The love-food equation...

Holidays are one of the few times in the year my extended family comes together. As a child I looked forward to these gatherings.

They were a chance to open presents, play with long lost cousins...and get spoiled rotten by beloved Grandparents. Invariable the high point of these gatherings centered on the Holiday Feast. Beautifully set tables (A big one for the grown ups and a smaller one for us kids), a perfectly planned and prepared menu...and mind boggling desserts.

Growing up with such an emotion laden tradition I began to associated "Food with love."

Several years after I grew old enough to take a seat at the "big table"... I began to develop a dread for these gatherings. Struggling with emotional eating related obesity...I promised myself I would eat smart... only to end up stuffing myself in the hopes of recapturing the unconditional love I had associated with childhood.
As an adult the Love-Food equation grew to include guilt.

The Body for Life program has helped me draw a line between food and love and subtract the guilt. I now use food to nurture my body...not my soul.

Happy Easter!

PS... a few of you have asked to see what I looked like before I began my first BFL challenge. Here is the link to my BFL tracker pictures. http://www.bodyforlife-tracker.com/showphotos.cfm?id=10524

I Love Books....

...Love the feel of them, the thoughts they contain and the ability to connect with those who have written them. I love to check them out, buy them...read them from cover to cover and hang on to them.

I must admit this habit has caused a few problems over the years. One is storage. Recently I began to attack my cluttered book case to cull the books I no longer need in my life.
Over the past 30 years I have brought home just about every DIET BOOK published.

Yes, I even had Dr. Stillman's FIRST paperback. As I took these books off the shelves and stacked them up...I realized I had collected a virtual "who's who" in the billion dollar diet industry. Some of their plans worked for awhile. When they failed I rushed out to buy the latest book bound cure.

When my spring cleaning concluded, I had filled two large boxes with these books. My dilemma...what to do with them? My first thought was to burn them. OHHHH....I just couldn't wrap my mind around that concept. Instead I placed the boxes in the trunk of my car. For weeks I drove around and debated whether to donate them to the GoodWill.

On one hand I thought they might help someone else. On the other hand I feared sending another person on a wild and unsuccessful chase to win their own battle against the bulge. Then I realized that each of those books...helped me along the road to my own success. Ultimately they made me accept the truth that Diets Don't Work!
As I dropped the boxes off at GoodWill I prayed .they would help someone else draw the same conclusion.

Now getting back to my life love affair with books.
My book shelf still contains a few treasured books that have helped me transform my body, mind and spirit.
On the top shelf and In alphabetical order they are; Bible, Body for Life by B.P., FinallyFit at 50 by Porter Freeman and The Purpose Driven Life.
On the bottom shelf there are two stacks of magazines. One for Muscle Media the other For Energy Magazine.
Yes I am still buying books. I now eagerly await the arrival of my copy of Dr. Pam's Body for Life for Women.

They say you can't judge a book by its cover. But I believe you can judge a person by the books they read and take to heart.

Habits are a lot like friendships...

...they can be good or bad. You can make them or break them. You can benefit from them or be destroyed by them. Several years ago---one of my very good friends told me that I needed to break some bad habits...or I would break!

Thanks to the honesty and support of my friend and the EAS/Body for Life program I've started to form new and healthy relationships with good habits...and good people!
In the past I had aways been an "all or nothing" kind of person. (Can you say compulsive?) When the latest friend let me down or the latest diet failed ...I'd go on a frantic search for new and improved ones. This vicious cycle...continued to spin me like the Tasmanian Devil through out the decade of my 40's. By the time I hit the Big 5-0...I had grown fat and tired and... lonely.

As with any "true" friendship....I didn't slide into my new, healthy lifestyle over night. I started with tiny baby steps. When set backs occurred....I dusted myself off, picked myself up and got back onto the path. When I didn't have the strength to do that on my own...I found that new friends found during my BFL journey were there to support me.

I now visit my good habits and my new friends daily. With practice and time they have become as comfortable as an old pair of shoes. I never start the day without my exercises--nor do I go a day without planning meals and following thru on my plans. I also work to return the support of my new BFL friends.

The thought for the day...Good Habits are like Good friendships...when you work on them there's no room for the bad ones. Body for Life works when we work the Body for Life Program.

Thoughts on being a Poster Girl...

A friend of mine asked recently how on earth I found the courage to have my "fat" pictures splashed all over the internet...like some "Poster" girl for obesity.

When you have a fat picture...The trick is, to have a really, really good "after" picture to go along with it.

I remember the day I picked up my first batch of before photos from Wal-Mart. When I got back into my car I opened the package...looked at the truth and started to cry. Then I started to beat myself up. A pity party followed. When I came to my senses I made a self promise to do what it took to change my life.
Part of the BFL process is getting that before picture taken...It's a real eye opener for those of us who have had years of practice looking in the mirror and seeing only the things we wanted to see. A picture doesn't lie. A picture gives you a starting place to begin your journey. That picture is also essential if you plan to enter the BFL 12 week challenge and have a shot a winning the 2005 Million Dollar Prize.

Get that picture taken....and study it real hard. Then spend the next 12 weeks fullfilling your own self promises. Hey and don't forget to fill out that EAS entry form and send it in! As a very smart champion once said..."Honey if you ain't in it...you can't win it!"
Besides...this world is in dire need of a few more "Poster Girls!"

The funny thing about time....

You can't stop it...Nor can you turn back the hands of time. But thanks to the Body for Life program I am learning that we can buy it! Before I began the BFL program I would often lament how...I didn't have time to exercise or pack my lunch for work!

Looking back at the situation I can honestly say I was telling the truth! I didn't have the time nor the strength to become healthy! Those extra 45-50 pounds had slowed me down. Even though I would sleep for 12 hours I had little energy to take on the challenge of exercise on top of a full time job. Its obvious poor nutrition in the form of a daily diet of fast food had also clouded my judgement.

Thankfully I met Judy Tullius a successful BFL'er whose Judgement I trusted and whose Transformation Inspired me.

Judy convinced me to buy the BFL book. I did and read it from cover to cover and vowed to get fit. When I began my first BFL challenge I set the alarm clock four hours earlier than I normally got up...And dragged myself to the local gym. I didn't have the fastest treadmill trot. The iron I pumped weighed in the single digits. But six days a week I made it a point to get out of bed, get to the gym and hit my personal tens. I also followed the BFL nutrition plan and cut out those white carbs that were drugging my body and my mind.

Soon I found that the investments I made in exercise and nutriton were paying off in time! I no longer required 12 hours of sleep. 8 hours were just right. That extra time is still used wisely. I always pack my meals for the day ahead....I hit the gym six days a week and have plenty of quality time with my family.

The thought for today---time is precious. Invest in yourself and buy some extra time!