Tag: #joy

Day Twenty-Five…

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If you are looking for a place to get a nice easy lunch that is SmartPoint friendly, Panera is a great option. The two for two lunch deal was only 5 SmartPoints. I had a cup of the Ten Vegetable Soup and 1/2 Asian Chicken Salad for 4 SmartPoints and an apple 0 SmartPoints. It really hit the spot and and left me feeling good.

  • 1/2 Salad 4 SmartPoints
  • 1 cup soup 1 SmartPoint

I learned about, Mark Hyman who is part of the Cleveland Clinic, and his work dealing with healthy immune systems in a Facebook group, #dailyjounalprompts . Here is his talk if you want to check it out for yourself:

The Secrets to Creating a Healthy Immune System

Molecules in motion they go the way our emotions do so chronic stress is so bad for us. Everyone know it has negative impacts on health. However, do you know about the immunology of joy? Joy improves health, and it’s easy to do. A gratitude journal – yielded these amazing results. The amount of touching that goes on makes us healthier – a hug has profound effects. This blows me away.

More fun facts – Rheumatoid arthritis – there is a genetic predisposition, so gene plus environment equals a result. However, it can be greatly influenced by diet: plant based diets, eating fish, it all has an impact! A meatless Monday – so easy. Activity – moving just a bit more it helps a lot. A common sense approach that sounds a lot like the WW program – it all makes sense to me.

Day Thirty-Four…

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Today was a way better day. I’m rolling over four points and that feels very good.  I appreciate all the positive messages and likes, you are helping. Tomorrow is weigh-in day and I will let you know how it goes. Either way, I’m grateful. Even though things are not easy, I am blessed. I am so fortunate to be on this journey, to be writing this post, and to be spending a little bit of time each day to reflect on how it is going. I hope you get the benefit of doing this too, it’s important to appreciate what it had as much as it is to have dreams to aspire to. More tomorrow.

Day Twenty-Five…

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Anyone who has been serious about weight loss, and who have committed themselves to weighing, measuring, and logging their foods will relate to what I’m about to share. Sometimes it seems like everyone wants the #WW foods I’m relying on to make this all work.

It all started when I came home from work and was emptying out my lunchbox.  When what do I see in the garbage? My WW Mac & Cheese Potato Sicks! At 2 SmartPoints per bag, they are a nice little treat that makes lunch a little special. My daughter fessed up to eating those, and I couldn’t help but be annoyed. We have other snack bags of chips and that was my last one.

Later, while dinner was cooking, I found myself really wanting a little something. So, I measured out a quarter cup of Wonderful Pistachios and tracked them as 2 SmartPoints. When who should come into the kitchen? My husband who summarily takes a handful from my tiny bowl and now my 1/4 cup went down to a 1/8 of a cup!

Then later, after dinner, I sliced up some apple and baked it in the oven with some pumpkin spice seasoning. When I pulled out of the oven, there was my son saying, “What’s that mom?” So I scooped some up and sprayed some fat-free Redi Whip and made us each a bowl. It was way better than I thought it would be.

Anyway, still on plan and doing my best over here. How’s it going by you? I hope you are making it work. Just remember, you’re amazing. More tomorrow.

 

 

Day Seven…

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After one week of Maintenance and…

Week one

It goes to show that sometimes, even if I follow the plan faithfully and work all of my strategies, I can still go up. I think this why many people give up on weight loss. It can be discouraging to say “no” to things like candy, bread, and pasta and not be rewarded with a loss on the scale.

However, I am so proud of myself for making such good choices this week. Everything I did, I did for me and that’s what really counts. I know that the next time I step onto the scale, I will be more successful in terms of numbers.  I am also thinking about my Saturday morning friends. A faithful tribe of others who attend the workshop meetings with me. Here is some advice I will keep in my pocket this week:

  • Celebrate!  I am part of a community who understands me.
  • Apple picking!  Living on Long Island, New York I am fortunate to have a local apple orchard, Richter’s Apple Orchard. Recommended apples were Ida Reds and Snapdragons.
  • Snap & Track! When dining out, I can take a picture of my plate and look at it later to track more realistically than trying to remember.

Good advice right? So another challenge put forward this week references Shawn Achor’s research around happiness. The long and the short of it is that happier people make better choices.  So our challenge is to find three things to be happy about for three days. I’m up for that, are you?

