Are you a vacationer, prisoner or a sponge?

Alright people - I'm not usually one for labels, but let's give this one a try, okay? With regard to how you are living your life: Are you a vacationer, prisoner or a sponge? 

(1) If you're a vacationer, you are happily going through life without a care in the world, always out for a good time, lookin' for the party. The problem is, you're not taking responsibility for anything either, after all, you're on vacation. Not worried about responsibility for your community, your body, your health, your family, your job, nothin'! This may be all fun and games in the moment, but as you probably already know, it will eventually catch up with you, and you really will WISH you had taken more responsibility for the things that matter. 

(2) If you're a prisoner, you are living your life in hell, within your own prison, that you have created with walls and bars, because you are punishing yourself ... for what? I have no idea, God only knows - - but you are perpetually and continuously living out a punishment, that is self-inflicted, serving a life sentence. The good news is - there is hope for parole. The only catch is that you are not only a prisoner, you are also the jailer .. and the only one who can set you free is YOURSELF. Break free from these limiting walls you've put up in your life, stop punishing yourself, before the life sentence becomes a death sentence. 

(3) If you're a sponge ... you are soaking it all in. You are embracing life and enjoying the journey, cherishing the moments, learning lessons, and expanding to be better with every ounce of tears shed or laughter emitted. You are taking responsibility for the things you know you should; and you are not in anybody's prison, especially not your own. Soak it up baby ... life was meant to be devoured. 

So do tell - are you a vacationer, a prisoner or a sponge? If you don't like your answer. Change it. 
 

As always, make champion choices, 
Debra 

Calorie Counting

Do You Try To Control Every Calorie?

I struggle with this because I believe tracking my food helps me greatly with accountability to myself and makes it more 'real' what I am putting in my mouth.

But a famous health coach says that one of the things she used to be so guilty of was trying to control every calorie she ate. She'd give herself certain food rules she had to follow (such as no eating after 7 PM, no eating fat, no eating out, no eating certain types of foods, no eating after she ate 1200 calories for the day, etc.). She says what she didn't realize is that when you focus on what you CAN'T do...it makes you want to do it MORE (by the way...this is a human psychology thing, NOT a willpower or self-control thing).

She believes that success lies in focusing on what you CAN do, not what you cannot. It makes you feel empowered and liberated (as opposed to deprived...as we are accustom to feeling when it comes to our weight loss plans). The truth is, eating out or eating after 7 PM isn't our problem...it's what we do when we feel deprived and restricted on our plans.

Me personally, I find this somewhat true.  I know so many people who say that It is during the times we feel deprived and restricted that we binge, decide that all this work isn't worth it, and throw in the towel. The key to weight loss success is avoiding all that, therefore the real key to long-term results on your weight loss plan is to avoid feeling deprived and restricted. What’s ironic is that most programs out there make you feel deprived and restricted, so much so that we’ve literally come to expect it. We’ve trained ourselves to believe that losing weight has to be hard. We feel like if we aren’t busting our butts and stressing ourselves out…we aren’t going to ever see results. And that is EXACTLY why hardly anyone is able to lose weight and keep it off in the long-term. According to her that is.

I know for me (Debra here) ... that if I say I need 7 servings of fruits/veggies, that makes less room for other junk.  If I have to have 64 ounces of water, there is less room for soda. You get the idea.  Focus on what you SHOULD have and CAN have, and not so much of what is a no-no food.  I don't believe in assigning emotions to food or qualities like 'allowed' or 'not allowed'.  I don't eliminate entire food groups just for the sake of doing so.  I'm not Vegan or Paleo or Gluten Free or Pescatarian or anything else... I am just me ... someone who pays attention to how food makes her feel and makes choices based on that information.   And as for me, I am still going to track.  I don't leave my bank account up to chance, I track what I spend so I can see the big picture and know what is going on.  Same is true for my diet.  Even though I hate that word diet.  Really, it's just what we eat.  Truth of the matter is - everybody is on a dang diet because everybody eats.  If not, you're dead.

~SO HERE IS A JOURNAL PROMPT~  {Yes, I highly encourage journaling, as well as tracking}
In the past, have you tried to control every calorie you consumed? Do you give yourself certain food rules you had to follow? What ended up happening when you did? Do you feel like losing weight HAS to be hard? Where do you think this idea came from? How do you think it is impacting your ability to lose weight? How could you start letting go of this belief? Why do YOU think no one is able to keep weight off in the long-term? Have you noticed that when you focus on what you CAN'T do...you just want to do it even more? How has focusing on what you can't do impacted your goal of losing weight? What do you usually do when you feel deprived and restricted? Do you binge? Throw in the towel? Feel like all this work isn't worth it? What would it look like if you stopped focusing on restricting yourself and started focusing on all the healthy choices you have? How would would focusing on what you CAN do make you feel? How do you think it would relieve those feelings of deprivation? What are some things you could infuse into your plan today that would make you feel more empowered and free (as opposed to deprived and restricted)?

As always, make champion choices,
Debra

Adapted from source: Lauren Wardell

Housewifery

Confession:  I suck at housewifery.  Yes, I totally made up that word.  How is it possible that I was once able to run an entire organization, write training manuals and teach database design... yet I cannot seem to keep up with laundry?  I'd blame it on the four children that have invaded my brain power, but honestly, I sucked at laundry before I ever had kids.

Suzie Homemaker I am not.  Betty Crocker, not even close.  I can read. I can follow instructions. Therefore, I can follow a recipe and usually produce something edible, but it is usually out of necessity, not pleasure.  I will never be one of those folks who make up decadent dishes and experiment in the kitchen and cherish the thought of home-made pies.  Yeah, not me at all.  Buy me some pumpkin bread from Starbucks and I am thrilled.  We can bond over a little green straw in my frappe.

I also believe that Pinterest is going to be the death of me. I see all those amazing photos of clever moms with their perfectly orchestrated lunches with properly balanced nutrition .... and here I am jumping up and down because I actually remembered to put money on their cafeteria accounts.  I see images of organized closets and cute book shelves, and back pack areas neatly planned for shoes and what not.  Here I am thrilled if the door to the coat/shoe closet is actually closed.

I actually do have a job:  a part-time job I work from home.  I work for a non-profit organization dealing with foreign exchange students.  The pay is minimal, but it keeps me from focusing on dust bunnies and beds that should be made.  It gives me flexibility, which when all is said and done, is what I need.  Not flexibility to do morning yoga poses (although I probably should) ... but flexibility to be the one who sits in the carpool lane and picks up my fabulous children from their elementary school.  ALL three of them.  It also gives me the flexibility to homeschool my teenage daughter ... because public school would be the death of her spirit for sure.

So, while I may suck at housewifery, I love the mom part of it all.  I love hearing about their day, stressin' over homework and teaching Algebra.  Well, not really, but let's just pretend that part is true. I love playing with my kids, and exercising with them and wearing them out.  I love putting them to bed at night and praying for them constantly. I don't scrapbook very well, but I do silly and fun like a genius. I get in the water. I go down the slide. I go tubing in the river. I laugh at their jokes and gush at their art. I may suck at finding all the Chess pieces, but I am great at finding TIME.  I may suck at making pancakes, but I am great at making mini-van memories. I never went to nursing school but I can kiss a boo boo with the best of them.  I'll never be the crafty super mom who plans meals a month in advance, but I'll definitely make sure they don't starve to death.

So if you come over to my house and step on a Lego, please don't sue me.  I'll pay for you to get a foot massage and buy you a Starbucks.  And as we open our little green straws ... I'll smile and giggle about how much I love being a mom.

As Always, Make Champion Choices,
Debra