women | itsawonderfilledlife

Archive for the ‘women’ Category

Old to New: The Weight Loss DiaBLOG – Month 6/7

Posted in Weight Loss DiaBLOG, women, WONDER, tagged accountability, diaBLOG, diet, goals, losing weight, myfitnesspal, new years resolutions, Old to New, pounds, prizes, Resolutions, Reward, weight, Weight Loss on January 1, 2013| 2 Comments »

Happy New Year! images-4

The Weight Loss DiaBLOG – month six, we have survived trying to diet through the Christmas holidays and the New Year! Were you able to use any of last months suggested action plans for not blowing all the sacrifice of the months before on piggy pudding?

For me, the greatest weight loss happened within the first week of this month, when I shed four more pounds!

It has been half a year of concerted efforts towards living healthier, and now we are beginning a brand new year, with the pressure to make resolutions. So, are any of you making resolutions? Are they health related?

When it comes to resolutions I have one suggestion, don’t make unrealistic or unattainable ones!

So many of us will set out to lose a huge amount of weight, or to start intense exercise programs only to get discouraged in the early weeks of the process by not being able to keep up the planned regimen. How about making short term goals? Ones that are only one month or one season at a time. That gives us opportunity to reassess our original goals, and tweak where necessary.

It is believed that it takes twenty-one days to break (or start) a habit. This could be why most New Years resolutions are forgotten by the end of January. How about making a twenty-two day plan? Maybe, if sugary treats are your weakness, challenge yourself to twenty-two days of eliminating them from your everyday diet? If exercise is a goal you have, plan out twenty-two days of fitness? And don’t forget to celebrate when you have reached your goal (and I don’t mean at an all you can eat buffet).

Goals with ‘prizes’ for success are great motivators! How about a goal of money for pounds lost? If the road to weight loss is going to be a long one, something like $5 for every pound lost, and that money can only be spent for new clothing, and only after losing ten pounds. If you only have ten pounds to lose, you might want to increase the per pound amount to $10. What a carrot to dangle in front of us, it makes the goal rewarding on two fronts, we benefit from looking and feeling better, plus we get to dress ourselves in flattering new clothes!

Personally exercise is tops on my priority list for this first month of the year. And if I lose just five more pounds, I am heading to my favorite thrift shops for a few ‘new’ pieces to add to my shrinking clothing collection … and I can’t wait!

2013 will be a good year! Lets continue working together to live our lives in a more healthy fashion!

Read Full Post »

Old to New: The Weight Loss DiaBLOG – Month 5

Posted in Weight Loss DiaBLOG, women, WONDER, tagged accountability, Busy, Change, christmas, diaBLOG, diet, losing weight, Move, myfitnesspal, Old to New, pounds, Reward, Ten Ways to Not Blow the Diet, think ahead, weight, Weight Loss on November 30, 2012| Leave a Comment »

“ONE is the loneliest number …”
the Beatles

The Weight Loss DiaBLOG – month five! This month has produced (or removed) the hardest fought to get rid of one pound!

The good thing about this one pound loss is that it has put me out of the teens, and I am now twenty pounds lighter! Clothes are feeling so much better, and the ones in my closet that have been gathering dust, due to snugness are now anticipated to be wearable in another five to ten pounds (well, that is just the slightly dusty ones … there are levels of dustiness in my closet that indicate the gradual weight gain over the years like rings around a tree).

So folks, Christmas festivities are just around the corner, and we need an action plan! I am sure that you can agree that we do not want shortbread cookies, nuts, festive beverages and stuffing to ruin our months of effort! So, now is the time, before you are offered, “just one little appetizer,” to think about the strategies you might use to either not gain, or maybe even lose weight in December.

