"Sometimes it's okay if the only thing you did today was breathe!"

Some days suck.  Period!  Those are the days when being kind to yourself and just taking a breath is the best medicine.  It doesn't mean (sorry!) that we drown our selves in food and liquor, ha, ha....(however, it may be a good day to use your extra food and activity points and not feel guilty about it:)

On days when you feel the life being sucked right out of you, pause, take a breath and then zap those sucky horrible feelings by reflecting and be thankful and grateful....yes, thankful AND grateful.  Being thankful and grateful for who you are and what you already have will heal your soul faster than any amount of food!  And zero Points Plus Value's!  

Then....be kind to someone else.  When we acknowledge someone else's pain and upset, it's like the window we opened to help nurse their pain lets in a fresh restorative air that flows over us.  It's not that their sadness cheers us up, it's that the sharing, and caring, of another's strife lightens the load for all involved.

Maya Angelou said it best....

If you're not getting the weekly email from WW, subscribe to it.  It always has wonderful tips!
http://www.weightwatchers.ca/util/art/index_art.aspx?tabnum=1&art_id=139180

If you hate starting over, stop quitting....:)

How many times have you stopped working the program because... it's just not working?  It's too hard?  It's never ending?  It costs too much?  You're tired of the routine? You're tired of lettuce?

And how many times after stopping the program have you thought, "I need to get back to WW!!"?  How long did it take you to walk back in through those doors?  Were you embarrassed?  Was your weight up? Did you ever start back and your hadn't gained most or all of the weight back? Were you back to ALL of your old unhealthy habits?  Were you unhappy and angry with yourself for quitting the program, again?  How many times have you thought,  "I just don't want to have to start ALL over again."?  How many times? Seriously, how many times??

If you're like me you've had a life time of starting and stopping, years of weight up and weight down, countless negative thoughts about how you've failed...yet again.  Do you want to be done with all that?  Here's how... stop quitting.  If you hate starting over, then stop quitting!  Never give up. 

It finally dawned on me that it never ends...it never, never, never, EVER ends!  We don't call it Lifetime for nothin"!  And, yes, it's still an effort but it's truly GLORIOUS because it means you have changed!  You've changed your destructive behavior, changed your negative thoughts, changed your unhealthy routines....you've changed your life!

Now, I know you're thinking, "What if I never give up, keep on working the plan but don't reach Lifetime?" What if that happens, what does that mean?  What it means is that you have not reached the goal weight you've set and maintained it for 6 weeks, that's all.  It does not mean that you're not healthier, thinner, and happier!  You're more fit, more accepting, more positive and you're "inside numbers" are singing! 

I can almost guarantee all those wonderful health benefits
would not be yours if you quit.

AND finally...

 Never, EVER, be embarrassed to walk into a meeting,

for the first time or for the hundredth time,

it is a place where you are loved, accepted and understood.

Always.

Maybe you need a new reason?

If you're like me the reason you exercise is to lose weight....everything I do seems to be to lose weight! When I was a kid my Mother taught us to end our nightly prayer with "God Bless Mommy and Daddy, Nan and Jim, Grandma and June".  When I was at the age to go to bed and say prayers on my own my prayer was "God Bless Mommy and Daddy, Nan and Jim, Grandma and June, and please help me to lose weight". I kid you not.  

Very soon in my young life I became obsessed with losing weight and what happens when we become obsessed with anything?  Well, in my experience, obsessions are really time consuming and leave little room for anything else.  I missed out on so much because I was so insecure about my looks that I wanted to be thin before joining in...what a waste of youth!  Does this sound familiar?  If it doesn't sound familiar, it may seem dumb and ridiculous but it was my reality.  Loosing weight was the driving force in my life and became my "reason".    

What I want to focus this week is the "reason".  Really, and truly, the ONLY reason I used to work-out or join a gym was to lose weight!  I never, ever, thought about taking a walk to enjoy nature or clear my head, ride my bike for fun, or go swimming to cool off on a hot summer day.  And until recently, very recently....maybe a few months ago, I still used my walks to help me lose weight.  Sure, I felt good afterward, but that was not the REASON I walked out the door.  I laced up my shoes, walked out my door to lose weight, period.

But recently I've noticed I have some new "reasons" to walk...

• I walk to clear my head of busyness or negativity and relax into my good thoughts.  
• I walk to get away from my desk work and miraculously come back with solutions.
• I walk to move my body and give my back some much needed love.
• I walk to spend time with my husband (and dog Super James, of course!).
• I walk to daydream. 
• I walk to plan our next vacation. 
• I walk to help me lose weight...still a great reason, just not my only reason anymore!
• I walk to think about what to write in my blog this week....and this is what came to me this morning!  

Why do I have a new reason(s)?  My reasons have changed because I've changed.  

I no longer want just to lose weight. I want to live a happy and peaceful existence, period.  \

Oh look, another great reason to walk....:)

So, if you're like me,
maybe you need to use a new reason to go for that walk, bike ride or swim!!

Just go do it everyday...

 and the weight will take care of itself ...

Just take the first step!

Today is one of those days when everything is colliding and I don't know which on my to-do list to do first!  Then I think..."just do something...just take a step!!!".  Usually the best step is to write down what needs to be done first and when I do that, everything gets done and with me left with most of my hair!

It's the same way with activity...you just have to take a step.  You don't have to see yourself finishing a marathon, just see yourself putting on your shoes and walking down the driveway.  If you walk down the driveway, chances are you'll walk down the road.  And just like that you've added activity into your day!  If that seems simple, it's because it is.

  

You just have to take that first step and the next step will automatically follow...

if it doesn't, you'll fall over...but at least you'll be moving! :)