3/26/10

Feel Good Friday

Good morning & happy Friday, friends!

Everybody welcome Isolde!!!!!  She's jumped on the blog this week with us and I just posted her bio over on the right side bar.  Glad to have you!

For today's post, I wanted to introduce the next side challenge!  It's one that's really personal, near & dear to my heart: Create a personal manifesto. For those who want to participate and tell us about the experience, you'll be entered into a drawing to win this prize from me: Dishwasher-safe & Reusable Sandwich/Snack Baggies.

Thank you, Wikipedia :) "A manifesto is a public declaration of principles and intentions, may also be life stance-related. Manifesto is derived from the Italian word manifesto, itself derived from the Latin manifestum, meaning clear or conspicuous."

So this challenge is going to be you typing up a document (however short or long) that you can read each morning (put it on your nightstand, in your bathroom, in your office, etc.) and have it be very clear about your dreams, vision, principles, goals, etc. Let it change your mindset, let it inspire you to realize how awesome you are, let it inpsire you to realize how blessed you are, let it create a paradigm shift in your attitude to one of hope, betterment, constant improvement, and love of self & others.  Let it inspire you to SUCCEED in your weight loss & fitness goals! 

I created mine about 3 years ago, and every time I read it, it relaxes me, softens my heart, calms me down, and let's me focus on what's really important to me.  It's all stuff I know, nothing's new, but somehow just reminding myself of it is important.

Here's mine- yeah, it's personal- but I don't really care who sees it (click on it and it will get big):


I hope you all have a fantastic weekend filled with lots of moving around and lots of being good to yourselves!  Remember to not take the weekends off!  Be strong!

3/25/10

Feel the Burn Thursday

Good morning, booty-kicking babes!

Reading other people's success stories is a proven motivator.  I love it.  It makes me think my struggles & my starting point are no where near as rough as it could be or I don't have near as far to go as they did, but at the same time, reading these stories makes me feel supported, makes my emotions/struggles validated, makes me feel connected to them, like "if they can do it I can do it."  It's a win-win!

I saw a recent cover of Good Housekeeping magazine (not one I'd normally pick up :) ) and it was all about the Biggest Loser success secrets, Helen's story (winner from last season), etc. 

How Biggest Loser Winner Helen Phillips Lost 140 Lbs
Secrets from the Biggest Loser

Re: Helen: "She looks as strong and fit as she did the day she left the Ranch, thanks to a regimen that includes everything from putting in two-hour workouts to packing her car every day with a cooler full of healthy snacks....They agreed to make getting healthier a family affair: On weekends, they exercise together (running, walking, and riding bikes) and group-shop for fresh fruits and vegetables, which they then chop and prepare for the week. And they support one another in making sure the house is stocked with healthy cereals and other staples like low-cal unsweetened almond milk (half the calories of skim milk). Phillips's strategies for keeping the pounds at bay follow some of the proven basics of weight maintenance, says Thomas of the NWCR. Here are some of those keep-it-off behaviors:"
  • "Stick with a low-cal, low-fat diet — about 1,500 calories per day, with less than 30 percent coming from fat (Phillips consumes about 400 additional calories per day to help fuel her daily exercise; see Helen Phillips's 5-a-Day Meal Plan).
  • Eat breakfast every day — it helps prevent overeating.
  • Forgo the high-fat, high-sugar empty calories of fast food.
  • Keep a daily food journal and step on the scale regularly.
  • Exercise at least 200 minutes per week (Phillips works out about 120 minutes per day).
  • Cut TV viewing to 10 hours or less per week (the national average is 28 hours). Phillips went from watching up to five movies in a row when she was heavy to almost zero now.
  • Avoid taking weekends and holidays "off" (Phillips indulges in one higher-calorie day a week, a practice she started at the Ranch). "

So what do you guys think????  Honestly, I was never super fond of Helen on the show, but she's done such a great job of keeping it off and inspiring others, that I kind of have more respect for her now after reading this article.  We're doing those tips, by the way----we all rock!  Slowly but surely, we're doing this weight loss & fitness challenge the healthiest way possible!

