Saturday, August 13, 2011

From My Blog Roll!

image courtesy of Vintage Collective





Hey ladies! I know I said I wasn't going to post for a while but I just wanted to share a few quick links from my blog roll from this week or so.

Things I read that I would love to pass on to you.

The first one is from one of my favourite weight loss writers, Byron Richards. I find he always has some of the latest research about natural weight loss. This one is about how cinnamon, black pepper, and paprika can aid in lowering insulin resistance.

Another post that I really appreciated was called "It's Not A Race" from Lucy: Don't Call Me Ugly. It's about how we often get caught up in a caring about what other people think about us, instead of just trying to make good choices for ourselves. I found this very insightful.

And from a week ago, a post about being grateful. This reminded me of what I have to be grateful for, which is a lot!

And a new blog that I found via Daily Mile, where I am now tracking my workouts: Potter's Clay. This lady has lost a lot of weight and now does races! Her blog is full of encouragement for other believers and looks amazing! The post I linked to is about how it's better to at least try and fail, then just sit by and not even get out there. A good reminder!

Well, have a good week ladies. I will do my Sunday Weigh-In tomorrow and be gone for a week. Take care.

My Blog And Why I Will Keep Writing It!

Hey everybody!

I am just doing up a quick post here before I start some more major cleaning. I have company coming from out of town this week and it's so exciting, everyone!

My sister, brother-in-law and the girls (two nieces aged 8 and almost 10) are coming for a week and I miss them so much! So, I probably won't post much this week, although I really need to keep my tracking up.

I just wanted to say, too, that I have been thinking a lot about the blog and I don't think I will keep all the categories so strictly. I would still like to do the "Do The Math Fridays" and "Beautiful Wednesday,"  but that's it. Oh, and a Sunday Weigh-in As Well. The reason I am doing the math calculations on Friday is so that I can step it up on Saturday for my Sunday weigh-in. The other categories I will try to fit in but I need the freedom to just write about my journey day by day. Even if no one else reads it, I will write just because writing is what helps motivate me and to accomplish things. But I want people to read it, too! 

I so appreciate the people who drop in sometimes and read. And a couple of you even joined my Facebook page. Thank you guys!  I love writing and always hope something I write could be something others could relate to, or be helped by.


Thursday, August 11, 2011

I Need To Think Bigger

***Send more Query Letters!
One thing I have realized with my writing journey is that I need to think bigger.

You might find this relates to you. I am a regular at Hubpages and I do enjoy Hubpages in many ways. Since joining the site eight months ago, I have learned so, so much about online writing, S.E.O. and website making. It has been invaluable.

As well, I enjoy the community very much and feel like I have made some good friends, albeit the Internet kind. I give Hubpages a good deal of credit for being what it is: a place where you can publish for free, get your confidence up, and take part in a wonderful community.

Oh yeah, and make money, too. Theoretically. I know that some people are making money from Hubpages, and that given time, I will be able to make some, too. The potential is there. With more knowledge of S.E.O. and lots of backlinking, I will make payout some day.
^^^Sometimes It Feels Like Begging!

But, as I was saying at the beginning, I need to think bigger. What do I mean by that? Well, the real world. The world where you get paid for doing something that you are talented at. Not wait on your hunches and hope and yearn for traffic. Sometimes it feels like begging, doesn't it? No, the real world where you get paid for doing a job. What a concept, right? But that's where I need to go next in my writing.


What motivated me to write this post was a couple posts I read recently from one of my favourite blogs on writing: Make A Living Writing. The first post was actually a guest post from a veterinarian turned freelance writer. Like she said, it's not an obvious connection. But she's doing it by focusing on her specialized markets and writing as the vet that she is. This inspired me so much to use my knowledge as an educator in the writing field.


The second post from the same blog was about taking "low pay" for writing. The author, Carol Tice, writes about how she refuses to do $15 dollar blog posts. Why? Because the pay is so low. She then makes a inspiring stand on why writers deserve to get paid a decent rate. Working for Google Adsense doesn't necessarily accomplish that.

I also read this awesome post from Freelance Switch. He warns against being lazy and just staying on the free sites, instead of working it and sending out query letters.

So, what's the next step? For me, I am a teacher. A trained educator with a wealth of experience. I have to start using that experience and maximize my assets, to use a business-like term. I have to stop grasping at straws and get serious about this writing thing. And I am going to. I'm not saying I will not do anymore Hubpages or Webanswers or Redgage. Because they are great and fun to do. And hopefully, they will result in some residual income, eventually.

