"In the confrontation between the stream and the rock, the stream always wins - not through strength, but through persistence." ~Buddha

Hi Terra,

“When we learn to say a deep, passionate yes to the things that really matter, then peace begins to settle onto our lives like golden sunlight sifting to a forest floor.”  -Thomas Kinkade 

Today, focus on all the things that really matter in your life and saying YES to them.  What’s REALLY important?  YES to feeling better by living healthier.  YES to staying in control by making yourself accountable for what you eat, drink and how much you move. YES to having more energy and a better quality of life day-to-day.

Often people tell me that walking into Weight Watchers to join (or re-join) was one of the hardest things they have had to do but that the sense of relief that washed over them after doing it is incredible.  It’s fear that keeps us from saying YES to what’s really important in our lives.  Fear makes excuses like “it’s too hard”, “I might fail”, ” I can’t do it” but the truth is, you CAN do it and it starts with saying YES to yourself.  Accepting where you are at in your life-journey right now and saying YES to it allows you to clear your mind and make new and different choices moving forward.  Wasting precious energy fighting ourselves, resisting what we know we really want to bring into our lives just because we are scared is a vicious cycle.  Don’t associate healthy living with being difficult or with deprivation or the removal of anything…..When we take control of our health through our actions the only thing we LOSE is the WEIGHT that bogs us down and keeps us from enjoying our lives!  We GAIN control, confidence and joy from the peace that accompanies the realization that food does not control us and it never has.  The only power food has is the power we chose to give it.  I say we take that power back and start saying YES to ourselves!

As we move into the weekend, let’s keep in mind that contrary to popular American belief, MORE isn’t always better.  There is no food that we “can’t have”, we just need to stay mindful of portions.  This weekend, when you are dining out or socializing with friends, take the opportunity to pay attention to your body’s physical signals of hunger as well as satisfaction.  If you are reading this thinking…“Hunger?  What’s that??  Haven’t been hungry in years!!”, you are not alone, but this is REALLY the time to RE-LEARN your body’s physical cues!!!   You may find that the satisfaction you are looking for, doesn’t even come from food.

Happy Friday!  I will be in St. Charles this morning for our 830am and 930am meetings and then in South Elgin for our noon meeting. Have FABULOUS weekend!

“Be faithful in small things because it is in them that your strength lies.”  -Mother Teresa

Be grateful for every healthy change you can make today, no matter how small it may seem.  Leaving a few bites on your plate, taking the stairs instead of the elevator, eating an  apple instead of a cookie or not snacking after dinner tonight……one day at a time, these small changes add up to big results.  Recognizing these small changes as victories and having faith that they really will get us where we want to go is all part of our journey.  No change is too small and it’s never too late.  Exciting, isn’t it???

“Nothing can stop the man with the right mental attitude from achieving his goal; nothing on earth can help the man with the wrong mental attitude”.  -Thomas Jefferson

Tah-Dah!!!!!!!!!  We have just reached the first mile marker we set for ourselves in 2012!  Back in January, I challenged you to set a realistic, achievable, short-term goal that could be accomplished by Valentine’s Day, which seemed far off at the time and now it’s HERE!  We tell ourselves that losing weight takes “forever”, but in fact TIME FLIES and it FLIES BY whether you are losing weight or not, so why not just make the commitment to stick with it?  Use today to reflect on your lifestyle over the last 6 weeks and jot down what’s been working for you and what hasn’t worked the way you thought it might.  There is no such thing as failure….only feedback.  If you have accomplished the behavior changes you set out to modify, CONGRATULATIONS!!!!  I cannot wait to hear about your success at the meetings this week.  IF  you might have fallen short in some areas, again, it’s not about failing, it’s about modification.  Asking yourself WHY did you fall short and what can you do differently in the next 6 weeks to get different results.  So often our goal setting is what needs to be modified.  Whenever we set a goal, whether in weight loss or any other area of our lives, it’s imperative that it be realistic, livable and a good fit with our lives.  So whatever you learn from your behaviors and actions over the last 6 weeks, use it to formulate what you are going to do with the next 6 weeks and we can talk more about that tomorrow.  For today, let’s just celebrate the healthy changes you have made thus far and take time to really pat yourself on the back and enjoy Valentine’s Day!  See you at the meeting!

