Ready!

Ready. Set. Go.

Ready. Aim. Fire.

The first step is always to get ready. I am noticing that my personal getting ready takes a lot of time and a frustrating amount of getting on and off the proverbial bandwagon. With all that on and off, my proverbial thighs are amazingly toned.

An example of being ready: I learned about kiefer (it's like a super yogurt, with amazing amounts of pro-biotics) nearly three years ago. It sounded like something I would really benefit from. It also sounded like a major lifestyle adjustment. It took me two years to be in a place in my life where I could take on a forever type of change. The moment I did, I and one of my children began seeing huge health improvements. Could I have benefited earlier? Of course. I just wasn't ready yet. But I worked to get myself ready, and I have been going strong on making my own kiefer for nearly a year now.

Four or five years ago, my hubby and I decided to transition away from cold cereal in the mornings because it was healthier and cheaper. We make several yummy varieties of old-fashioned oatmeal, cream of wheat, rice and cinnamon, fruit and spinach shakes and toast and eggs. Shortly after we made the transition (a transition which has stuck, by the way) we encountered the inevitable nay-sayers. "What, you use white rice?" one lady exclaimed. "Don't you know that goes straight to sugar?" Another helpful friend informed us that all of our new choices were terrible for us and we should be eating brown rice and turkey and steamed vegetables for breakfast. Honestly? I have hair to do and car-pools to drive and morning devotional to get ready. I don't have time to start breakfast an hour before we eat. I think their information is great and I would love to be able to do something like it, but I am not ready yet. And being in the tender transition phase the comments made me feel depressed and resentful. Where were these "helpers" when we were pouring quick, delicious, super-refined, chemical ridden, crunchy yumminess into our bowls every morning? But I digress.

The point is, getting ready for serious, permanent change takes time. You have to be in a place where you can withstand the negative voices in and out of your own head and move forward with courage. Getting ready is NOT passive. It requires physical, mental and emotional progress and serious toning of those proverbial thighs.

If any of you are finding yourself in this "getting ready" phase, know that you ARE making progress. The progress may not have permanently altered your grocery list or your waist line, but it is a necessary part of permanent change . . . at least it is for me.

Getting to Zero

A few weeks ago I heard a lecture by a Vietnam Vet. It was inspiring and deeply moving. Almost as a afterthought he shared a theory that he called "getting to zero."

On the chalkboard he wrote a numeric continuum that looked like this:

-10 -9 -8 -7 -6 -5 -4 -3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

He explained that for him, the positive numbers represent a self-aggrandizing mind set and the negative numbers represent a self-disparaging mind set. We don't learn so well when we are on either end, but when we are at zero, we are open and we are teachable.

This applies perfectly to the process of "healthifying" and "slim-ifying" a life. It is so easy for me to either wallow or be prideful. I like the concept of getting to zero and letting the master teacher teach me and change me.

Walk Tall

I have noticed that the way I present myself affects my attitude and the choices I make. I teach dance, and am always after my older students to utilize their muscles and dance from a position of strength. Well, last week I took my own advice.

Usually, as I dash in and out of buildings, running my children to their various lessons I hunch down into my slightly too small coat, all too aware that my morning efforts at hair and makeup have eroded away and my face is compressed into the focused look of a mother with eight hours worth of work to do and one hour left to do it in.

Well, for at least one day, I decided to knock it off. I threw my shoulders back, lifted my head, smiled and walked on the Earth like the daughter of God that I am. It helped that I was having a great day. I felt powerful, confident, beautiful and blessed. I was not the only one who noticed the difference. People looked at me differently. I was no longer invisible or trying to be. I was happy with who I was and confident in the steps I was taking to make myself better and others responded to that.

Now this is nothing new. I've known about non-verbal cues and the power of attitude for decades. It has just been a while since I've experienced them in quite that way. It felt great. And feeling great makes me want make more choices that will make me feel great, like eating well and exercising.

Here's to walking tall.

