lildebbieg

Hello fitdayers I'm still down with this darn cold...it's now moved to my head...hopefully it will move on out soon!

K, so the lil' somethin' new I'm going to try is working on my thought pattern. I've been reading this book called "Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle" (great book by the way!). It is focused not only food and exercise, but also the power of our subconscious. The basic message is, the mind is a powerful tool. If you set a goal for yourself and you practice envisioning yourself achieving that goal, it's sending messages to your subconscious to help reinforce what you need to do to reach your goal. "The body cannot achieve what the mind cannot conceive". I'm going to try practicing this visualisation technique at least twice a day...in the morning before rising and at night before falling asleep. Sounds hokey...maybe...but I really feel like my mind hasn't been in the right mindset for some time...which keeps me in this yo-yo pattern.

So that is the lil' somethin'...the bigger somethin' I'm doing....I am no longer going to consume alcohol. It's usually when things start to crumble for me...I have a few drinks and forget (or ignore) my goals. It's become the way I unwind after a stressful day....but I've come to realize that it's actually adding stress in my life because I feel it's holding me back from reaching my full potential in many areas...not just weight loss. It's doing me no favours, yet it's become far too important. There was a time I'm sure I went 10 years without a drink...not for any particular reason...just because it simply wasn't part of my lifestyle I guess. I have no idea how it crept into my life after having my children...but it did and I'm putting an end to it. I'm making a different choice and I know this can only bring positive results!

Pranava

lildebbieg! I'm joining you with the no alcohol pledge! My whining child leads me to a glass or 3 of wine each night In January, I was able to cut it back to 1 glass a day, but I've been slipping this week and uping it to 2 glasses a day. Not good for my weight loss, health, or budget for that matter.

What a coincidence that this morning I looked at the half empty bottle I opened last night, thought about it for almost an hour, and then poured it down the drain. I then took a before picture of my face because I've heard that alcohol can cause a person's skin to look red and splotchy - like mine looked this morning. I will take another picture at the beginning of each month to compare and see if my skin tone improves. This will help me stay motivated.

Also, I'm thinking I might take the money I spent on wine, put it back in savings, and buy myself a new outfit at the end of the Easter challenge. Something else to keep me motivated.

I might start a hot tea habit to replace the wine at the end of the night. A nice cup of Chai or chamomile before bed

lildebbieg

Wow Pranava! So glad to have somebody here who not only is joining me, but can completely relate to how I feel! Thank you for your honesty and support! If you're going to take pictures of your face, make sure you use the same lighting each time...otherwise it could completely change the tone of the whole picture. What a great idea by the way!

I'm going to put the money aside as well! I'm going to buy an outfit from Lululemon with the extra savings! Although I may not buy it after the Easter Challenge....I want to be closer to goal when I buy an outfit (side note...you're so close to your goal! That's awesome!). I'm not planning to buy a workout outfit, but some nice sporty outfit I can wear on the weekends.

I also thought about starting up a tea habit I have a tea from Celestial Seasonings called Sleepytime Extra. I'm sure just cutting out the alcohol will improve my quality of sleep, but maybe a nice night time tea will help me unwind after a busy day?

It would seem that great minds think alike

01gt4.6

Thursday and still no walking miles under my belt. The weather was nasty all day yesterday but it has cleared up for now.

My scale is back up, due to my binge eating. I need to bust some ass and drop a few pounds from todays weight (208.6) to finish off the week.

paisleyjane

Debbie - You're amazing! I know that changing those two things together will improve your results, as well as your sense of health, happiness and well-being!
I noticed that changing my attitude was one of the biggest, most important things I could do for my success, and for happiness in my life. It's been years of working hard at changing my thoughts... re-framing, reflecting, and visualizing. It's important work!

Mike - do you have anything else you do/can do, besides walk?? I know when the weather gets bad here (it's snowing right now!) I prefer to either go on my exercise bike or do some calisthenics... skipping/jump rope is a MEGA fat-burner cardio work out that boxers and athletes use, and it totally works for me when I want to seriously drop pounds!

01gt4.6

I have a gym membership that I've been neglecting.

AZLisaLou

Pranava and Debbie, good for you two to make the decision to stop alcohol since it interferes with your goals. It's often very difficult to pinpoint the things that are putting us off track, let alone make tough decisions about how to change them. That's my feeling anyways. I hope both of you find other ways to handle life's daily stresses. Debbie, does all your exercise help your tension release? I know that helps a whole lot of people.

Debbie....the mind is absolutely a powerful thing. I'm glad you posted about this. maybe that's been part of my problem as well. I can't picture any other results than what I've been getting, so that's what I get. Do you repeat mantras? Do you visualize? What are the techniques to helping change the mindset. As I read that back to myself it sounds like a super dumb question, but it's really a new concept for me. Thank you for sharing this.

I passed up the urge to go through the drive thru today. My son doesn't eat breakfast or lunch, so by the time he gets out of school he's famished and McD's is his favorite after school food. This week I asked for everything he could think of that he would want to eat after school...that comes from the grocery store. I tried really hard to stock up with easy to prepare (i.e. microwavable lol) foods (or canned stuff that is an imposter to food). I got him hungry man Banquet meals, raviolis, frozen buffalo chicken strips. I know they are not the healthiest things, but honestly I don't want to prepare him a meal in the afternoon, and he has no aptitude (on purpose) for the kitchen. Anyways...it kept me out of the drive thru. I was really tempted to get "him" something at the drive thru, which in reality meant I would get me something. But I came home and I'm being good with an atkins and milk. And I feel proud for it.

Mike, Hope you can get your walking goals in the best you can.

Hi Roxy!

beccafries

Debbie good insight..got you to think....yea we can get so focused on weighing...lbs lost..lbs gains...you really get obscessed with it... I try not
to get too caught up in the madness...

That's why I weigh only once week on Fridays...the lbs flunctuate you'll lose your mind for sure!

You just have to find a HAPPY WEIGHT...not the weight that's in the books or
in chart compared to height etc..... the weight that makes you feel more like YOU.... keep it at Range not a certain weight #.......

lildebbieg

Hi all Sipping on a cup of Sleepytime Tea. It's nice and soothing. Then I'm hitting the sack and going to read a bit more of my book before I focus on visualisation...then hopefully sleep like a log! My ears are still aching from this darn cold....hope I feel better tomorrow!

Pranava - Are you sipping on some tea too?

Lisa - I'm new to this visualisation thing, but from what was described in the book I think using visual tools as well as mantras could work. It says if you keep telling yourself something often enough, you start to believe it and train your subconscious mind to follow suit. It's worth a shot and really does make a lot of sense!




Vicki, ohelp, Mike, Becca, Annette, Lynda, Bea and Roxy...hello!

Mern and Libby...where are you? Hope all is well!

01gt4.6

I'm still at zero for the week. I went to the property and dug up 6 citrus trees that didn't survive a cold snap, talked to the neighbors for a while. By the time I made it back home, I was unmotivated and lazy. Watched a movie instead of walking. Oh well, that's more I just have to do today.