What workouts have you been up to this week?  Anything fun & active planned for this weekend?

3/24/10

Whatcha Eatin' Wednesday

Good morning, wonderful women!

I hope you're all having a great day so far.  This was interesting from the new Fitness magazine (click on the image to make it bigger so you can read it :) so I scanned it in to show you:
So think about eating & enjoying lots of yummy veggies & blasting calories, girls!  :)

Share what yummies you've been eating & enjoying this week!

3/23/10

Tuesday Motivation

Good morning, mentally strong amazing women!

I've got to admit that the last three weeks I've been weak at best in my workouts and healthy eating willpower.  But that's the past, and this is a new week!  I got out for a long 2 hour run last night and it honestly woke me up.  I forgot how much a good hard workout refreshes me, cleanses me, heals me emotionally, etc.  Just smilin' up at the sunshine :)  Nicki, the song "Blue Skies" came up on my play list and made me think of you!  I was such a nerd, smiling and saying hi to everybody and their dog who was out and about yesterday evening :)  I even had a "go gettum" cheer for a mom jogging pushing 2 kids in a stroller (sadly wasn't Valerie, though).  My game plan for this week is to make exercise a priority again.  It has to get scheduled in 5 days a week, blocking off a chunk of time on my schedule.  I just suffer emotionally and mentally when I don't, not to mention my waistline, but honestly, it's the first that's the biggest killer for me.  So this week, I've got workouts at a high priority and I'm going to make it happen.  You ladies have helped me SO much with your determination, climbing back on the wagon, and your support.  I love hearing all your little daily successes- so keep sharing them!

This article hit home to me this morning- "Mental Readiness" by Vanessa Kennon

"This past Saturday, my daughter and I attended an excellent Self-Defense class. The instructors immediately began to teach us techniques to be used should we ever need to defend ourselves against an attacker. They would show us a move then have us practice it repeatedly; show us another move then practice that one repeatedly. They even let us punch and kick them - while holding protective pads, of course. But the idea was to simulate a real situation so we would be familiar and not have only played it through in our head, but acted it out. As we were practicing throughout the duration of the class, we were allowed to ask questions and “what if” scenarios to which they would very thoughtfully respond and demonstrate. They kept reminding us throughout the course that we must have several moves in our arsenal against an attacker. Their consistent message was to try numerous and varied moves so as to keep the attacker guessing and stunned. Further, they gave us awareness techniques. In other words, as I stated previously, an excellent course! About three-quarters of the way through is when it all rang true to me; one of the instructors stated that most people will try one or two different things and sometimes maybe three to ward off their attacker before giving up. He said “once you give up mentally, your attacker has won!” At that very moment, I realized he was not only right about an attacker; but it’s true about anything in life. When you give up mentally, you are defeated. This is why it’s so important to keep ourselves mentally “in shape”. We must feed ourselves positive information (i.e. informative and empowering books, CDs, music, and messages), we must work out mentally each and every day (positive affirmations and incantations), we must visualize and role play in our mind’s eye the end result we wish to achieve."

"Finally, a poster on the wall stated it like this:
“You have not failed when you have been defeated. You have failed when you have given up.”

"Never give up on what it is you know to be your true authentic self! Never give up on your passion or dream! Everything I read and have been taught tells me I do not have to know “How” I’m going to achieve anything; rather, all I have to know is the end result I hope to achieve. The “how” will unfold and reveal itself."
"Exercise your brain and train it to know what it is you want and see yourself living it as if it is already achieved! Much like the self-defense class my daughter and I took, you will be glad you did."

I hope all you amazing Ten in Six women have a fantastic day!

3/22/10

Monday Morning Check-in

Good Morning, springtime sweeties! It's our halfway point. Check in
today with measurement news in addition to scale news! Let us know
your game plan this week.