Bored, Tired, Stressed, Emotional...

I should add excited, happy, celebrating, nervous, frustrated.. so on and so on. Sometimes these are reasons why we eat and we're not even hungry! I've been thinking about the cold weather headed our way and the winter season usually brings cabin fever with it. I have no doubt I will encounter days where I'll want to sit and eat just out of boredom. Have you ever stopped yourself while eating and thought, "Oh my gosh, I'm not even hungry! And this food doesn't even taste that good! I'm just eating to eat!" I know I have.. several times. And I don't even have to be bored to do that. There have been plenty of times I would hear good news and start eating just to celebrate... I know it sounds ridiculous, but it's true! If you think about it, eating doesn't really help the situation. Sometimes food can just become our thing we run to. Just like alcohol is to others, that's what food can be to some. I feel like I blog mainly about food and it's because I believe the way I handled food is the main reason I was overweight. Exercise is very important.. but the food part of it is even more important. I'll blog about exercise soon, so don't get me wrong.. I think exercise should be a part of a healthy lifestyle, but when it comes to someone that has struggled with being overweight most of their lives.. food is the main reason (well really ourselves, but it's because of the food we eat and how much we eat) So what will I do to keep my hands out of the cookie jar this season? Paint! Amongst many other activities! During the spring time, I was going through a very emotional time and I started painting, EVERYTHING! I'd go and buy a can of paint and paint furniture, rooms.. whatever I could get my hands on! I'd switch the way I had my furniture around. Clean out the cabinets, organize the kids drawers... I just kept myself busy! I would use that time to try some new exercise DVD's.. and make sure I kept play'doh and coloring books and crayons in reach. I just stayed busy!! When I would feel bored or down I would start a project. I actually got a lot done!! So this year, I will do the same :) I'm pretty sure a few rooms in my house will get a face lift this winter! I just want to encourage you to keep going! Stay focused! You really are worth the effort and you don't want to let your emotions get the best of you. And let's say you do have an emotional eating moment.. well that's ok, just pick yourself back up and keep going. It happens to us all! So go out and buy yourself some paintbrushes! Thanks for reading :)

Set Yourself Up For a Win!

You know how the old saying goes, "Failing to prepare is preparing to fail." There is so much truth in that! This got me thinking about a key thing I've learned this past year when it comes to weight loss. Obviously, there are things in life that surprise us maybe an unplanned event or even a weak moment or two (or a million weak moments in my case) but the majority of things we do, we usually plan for them to happen or at least know it's probably going to happen. Like holidays, birthday parties, eating out at restaurants.. etc. These can be pretty tricky if you don't go into it with a plan! With Halloween right around the corner, we've talked a bit about all the candy that's going to be flowing through most of our homes here in a week or so. We already know it's going to happen, Halloween is always on October 31st, there's always candy involved, so why not try and be prepared! I try to plan for MOST things, yes even sometimes I plan to be very bad, but nevertheless, I still plan ;) One of the big lessons I was taught as a young teenager was to already have a plan on what I was going to allow happen when I was with a boy. My mom was a strict one (THANK GOD!!) She would tell me to decide what I will allow to happen, like will I allow myself to be alone in a room with a boy (yes) will I kiss a boy (umm yes) will I .... so on and so on.. but I needed to know what I would do before the situation happened. It's tough to make a plan when you're already past the point of making a plan. Honestly this lesson kept me out of a lot of trouble growing up. This lesson can totally apply to situations with food! These are some things that I do that really help me.. When I'm going out for dinner I try to find out where we are going before we go. I look up the menu online and then pick out a few things that I would like to eat and then I figure out the points (or calories). I like to have a few options so I can change my mind if I want too. Of course there are times I have no idea where I'm going and in those cases I just do my best to try and pick the thing that I think is the healthiest. And just so you know, there are times I pick out something that I really want and it might be "bad" but I usually try to only eat half of it, still preparing though. When it comes to parties, in my opinion these can be the toughest situations, I will try and see if I can find out what the person is serving and then plan once I know. This isn't always the case though, in most cases you don't know what's being served. Sometimes I'll put a piece of fruit in my purse or something that I know I can snack on. I try and pick the best things to eat at a party and try my hardest to leave the unhealthier things behind. Those little finger foods can be dangerous and the calories/points add up quickly! I try and tell myself, "Self, this is not the last meal you're going to eat, so chill out!" Here are some tips I've learned for Halloween ( I have 3 little ones, I'm sure I'll have delicious Halloween candy in my house for at least 6 months! grrrr ;) but here's some suggestions we've talked about in my WW class; not to buy any candy until the day before or day of Halloween, to buy something you do not like (ummm I like everything though!! ;), to keep it out of sight and to try and get rid of it all on Halloween, don't keep any extra laying around. For me, it's going to have to be mind over matter, my kids will trick or treat and bring home 3 bags of candy, but I will be telling myself, is eating 10 mini candy bars in one sitting worth it? No, probably not. But one mini candy bar might be ;) Hope I didn't blab.. I know what I wanted my point to be, I hope it came across clear. Thanks for reading!!!

