My New Mantra

On my last post I wrote that routine is essential, but especially because it's summer, it's hard to stick to your routine. And it seems that every week since my son has been off of school, the routine keeps changing! So, I have developed a new mantra this past week that has been very helpful.

I wrote on my last post that though our routine can be thrown off or we become too busy or overwhelmed we can do at least ONE good thing for our body. That has been my new mantra, "ONE good thing for my body." When I'm too tired to go to the gym, I repeat that mantra and find myself in the gym. When I wake up in the morning, I repeat the mantra and find myself drinking 3 glasses of water before I eat breakfast. When I get very hungry and just want to pile up my plate, I repeat the mantra and find myself measuring my food portions.

It can get overwhelming if you're not in the habit yet of exercising, counting calories, having fruits or veggies with every meal and drinking lots of water. Yet, when I repeat my mantra, I find that I'm able to do all of the above...all week! I've changed my thought process to "I want to be slender" to "My body has to be healthy." That's a good feeling.

Do you have a mantra? If you don't, then take mine! You'll find that you may end up doing several good things for your body that day & if you do only ONE than you have something to celebrate about! I leave you my mantra as today's Food for Thought.


Food for Thought: "Do ONE good thing for my body TODAY."
H.K. original quote

Routine is essential....

...at least for me it is. When I am off my routine, I feel lost. I have always been the type that function better when I have a routine. It's a very simple routine. Unfortunately, when my routine is thrown off, for example my son being off of school for the summer, I get overwhelmed.

My new routine for the past two weeks has been waking up at 5am in the morning with my husband and going to the gym. It works out because it gives me time to help my son with his scouts and driving him to his various activities through out the day. When my husband gets home from work, we work out again which is between 5pm & 6pm. You probably think it's crazy working out twice a day, but for me it's better than sitting in front of the TV and eating.

Working out has become a distraction from eating. It doesn't get dark until 9pm, so it's a long day and I rather be at the gym working out than being stuck at the house. I lost 3 pounds this week and I'm eating more, but I don't binge. My sweet indulgence is not a piece of cake or a cookie, it's Marsh Mellos Cereal! Think of honey nut cheerios with the tiny colored marshmallows. One cup of that is only 2 points! (I eat it dry w/out milk) It's sweet and it's crunchy & it takes away my sweet cravings.

I have found so many recipes that I want to try out for baking, but I know that if I start baking, I'll be indulging on those baked goods for a week! It's much safer to stay away from baking, at least for now! The past two days my routine has been off because my husband has been working out of the house. He is EVIL, he tempts me to go to the bakery and get a chocolate croissant for breakfast instead of going to the gym in the morning. And I'm weak because I give in, but if you saw the chocolate croissant that this bakery makes, you would too!

The point of this post is that routines will always go off kilter. Nothing will go smoothly. That's just life, it's constantly throwing curve balls at you. The key is how are you going to be able to stay focused on being healthy and getting the exercise you need? When I feel off balance, I am learning to concentrate on what I can do for that day, whether it be drinking lots of water, watching my food portions or finding some way to exercise. It's a perfect day when you can do all three, but when that doesn't happen, try to do ONE good thing for your body that day.



Food for Thought: "It is health that is real wealth and not pieces of gold and silver." Mahatma Ghandi

A New Journey

Thank you EVERYONE for your comments and support on my last post! I am so HAPPY to have such great Bloggy FRIENDS! I took ALL of your comments to heart and am working very hard not to live in fear of the unknown. You can drive yourself crazy when you live in fear and uncertainty, which can lead to over eating and doing other things that aren't healthy. I have to remind myself to concentrate on the NOW. If my husband gets unemployed again...I survived it once, I can do it again!

I'm back to eating healthy again and started last Tuesday. I know that many of you, like myself, can go weeks or even months of exercising and sticking to your food plan. And then a big obstacle hurls itself in front of you, and you end up "falling off the wagon." It gets frustrating because you feel as if you are on that Merry Go Around of dieting again.

I reconnected with one of my old high school friends, who is on Weight Watchers and is doing great. She's a mother of 8 children! Her children range from ages 20 years old to 8 months old and she works full time! I sent her an email and asked her how she was able to lose weight consistently. Here is an excerpt of her email, that I know you will find helpful:

"Do I fail? Yes! More times than I can count and I'll probably continue to fail but I've made up my mind to get up when I "fall", dust myself off and start all over again. What would we do without "new beginnings"??? To know that my one slip-up of having more cake and ice cream the night before does not define the next day for me or the day after and so on, it only means that I need to get back on track. So many times I use to let my failures keep me down, H.K, and I have to force myself to clean the slate and start all over. A new day for me is like a new beginning."

That's it folks! What makes her successful is much more than the exercise or her food plan, it's her ATTITUDE! I believe that's the reason why I often "fail," is that I beat myself up so badly for having one or even two days of over eating, that I continue to eat over the guilt. In order for me to be successful, and to maintain a weight loss, is to realize I WILL be slipping up. I WILL be making mistakes, but the key is to get back on track, and to stop having "guilty" binges. It just makes the situation worse.

I'm going on a new journey. It's a journey where I make commitment to treat myself more kindly. A journey in which I cut myself some slack and realize that perfection does not exist.... at least not in this lifetime. Want to join me?



Food for Thought: "A new day for me is like a new beginning."
H.K's childhood friend