Today is a new day

I mentioned at the beginning of 2009 that I was going to make a point to do my daily reading, journaling (and exercising?) every day....not to play catch-up later. I have been doing it. There has been no letting up. I have been neglectful of this blog, but unfortunately, I don't have an epiphany everyday.

Because of the snow day today, I did my daily reading this morning in bed while the kids watched TV. I read a very powerful excerpt from a book titled Hope For Today. "...Coming to terms wtih my history and letting go of it....allows me to enjoy today and to move into the future....I (have to) give my self the chance to have a better day."

Although, not WW material, this really hit home for me, esp. since I have been arguing with myself about my 3/4 journal (you know--the one where I did not write down any of my dinners) and calculating the points for dinner, along with drinking my milk.

All of this almost happened just by accident. I did not mean to forget. I just did. I wrote down everything else. It did not even dawn on me that this was happening until I went back to reflect on what I did this week. I realized what happened BECAUSE of my reflection. Thank God I was writing it down (or not) so that I could figure this out.

Anyway, what .....lost my train of thought....had to go deal with very hyper children.

Today I measured, calculated and documented points for dinner. I still have one left. I know, right? What do you do with one point? Perhaps a glass of wine and some Weekly Points Allowance, but not before a workout.

I know that I can forgive myself for the mistakes I made yesterday and start over today, if I need to.

Today's diddy: "The difference between FAT and FIT is 'I'."--Author Unknown

"If it is to be, it is up to me"

This is so true. I am the only one who can make my lifestyle changes. I am the only one who can lose my weight. I am the only one who can control my thoughts and actions. I am the only one responsible for me.

The following poem is from a leader in Oklahoma:

Changing negatives to positives, that is the key

If I want to get healthy it's all up to me

The plan really works. It's been proven, you see

If I want to get healthy, it's all up to me

I'll set short-term goals, new behaviors I'll see

If I want to get healthy it's all up to me

It's never too late to set old habits free

If I want to get healthy it's all up to me

I'm fee to make choices I understand how

My life will be better starting right now

I'll reward my successes, confident I will be

My new healthy lifestyle shows me all I can be

I love being here for you. I also love being here for me. I hope that you will (if you don't already) feel the same way too.

I have to be the one who makes the decision. Have you made your decision? What are you willing to do to make weight-loss happen for you? What are you willing to commit to today? There is no waiting until tomorrow. Tomorrow will never come. The decision has to be made NOW. You are important NOW. Tomorrow may be too late. What ARE you waiting for?

There will always be a reunion, a wedding, a holiday, a gathering of some kind, someone in from out of town, something that "throws your week off". The decision has to be made to not let that happen. We have the tools. Let's use them.

I am willing to write down what I eat for dinner (some reason this one has been forgotten lately). I am willing to measure out and count up the points in what is made for dinner, EVEN if it means dinner gets on the table 10-15 minutes late. (This too, has been a downfall of mine this week.) I am willing to drink the correct amount of milk each day. (Some days I don't WANT to give up the points for milk, even though I KNOW I should.)

There. Now you have my commitment for the rest of the week. What about you?! What are you going to do?

I found all the answer (in our manual) to the question that needed to be answered. I hope that everyone stays tuned for some good information Saturday.

Stay warm. Be safe. Don't go out if you don't have to. Make a snow angel. Throw a snowball.

Expect a big crowd Saturday, the Tuesday meeting is being cancelled because of the weather.

Today's diddy: "Great works are performed not by strength, but by perserverance." --Samuel Jackson

What ARE you hungry for?

Sometimes I feel like we just don't have enough time in the meeting to cover everything that needs be covered. I hope that what we do talk about is helpful for YOU. I also hope that you don't feel slighted at all, because of this. I try to allow for freedoms without straying too much for those who want to hear the message.

JUST one of the many things I love about this job is that people come up to me after the meeting to talk. I love being there for you. I hope that it helps. Today one very "on track" woman came up to me after the meeting to tell me a very powerful story. (So don't get mad if I repeat this next week, OK?)

