Happy Halloween!

Having 2 young children is both good and bad for Halloween. On one hand, we are not home on Halloween, so we don't have to buy candy to hand out. Therefore, there is no candy hanging out in our house in the days prior to Halloween.

BUT, then my kids go trick-or-treating. They are both girls, ages 4 and 5. This year they will be the world's cutest little kitty and piggy. Ridiculously cute. Of course, they end up with enough candy to share with all of China. They can't eat it all, nor do I want them to. The obvious solution to this little dilemma, before I was more health-conscious? Eat it!  Better me than them, right?! Well, kind of. But there are other solutions to be considered....




Throw some away. (I know...*GASP*).

Bring it to work!! Set out a jar or bowl on your desk or in a common area.

Simply hit less houses. You can't eat what you don't get.

If you know certain houses/neighborhoods typically give out less junk and/or more healthy options (raisins for example), go with that. Your kids might complain. Tell them to shut it and enjoy their raisins.

Go trick or treating as early as you can, get home early, and then turn around and give some candy back out! (Let your kids pick out some of their favorites to keep).

Make art projects out of the oddball candies (like those hard candy ball things, AKA evil little choking hazards). Glue them together or onto paper. Put them into a decorated bottle and turn them into maracas.

If you are REALLY lucky, maybe you have a kid with a birthday coming up in the very near future - use some candy in goodie bags for the party guests!

I realize some of these present challenges - mainly your kids not wanting to part with ANY of their candy. I don't know about other people, but with my young kids, they never get free access to their candy anyhow. I let them look through it all right away, pick a little something to enjoy right away, and then it gets put up. After that, it's easy peasy to do a little thinning out of the supply. They are so young, that the next time they are picking out a candy from the bowl, they will be concentrated on what they want to pick, and not the fact that their supply has shrunk by 75%. It's sneaky, but it works, and it's for the greater good of all involved :-)

HAPPY HALLOWEEN and BE SAFE!

When the time is right....

"I'll start tomorrow!"
"I'll start on Monday!"
"I'll start on the 1st of the month!"
"I'll start after Halloween/Thanksgiving/Christmas/New Years..."

I have heard them all and probably used them all. Statements proclaiming when you are finally going to make the changes. But we need to remember some things about timing our weight loss journeys...

First of all, it doesn't matter when you start or when you plan to start - you won't be successful if the time isn't right. By the time being right, I mean you have to be truly ready and willing to make the commitment and sacrifices necessary. If you aren't truly ready for that, it won't matter how you plan your timing.

Second of all, if you truly are ready, then why wait for tomorrow, or Monday, or next month, or after the holiday? Why can't you start NOW, with your next snack or meal? Why can you take a walk, join the gym, buy an exercise video, or try out Wii Fit TODAY? You know what they say, there is no time like the present. SO TRUE!

Finally, try to keep in mind that putting it off is only deepening the problem. Every day that you continue feeding your body junk, is another day of unhealthy. It's making it that much harder to get going. It's making it easier to continue making excuses.

Don't put it off. Make that decision, accept responsibility for where you are, and make the commitment to put in the work to get to where you want to be!!! Trust me - I may have lost a bunch of weight, but it has not been easy. It still isn't easy. I have had to work my butt off. I have made tons of mistakes along the way. I made a mistake this morning! But one thing I do have that I never had in my previous attempts, is healthy motivations and a sense of lifetime commitment.

Monday weigh in

Today's weight = 151.5. I am down almost a pound...from 4 weeks ago! :-( I could be doing so much better...I really need to get my eating under control. Back into healthy mode. I can't blame this on anyone besides myself - I am a sucker for cereal and pizza and carbs. Combine that with being really sick last week (so I didn't make it to the gym even once) - and of course I didn't really lose any weight.

This week I am feeling much better. Tonight I am headed to the gym for a 30 minute walk around the track, Zumba, a 5k run on the treadmill, and some time on the elliptical. I already didn't eat very well today - it was grocery day, and I was hungry when we went. I am determined to do better this afternoon and work out hard to help (at least a little) burn some of that JUNK off.

