Great Inspiration

I knew a lot of this story from Julie, but I wanted to put up a link. Julie was so dedicated she shed the baby weight and even NURSED her son between rounds on stage! 

Meet Julie Lohre 

Tenacious Thursday!

Tenacious; adjective;
Definition: strong, unyielding
Synonyms: adamant, bound, clinging, coherent, cohesive, determined, dogged, fast, firm, forceful, inflexible, intransigent, iron, meaning business, mulish, obdurate, obstinate, persevering, persistent, persisting, pertinacious, possessive, purposeful, relentless, resolute, retentive, set, solid, spunky, stalwart, staunch, steadfast, stout, strong-willed, stubborn, sturdy, sure, tight, tough, true, unforgetful, unshakable, unswerving

Antonyms: surrendering, weak, yielding

Don't yield to your circumstances. BE TENACIOUS!!

Calendar Update

So this is what my calendar looks like so far. :)  SO happy with my progress and determination!

Struggling to stay on track?? (not me this time!)

So I still battle the sugar monster- its typically bad on Monday after the re-feed. I want more carbs.I am not lacking for food in my diet, but its always interesting to see how my body responds- but even more interesting is my mind.

When I think back on why I have struggled, there is ALWAYS some emotional tie. In the recent years (and this has LONG been a habit dating back to high school) I "medicated" with food. Whatever sugary or salty fix that would pump up the endorphins and make me feel less crappy about life I would consume. I found that anger was the biggest fuel. Feeling the lack of control in other situations, feeling neglected or rejected meant "loving ME" by eating. Ben & Jerry sure loved me, right? The bliss in my mouth soon became shame, more anger, frustration and hopelessness. The times I tried to stick with programs, I was successful for short bursts, but I never dealt with all the emotional components. This thing called weight loss (I prefer fat loss); this journey to be healthier is so much more than eating the right foods and doing the right workouts. It is absolutely imperative to break the emotional ties we have to food. Certain foods are comforting. They remind us of times in our lives, people, memories... The worst part though, is the physical reactions that take place. Peanut butter and chocolate have an unnatural power over me. LOL There are lots of associations for things in my life, but there is a very real physical reaction when I eat that combo that calls out for more! Breaking the emotional tie is the first and biggest step, but there is a fight to release the physical addiction as well.
Don't be fooled into thinking that just sheer will power alone will help you eat right. It does take a lot of that! It is a mind over matter issue! You have to be strong, but you have to have ammo for the physical too. WATER. Drinking water, eating veggies, exercising. These things can help keep the temptations weak. In the end you have to choose, but it helps to know what you are really up against. Break the emotional ties first. Then be prepared for the physical ties and this journey gets a little bit easier.

I am staying aware of what I am wanting and why. It has now come down to I want a strong, healthy and thinner body and I want it more than the short term fixes that junky food offers. I'm not saying I never want something unhealthy, but as each day progresses, I am feeling stronger and wanting my healthy foods more than anything.

Please, if you can...

I know times are tough. If you can spare anything...  Donate to Alzheimer's Association on my behalf for my birthday wish....

Visualization is KEY

When I think back on all the things I accomplished in high school, the main theme is that I saw myself accomplishing those goals. No one told me I had to visualize my goals coming true. Somehow, I had some confidence- perhaps I was just a cocky teenager? I was determined. Absolutely willful in everything I did. I'm quite sure my parents wanted to choke me at times. Haha. The point is, I was determined to succeed- to get whatever it was I wanted. I SAW those accomplishments before they happened. I FELT them. I had some frivolous goals- like winning the AFJROTC Military Ball Queen. Why? I don't know. I just really wanted it. I guess it was something that I thought would make me special. So... I saw myself winning. I felt that tiara on my head, the sash over my dress and the smile on my face when I won. Notice I said WHEN.  Sure I had moments of doubt and fear, but I spent more time focusing on winning. Same thing for first chair position in band, becoming a drum major, honor guard captain, creating a mounted horse unit for an opening ceremony for a drill meet, organizing a huge food drive that was amazingly successful... if I think about those accomplishments, I SAW and FELT success.  

That vision and feeling is what I've been lacking in a lot of my adult life. When I go for job interviews, I have that same determination and vision, but elsewhere is when I struggle. Life in general is good at smacking you around. If you don't hold fast to those dreams and visions, you can easily be led astray into the cloudy muck or daily surviving. People you meet in life aren't always nice. But there are plenty of nice and encouraging people out there. Those are the people to surround yourself with. Surrounding myself with like-minded and positive people have helped me so often. 