Lastly, as I think about today, I am struck by how important these three skills are: Time, Planning, and Mindset:

  1. Time: Get comfortable knowing that timetables and weight loss are at odds with each other. It is unrealistic to wish for weight loss each and every week no matter how dedicated I am to the program. I’m in this for the long run.
  2. Planning: When something is important I make room for it. If I need to shop, plan, and prepare foods so I can be successful. The same thinking goes towards activity too. I can elect to see my decision to plan for my success as an act of self-care.
  3. Mindset: It’s all in the way you look at it. I have decided to see my weight loss journey as a way to welcome joy into my life. I see it as permission to spend some time on me. I have to say that it feels good to focus on my own needs. I feel like I can be more present for others than I could before.

If you want to learn more this a great TEDx Talk:

 

 

Day Three Hundred Twenty-Nine…

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One of the reasons I joined Weight Watchers is that their program is rooted in scientific research. It is built to sustain life-long behavior changes when it comes to eating right and getting active.  A benefit of the program is that we receive a Freestyle publication that shares research and insights into weekly topics. Our topic this week is self-esteem.

Self-esteem

Having a healthy self-esteem helps with weight loss. The sad part of this equation is that we tend to have lower self-esteem just when we need it most! There is certainly a lot of judgment and prejudices embedded in our society when it comes to weight. I have been on both ends, and have experienced it first hand. People treated me differently when I was 85.8 pounds heavier. It is heartbreaking and it is true. I am thinking that is why Weight Watchers Science Team coined the phrase “weight independent self-esteem.”  It is essential that we all value ourselves for who we are not what we weigh.

Years ago I read Geneen Roth’s book, Women, Food, and God An Unexpected Path to Almost Anything. Her book had a profound impact on me.  I’m annoyed too because I lent it to someone who never gave it back The thing is I am struck by how many lessons I learned about myself reading that book  Things have stuck with me even though I wasn’t fully ready to understand her message until now. Read the book  My top three lessons I learned:

  1. Stop taking what I already have for granted.
  2. Food is not a time machine to bring me back to happier days.
  3. Get out my head and into my body; be appreciative for what it does for me every day.

It’s no wonder that Geneen’s work has had an influence on Oprah too:

If you want to improve your self-esteem here is an exercise I learned this week:

  1. Focus on someone who cares about you.
  2. Examine that person for a minute – how they look, what they sound like, eye color, height, imagine this person smiling at you, personality…
  3. Ask, What makes this person special to me? Then observe how you feel.
  4. Ask, How does that person see me?  List all the things that you do that makes your special person appreciate you. You are so worthy of love and self-caring!

These are suggestions from Weight Watchers. Why not try them? There is nothing to lose and maybe a lot to gain. My wish for you is that you have a successful day on the journey!

Day One Hundred Ninety-Two…

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There is no better feeling than being in snuggled in bed on a dark snowy morning. The light filtering through the window is grey and muted. On any other day, a ringing phone would be jarring, but today it is as comforting as a childhood memory, “Good Morning, This is Dr. Gianni, due to the inclement weather school will be closed today, March 13th…” Clicking off the phone, it quickly shouts out another cheerful ring, click: “Good morning, This is Robert Banza,” the Northport choir singing softly behind him, “Due to the storm our roads will not be safe for travel for our students, faculty, and staff. Our schools will be closed…”  Getting a day like today is like receiving a gift to do whatever I want – or even to do nothing and just be. I know that everyone is safe and sound that is a remarkable feeling of contentment.

Nature is awesome. I can’t get over how vulnerable the gazebo looks.
8sp totally worth every delicious bite!
Quiet lovely calm despite the dangerous driving conditions.

I feel like I’m making the most of the day. Our daughter did have to go to work but Stop & Shop is just down the road from where we live.  So my husband cleared the snow and we dropped her off and took a ride into town. This made me think of my father-in-law who loved to venture out on snowy stormy days. He loved the adventure of it, and it was comforting to think of him too.  We came home, and I made three batches of pancakes: M&M pancakes for my son, regular for my husband, and blueberry for me. Yes, on Weight Watchers I can enjoy pancakes too. That’s why this program is the best one for making a lifestyle change. It would be a dark, stoic, unhappy life if I couldn’t relish a dish of blueberry pancakes on a snow day!

I hope that wherever you are in the world you are well on the journey. I wish you calm, contentment, and joy. Yes, we all want to reach our weight loss or fitness goals, but the thing is, if you are on the journey to improve your life, you don’t have to wait to start enjoying today. Make it a great one.