Day 1: February 21 Day Challenge

Here we are, another new month and a brand new start. The January 21 Day Challenge went well for me, and for the days between challenges, I actually continued with those same goals. The end result for January was that I'm down 5.4 pounds. That surpasses my hopes. So here's to February!

The Way the Challenge Works

It is said that it takes 21 days to establish a new habit. The 21 Day Challenge starts the 1st of the the month and goes through the 21st. The challenge is to set goals for those 21 days in hopes you will gradually establish new habits. The days "off" between challenges will show you whether or not your new behavior has become a habit, whether it needs work, or perhaps needs tweaking to work for you.

I set goals for many different aspects of life, but for this blog the focus is losing weight. If you don't need to lose weight the same technique can be used to maintain weight, work toward a healthier lifestyle and even for gaining weight. Before year's end, I hope to be maintaining rather than losing.

My February 21 Day Challenge Goals

• Exercise 3-5 days a week
• No S Diet
• Drink water

How to Set Goals

When setting goals, be sure to make them achievable. For example, if I set a goal to lose 5 pounds and only lose 4, then I have not succeeded. Failure can send me into a tailspin. I don't really have control over exactly how much I lose so that is not a practical goal. However, if I set a goal to exercise 3-5 days a week, THAT I can have control over. It's measurable and achievable. The result will be weight loss. How much weight loss, well that's in God's hands.

Don't set yourself up for failure, but success! Set attainable goals.

21 Day Challenge: Day 9

Yesterday was the first day I had the real temptation to eat when I shouldn't. I'm steadily losing weight, exercising, and seeing those results is motivating. So why would I even think to sabotage my quest to lose these extra pounds?

Stress eating is one of the reasons I'm overweight. I'm not talking about major stress like a terminal illness in the family or losing a job. Everyday stress is a sneaky creature. It can creep in just because I have to do something I don't want to do like the mundane responsibilities of life. It affects my diet mood. Eating something I want to eat gives me the feeling that I am in control and that I can do something I enjoy even when there are plenty of things I'm expected to do that I don't really want to do. Does that make sense?

It didn't hit until after lunch. I wasn't hungry physically, but my mind went to food. It didn't really surprise me, because that's the way I lived before this 21 day challenge started. It's these choices in everyday life that make a difference in results. I decided to bundle up and go for my walk earlier than usual. Get out of the house and get moving.

The temps had climbed to 22 degrees and the sun shone bright on the light blanket of snow. I wasn't sure if it would be too icy to walk, especially up the "big hill". Patches of ice were here and there but not a problem. In the middle of my second mile I thought about cutting it short. Two miles instead of three miles, but I DIDN'T! I determined to keep going. The sun disappeared and only small patches of blue showed in the sky filling with gray puffy clouds. I pushed forward. Snow crunching under my feet in spots, cheeks freezing, by breath blowing balloons of frosty mist in front me.

I walked into the house victorious. The urge to eat for no good reason had disappeared. Once choice at a time, our habits make a difference!

Lost 12 Inches in One Week!

Losing weight is a slow process and I know that, so a little over a week ago when I started the Weigh Down Diet, I decided to weigh myself AND measure myself. A week into the diet I stepped on the scale and had lost three pounds. Three pounds is excellent, but part of my brain doesn't think it is excellent when I look at the big picture and how much more I have to lose. I could feel a difference in how my clothes were feeling and I decided to re-measure to see what I had lost. My waistline was three inches less! Now it's the same number three, but for me, three inches seemed like so much more. On top of that, I had lost 1.5 inches off my lower abs and another 1.5 inches off my upper abs. My total inches gone came to 12! Now that is exciting.

As good as all that sounds, it gets even better. There are no forbidden foods on this diet. I'm eating bread again and have even enjoyed chips with my lunch. I'm no longer in bondage to the "don't eat that" mentality. THAT is something I can't even put into words. Instead of bondage I'm living in the freedom to listen to my body and learning the difference between true hunger and desire eating.

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Check out my other blog: Diet News

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.