Here are my Ten Ways to Not Blow the Diet:

Food Is Not Reward – No matter how well you and I have done in the past year, cocktail wienies are not the prize
Move – Standing at the party is not exercise. If there is dancing, step out on that dance floor … the worst that can happen is that you look like Eilaine from Seinfeld (see below for a little chuckle).
Quality Friend Time – Cream, fat and carbs. are not the vehicles to meaningful friendships. A visit with a friend over a simple tea, coffee or while taking a walk on a street that provides window shopping are great ways to visit without the additional caloric treats. Spend an evening catching up with each other instead of exchanging gifts, and you will both save money too!
Don’t Always Say No – It is okay to SAY YES TO THE DRESSing, if that is your favorite part of the festive feast. Skip some other part of the meal, or ensure that you are more active that day and the next. Eat what you want, just do not risk not getting back into that little black dress!
Write All That We Eat – Whether you are using a computer program, website, app, or paper and pen, commit to writing down everything that will go into your mouth, every day (yes, Virginia, there is the ability to write it all down on Christmas feast day).
Friend Someone – one IS the loneliest number, especially when we are trying to eat more healthy! Find a friend (NOT a skinny one … that would just be depressing!) that is also trying to eat more healthy, and use each other as daily accountability partners. Two is better than one!
Don’t Overbook – trying to lose weight means be alert to the choices you are making. Don’t allow your holidays to be so busy that you have no time to think and make the best choices possible. Busyness can be our biggest enemy to eating healthy and exercising regularly.
Think Ahead – Before you go to that holiday party, before you go to visit your friends and family ~~before you go to the staff room~~ think about your P.O.A. (plan of action). We are more successful when we take the time to think ahead, and plan what we are going to eat.
Less Is Best – Just because those yummy chocolate truffles are on the table does not mean that you and I need to eat the entire bowl full! If you really want one, eat ONE, and enjoy every moment of it! Multiples do not multiply the enjoyment, only the waistline!
Our Bodies Are Our Home – Lets take care of these vessels we were given to live this life in. I am hoping to be youthful and active as I age, but that does not come from living a sedentary life now. Move it, or lose it … that is the reality we live with in the bodies we have!

Have a Merry Christmas!

Read Full Post »

Old to New: The Weight Loss DiaBLOG – Month 4

Posted in Weight Loss DiaBLOG, women, WONDER, tagged accountability, Addiction, Change, diaBLOG, diet, losing weight, myfitnesspal, Old to New, pounds, self confidence, self perception, Struggle, weight, Weight Loss on October 26, 2012| Leave a Comment »

Welcome back to The Weight Loss DiaBLOG! It has now been four months since I started and I am feeling great! Partly because I AM feeling great, and partly because I lost another 5 pounds! That means I’ve lost 19 pounds … about the weight of all of the pics on this post today.

Well lifestyle changing, healthier-getting friends, how is it going for you? I hope that for the Canadians among us, you enjoyed your Thanksgiving feasts (because it is rare that there is only one feast over any holiday). And now, just around the corner is that candy-fest more popularly known as

Halloween.

Halloween always takes me off guard. The day arrives and I have no inclination at all to overdo it. Then the bags of candy get opened and poured into a big bowl, to have easily available to hand out to the kiddies, so I try just one … By the end of two hours I am bartering preschoolers at my front door to get the specific candies and chips that I love the most!

And by the time I lay my head on my pillow I am on a drug-like candy trip.

We could call next Wednesday, the Halloween Hurdle (hoping to avoid the need of a girdle). A day to expect struggle with temptation.

Segueing onto other things ….

Although the weight is coming off, I am still not into a habit of exercise, and I really do desire to make regular physical activity (other than sitting up and pushing up to get out of bed) part of my lifestyle. So, for the next month, my goal in this area is small, but firm, walk twenty minutes, three times a week, and sit ups/crunches five times a week. I know that once it becomes a habit, I will be hooked, and will make it happen … I just need to get the habit started!