On the positive side, I did stock up with lots of good, healthy foods. Apples, bananas, pineapple celery, cucumbers, salad, black bean whole wheat tortillas, black beans...  I should be able to stick to my plans with all of that good food in my fridge for the week.

How are things going for you? Have you been on track, or derailing? What is your plan to get on track/stay on track?

One final note: Stay safe to all of those out there in the East who are being/will be affected by Hurricane Sandy and the resulting "Frankenstorm". I think lots of people hoped that this was a lot of media hype (not that the media would ever do that.....*dripping with sarcasm*), but as it get's closer, it really is looking like it will be as bad or worse as they were predicting. So stay safe and the nation is thinking of you!

Skinny

I thought I saw somewhere that the average model is something like 25% thinner than the average american woman. And a LOT of models have a BMI that would qualify them as being underweight.

Of course, for the average woman, there is no danger of ever being underweight...more of us are battling the weight loss game or trying to maintain our average weights... but these are the standards society is thrusting in our faces at every turn. So when you are aiming to lose weight, it can be easy to focus on wanting to simply be "thin" rather than focusing also, on your health. After all, "thin is in".

As for the ridiculous hair styles sometimes seen, let's not even go there.

Guess what. I want to look hot in a swimsuit as much as the next woman. But first of all, being a stick with bones jutting out in awkward places, and having no boobs, is not hot. Guess what else? I would much rather be a size 10, but strong and fit, than to be a size 0 and have no energy or strength. I wonder how many of these super skinny models could run long distances? Not many, considering they don't have the fuel for it in their bodies. These models are skinny-fat - and that is not where it's at.

I want to look great, be healthy, and have the strength, power and fitness to accomplish amazing things. Our bodies are capable of so much if we just treat them properly and put in the work - why would I throw that away for a flat chest and a bony ass?

*Disclaimer: I do realize there are occasions where women are underweight and honestly struggle to put weight on, just as overweight women struggle to lose it. I am absolutely NOT talking about these women and firmly believe they deserve all the same respect as an overweight person, or any person. My point is geared towards the super, ridiculously skinny models who are getting paid millions to keep their calorie intake low and their BMI even lower. I also understand there may be other factors at work - mental struggles and such. I don't mean to bang on these women personally, because I'm not in their shoes and don't know what's going on in their heads or lives. What I DO bang on, is how society is allowing this to appear as a standard. If consumers buy it and feed off of it, it won't go away. There are some great campaigns out there, such as the Dove Love your Body one and their movement for self esteem. I wish we would see more of this, including in the high fashion industry. Why can sample sizes be in the 6-12 range rather than the 00-4 range? Why can't the models be fit and curvy? Why, why why?

What are your thoughts on the super skinny models and companies that use them to promote their goods?

Diet vs Exercise

You can exercise all you want...if you eat like crap, you will not see the level of success that you would if you paired your hard work with healthy eating habits. I have seen it over and over again in myself. There have been times where I have let my diet slide (diet in the sense of what I eat, not an actual "I'm on a diet" kind of diet) but worked out hard, and seen absolutely NO movement on the scale. For weeks on end, even. When I was new at this, I was a little puzzled...how could I be working this hard and sweating like a pig, yet not losing any weight?! But once I was honest with myself (again, there's that damn honesty piece popping up), I realized that what I put in my mouth was not healthy or conducive to losing weight or getting fit. As soon as I started watching what I put in my mouth and concentrating on eating quality foods in decent quantities...the weight started coming off again.



So when you get stuck, make sure you take a good look at your habits - are you working your butt off at the gym, only to negate all that hard work with chinese take out, pizza, donuts and soda? Don't be surprised then, that you aren't seeing much progress. Even if you must take small steps towards a better diet, it's better than nothing. Keep working at matching your diet to your exercise, and success will come. You just can't give up, because these things take time. A whole lot of agonizing, frustrating time. Time that is worth it in the end!



REMEMBER: Your exercise is only as efficient as your diet allows it to be.

Motivation

It can be hard to find your motivation. Impossible, even.