“We delight in the beauty of the butterfly, but rarely admit the changes it has gone through to achieve that beauty.”
                                                                                                                    – Maya Angelou

The journey to get to a healthy goal weight comes with its share of ups and downs and highs and lows.  It isn’t “easy” all the time for anyone, but it’s a journey with so many benefits that reach into every aspect of our lives that we all know it’s well worth the effort.  Lasting change doesn’t happen over night and it takes persistence and commitment.  The commitment is to yourself to get up each morning and treat it as the fresh, new start that it is and to persist, to keep doing the best you can in every given situation, even when you think it isn’t good enough.  No one is perfect 24/7 and thank goodness we don’t have to be to find success!!!!!

The people who have gotten to a healthy goal weight and are maintaining it….those  people who have occasionally sat next to you in your WW meeting and you silently wondered “What is she doing here?????”,  yes them….They will be first ones to tell you that they are not always perfect but they NEVER QUIT.  THEY NEVER QUIT!  That’s why they still come to the WW meetings on a regular basis, looking all healthy like the beautiful butterflies in the above picture.  And just like the butterfly, they have struggled, learned, grown and adapted to a lifestyle that supports their healthy weight.  They have put in effort to learn to stop beating themselves up for every unhealthy choice they make and they get right back to their healthy style after occasions when they over-indulge.

I love the above quote because I think all too often we look at other people’s situations (in all of life) and think how easy it must be for them or how “lucky” they are, but the fact is, everyone has challenges and everyone is working on something in their lives.  Our challenge happens to be gaining and maintaining control over our eating and although it’s not easy, I could think of many challenges that would be far worse.  Gaining control our health FEELS GREAT and empowers us to take control in all areas of our life and that is a beauty well worth achieving!!!

It’s FRIDAY!  WooooHoooooo!!  I will be in St. Charles this morning for an 830am meeting and a 930am meeting.  Then you will find me in South Elgin for my noon meeting.  Let’s meet up and start the weekend off on the right foot!  The time is NOW!

Is there anything in your life today that you can simply let go?  It might be a belief, a re-occurring thought or a behavior or an attachment to a thing or person that just no longer serves you.  In the back of your mind, you may have known it needs to be released, but you have continued to hold on because you have had it, done it or been attached to it for so long, that it seemed like part of you, but that’s now, no longer the case.  It could be anything…..night time eating, mindless snacking, a belief that you “hate” exercise or that you will “never” get control of your weight….something that just no longer serves you and it’s time to release and remove from your life.   It might seem like a strange question, but give it some thought and see if you can come up with one thing.  As we move through different stages in our lives, we continue to grow and change and occassionally taking “inventory” of our current thoughts, beliefs, actions and attachments can show us what is working for us and what no longer has to be true for us.  Letting go may seem uncomfortable at first, but if whatever it is, if it no longer serves us, very soon after we remove it from our lives we will feel a sense of relief and empowerment.This is OUR life and we get to choose.  ”When we know better, we do better” as Maya Angelo says.

It’s Monday and it’s time to have a plan in place for the week.  It doesn’t have to be an elaborate plan, it just needs to be one that you can use as a guideline to keep focused on what’s most important to you.  We are all busy and our schedules tend to become even busier as the week goes on, so don’t expend any un-neccessary energy worrying about what you can’t do or don’t have time to do….simply highlight what you CAN do and go from there.  Choose 2 or 3 things that are most important to you and your weight loss success and put them at the top of your priority list.  I mean WAY at the top…like just under feeding your children and brushing your teeth!  Our health is IMPORTANT and it deserves top billing on our list of “to-do’s”!!!!

For me, no matter how busy my family or work schedule is, exercise and meal planning are a must. Without those two things in place I find my weeks turn chaotic very, very quickly and chaos often is a trigger for mindless eating.  I need to have an appointment with myself to run or workout each day and that appointment is as important as any appointment I make with anyone else.  No matter how early I have get up in the morning to keep that committment, that’s what I try to do because it’s a priority.  Not only do I need that exercise to maintain my weight, I need it for my health AND my sanity!!!!  I NEVER “feel like” getting out of bed when it’s still dark outside but I also NEVER regret it when I am finished either!  It helps my life to work for me!

As for meal planning….I enjoy thinking about food, what can I say??????  I find that when I have exciting and tasty meals to look forward to and ready to prepare easily (my microwave and my crockpot are two of my BEST friends in the kitchen!!) I don’t spend time thinking of unhealthy choices nearly as often.  It takes some time to keep the meal ideas at my house fresh and fun but it’s SO WORTH the effort!   No one, whether they are on  WW or not, likes to eat the same boring foods, so meal planning for new ideas is something that makes life more fun for everyone.  I don’t love to grocery shop, but it’s a means to an end and again, the week just works better when the house is stocked with healthy options.