Pauline's blog gives me the kick in the butt I need. The Co-Diva Forums give me the friendship and positive feedback, my blog and blogging friends provide information and friendship... environment makes a difference. But the KEY in all of this- Visualization. I MUST see and feel success. So far its working great. I refuse to see myself as tired and frumpy and angry. I see myself as strong, slender, at peace... I see myself as determined and successful. I see my tiny waist and my strong, robust shoulders. I feel my shoulders growing when I work them. I see myself smiling and full of grace as I pose. I feel great and my body is responding...  

TRY IT!!

Jam Packed Post Ahead!! Greek Yogurt & Headphones!

First- personal progress updates.

December 28th is when I started my first clean eating day. I weighed in at 201.8. I am ashamed that I let myself get to that point again, but I know the path and emotions that got me there and I am no longer walking that path. I started following the Fighter Diet that I purchased. I only purchased the one week program because honestly, I've been on a tight budget. So I set off with high hopes and extreme determination.

January 1- I weighed in after only 4 days. My whole point in doing that was that I was starting a fresh year and Fridays are a better weigh in day since my re-feeds are Sundays. 197.4 . - 4.4lbs  Baby! 

I was worried about how this new plan was going to go. I had to alter it a bit because of the fish portion. I don't know that I have a true allergy, but I get terrible heartburn and fish burps for hours after. I hate the taste anyway. I tried and tried to get over the taste but in the end, the heartburn and fish burps did it in. So I subbed in LF chicken breasts in the bigger meals and Greek yogurt for one of the meals each day. This has obviously worked fine. Its about nutrient ratios and calories, so I did my best to make sure I was hitting those. So I weighed in today... 193.2 !  -4.2! WooHoo! Total  - 8.6  I'm on fire! :)

In Summary:

Dec 28th- 201.8

Jan 1st -   197.4

Jan 8th -   193.2

So far- - 8.6lbs! 

Okay, I have to share a few more things.

I am a fan of  FAGE Greek Yogurt.  It is definitely good and good for you. I want to give props to Stonyfield Farm though. Oikos Organic Greek Yogurt is fabulous!!! I didn't even know they had such a thing! I have gotten lots of their regular cow yogurt over the years and I love that they are an organic farm. This was such a great surprise. I went to a different grocery store in a pinch and discovered these gems. They have single serves, 4-packs and pints. I am a huge fan of the 4-packs- lower in calories although they do have some sugar from the fruit if you get that kind. I add in half a scoop of protein powder and its perfect! 25g protein and 12g carbs. Plain is much lower in carbs- coming in at only 5g. These are perfect treats. You feel like you are cheating with something bad, but they are so healthy!  Why Greek Yogurt? "Greek yogurt has an incredibly rich and creamy texture, about twice the protein of regular yogurt, less lactose, and fewer carbs."

So yeah, if your meal plan allows- I HIGHLY recommend trying Stonyfield Farm's Oikos Organic Greek Yogurt!

My next new favorite product- Altec Lansing/Plantronics 903 BackBeat wireless headphones. They are  Bluetooth headphones so your music device needs to have that capability. I use my iPhone which has a built in iPod.  I can't even begin to express my joy at using these! The sound quality is fantastic. They are lightweight, easy to use, comfortable- even for my small ears, and most importantly there is freedom in having no wires- anywhere. No cords out or inside your shirt. Nothing to untangle... I don't do well with cords, so these are perfect!! Plus they stay on my head when I am doing jumping jacks, jump rope and running. I believe there is another model- the 906 that has a Bluetooth transmitter so if your device doesn't have Bluetooth in it already you can get the other model and still take advantage of these awesome headphones!! I see that some people have reviewed these and gotten defective ones. I haven't had any issues. Hope I don't. I got mine from the AT&T store. They do carry a one year warranty, so if something goes wrong I can bring them back. Overall the reviews for these earpieces are great.

Suit?

I love, love, love this suit... 

Happy New Year!

Wishing everyone a fantastic New Year. Forget the past regrets. Move forward with determination and fervor.

This year is my year. I am declaring victory over obstacles and the achievement of dreams.

I woke up this morning to a kind scale. I am down 4lbs from Monday. I have been so diligent in my diet. I was so please to see this change! I was really weighing in for my 2010 start. My calendar is ready to rock with stars. I have the last 4 days of December filled up. Creating my own calendar took things to the next level and that really made it even more special. It's more important to do it right now more than ever.

My birthday is in 2 weeks. My goal is to be down 8lbs or more. I am keeping my precious muscle. I am eating on schedule and consuming enough protein. I am so pumped. I know that my dreams are coming true this year. I can feel it. I am determined and I can SEE it. I really can envision my success- my accomplishments are real.

On top of the hundreds of things I want to accomplish, I am going to make a special effort to pause each day in gratitude. I had a rough 2009. I sure wasn't alone in that, but I made it. I made it to another year, another decade. That's just the start....