I small goaled my way here!!

So I was at a store the other day and just for the fun of it, I grabbed 2 different pairs of size 7/8 jeans.. you know, just to see how much longer until they fit. Guess what! They fit!!!! I almost threw up!! I was so excited!! I know, some might say, "Duh Mel!! You know you're going to fit in smaller jeans!! But come on! A size 7/8! I've NEVER worn a size 7/8 (yep, I keep repeating size 7/8 cause it's awesome! hehehe) Honestly, I don't think I ever imagined myself wearing that small of a size. So it's just as much shocking as it is exciting. I think if I said to myself, "Ok self, let's focus on getting to a size 7/8"  I would've given up... it was way too far away. So I am a big pusher of setting small goals. If you know me, you've heard me say this before and probably have heard me say it many many times before. Setting small goals sets you up for a win! Obviously I knew what my long term goal was.. to lose a bunch of weight and be healthier, but that is not what my focus was. My focus was accomplishing the "next small goal." In Weight Watchers, the first goal is to lose 5% of your total weight. So that is what I set as my first goal. The next goals are to lose 10%, be a Weight Watcher for 16 weeks, and so on. We also celebrate every 5 pound weight loss with a star sticker (yes we are grown people excited to get stickers!!) So I followed all of the Weight Watcher goals, but I also set some for myself. My first personal goal, I can celebrate on FB with my friends once I hit -30 pounds. I'm a FB lover so this worked for me! I set my exercise goals as well. (now that I'm writing this.. I think I've written about this before!! Oh well, we need to hear it again ;) This morning when I woke up, my goal was to have a perfect DAY, not a perfect week or month.. but just today! Perfect for me means to journal everything I eat, to not take little bites of my kids food throughout the day, and to get some exercise in. As you set these small goals and meet them and then set more small goals (then repeat :) before you know it you'll be right where you want to be! It's amazing to see that I've small goaled my way to lose over 100 pounds and now able to wear a size 7/8 ;) Small goaled my way to be able to run 5 miles and workout for an hour straight without dying! So that's my little challenge to you. Set some small goals. Set a small goal you'd like to reach by the end of Oct. and then the end of the year. I set my end of the year goal, I want to lose 16 more pounds by the end of the year. Once I hit that then I will be only 10 pounds from my final goal! I made a chart yesterday with the remainder of the year broken down in weeks (yes I'm a chart making dork) I bet by then I can even be down to a size 5/6! Thanks for reading!! Now set your goals!! :)

I Don't Wanna!!!

I'm warning you, this is a whiny blog! Sometimes I just don't wanna!! Sometimes I don't feel like it! I hope I'm not alone in thinking these thoughts. These thoughts aren't nearly as often as they used to be, but they still come and there are times I just let myself be whiny and allow myself to fall a little weak. This past weekend I had a few days of what I like to call "tired of doing this whole healthy lifestyle thing" this thinking happens and I guess I have to expect it. It's not a "I'm giving up" type of thinking, just tired. Sometimes I get tired of the process, tired of writing what I eat down, tired of exercising, tired of thinking about it and working towards goals. I remember the first time this happened, I thought, "Oh my gosh, I'm such a failure! Why am I thinking this way?!" but then I realized this is life. This is normal thinking! (well at least for me it's normal) I now realize life happens. You see, schedules get busy, our families demand more of us, tragedy strikes, changes happen... you get the picture. Heck sometimes we just get plain ol' tired. I used to think feeling anything negative was bad, but it's not.  I know that the changes I've made and am currently making is my lifestyle, and the fact is life does happen. There will be times that "I don't wanna" for the rest of my life. I can't imagine ALWAYS wanting to exercise or ALWAYS wanting to eat right or NEVER getting tired of "being good" so since these feelings come I've just learned what to do when they do come. I allow myself to feel these things without feeling guilty. No need for feeling bad about having feelings. I believe it's good when those feelings come because then you will learn your weaknesses and you'll learn how to cope with those feelings. I think the BEST thing I've learned from those feelings is that I am stronger and in control and that I don't have to throw in the towel and give up just because I'm tired. I can skip a few days without exercising or skip writing in my food journal. I may have some extra treats I normally wouldn't have (like 2 pumpkin doughnuts ;) and still be okay. These feelings come and go, we deal with them, and then move on. Hope this helps :)

Never ever give up!