A very caring woman was working with a group of overweight teenagers. These were not just "average" overweight teens, they were hundreds of pounds overweight. (Side note: I cannot relate with being THAT overweight, because I have not been there. However, I CAN relate to being so overweight that I was depressed. I was disgusted with myself. I had low self-esteem. I was just not happy. You know what I am talking about, right?!)

At the beginning of this very powerful, moving journey that this woman spent with the teens, she asked in her most caring voice, "What are you hungry FOR?" Make sure to put emphasis on the 'for'. Think about this.

This is kind of what we were talking about today. Is it really food? Or is it companionship? is it the "feel good" feeling? is it happiness? is it comfort? is it dreamy (you know as if you are someone else somewhere else)? Perhaps it is another feeling or emotion you are wanting to feed.

Is food the answer?

WOW!!!!! THAT is some powerful stuff right there. That is so powerful, it could leave a mark.

I will let you ponder that for a bit as I need to do some additional research on the points question from this morning. I have part of my answer from my manager, but need to find the rest of the answer in our manual. I will have good stuff to share with you Saturday. I hope you are there. We could all use some good information.

In the meantime, today's diddy is:
"What are you willing to do this week in order to lose weight? DO IT!!" --Dorothy Young, Receptionist

Apply Past Knowledge

Isn't this what life and WW is all about? If we don't learn from our mistakes, we don't learn. Remember when you were trying to teach your child a life lesson or just something simple. I suppose to the really young ones, something simple IS a life lesson. You know, like don't put your hand in the hinge side of the door while closing it...your fingers will get smashed. Or, pull your pants down all the way before you go potty.....or your pants will get weeeee'd on. (boy or girl) Or, tie your shoes all the way....you may trip. How about: use your words instead of your fists.....you'll get a lot more accomplished.

At our house we call them learning opportunities or learning experience.

What do we learn in WW from which we can learn?

• I learned that I do better on each day when I take my vitamin.
• I learned that if I don't track what I eat, I will OVEReat.
• I learned that exercising makes me feel good.
• I learned that I HAVE to be held accountable with someone else.
• I learned that Measuring out my food and weighing it helps me keep my portions the right size.
• I learned that when I do weigh my food, I generally get more food for the points.
• I learned that I have support at my WW meeting.
• I learned that there are people I can call if I need to who understand how I am feeling and what I am going through.
• I learned that it is easier for me to do the right thing when I ask for help from those around me.

And all of these things, I have learned from making mistakes. Some were easy to spot, others I needed someone to point them out. Some were easy to fix, some not-so-much.

Let's all try a little harder to keep our fingers out of the doorway, so we don't get pee'd on.

Today's diddy: "I've never made a mistake. I've only learned from experience." --Thomas Edison

Slacking....or just out of things to say?

I am not sure what is happening to me lately. I know. I used to blog daily. Not so much anymore it seems like, huh?

Saturday we were really busy putting together new electronic equipment. For whatever reason, this took the better part of 5 hours. I had to meet with a friend later and still be a (step-) mom to everyone in the house until then. Sunday we had church, groceries, cleaning and dinner at my mom's.

You know what is fabulous? My mom and her husband made a dinner and actually took my WW program into account. I did not realize that I spoke this much about it to them. Maybe I don't. Maybe I just work it and they "see" it. I did not gorge on as many cookies this Christmas as I had in the past. Maybe they saw that.

Anyway, we had pork steaks, mashed potatoes, corn and gravy. I know, right? Fat, starch and starch. What a meal. And how do I think that they took me into consideration? Well, my mother's husband asked if my son needed a smaller plate. I said, "He doesn't, but I do." I was accommodated. It was nice. I ate only what I "needed"....less than one steak, 1 spoonful of potatoes, and one also of corn. No seconds. The best part is: no one balked at me and my plate size.

Dessert: Sugar-free jello with strawberries and whipcream. YUM.

Then, I got to educate my (nurse) mom on diet. I know that she knows this stuff, but I suppose we forget when we don't use it regularly. Her and her husband are trying to lose weight. Of course, he is doing better than she. Isn't that the way it always goes. Guys before gals.