But I also want to send out some query letters to some educational publishers. And start exploring the markets for the things that I am really good at writing about. Because I'm worth it. Are you?

***© Image Copyright Ross and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence

^^^Image by HikingArtist.com 


Beautiful Thursday: BMI Project and Some Polyvore-ing!

DesignerCurves3 - Those Who Believe



DesignerCurves2 - Yet to Come


Okay, everyone. Today we are having another beauty post. Beautiful Wednesday is Beautiful Thursday today, after I used up yesterday's post to some confessing and ranting. To start off, I have embedded some of my plus size Polyore sets above. I absolutely love those dresses! What do you think?

So here goes. I believe that a very important part of getting healthy is feeling beautiful and believing that we can be beautiful. I know there is a lot of stuff out there about losing weight for negative reasons: that we feel ugly, that we want to feel good enough, that we need to be accepted. I understand those feelings because I struggle with them, too.

However, I think that losing weight, getting healthy, or making any other decisions because of negative pressure from others, or yourself, DOESN'T WORK! At least, it doesn't work for me. Because, for me, I need to feel good about myself before I can make a decision. It is a bit ironic, but I need to feel good about myself NOW, before I can make a solid decision to change.

SOooo... I am including some links today about feeling beautiful at any size. Sometimes it is called "fat acceptance." My thoughts on fat acceptance? I'm totally for it. Then why am I writing a weight loss blog? Because I want to lose weight. That is my personal decision, but it comes (mostly) from a place of self-acceptance. I am fat. I don't need to feel ashamed of that. I just want to get healthier, for myself.

So without further adieu ... some links for your enjoyment!

The first link is to a project called the BMI Project. It is from the website of Kate Harding. It shows some real pictures of what we call "obese," "overweight" and "morbidly obese." Have a look at these women? Are they your picture of obese?

Here are more of these BMI pictures, posted on Flckr.com. I think the important part about these pictures is to realize that the words, "obese" and "morbidly obese" are words that have such a discouraging, hateful sound to them. Obese cannot surely be sexy or gorgeous, right? WRrrong! Have a look!

And last week, from my blogger friend, Melissa: a post on beautiful curvy women. Love it!

And now one more Polyvore for your pleasure:

DesignerCurves4: Under Her Feet


I'd love to hear your thoughts, ladies! 

Tuesday, August 9, 2011

Nutriment Tuesday: Emotional Overeating

Today is the day I write about food and nutrition and I am going to talk about emotional eating. It fits into the nutriment category because it's an obstacle we have to overcome if they are going to eat nutritionally and feed our bodies properly.

I admit fully that I have struggled with emotional eating, and I still do. It has been a  big issue for me and something I am overcoming in order to lose weight. So what I am writing comes from personal experience. I do believe that I am overcoming this issue with God's grace. I sometimes will overeat but I catch myself before I go too crazy. I think it will probably always be something I need to watch myself on, to some degree.

Emotional overeating is when we eat for reasons other than nutriment, or being sustained. It is eating because we "feel" something and we need a way to react to it. Instead of reaching for alcohol or drugs, we reach for a food that will provide us with the same effect as a drug: to numb us.

A mother feeding baby is an experience of love ***
I want to make a careful distinction, though, between just emotional eating and emotional overeating. You see, it's not always wrong to eat for emotional reasons. Some of our best and earliest memories, hopefully, are of sucking at our mother's breast or being held while  we suckle on a bottle. Food is connected with love, and that in itself is not wrong.

Food has all kinds of good associations with family and connections, and that can be a beautiful thing! We eat and talk and feel close! I recently read an article that talked about the rituals associated with eating, and how those were a factor in maintaining weight. There is nothing wrong connecting food with emotions, as long as it does not lead to excess.

But for many of us, that line is easy to cross. We have learned to deal with emotions by eating, and eating turns into binging, which is being out of control.

Binging is the exact opposite of eating for nutriment. In order to feed ourselves properly, we have to learn to feed our emotions and hearts in different ways than with food. It is also about feeling stronger in our spirit and heart, so that we don't like we need to use food to deal with things.

For me, as a Christian, I believe that I have to let the LORD Jesus feed me, and to feast on the word of God. The Word is feeds us and sustains us.

This subject is a huge topic and I can't obviously cannot cover it in one blog post. There are many factors that lead to healing and I could probably write a book on it! But I just wanted to bring it up as an important part of learning to feed ourselves. 