Bits and Bites

So a few of the thoughts discussed at the AR meeting have been rattling around my brain today. At the last meeting I recommended the book "French Women Don't Get Fat" (love that book) and one of my AR sisters read it. We talked about the principle of compensation and how if French women splurge, they compensate (at least, according to the book they do.) For example, you know you're going to order dessert, so skip the bread course. Or, if you have a a super heavy dinner, do some extra walking the next day. If you must have fries, put a salad with it instead of a cheese-burger.

I generally take an Arthur Dimsdale approach to indulgences and wallow in prolonged guilt trips rather than compensating immediately. This is doubly unhealthy since stress promotes fat retention.

The principle of "eat this, not that" dovetails into the "compensation" approach. No, I've never read the book by that title, but I saw a two minute blurb by the author on Good Morning America. The idea is, don't "diet" just make smarter choices - like pretzel M&Ms over a dove bar. Or get a small steak instead of a super-cheese burger. Feeling indulged and taken care of is important.

So the bottom line is what we've known all along. You can have any food you want, just not all the time. Eat smart, stay sane and take time to enjoy the good stuff.

Huh!

Okay, so my last two posts showed up under the last one. My last four quotes are there, so despair not, there is something new to read.

LBB

It has been a while since I have posted a LBB (a little basil blossom or success). I exercised four times last week. Okay, not all of them really got the heart rate up. Breaking a sweat can be hard when you are walking with three children and the moment you really start to work one of them needs a drink, a push, a rest, a band-aid or just really needs to look at the rocks in the gutter. You know gutter contemplation is a need when interrupted gutter contemplation leads to screaming and flailing. It is not pleasant to cary a screaming flailer, but it does up the calorie burn.

But seriously. Four times! That is my record and I aim to match it this week.

Inspiration VIIII

"If one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with success unexpected in common hours."

~Henry David Thoreau

"If you can't be a good example, then you'll just have to be a horrible warning."

~Catherine Aird

Inspiration VIII

"A single conversation across a table with a wise man is worth a month's study of books."

~Chinese proverb

Interpretation: Find a great support buddy

"Let's take the bouldering mistakes of the past, and the road-blocking challenges of the present, and build them into stairs that support our climb into the future."

~Mattie J.T. Stepanek

These quotes remind me of our AR meetings. Last night's meeting really helped me. If you don't have a buddy or a group yet, I highly recommend getting one.

Inspiration VII

"Those who do not find time for exercise will have to find time for illness."

~Earl of Derby

"Truth, like surgery, may hurt, but it cures."

~Han Suyin

Inspiration VI

"Have you strength enough to take this first step? Courage enough to accomplish this small act?

~Phillip Vernier

"Success is going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm."

~Winston Churchill

Inspiration V

"One must eat to live, and not live to eat."

~Moliere

"Argue for your limitations and sure enough they're yours."

~Richard Bach

Inspiration IV

"Never eat more than you can lift."

~Miss Piggy

"I can resist everything except temptation."

~Oscan Wilde

I am loving these quotes. Here are a few tips that have been working for me.

Brush teeth often. It doesn't work to try and brush my teeth after the craving hits, but keeping my mouth minty fresh prevents some cravings.

Applesauce! I had heard about substituting applesauce for the oil in cake and brownie recipes, but it wasn't till I tried both of them at my friend's house that I was a believer. Yes, you're still dealing with sugar and refined junk, but if your kids are clamoring for a baking experience, or you just have to have a brownie, you can do it for significantly fewer calories.

Inspiration III

"The first wealth is health."

~Emmerson

"In the midst of movement and chaos, keep stillness inside of you."

~Deepak Chopra

Inspiration II

"Keep the faculty of effort alive in you by a little gratuitous exercise every day."

~William James

"To be tested is good. The challenged life may be the best therapist."

~Gail Sheehy

Inspiration

"The secret of health for both mind and body is not to mourn for he past, worry about the future, or anticipate troubles, but to live in the present moment wisely and earnestly."

~Buddah

"My doctor told me to stop having intimate dinners for four. Unless there are three other people."

~Orson Wells

Quotes to Motivate

"Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence."

~Calvin Coolidge

"You cannot make yourself feel something you do not feel, but you can make yourself do right in spite of your feelings."

~Pearl S. Buck