She is frustrated because she had a big bagel with cream cheese and an orange for mid-morning breakfast so she did not eat lunch. What is wrong with this picture? No lunch. Big bagel. Cream cheese. Gee, mom. Let's look at this again.

I want her to do well. I think it would be worth her while to make it to a WW meeting. I'm not sure she would ever listen to me when I say that. She really likes to eat when she wants, what she wants and how she wants.

Today has been a good day so far. Lunch was fun. I had what felt like to me a HUUUUUGE bowl of fruit for zero points. I weighed out each individually, each equalling zero. YUM. Naturally, I supplemented with a sugar-free chocolate pudding. Later, the kids want me to make smoothies. 2 plastic (Solo) cups for 2 points total. More YUM.

This coming Saturday we will be finishing our fourth week of the year. How are you doing with your goals? Are you making it? What major change have you made in order to make that happen? Are you being consistent? Are you being faithful to yourself? Are you taking time for you?

Re-evaluate your progress every 3-4 weeks. Check that you are on track, making progress.

I will tell you that I am getting ready to complete my 4th goal of my new journey. I know that it will happen this week, along with consistantly staying at my 10 pound loss. (You know how one day it is here, and the next it is gone, but then returns a day or two later.)

Today's diddy: "Nothing is impossible to a willing heart. " --John Heywood.

Just a simple poem...

The Bottom Line

by Anonymous

Face it.

Nobody owes you a living.

What you achieve or fail to achieve in your lifetime

is directly related to what you do

or fail to do.

No one chooses his parents or childhood

but you can choose your own direction.

Everyone has problems and obstacles to overcome

but that too is relative to each individual.

Nothing is carved in stone.

You can change anything in your life

if you want to badly enough.

Excuses are for losers.

Those who take responsibility for their actions

are the real winners in life.

Winners meet life's challenges head on

knowing there are no guarantees

and give it all they've got.

It's never too late or too early to begin.

Time plays no favorites

and will pass whether you act or not.

Take control of your life.

Dare to dream and take risks.

If you aren't willing to work for your goals,

don't expect others to.

Believe in yourself.

I thought this was motivational enough to be THE blog and the diddy. I hope that you get as much out of it as I did. Love you.

Relay For Life

I would like to get a group together to participate in Relay For Life. There are two to choose from. May 1-2 or May 8-9. May 1 is in Festus at the high school track. The other is at the high school track in the Northwest R1 school district.

Free to sign up. Booths and things to pay for along the way. It is all to raise money. Stay as late as you want. Party ends at 6am. Plenty of things to do for the whole family.

Think about it and we will talk.

I might be back later, so I am not giving you a diddy yet.

See the light.

Hope you are having a good day. I am. I can feel myself getting hungry. I would like to eat, but I still have students in the room for a few more minutes. No worries, I will be ok.

Today I would like to talk about using the tools of the program. There are sooo many out there. Of course, you are reading one. There are the weekly meetings. My favorites: measuring spoons, electronic scale, points calculator, tracker. Etools. WW magazine. Weightwatchers.com. Cookbooks. Portion control. Exercise videos. Pedometers. Your before and after pictures. Stepping on the scale. And countless others.

What are your favorites? What do you use regularly? Which would you recommend to friends? Which do you avoid, why?

If we use all of the tools of the program, or at least the ones we know will benefit us, why should we not succeed? We will. That's it. We carry with us everyday all of the things we need to be successful. We therefore, should be successful. Only when we decide to go it alone or chuck the tools we need, are we going to have a hard time with the program.

We need to stay faithful. Carry the tools with you. Make yourself a notecard to carry that reminds you of something you have a hard time with. Put a post-it note somewhere visible. Have it read a positive thing that will help you. Carry an anchor in your pocket....like that rock I gave you, or your before photo (wallet size) or whatever.....your Making it Mine in 2009 pencil.

The program is harder, like walking in the dark, without the tools.

Today's diddy: "He who carries his own lantern, need not worry in darkness." Hasilu (?) saying. (Sorry, I left my book at home with the quote in it.)