I am going to recommend a book on the topic and post the link from Amazon. The book, "Hope, Help, and Healing for Eating Disorders: A Whole-Person Approach to Treatment of Anorexia, Bulimia, and Disordered Eating" by Gregory L. Jantz. Ph.d. This is one I read last summer but want to work through again. It is written from a Christian perspective and also deals with the related conditions of anorexia and bulimia. I have the old edition of the book but he has a newer edition that was published in 2010.

 This condition (binge eating) is something I am getting victory over, and I will continue to claim that victory, through the power of the cross. I am going to make it this time. I am not claiming I will never do it again, but I am claiming that, ultimately, the victory will be there and I will lose weight! This blog, which helps to keep me accountable and to share the struggles is part of getting the victory, too! Praise the LORD!

***Image by c r z

Friday, August 5, 2011

BYOC -- Bring Your Own Crazy Friday

Bring Your Own Crazy!

Okay, I have already posted for Friday, but I wanted to do something more fun, so I am doing a *thing* from this funny lady from my blog roll, Joanna, from Diary of a Mad, Fat Woman.
So the whole idea is that we copy the questions, answer them and get to know each other a little better. Sounds good to me! So here goes. If you would like to play along, just copy the questions from here and answer away! 

1. I’m going to pick a person in your life – not knowing if you have a good or bad, existing or non-existent relationship with them – and your mission is to pick 5 words or traits or thoughts to describe them.

Your paternal grandmother.

Hard-working. She had ten kids and ran a huge farming household before the days of automatic everything.

Buxom. The thing I remember about my Grandma was that she was well-endowed. Having ten children made her even more so. And I have to say, we are built the same!

Smart. She showed us her report cards from when she was in high school, and her marks were all in the nineties. She kept house for most of her life but did it with major brains.

Spontaneous. I remember her laughing and giggling with us, her little grandchildren. My favourite picture of her was of her laughing as she swung on a post by our house.

Hospitable. With ten children, dozens of grandchildren and many neighbours, my grandmother always opened her home and never complained about the steady stream of visitors. My Grandpa was the talker, but she was the one who kept everything going, usually in the background.

 It was nice to think about my Grandma. She passed in 1991, and spent the last ten years or so in a care centre with dementia. I only knew her, in her right mind, when I was quite young, but it was nice to pay homage to her. Love you, Grandma!

2. What’s your all time favorite color to paint your nails? And your toes?

Um, okay. This is embarrassing but it's been a long time since I painted my nails. When I do, however, it's some shade of pink, with a lighter shade on my hands and a darker shade on my toes. 
  
3. Do you get along with your parents well?

This is one that I don't really want to talk about. I got along very well with my Mom. She passed away nine and a half years ago. I loved her so so much. I am not really in touch with my father, but that's a whole other story.

4. Rank the rainbow colors in the order you prefer.

Purple
Pink
Orange
Yellow
Red
Blue
Green

I love purple!

5. Repeat question. How was your week in real life and in blog land this week?

My life in real life was pretty good. I was home for most of the week working on household stuff, trying to get some projects done and just get the house in order. I am staying at home for the first time this year and it's weird getting used to it but I am grateful to be able to do it! I love my gorgeous husband so much!

I think I found a new church to go to, and went on Sunday, with a friend, which was awesome.I walked quite a bit this week and feel really good about that!

I am a stepmom, and that is a challenge in itself. Not bad, but challenging. We have a lot of kids at our house all the time and it's pretty busy around here. There is sometimes drama.

In blogland, good! I have been working on some new ideas for my blog, to keep it more organized and focused. And I have to say I love blogging!

Okay, l hope we get a couple takers on BYOC. Have a good weekend!


*Image by SlapBcn

Thursday, August 4, 2011

A Man Picked Me Up! And Other Thursday Confessions

This beautiful photo is by Lel4nd at Flckr.com
...I Confess ... I Took Someone Home

Today is Thursday Confessions, and I have a confession to make. I went for a walk and this gorgeous man picked me up as I was walking down the street. And then ... I took him home! Forgive me, but he was my husband and I couldn't resist!  He called me as I was walking and came and met me up halfway through the walk. Awesome!

He's trying to get back into shape, too, and he has a lot less far to come back to. He was a real athlete at one time and it's pretty natural for him.  He needs to lose about ten lbs or so, and he wants to get back in good shape. I think it won't be too hard for him. Me, on the other hand, have further to go! But it's great when we do some walk together. It gets us both out and about and I think we both sleep better, too.

