I've had a tough few days, breathing-wise, and as a consequence, eating wise. I've been wanting salt, and I have slacked off mywater, so I'm bloated as a result. (Time to guzzle water and coconut water.) Bleh.
But I decided not to get into that negative mindset that goes into attack mode: Why didn't you eat more potassium-rich foods, dummy? Why did you have to have that salty soup, idiot?
No, none of that.
Here's why:
Yes, I weighed myself this morning, and got bummed over the bloat-weight. BUT...
I was listening to the radio while getting ready to go to Pilates (my first class since over three weeks ago, when I stopped going due to my breathing issues.) I am still not completely well. I'm still congested. But instead of feeling like someone was sitting on my chest and strangling me, it feels like they got off my chest and just have their hands around my throat and pressing a bit. It's improvement, though hardly wonderful. But I figured if all I could do was stretch, then that's what we'd do. I felt all stiff from sitting/lying around for 3.5 weeks. So, I needed, NEEDED, to get some exercise/stretching.
So, back to my morning moment: I was listening to the radio show in the bathroom, one on a local Christian station, and a lady who got up to 350 pounds was talking about her personal journey. And she said that the thing that clicked, that got her to begin to shed the weight was realizing and accepting how very much she was loved. That even at 350 pounds, her husband loved her, and God loved her. Being fat or skinny has no effect on true love. It shouldn't.
Hearing that reminded me that even I don't have a right to hate myself. It's counterproductive.
I turned my thoughts toward the loving and positive. I asked God to help me through the day, and I prayed for a few other folks,too. I decided NOT to berate myself, but love myself TODAY. I refused to get on the self-insulting bandwagon.
Pilates went better than I expected. It was very hard--some positions didn't let me breathe, so we couldn't do some stuff. But my wonderful trainer is a pro at finding how to make stuff work, no matter the obstacle. I didn't get as tough as workout as when I'm well, and yet I got to the point of some muscles burning and trembling. And I got props for keeping my abdominals engaged. Tough when oxygen is at a premium and I had to use mouth-inbreathing (which is normally a no-no in Pilates).
Next, I come home and I put on Oprah. The show (just finished) was a follow-up to the Best Life week of shows. And Oprah, talking about her own weight loss journey of today, says, "It begins with love."
So that's two women with weight issues who both say this: START WITH LOVE.
Accept love--from God, from others, FROM YOURSELF. Give love, especially when you are hating yourself for whatever slip or bad choice. Don't ever hate on yourself (much less others). That doesn't help.
And love the body you have now, as Oprah said, because it's the body that God is blessing you in..now..today.
So, with that said, on to a book review:
Yesterday, I got myself a new "weight loss" book as a bit of motivation. I actually do find it motivating. It preempted a possible binge this pm (I was still insufficiently hydrated, and that thirst sensation was about to spur on some bad eating mojo.) But THE BIG SKINNY put a brake on it. (thank you, Carol Lay) It's a charming, amusing, practical, inspiring, friendly, useful book. It's done in comics strip/book style--all illustrated with writing in the panels--and it's just too cool. The author is honest about what worked for her, about the pitfalls, the saboteurs, exercise, whole foods, calorie counting, etc. She has a list of common foods and their calories, easy ways to eyeball measurements, shows the exercises she does, and displays in visual form how she fights off temptation.
I did a review for it for amazon just now.
If you like comic strips or comic books, I would really recommend this. Such fun. And so smartly done.
You know what, I recommend it even if you never have read a comic book in your life. Honestly.
Now, please be kind to yourself today. Be grateful for your body, yes that one. No matter how imperfect. It's the one in and through which you are blessed in so many ways. That's the body that lets you hug loved ones, the one that carried your kids (if you have 'em), the one that lets you swim or dance or make love or see the sky or smell the ocean or sing a song or savor a delicious cup of coffee. Your body is amazing, even if it's fat and mushy. Even if, like mine, it's medically defective. Yes, I can still do so much. And it can become BETTER, every day.
Love yourself, and go do something happy and healthful or that miracle-body of yours.