So today, if you haven’t already, “Plans Your Work and Work Your Plan” and see how much more enjoyable and relaxing your week will be AND how it positively it affects your weight loss!  See you soon!

“EACH OF US GUARDS A GATE OF CHANGE THAT CAN ONLY BE UNLOCKED FROM THE  INSIDE.”           ———Marilyn Ferguson (Thanks to Cathy Klink for sharing this quote!!!)

The changes we want to see in our weight and in our health are the BI PRODUCT of the changes first made in our thought and then in our actions and behaviors.  So often, when trying to get healthy, we focus with tunnel vision on the weight loss aspect, when in reality, it’s the part of the equation in which we have the LEAST amount of control.  You could work out and eat right for several weeks, yet see only  a very small weight loss on the scale, but does that mean that all of the healthy living you have been doing has been a waste of time and energy?  OF COURSE NOT!!!!!  Most of us know people in our lives who don’t have weight issues but are also NOT healthy.  The advantages of healthy behaviors such as activity, drinking plenty of water, eating less processed foods and more fruits and veggies, consuming lean proteins, whole grains and controlling our portions are MANY and are for EVERYONE.  Attaining and maintaining a healthy weight is certainly one of those benefits we will enjoy, but far from the ONLY benefit.

If you are gaging your success based on the number on the scale each day or even once a week, you are setting yourself up for psychological failure.  It’s going to be extremely tempting to give up very quickly in your journey because your level of effort will seem as if it warrants a greater weight loss, faster, but that’s not how it works.  The first critical change to be made is in your thinking.  Yes, one of the goals is to get to a healthy goal weight, but the MAIN goal is to consistently live healthy behaviors because that’s what it takes to get to the goal weight and maintain it. Cling tightly to your new set of values based on health and focus on the BEHAVIORS that you know do your body good.  Move forward in your day to day life as if you are already at your goal weight and simply do what it takes to maintain that goal weight.  Ask any Lifetime WW member….What it takes to keep the weight off, is not all that much different than what you are doing now to lose it except you don’t get any more 5 pound weight loss stars in the meeting room!  What does this mean to you???  It means we need to make sure we have done our job of customizing our healthy behaviors to fit each of our lives personally because this is our new, standard operating procedure.  We need to be able to live like this even after the weight has been lost so that we can be healthy and maintain our healthy weight.

Clearly, I feel that the Weight Watchers plan along with WW meetings and eTools, is the way to do  because WW is NOT A DIET!  WW leaves it up to up to each of us, to customize the plan to fit our own needs.  It’s not “one size fits all” and the only person who can customize the changes that need to be made to ensure they stay permanent is YOU.  YOU have all the power to unlock the changes you desire in your life.  It’s completely up to you.  Food has no power over you except the power you give it.  Take that power and re-focus it on changing on the inside.  Base your goals on behavior changes and consistency.  As soon as you make a choice that isn’t in line with those new goals (this WILL happen and it’s OK, it happens to everyone), identify it, own it and start over fresh without an ounce of guilt or self condemnation.   Change doesn’t have to be painful or scary if we take it one step at a time and before you know it, you will have changed on the outside as well!

REMINDER AND RECAP FROM  YESTERDAY’S BLOG POST—-SEAN CRAMER, THE WW eTOOLS SPECIALIST WILL BE DOING A PRESENTATION AT SEVERAL OF MY WW MEETINGS THIS WEEK.  SEE THE SCHEDULE BELOW AND/OR GO BACK TO MY POST FROM MON, JAN 30TH TO READ SEAN’S SUCCESS STORY OF LOSING 90+ POUNDS ON WW!  FEEL FREE TO BRING FRIENDS  WHO WANT TO LEARN MORE ABOUT eTOOLS TO OUR MEETINGS THIS WEEK!

Why is WW making eTools so accessible to it’s members and why and I making such a big deal about it?? Here’s why: The lastest research proves that WW members who use eTools lose FIFTY PERCENT more weight than those who do not! YES, 50% more weight! That’s a big difference and much of that is because eTools makes life on WW so EASY! As your WW leader, I am VERY committed to doing all I can to assist you in your weight loss journey and I believe understanding eTools will help you to succeed , so come and learn more about it!

Here’s my schedule and when Sean will be with me*:

*MON-Naperville 930a and noon-Sean at these meetings

*TUES-Schaumburg 10am-Sean at this meeting

TUES-Sycamore 1230p

WED-Naperville 930a and 1130a

THURS-STC 10a and noon

*THURS STC 5pm-Sean will be at this meeting

*FRI STC 830a and 930a-Sean will be at these meetings

*FRI South Elgin-noon-Sean will be at this meeting