Stress, Life and Losing Weight

I apologize to my regular readers for not posting more often. Sometimes writing life demands make blogging the least unprofitable use of my time, but I had to stop in to let you know that all is well. Promotion of my book, Beyond the Fifth Gate, is going well. It can be downloaded as an ebook and is also available at Amazon.

I'm also reading books and developing upcoming classes for Writer's Village University. Who would have thought years ago when I signed up for membership there that I'd find myself in this current situation! I attribute much of my success to that move and highly recommend their classes to anyone with the desire to improve their writing.

With all this, my role at LoveToKnow is also changing as I'm being promoted to Group Editor over Diet, Business and Cruises. Training starts in November! I'm very excited about this.

This is just part of what's keeping me busy, so you may be wondering how I'm doing with my weight. I admit, I've struggled a little with my eating, but it's not running away with me. I've stopped weighing daily, but when I stepped on the scale today, I've lost another 2 pounds. Now how exciting is that? This makes a total of almost 25 pounds since I moved to Georgia!

I haven't bought a "lick" of Halloween candy, either. Instead of handing out candy, our family has a tradition of going out for dinner--a healthy dinner. This way I don't have left over candy AND I don't even have to make dinner.

Losing the Last 10 Pounds

I've finished my fast, actually yesterday. Decided to end at 3 weeks instead of 4. My body told me it was time to start eating again. All in all, it was a rewarding experience. I lost almost 12 pounds, some of which I expect to gain back, but this morning when I stood on the scale I was pleasantly surprised to see I'd lost another .2 pounds even after eating yesterday.

My goal for the fast was to break the cravings that seemed to rule my life in recent times. By rule, I mean they took over. I'd start each morning with good intentions and by 10:00 I would cave, eating something like cookies or chips, two of the foods that seemed to call my name most often.

The Master Cleanse Diet allowed me to exercise the entire time, with plenty of energy, and I plan to continue exercising 5 days a week. That's one of the keys to losing weight and keeping it off. The fun thing for me is that I'm within 10 pounds of my goal weight. That feels good. However, I know how it is with those last 10 pounds. It's slow going. The only way to get rid of them is to continue eating sensibly and regular exercise.

So what is sensible? For me, as much as I don't want to, I'll be revisiting something I don't want to do...counting calories. This will help me see what I'm really eating, and serve as a tool to retrain myself as to what is sensible. It's so easy to eat more than I need.

More Ideas on How to Not Gain Holiday Weight

I'm more than half way through my cleanse and just about 10 pounds down. Remember though, that when I start eating, some of that weight will come back. However, I have to say it really has motivated me. My clothes are fitting, I can bend over with out cutting off my air, and I can cross my legs and feel comfortable.

While my focus has been taken off food, I'm also considering my strategy for how I'll eat once I finish the cleanse. Portion control seems to be one key to keeping weight off, and for continuing to lose. Along with that is learning the habit of eating slowly. These are all elements to take with us into the holiday season. Instead of saying you can't have any holiday goodies, which tends to be unrealistic, allow yourself to have a little. Yes, little. For example, a tradition in my family is to make Christmas cookies. In recent years I've cut back to making two kinds of cookies instead of six or so. And my plan is to make them for other people. That way I can have a couple from a batch and give the rest away. And I'll savor my goodies, eating them slowly so I can enjoy them.

Our society is one of excess, and that's one of the reasons we have such a weight problem. We think nothing of super sizing, eating plates piled with food and then having dessert too, or snacking enough to equal a big meal and then still eating a full meal.

Portion control. Let's take a look at how much a serving is, and when in doubt, use your palm as a guideline. If it fills your palm, it's a serving.

One Day at a Time Weight Loss

Life is a bit hectic right now, but I haven't cut exercise from schedule, though my blogging time has been whittled down as my regular readers may have noticed. I'm on day 13 of my cleanse, and feeling good. I've lost 7.5 pounds, though I know some of that will come back when I'm done with the cleansing process. One of the main things I've noticed is how much better I'm sleeping. Which tells me that what I eat can affect that!

My writing responsibilities continue to grow in a good way. I have a second interview with LoveToKnow tomorrow to possibly take on more responsibility there. Time will tell what is next. Either way I'll be satisfied as I'm very happy with my current role there as Site Editor for Diet, Exercise, Vitamins, Business and Home Improvement, along with my writing responsibilities.

Along with this, I'm setting up a couple more blog tours for Promo 101 Virtual Blog Tours. Two very interesting books. One is young adult fantasy and the other is non-fiction written by a man who grew up in a crime family!