I will appearing on CTV News tonight to discuss the pertinent issue of Keeping New Year's Resolutions. Check it out at 6:15pm.See below for today's post...
Hi Clean Eaters. Good Monday morning to you... I will be responding to reader questions this week, however I wanted to share an interesting response to The Eat-Clean Diet I came across on another blog. Read below for the response and my comments.... feel free to share your own:http://childweightlossmd.blogspot.com/2009/01/enough-with-celebrity-diets.htmlThe Eat-Clean Diet: No sugar, white flour,
Yay! I'm quite excited about starting Herbalife today. I have read tonnes of testimonials and was satisfied with it. Oh and actually my silly old scale didn't work and I thought was 60kg. Palui kan. Actually(kasih tebal jak muka) I'm 79kg. Bikin malu jak.
I'm also grateful that I can share my experiences with my friend in Johor and also my distributor, she helped me a lot.I took my before pic and weighed myself at a restaurant, yes with people looking at me. Biarla... bukan saudara org Sabah slalu ckp =)
I'm also grateful that I can share my experiences with my friend in Johor and also my distributor, she helped me a lot.I took my before pic and weighed myself at a restaurant, yes with people looking at me. Biarla... bukan saudara org Sabah slalu ckp =)
Check out this page where Weight Watchers features their five finalists for inspiring weight loss stories for 2008.They show before and after photos of the three women and two men as well as brief video interviews. These stories are very inspiring!
Jane is one of the five finalists. This is her 'after photo' where she weighs 138 pounds at her height of 5'5". When she joined Weight Watchers she weighed 255 pounds. She is 41 years old. See her 'before photo'.
The initial plan to take a break from exercising was only 1 week. Then it stretched into two and then this week to three whole week! Man I'm starting to get into the comfort zone here! So, this is a self declaration that I will start exercising and eating healthy foods again next week. I'm targeting another drop of 5kgs or more in the next few weeks! My L size pants/jeans are staring at me everyday. I actually hung them in front of my bed so I could stare at them each time I wake up in the morning.
This time I'm going to experiment on Herbalife as my meal replacement(AT LAST!). Somehow they gave me a distributor from Subang Jaya. I told them that's too far away and it's not convenient for me to visit her if I want to buy Herbalife products frequently, know what I mean? But still I haven't gotten any reply meaning that I have to find another distributor myself since the reply is quite lembab.
Anyways, I think I've been delaying my exercise is because I kinda feel bored with my last weight training routine. I don't enjoy it very much. Probably I get less motivation since hubby isn't weight training with me. Although I do know a lady who can come to my house as a personal training but I don't think I want a personal trainer now. My mother in law told me that there's this lady who does freelance personal trainer which costs RM100 per-session. Anyone who knows cheaper fees I'd be delighted if you post a comment and tell me more, Please :) Most likely I would hire a personal coach to come to my home cause going to the gym is not an option for me. Besides, I already have dumbbells and an elliptical for cardio at home.
This time I'm going to experiment on Herbalife as my meal replacement(AT LAST!). Somehow they gave me a distributor from Subang Jaya. I told them that's too far away and it's not convenient for me to visit her if I want to buy Herbalife products frequently, know what I mean? But still I haven't gotten any reply meaning that I have to find another distributor myself since the reply is quite lembab.
Anyways, I think I've been delaying my exercise is because I kinda feel bored with my last weight training routine. I don't enjoy it very much. Probably I get less motivation since hubby isn't weight training with me. Although I do know a lady who can come to my house as a personal training but I don't think I want a personal trainer now. My mother in law told me that there's this lady who does freelance personal trainer which costs RM100 per-session. Anyone who knows cheaper fees I'd be delighted if you post a comment and tell me more, Please :) Most likely I would hire a personal coach to come to my home cause going to the gym is not an option for me. Besides, I already have dumbbells and an elliptical for cardio at home.
Hi Everyone!What a day! It seems everyone is having a hard time adjusting to "back to school" and "back to work" mode. My kids are calling me telling me how tough it is to be back at school. The youngest is whining because she has so much homework and doesn't understand Grade 10 math. My MAN left the house at 6:oo am this morning and I still haven't seen him - long day for him too! And I still
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