I do not mean to sound like a salesperson (and I guess I am not since there is no cost to this) but I really do love the myfitnesspal app. and website. There is never a sense that a food is BAD, or can never be eaten. Instead I am made aware of the cost of all foods. For instance, peanuts in their shells … something I do not eat often, but would choose over chips any day, and love to nibble on them while sitting by the pool (NOT something I am doing in November). If I were to eat them pre-myfitnesspal, I would have eaten about two cups (or more) at one sitting. Now I know that just one cup of peanuts IN their shells has 320 calories! 14 carbs! and 23 grams of fat! So, do I stop eating them? No, but I choose when to eat them, and how much, and I ask myself, “do I really want them?” I feel like I am becoming a more intelligent eater, and that is a good thing!

Well folks, I hope that you are having successes as you pursue a healthier lifestyle. I hope you are feeling better, sleeping better and feeling the joy of pants buttoning up without having to do acrobatics to get dressed. And remember, one pound is more significant than you think … just look at the picture below!

Read Full Post »

Old to New: The Weight Loss DiaBLOG – Month 3

Posted in Weight Loss DiaBLOG, women, WONDER, tagged accountability, Addiction, Change, diaBLOG, diet, idol, losing weight, myfitnesspal, Old to New, pounds, self confidence, self perception, Struggle, weight, Weight Loss on September 28, 2012| Leave a Comment »

Welcome back to The Weight Loss DiaBLOG! We have so much catching up to do!

Since we were last together, there is so much that has been going on! For some it has been the end of vacations, the return to school and/or work. If you live in an area of four distinct seasons, the weather is cooling, the leaves are changing, and the days are lessening in hours of light.

I always find that the beginning of the school year is like New Years. It is a time of starting over, creating new habits and making goals for the year to come. In that regard the turn of the calendars to September is a good opportunity to get focused on healthy eating and living.

The start of the school year was like that for me. For one thing I am too busy, too tired and too stressed to eat much!

Sadly, my body thinks it is that of a polar bear, and when I endeavor to eat less it automatically goes into hibernation mode, slows down the metabolic processes of my digestion, and shuts down the ability to shed any weight. So, I eat healthy, I eat less (significantly less) and the scales still do not move south! As a matter of fact, one particular week, I was below my caloric intake every day for an entire week, and I gained two pounds! How does that happen?

The flip side to the similarities I share to a hibernating creature, is that eventually my body has to recognize the obvious, and my body lets go of a pound or two. So, this past month my weight loss was only TWO pounds, but I promise you, it is a minuscule representative of the effort that I put in to dropping it!

I need to give you a success update that (sadly) is not reflecting on the scales of doom, and that is my writing last month about the need to ensure that food is not an idol in my life. The consciousness of this has really changed my habits. Let me give you an example; recently, at lunch, in the staff room, a box of really good chocolates sat on the table. I looked at it, and memories of chocolates past danced through my memory, like sugar plums. Then I asked myself, “do you want one because you really want one, or because they are in sight?” The answer was clear, I was not hungry, I was not even desiring chocolate at that time (a miracle in itself!). So, I passed … and didn’t regret it. Now, if the answer was yes, I would have taken one, and just one.

For me, to take the time to really consider the difference between need and desire, over eating because it is there is a monumental change. There have even been a few times when I have left food on my plate (something our beast was immensely delighted about), and for those of us who grew up under the rule to “clean everything off your plate” that is also a monumental change.

As far as my goals for this past month, I have been recording my intake daily, even when I knew I would be over my daily goals. This has been made easier because one of my co-workers is also using myfitnesspal, and so I have an accountability partner to celebrate successes and share frustrations! I have not gotten to the point of walking on a daily basis, but I am up to three times a week.

Well, off I go, I need to do something about these legs that are looking far too much like a polar bear too!

Read Full Post »

Old to New: The Weight Loss DiaBLOG – Week 8

Eight weeks in, nine pounds lost. Some goals achieved, and some not so much.

As I look at the image to the right, I feel a bit disappointed. Although at four weeks I was seeing my body changing, I really stagnated at that point, as my weight made a climb up and then back down to where it was again.

