Michelle's influence

Politics and political parties aside, you really gotta admire Michelle Obama. She has made the eradication of childhhod obesity a goal of her and her husbands' administration. They might not attain the goal while in office, but if things keep going the way they have recently, I beleive we can eradicate in my lifetime.
Case in point:
Kraft food has already made the committment to cut the salt in their processed foods by 10% in the nest 2 years.
Now, PepsiCo, Inc, the makes of Pepsi and Frito lay chips has set 2 goals for the next 10 years: they want to cut the average added sugar per serving of their sodas by 25 % and the saturated fat per serving by 15 %. They will also add more whole grains, fruits, veges, and low fat dairy products to their choices.
Mrs Obama has asked the nation's largest food makes to step up and make their food with less fat, salt and sugar. The future of our children's health is at stake. The current generation of 10 years olds is the first generation is hundreds of years that has, at present, a lower life expectancy than their parents.
I am sooooooooooooo happy my daughter is a vegetarian!

Girlfriends

Last night I had the chance to go out to dinner with my three bestest friends. We had dinner at a really nice pub and - yes - I did fine. Had a great spinach salad, a few corn chips and some well deserved chocolate.

As it usually does with women, the conversation at one point turned to eating, dieting, body image, aging skins, all those female type thoughts. Now you all know I suffer terribly with body image and self esteem issues related to my weight. But what I found out from these three gorgeous, talented, successful and THIN women was that I am not alone in my issues. It seems that even women whose body types I aspire to, have "issues" at times with how they look.

Amazing! Got me to thinking: is this our culture, a result of the diet and youth obsessed media, or is it just normal for all of us to feel a little "low" sometimes?

You can't watch tv, open a magazine or even a newspaper these days without seeing ads for diet programs, anti-aging skin care, gyms. The thought you get while watching these or reading them is that you are not good enough the way you are and you NEED to change. It's like a mind game being played on us. Use this cream and your skin will feel better; join this gym and get those abs you really desire; try this diet plan and be the thinnest you've ever been.

I kind of realized I really don't need to be told all that by strange advertisors.

I have my girlfriends to discuss those life things with. Their advice and support and kind words are more productive and supportive to me than any diet plan, skin cream or gym equipment.

Going out to dinner : $30.00

New blouse I bought for it: $ 25

Girlfriends: PRICELESS

Why lose weight?

I listened to a replay of last week's Robert Ferguson 8 weight food challenge teleconference today and he posed a question to everyone listening : why lose weight? What is the single most important motivating factor for you to lose the excess weight and keep it off for good?
For me it's simple. At almost 50 I do not want to go through the second half of my life overweight, out of shape, depressed because of it, and unhealthy. I replay those reasons in my mind every day to motivate myself to keep going.
Has it been tough?
YOu betcha!
Have I fallen off the wagon?
Yes sirree!!
Is it necessary that I do this?
Yesyesyesyesyes!
DO I know I can do this?
Absolutely. IT just takes planning, patience, perserverance and a willingness to FINALLY change.
At almost 50 I KNOW I can do this.
Pray for me and get others to prayer for me too!
I need a weightloss prayer chain going on for me.

A great day.

I had a great day today, foodwise. I was hungry when I was supposed to be; ate what I was supposed to eat when I was supposed to eat it; and I exercised.
A great day.
But I have to admit, it was work. Writing everything down in my journal; planning all the meals; lugging all my food to work with me, including my beverages; having my journal on me at all times.
It requires a great deal of planning and preparation and work to lose weight.
It really is just so much easier to eat what you want when you want.
And that, at its core, is the reason why it's easier to gain weight than lose it!
Lightbulb moment, folks.
When I journal the food I eat, I get to see a snapshot of what my calories and distribution of carbs and protein are. If I just eat what I want when I want with no recording of it, I never know where I am caloriewise or with correct foods. This makes a HUGE difference in how fast and how much I lose weight.
Whenever I have recorded every morsel that has gone into my mouth, I actually OWN the food I've eaten. If I don't journal, it's very easy to just "forget" the foods I ate, including the crappy ones, and make like I never even ate them.
How many ways can you say "Denial?"
Get it?
Okay, Another great day tomorrow! I'm "Planning" for it.