Fluke, coincidence or pattern

I did not see this happen a lot this last Saturday, but I know that I have heard it a ton in the past. I guess, I just don't understand. I get being excited about a weight-loss. I get being disappointed when you did everything right and had a loss or stayed the same. Here is what I don't understand:

Jenny enthusiastically asks, "How are you?"
General response, before or while stepping on the scale, "I don't know, we' ll find out."

Now wait just a minute. I asked you how you were doing on that question, not "how was your week." You know that you should not let your mood be determined by what the scale reads, right? I mean, let's get real here people. We know before we step on (myself included) if we had a "bad week or not." And truly it is not about if we had a bad week, it is about if we made good choices or not. We choose to be good or be bad.

I have to be responsible for my own happiness. I can take what happens at the scale after I weigh in and learn from it, or make an excuse about it. Learning helps me to lose weight in the future. Making an excuse gives me a reason to be bad one more week.

I have to choose to be good. Even if it hurts my "feelings". Naturally, sometimes I would love to have the juicy, greasy burger and fries over the healthy, colorful salad with chicken. But I KNOW how I am going to feel. More importantly, I know what I am going to have to admit to myself later.

First mistake might be a fluke. Second mistake could be a coincidence. Third mistake is a pattern. When I know that I am about to make a bad choice, I have to remember that I have decided to change my attitude (and my body, for my health), my expectations and my responses.

When I get to that place of I know that what I am doing is the right thing for me, I can make better choices for me and my family. My attitude is get healthy, stay healthy. My expectations are to supply myself with the necessary food choices so that I can keep this attitude. (If I allow junk food in the house I know what is going to happen....I am going to eat it until it is gone, and usually no one else in the house helps.) My responses are obviously good ones. I eat the right things. I stay away from the sugary foods. We don't have cakes, pies, cookies in the house. If someone brings it over as a guest, it also leaves with them. That cake may visit my house, but may not reside there.

I clearly thought in the past that I could continue to make choices that I had convinced myself were only happening every once in awhile. When in reality I was making those choices on regular basis (more than twice a day). This was a REAL pattern for me.

Do you have a pattern that you would like to stop? Here are some tips:

• First, identify the pattern. Name it.
• Second, recognize that this is a problem in your life. Claim it.
• Third, ask yourself what you need to do to get rid of it. Tame it.

And now you are on your way to eliminating one bad behavior. Good luck. I love you.

Today's diddy: "You must do the thing you think you cannot do." --Eleanor Roosevelt.

I am still here

I have a lot to say. But not now. I am headed to bed, and it is late. I will be on tomorrow though. I got caught up this weekend on my household chores. I feel better about that, but I do miss being here to type. I ran across something else in my nightly readings which really got me thinking. I have to have the book in front of me without any distractions in order to make it good. So, I will get back with you tomorrow sometime.

I hope it is worth the wait.

By the way, (in case you did not notice) I was 100% pumped up with the number of people at the meeting Saturday. I found out after you left that we had 47 people walk through the door, and of those 46 stayed for the meeting. We missed you, even though you had to go to work. Isn't that incredible? I love that!!!!!

Keep comin' back. It works, when you work it.

Every week I get so excited about the weight loss (esp. for the 3 month journal holder) and about seeing so many of you continue to come. I think it is great. We are going to make so many fabulous things happen this year.

Today's diddy: "Don't exchange what youwant most for what you want at the moment." --Lynn Greenling, Leader.

Track. Count. Measure. Together.

I am feeling good. Are you?! Today is a good day. I had a plan yesterday and I stuck to it. Down again. I am working my plan for today also. So far, so good. I even had biscuits and gravy for breakfast this morning. I skipped my normal lunch time since I was not yet hungry, but will have to eat soon. I can feel it.

This is going to be so much fun. I already know what I am having for dinner. Planned that out yesterday. This evening I will be sitting down with my children to enjoy some popcorn. Yum.

I had to do one of those dreadful middle-of-the-week grocery shops yesterday. On my way there, I got to thinking (gosh I do a lot of that thinking stuff lately. hurtful). Losing weight is a LOT easier than maintaining it. Anyone out there know what I mean???!!

How many times have we "gone off the wagon", because we thought we "had a handle" on it? Twice for me, unless you count the one while I was working for WW. Ok. I'll say it out loud THREE TIMES FOR ME. There, happy?