...I Confess ... I Feel Hope

Today is the day that I bare my soul to you the readers. (Not that I don't do that even on other days, but this is the special day for it!) Well, I confess that I feel so much hope right now about losing weight. I know that I can do this! It's not going to be easy and it will take a while, but it is definitely possible.

What clicked for me is that Tuesday I was actually under on my calorie count, for the first time in .... let's see ... forever. And I wasn't really trying. It just worked out that I got busy and didn't eat that much. Having that happen made something click in me.

Imaging those scale numbers!
And the other thing that gave me hope was that as I walked the other morning, I forced myself to visualize losing weight every ten pounds or so. It was weird. At first, I could only visualize the first 30 lbs or so because it's been so long since I've been down there. But I forced myself to imagine it -- to imagine how long it would take me to lose each increment and how I had accomplished that goal. It took a while but I imagined myself all the way down to 120 lbs less than I am right now. My goal right now is 100 lbs gone, but it's hard to say what the final stop will be. I will be able to tell better when I get there.

The hardest part was feeling motivated after getting into the 100 club: being under 200 lbs. It's been so long since I have seen 100 something on the scale and I have almost forgotten how it feels. I thought that when I get there, I will take a couple of months off and just coast and enjoy being 190 something, for the first time in so long. And then I will get back to work.

So that is my confession: that it is seeming possible now. And it's a good feeling!

Tuesday, August 2, 2011

Nutrient Tuesday: PopChips

So, I just found the most amazing snack! Has anyone seen these? Get ready!

Image by adria.richards
They are called Popchips. And they are 100% "popped" and 110 calories a bag. They taste like chips but are actually quite healthy. Not baked. Not fried. And not fatty. Popped. Like popcorn. Wow.

Does anyone here like chips? Me too! Chips were a main culprit in my weight gain, without a doubt. I find during my TOM that I get huge salt cravings but then ... they invented Popchips!

From the popchips website, here's the low-down:
  • no saturated fat
  • no trans fat
  • no cholesterol
  •  no preservatives
Only 30% of their calories come from fat, which is amazing for chips. And best of all, they are delicious. One bag can give you a taste of those chips you miss without blowing your whole day. Delish!

Monday, August 1, 2011

Monday Moves: Needing a Push to Exercise

Photo by d'n'c
First of all, the bad news. I did not reach my movement goal for this week, which was to walk five hours. I only walked for four hours. The reason that I did not reach it is that I was lazy. Plain and simple. I'm not being hard on myself but just honest.

Couldn't seem to get my myself out there and there is no excuse, really. I am just used to being sedentary, after a year off doing almost no exercise and it's hard for my mind and body to adjust. Ever heard of resistance? Well, I got it big time and I realize that a huge part of this battle is in my mind. I resist exercising, even though I KNOW it will help me in the end, and make me feel better.

I have been trying to figure out why I am so resistant and I think it has to do with the concept of homeostasis.  Remember this concept from Science class? That living things always try to stay in a stable state? Well, I think my body has been in the homeostatic state of not moving and eating whatever it wants. Now I have disturbed the balance and mind and body do not want to cooperate.

And I have to disturb this homeostatic state again and again, until I reach a new homeostatic state where I love movement and walking. I used to absolutely love walking and I will get there again. Right now, I enjoy it when I go but have a really hard time getting motivated.

Truth be told, if my gorgeous husband had not pushed me this week, I would  have had even less exercise to report: almost none, actually.

Bless his heart, he biked with me twice this week while I walked. (And he was the one that suggested it both times.) That was a lot of fun and we spent some time together doing something active. And then yesterday he gave me a little lecture about how I was not doing what I said I would do. This kicked me out the door, so to speak and I had a two hour walk that day.

photo by RWTurenne
So I am very glad that I did do the four hours. I did part of the walk in this little tiny park by the river that I found and the breeze blowing off the river was wonderful! I really do enjoy walking once I start but I have a hard time getting out the door.

As well, I am happy to report that my new shoes are amazing! It honestly feels like I am walking on pillows. Yay!

So, that is my report: the good, the bad and the ugly. What's great is that God always gives us new weeks! This week, my goal is to walk five hours, without my husband having to push me! I  have to do this! 

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Movement Minutes This Week ----->>>>

(From SparkPeople)