I'm also making slow but steady progress on my next novel, looking for reviewers for Beyond the Fifth Gate, and reading a mystery for review.

With this kind of schedule, in the past, I've snacked when I hit a snag, or have to take care of something I don't feel like doing, or if I feel overwhelmed or too busy to make something healthy. Following this cleanse has helped me take my focus off food. I don't have to think about what I can or can't have. There's one thing. The fresh lemonade mixture I make each day. It satisfies, gives me all the energy I need and more, plus when I'm at our weekly pot luck, or sitting at the dinner table...it's okay. I don't obsess about what I can't have! I take it one day at a time.

Strategies Not to Gain Weight Over the Holidays

I've given more thought to the problem of weight gain over the holidays and how to avoid it. It's not as easy as saying I'm going to be on a diet. I've been there, done that. I've even successfully eaten sensibly on Thanksgiving day. My real problem... well that's what I want to talk about. The first step is to identify the real problem. We all have weak moments, and today we'll take a moment to discuss what they might be. If we can identify the problem, we'll be more aware of the places we may encounter it so we can customize a plan to thwart the potential pitfall.

Not everyone struggling with their weight makes poor diet choices under the same conditions. However, many of us cave in for one or more of the following reasons:

*from habit
*peer pressure
*boredom
*stress

My first suggestion to help combat all these reasons is to have quiet time of meditation/prayer everyday. When we think we can overcome these weak moments in our own strength, we may be successful for a while, but when our strength runs out we'll crash and burn. That's not a good plan. Look back at my post on the Healthful Benefits of Meditation. Medication helps to beat the stress of the holiday season which in turn can lower the risk of stuffing your face with holiday goodies by succumbing to external pressures.

During your time of meditation, give attention to your diet. It helps keep food in the right perspective. And as you think about food and your diet, don't just focus on the holiday season. In reality the time frame is just weeks in the year...such a short amount of time to wreak such havoc with your weight. And not just your weight. Think of your health. Taking time to meditate can help you keep food in it's proper place. Instead of making food the central focus of all you do, make it your health. If you don't meditate regularly, make it a habit now.

Holiday No Weight Gain Strategies

As we look ahead to the holidays and plan our strategies not to gain weight, I thought I'd pass this bit of wisdom on contributed by one of my faithful readers, Roberta:

I don't know if it is practical for anybody else, but one of the things I do to control what I eat at Thanksgiving is to have the dinner at my house. That way I can make food that fits into my weightloss plan: I've learned how to make everything low fat, even the dressing and gravy. Nobody knows the difference until I tell them. Although cooking and hosting a dinner for a large family is hard work, I look at it as another opportunity to burn more calories. LOL!

If I'm going out to a party I bring my favorite low fat dish or desert to share, so I always have something to eat that won't pudge me out! As far as those delicious traditional goodies that others bring, I've found that all I need to satisfy me is a tiny piece or a few bites.

If any of the rest of you have tips you'd like to share feel free to comment. Let's plan now. Thanksgiving is just around the corner!

I'm starting the second week of my cleanse today and am thanking God that I'm in one piece as I had an...accident...eye opening experience...well I took a fall this weekend. I was racing my 11-year-old grandson full out when i felt myself typing slightly forward. My mind said, I think you're going to fall. you are going to fall. Don't put your hands out, you'll break your wrists! And then I slammed into the asphalt. Left leg, palm of left hand, chest, and then my head snapped forward and my face whacked the pavement! Phew! And I'm alive. With a black eye, skinned palm and knee, and that's all! Of course everyone reminds me that I'm not 12. :) Guess I need those reminders every once in a while.

Healthy Eating Solutions

Here we are in a new month and another fresh start. I did get off track in September, and I'm not going to rehash the same old excuses of what should have benn. Instead, I'm looking forward and thankful that my times "off track" are becoming less extended. That is another form of progress toward a healthier lifestyle.

I didn't mention it earlier, but I started the Master Cleanse on Monday, September 30. I had recently conducted an interview with Peter Glickman author of Lose Weight, Have More Energy & Be Happier in 10 Days and it inspired me to do this cleanse again. I'm feeling good and I've been exercising. It always amazes me how much more energy I have when my digestive system isn't trying to grind away at all the food I put into it. This time my daughter is joining me on the journey. This is why I had the headache on Monday. That's passed and I'm doing well.

We recently talked about what to do about Halloween to avoid eating the candy, and it's not to early to start to make a plan for how not to overeat through the Holidays. It's like when Thanksgiving arrives we pig out and then with all the festive events and family gatherings it doesn't stop until the New Year. We'll be looking for solutions to that in the near future. If you have any suggestions let me know.