Getting a handle on it is the hard part. We get comfortable. We think we don't have to measure anymore, because we "already know" how much that amount should look like. We think we don't have to track our points anymore, because we have "eaten the same things for months/years". We think we can have an oops day(s). And when they are dayS, we think that we can "make up for that later this week with a hard workout (which may-or may not ever come).

Why does this happen?

What needs to happen after we lose the weight so that it does not come back? TRACK IT. COUNT IT. MEASURE IT. Whatever it is that is going to keep you accountable. We can't get relaxed with this once we meet our goal. Why? We end up having to lose it all again. That is no fun. Why not just keep it off to begin with?

Because it is not easy. Simple program, difficult to do. I know. I get it. That is why I am here also. So, let's do it together. You and me together, partners. Lifetimers.....plug in here with thoughts. We would LOVE to hear them.

This is a fun journey. Not to be stressful.

Today's diddy: "Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you'll land among the stars." --Les Brown

Blog less, Workout More.

Tonight is the night for the extra long workout. See you Saturday. (Well, I might be back tomorrow.)

Speaking of tomorrow, I have NO plans to cancel Saturday's meeting because of the weather. If Gail and Kellie cannot make it, I will be there to at least weigh you in. I can't do both the meeting and weigh you in. So....let's see what happens.

Love ya.

Today's diddy: "Choice, not chance, determines destiny." (Why I am working out longer today and having a shorter blog.) --Author Unkown

From the Heart

I told you that I was going to start getting serious about some things. One of which is my nightly readings. Last night I read about asking for help. And asking for help from someone special....a close friend, a caring family member, a fellow WW member, whomever.

I have a special friend like that. She helps me reason things out in all aspects of my life. She also happens to be a WW member. This helps, but this is not our main focus when we get together weekly to talk. I know that I need her, and that life would be harder without her. She knows first hand of the troubles that I have been through in life.

What I read last night is that even though I have her help (like you have ours/mine), it is my reponsibility to solve my own problems (with the help of God).

I have had many problems in WW. Let's start with becoming overweight. That was the obvious problem. DER. It is out there for everyone to see. For a long time, though, I could not see it. In my mind I was thin and beautiful. I was in a "big, fat state of denial", as they say. (Pun fully intended.) I thought that I had control over things. I thought that if no one saw me eat, it was not going to become fat on my body. I thought I could have just one bite and that was enough. I thought I could fit into and feel ok in my "skinny" jeans when I had soooo much to loose still. I thought I could eat whatever I wanted. I thought I could have fast food multiple times a week and multiple times a day sometimes. And I thought I could do all of it alone. I thought I, "if I wanted to, I could lose the weight. I have done it before. I just don't want to right now." (Remember at this time, I am still thinking that I am thin and beautiful.)

I finally came to an abrupt realization that I was overweight. My mother's husband, you have heard me talk about him. Lost weight. Had struggles. Got pregnant. Gained a LOT of weight. Had baby. Came back.

I must have been at WW for 6-8 months when I started to approach my goal. There was an opening for a receptionist, and I grabbed at it. I was within a few pounds of my goal, and hired. This motivated me to get all the way there. Receptionist position worked out fine for me. The position kept me in check for a while.....

Then the denial was back. REMEMBER: THIS is about ME. It is NOT meant to OFFEND anyone.

Well, I had a holiday to celebrate. Teacher work-days at the beginning of the year are hard, because everyone goes out to eat. One of the kids had a birthday. My Dad had people over. Kevin had an episode. I treated the kids to McDonald's because they had good days at school. I am retaining water. I had Chinese last night. I used all of my flex points yesterday. I am on medication. I just had surgery.

I simply could not escape my own excuses. They sure did sound good at the time, though. Whatever it took to justify why I was not doing what I should be doing. I wanted someone to tell me it was ok to screw up. Funny thing is, people did.

