proclaimed today that I made her day - and possibly her entire week, I was like a little kid who had pleased her mother. (Well, I assume I was, I never experienced that feeling myself - but I see it in my sister all of the time).

According to her records, I've lost 35 lbs in 3 1/2 months. She is extremely pleased with my current approach to health and apparently, so is my body!  My blood pressure was great the first (and only) time they checked it today! Normally, it is pretty high when they first check it, as a result of anxiety, and they take it again as I'm leaving and it's normal. And when she asked, I realized that I did not even take my anti-anxiety meds last night! So anxiety is down, BP is down and the thyroid is in the normal range.

My assignments for the next two months are to (1) keep up with my current eating and activity habits, (2) win at a foot race across our front lawn against my daughter, and (3) lose 20 or more pounds. She had talked about visiting with me again near my birthday in December, but agreed to checking in just before Thanksgiving instead. She seems genuinely happy and excited about this. She thanked me for making her job easier and for not making her come see me in the cardiac ward of the local hospital. So, we have our date Nov 15 and I will try to live down to her expectations. Maybe by then I'll be able to fit into the workout clothes Allan is sending!  Now I need to win a free sports bra or 2 or get a raise in my allowance!

Thanks everyone for your continued support. This 'flip floppin lunatic' loves the lot of ya!  MWAAAH!

Full vs. Satsified

"I eat less than 2000 calories a day and I am full"
"I  cut out carbs and I'm still full"
"Whenever try to control myself, I never feel full"
"I'm so full and all I ate was watermelon"


These are just a few of the comments I've heard over about fullness. I want to suggest to all of you out there in blogville, that having a "full" stomach should not be on your list of goals if you are trying to lead a healthy lifestyle - especially if that lifestyle includes weight control.  I have come to the realization that having a full stomach leads to a full figure.

When your stomach feels "full," it's a reaction to being stretched. This happens when too much food is put into it. Filling one's stomach can lead to discomfort, indegestion, and lethargy. There are recommendations against activity on a full stomach because when your stomach is full, it is easy to induce vomitting, cause diarhea, or cause muscle cramps due to circulation being diverted to the stomach in order to handle this overstuffed state.

Pay attention to your body. If it's hungry, feed it. When it's not hungry any more, stop feeding it. Full is not the goal. Satisfied is the goal. Absence of hunger is the goal. You should still be able to wear the same pants compfortably after a meal as when you sat down. If you can't, you've overeaten. You should still be able to do normal activity after a meal. Do you rub your belly and sigh/groan when you get up from the table? If you have to unbutton your pants and go lay down after a meal, that's not satisfaction. That's gluttony, over-doing it, and being sick. It's your body telling you "don't do this to me! I can't function like this!" 

Just because the food may taste good doesn't mean you have to eat every bit of it. Just because you are on a 2,000 calorie diet doesn't mean that should be your daily intake goal. That is your upper limit, not the amount you want to achieve. Weight Watchers, 45 points (for example) is your daily limit. They give you extra in the week because they know you'll want to cheat. They've been at this a long time and know how it works, after all! Your body has built-in mechanisms to tell you when and how much to eat. Points and calories are excellent guidelines, but your body was either built through thousands of years of evolution or designed my an all-knowing god(ess).  It's okay to be less than full, to be satisfied, to be nourished, to be comfortable.

Americans seem to have an obsession with being full, not just dieters. People think if they aren't full, they are in danger of starving. People don't realize that it is okay to be hungry once in a while. Our dear Allan posted a wonderfully perspective-inducing picture of what starving looks like on his blog today. In that spirit, I'm going to post for a you picture of what "full" looks like.

Doesn't he look uncomfortable? I think he's having a hard time doing his job. He's overworked! Poor guy.

I'd much rather have a satisfied tummy than a full tummy at this point. It's taken me some mental conditioning to get here. I don't want a full tummy. I don't want the full figure that comes with it. I want to be satisfied with my figure, and with my life - which is already quite full, thank you.

A little fun

Since Allan brought some traffic my way this morning, I will share some with him.  I feel almost famous today! Please check out his latest blog post here.

Here was my response to him which will probably be posted momentarily if he approves . . .

I knew you couldn't follow directions. You totally skipped the "not me" part. lol I totally expected that!







I criticized you on your own blog, actually, but you chose not to publish those posts. Just as you are likely not to post this or any other posts supporting me. I have a general policy not to say things behind people's backs that I wouldn't tell them to their face. Any criticism I have made of you wasn't about your diet but about the way you sometimes present yourself - or presented before the new nicer Al came along.






I'm human. I have good days and bad. I share them. I have been tempted not to post my setbacks mainly because I know you love to point out such things and twist it into somebody being a hypocrite because they're struggling.






As far as following diet "quacks", I read read read whatever I can get my hands on and analyze to determine what I can learn from the material. Richard Simmons, Geneen Roth, Thich Nhat Hanh, and others I read do not profess to be medical experts. They simply share what works for them in hopes that it will help others. The only difference between them and you is that they get paid for it. That doesn't make them quacks. A quack is somebody that professes to have medical knowledge when they don't.






Of COURSE you love me. I am quite lovable and capable and, as you will see, I am going to be healthier than ever. Maybe not as quickly as you are, but in my own way I will succeed.
 
 
Oh yeah, then I went back to post again that I have been born and raised in the USA. I have never even been to Canada even though it's less than 2 hours from me. I'm not sure how Allan figured I'm from Oz since I'm always saying that my life dream is to go there.  Ah well, he is obviously still getting to know me.

I feel good!

It's the last day of summer break. We're going to the zoo today. I weighed down 1.1 lbs this morning, almost back down to earning those new shoes. Do I have to buy another pair? I hope not, I hate spending money on shoes.

Went to preview night at new school yesterday. I think it's going to be a great place for my kid. The teachers and principal were very upbeat and friendly. The layout of the school is great. My daughter feels empowered and ready to start. She's gonna make some great friends!

Did a mile and a half on Walk it Out last night even though I was tired. *Pride glow*

I hear my daughter getting ready already - dry run for catching the bus tomorrow. I guess I should put on some pants at the very least.

I hope you all have a great day. Make good choices!