Picture this: You're chillin' on the couch, your hand in a bag of chips, a container of Top the Tater on the table next to you. A pop (or soda, or coke...whichever term you prefer) within close reach. Or a beer. Or wine. Wait, chips and wine isn't classy, you say? Eh. Sounds good to me.

Anyways. Back to our imaginations...There you are, watching your favorite show. Friends reruns, The Simpsons, Grey's Anatomy, Deadliest Catch...pick your poison! And you briefly think to yourself, what am I doing? Why am I stuffing my face like this? How much have I even eaten? Man, I'm going to feel like cra - OMG I can't believe that just happened (and attention promptly goes back to the TV).

Does it sound familiar? I know it does for me. I can't even imagine how many calories I have consumed in my life through mindless eating, or bored eating, or angry eating, or simply "I don't give a f*ck" eating. Sure, the thought of finally getting on track and getting healthy always sounded great. Amazing. Spectacular, even! But wanting something and taking action to get it, are two very different things - and in order to take action, you need to have motivation. Unfortunately, "I want to be skinny" is generally not enough motivation to make a huge life change. Yes, it can be a part of what motivates you, but it needs to be paired with many other, more important motivators.

Health. Family. Children. Pride.

These are all reasons I try to keep in the forefront of my mind throughout my journey, and especially when I am stumbling and need to take a step back and remember why I am doing this. I want to be healthy, I want to feel good. I want to have energy and be confident and not have to worry as much about certain obesity related diseases and problems. I want to be around as long as possible for my family and my children. I want to be a positive influence on my children so that they never have to battle the battle I have battled (get that?). I want to be proud of myself and I want my loved ones to be proud of me, too.

Yep - It doesn't hurt that shopping is more fun. (I can fit into a SINGLE DIGIT SIZE?!? SAY WHAT?!)  Or that while I know my husband loves me no matter what, I am probably slightly more appealing, physically (though he would never admit it, but come on, he is only human!). These are somewhat shallow motivations, but important nonetheless. So don't misunderstand me - I am not saying that it's bad to care about how you look. Most people do, and it's nice to feel you look nice! I am also not saying overweight people can't look nice. They can, and many do. I am just saying, if you find this to be a motivator, then more power to you - just make sure you aren't being solely motivated by this. As exciting as "looking hot" is, it's not a deep enough reason to solely keep you going through such a long, tedious, difficult journey. Your health, well being, and family - THOSE are the types of reasons that will stick with you and help motivate you for the long haul.

Make a list, mental or hard copy - of your motivators. Include everything, big and small. When you find yourself floundering, think of or look back on your list. Take some time to really think about them and take yourself back to the beginning, when you first decided "This is it!". Take yourself back to the CORE of why you are doing what you are doing. Why you decided to undertake this amazingly hard, rewarding, frustrating journey of ups and downs. Sometimes a little reminder is all it takes to get yourself back on track!

So tell me - what are your motivators?! Big or small, let's hear em' all!

Diets, shakes, and weight loss "fads".

Disclaimer: I am not putting you down if you have tried or are currently trying any of these things. I do realize weight loss is not a one size fits all sort of thing. I am also not saying I am perfect - I obviously am NOT, as illustrated by my constant battle with weight since forever ago - not to mention the fact that nobody is perfect, anyhow. This is just my personal opinion.



Weight loss...shakes, fad diets, pills, HCG. Holy crap there is a lot of that floating around out there, and it's no wonder why, with obesity statistics the way they are. I can totally understand how it feels to be grasping at straws; at any potential quick fix or hoping that this could finally be the magic bullet that works for me.

But let's not play games or pretend. Many of these methods lead to short term weight loss, but NOT long term success. Why is that? Because who wants to drink a shake in place of breakfast every day for the rest of your life?! How sustainable is that? Sure, it's great to kick start weight loss, because you are cutting calories. But the same thing could be done simply through replacing some of your "less healthy" foods, with more healthy ones - and that, to me, is way more sustainable and enjoyable.

I'm telling you - LIFESTYLE CHANGE is where it is at. It's hard, yes. But it's TOTALLY WORTH the extra effort and time.