The truth of the matter is, I knew all along that none of these excuses were doing me any good. Sure the food tasted good, or at least the first few bites did. But other than that, what did I have to show for it? I was above my goal for way too long considering I work for a weight-loss compamny. My clothes did NOT fit.....I could not sit comfortably in ANY pants, I could not WAIT to unsnap (and sometimes unzip) in the car on the way home from work and the seams were ripping in some of my pants. I did not feel pretty. I could not stand to look at myself after a shower. I definately did not want my husband to look at me like that. "That" aspect of my life was hard too, because of the way I felt about myself.

At some points, I felt like I was on this Merry-Go-Round. I felt bad. I ate. I had guilt. I ate. I felt bad. I ate. I had guilt. I ate. I don't think I was ever happy with the way I felt.

What I know now is this:

• I make my own decisions. Those decisions WILL effect my attitude tomorrow as well as what the scale reads in the morning. I have to be ok with my decisions. I have to weigh my options while making each decision---will I be ok about this tomorrow? Will I have remorse/guilt/sadness/anger about this tomorrow?

• I also know that when I make a mistake there is a reason. Not an excuse. If I mess up, it is because I made a bad choice about something. I chose to eat more points than I should have. I chose not to exercise. I chose to not write it down 2 days this week. I made those choices. They did not happen by accident. They happened on purpose. I need to own up to it, and not make excues. The reason why I gain weight is because I chose to screw up this week. It is my own fault.

• I know that what happens in my life, in my weight-loss, in my career is my responsibility. (Sometimes, I need God's help to remember that, or my good friend.) Granted, I cannot control everything....I learned that one a LOOOONG time ago. But HOW I react is completely up to me. That is my responsibility. I don't have to eat, just because something good or something bad happened to me. I can choose not to do that.

Don't get me wrong, I am not being hard on myself. I did my reading last night, and this stuff just came to me. I need to own up. Be a (wo-)man.

• Now that I know what my weaknesses are, I know what I need to do to avoid those.
• I know how to control myself or take myself out of a situation if I cannot.
• I know how to say, "no thank you."
• I know that I have support.
• I know that I have to go to work Saturday morning and stand in front of a great crowd of people and facilitate a weight-loss meeting.
• I know.....I can't do it alone.

Today's diddy: "We cannot climb a rope that is attached only to our own belt." --William Ernest Hocking

Do something for yourself

I just read the comments from the last post. I appreciate that. I, like Tracey, have set some guidelines for myself. I decided Sunday night that since this was a new year, I should also make some goals for myself, besides my weight-loss ones. (As if that is not enough)

Since the kids are in bed by 7 pm, this gives me time to do a short workout. Half hour. Followed by taking care of myself--a few (not sweaty) crunches, a facial, make a flip chart if needed and do some reading. I have gotten away from the reading for a while. I need to get back to that. I don't have the time schedule set, but I do want to try to be in bed with my books by 8:30, 8:45 at the latest. This gives me time to settle down before I actually need to fall asleep.

I knew this was something I needed to do for myself. I found that I was not getting the right number of sleep for my body. Do you know that your body NEEDS sleep in order stay healthy? It is an important part of weight-loss too.

I hope that you find what is important to you, and make a plan to have that happen for yourself. You need to advocate for YOU every once in awhile. YOU are important. YOU matter. YOU have value. YOU are needed.

Remember that you have to take care of yourself first, before you can care for anyone else. That is why you have to grab your oxygen mask first, then take care of the ones next to you on the plane.

Today's diddy: "We always have time for the things we put first." --Author Unknown

Had to ramble for a bit...sorry.

Another GREAT meeting Saturday. I don't know about you, but I always leave there motivated to succeed. You guys just pump me up. We also had 5 new friends added to our group. Isn't that exciting? I can't remember the last time that I had that many people at a Getting Started Session. How much fun is that?

I know that you are on the road to doing great things with whatever your goal is for 2009. I hope that you have by now, choosen one thing (remember your assignment for the week?) to change in your lifestyle to allow for that goal to happen. Make the committment to make that happen by Saturday. I know that you can.

I would really like the chance to get to know some of you better. I never see some of you at the scale any more. I hope that you are not avoiding me. I want to be there to support you, cheer you, and help you when you need it. I don't know if you are losing or gaining...losing, I hope. Every once in a while, switch scales or make a point to visit me.

Christmas break for me over tomorrow. No saddness though. My weight has been down, then up, then down again for this little vacation. So, what I have been wondering the last couple of days is this...will I do better back at work or not? I had a few days when I did not go downstairs (where the kitchen and food are) some days until anywhere between 10 am and noon. Lunch time. Dinner is usually around 4-5 pm. And I don't usually eat after that. So, weight-loss was easy on those days, especially if we did not have anywhere to go.

On workdays, LUNCH is still between 10 am and noon, but I have also worked half the day. Why does this worry me? I have done this before. It is not hard. I will let you know if/when I come up with an answer to that question. I suppose I am not really worried about eating at work. I may be more worried about the "bet" with my aide. I was hoping to be down JUUUUst a bit more than I am right now for our first weigh-in of the year.

Mind you, I am very competitive. Maybe it is the loss of control thing...I have no idea where I stand with her, how she has been doing, whatever,.... Maybe it is the stigma of being a WW leader and being in competition with a NON-WW person. OMG!! What will they think if I lose? Who is THEY anyway, and why do I care so much? Who knows? I suppose that I will have to get over it FAST.

I know what happened the last time I was in a competition like this....I LOST. Yikes, did I ever lose. NOT good.

Ok. That is over. I don't have to lose. Nor do I have to worry about her winning, right? I mean if this helps her to lose the weight she wants to, then good for her. I will lose the weight I want to, it just might not be before her. That is ok. I don't really have a date in mind for my goal. I just have the goal. (Although, by summer would be fun.)

Well, maybe I should have a goal date. That would give me reason to be motivated. So, how do you pick a date? I won't be in a wedding, I won't be getting family pictures anytime soon, I am not in a beauty pagent, mmmmmmm. How do I do this? Any ideas?

Mother's day.

James' kindergarten graduation is right after that. We have 2 birthday parties at the end of the month. Swimsuit season is right around the corner. It may be giving myself too far ahead, though. I only have about 8-10 to lose to be where I want to be. I will have to think about this for a while.

Today's diddy: "Not to decide....is to decide." --Author Unknown

Small portions. Make a Journal. A-HA.

Ok. So yesterday I was watching an episode of The Early Show and I caught a glimse of this article hosted by a nutrition professor at the University of Eastern Illinois. It was one of those a-ha moments. He professes that anyone can lose weight with an exercise routine and smaller portion sizes. One could even go to fast food daily and lose weight.

A-HA. Weight Watchers. Isn't this what we do, ladies (and gentleman)? Portion control. Can't we eat "whatever we want"? Count the points, use Filling Foods.

This was the experiment that the man did to prove his point. (Excuse me for a moment if you saw this already.) He took two separate groups. Each group was told that they could help themselves to the ice cream buffet he provided. Have whatever kind of ice cream you want, use any or all of the toppings, have seconds if you want. He told the second, yet separate group the same thing. The first group was given a LARGE scooper, LARGE bowls and LARGE spoon with which to eat. Many had seconds. Each filled their bowl to the brim. And most importantly, everyone in the group felt satisifed when they were finished.

The second group was given a SMALL scoop, SMALL bowls, and the LITTLE sampler-type spoon with which to eat. Very few had seconds. Each filled their bowl to the brim. And most importantly, everyone in the group felt satisified when they were finished.

When the groups were brought back together and told of the differences, the comments were just as I had expected them to be (yet they were surprised for some reason). When you eat with smaller tools, you eat less. It takes some time to feel satisifed. By the time you are finished taking ALL OF THOSE small bites in order to finish your food, you are satisified. When you eat with larger tools, it takes less time to eat. You don't know that you are satisifed yet, because it has not registered.

It does not take much to fill you up, or make you feel satisfied. Take your time. Think small. Think big goals with small tools. Think portion control. Think writing it down. Even people who lose weight without weight watchers start with a daily journal. It is amazing how much we eat that we don't realize. Once we start writing it down, it becomes real.

Today's diddy: " What's important is not necessarily where you are, but inwhat direction you are going." --Oliver Wendel Holmes.
What is the lesson?