But I am not giving up!

In the months to come I will return to the Weight Loss DiaBLOG, but not every week. I will update about every four weeks. Doing this will give me the accountability of a month at a time, and will, hopefully, provide greater changes to report.

I am also planning on sharing pictures of changes, and starting to take measurements, with the hopes that I will be encouraged by changes other than numbers on the scales of doom.

I truly love all of your input. The things that work for you can work for others, and the things that frustrate you also frustrate others. With each email, comment, or note I have gotten I have been encouraged that I am not in this alone, but I am part of a larger group of people who are trying to live differently, healthier.

This week, as I was interacting with another blogger about a topic vastly different from weight loss and exercise, I had a bit of an ‘ah-ha’ moment. We were discussing the things in our lives that we have put ahead of God, or in the place of God, and how we are learning about the rightful place of God above all else. For days now, since that conversation, I have pondered food as an idol in my life.

Food is a need for living. Food is pleasureful. Food requires time planning what to have, preparing it, serving it, eating it (suffering heartburn after eating it, followed by poor sleep). Food is very much a part of our every day. Do I spend too much time thinking about it? Do I finish one meal, and start thinking about, longing for the next? Do I live for it? Is it an idol in my heart, my life?

I may have had a eureka moment with this one. I think I need to keep questioning what height of priority I am giving to this beast, and start eating to meet my needs, and not my wants. This will be a work in progress!

For this first four weeks to come my goals are simply to get back on track with recording my foods eaten, and to get walking on a daily basis. Hold me accountable! If you think of me, send me a note and ask how I’m doing. If you see me, ask me if I walked yet today.

Read Full Post »

Wise Girls

Posted in GOD, life, The Kids, women, WONDER, tagged Boys, communication, Girls, GOD, Little Women, Purpose, sex, Teens, wisdom on August 24, 2012| 4 Comments »

A conversation a long while back still haunts me.

My daughter had the look of one who wanted to spill information that she knew, so we did some errands where we would be driving (nothing like the wheels of a vehicle moving to get a teenager to talk) a significant amount.

It took no time for the story to enfold.

She told me about her friend. Her friend, at the time, was a girl of just fourteen. She had a boyfriend. According to what my daughter said (because she is a question ‘asker’ and she had asked her friend what the two of them talk about together), her friend and the boyfriend didn’t spend much time talking, because there was not much for them to talk about to each other. The two had discussed the details (I guess they found a topic that they wanted to talk about), of when and where they would have sex for the first time. And so, when mom was out, and the house empty, they did IT.

The story does not end there. The next day the daughter asked her mother for oral birth control (I am not sure if she fessed up to mom about her recent sexual explorations). Her mother grounded her for two weeks.

So, now we have a young girl, who is dating a guy who she has nothing to talk about with, who is having sex, who is wise enough to know that birth control is a good idea, whose mother chooses to not only say no to, but, rather than sit down and have an exploratory conversation, grounds her. Yikes! It is the perfect storm of situations!

How is it that, in this day and age, a mother could be so uncommunicative with her daughter? How is it that, in this day and age, a girl could think that having sex with someone who she has nothing to talk about with (other than sex) is a good idea? I keep hearing the voice of the Virginia Slims cigarette ads saying “you’ve come a long way baby” and thinking … really? I keep thinking of the book by Laura Schlessinger “10 Stupid Things Women Do To Mess Up Their Lives” and thinking … will it ever end?

There is a line that I frequently quote to my daughters, that comes from the classic Louisa May Alcott book, Little Women, “I will not have my daughters being silly about boys.” Although they are fully human young women, I greatly desire that they grow up knowing that their value is not in temporary pursuits (and especially when it comes to young men), but in who God has created them to be, and the purpose and intent He has for their lives, apart from romantic or sexual relationships. They are, indeed, sexual beings, but oh, they are so much more! I truly believe that they must seek God’s best for them, as individuals, before they begin down the path of life with another person, and their life’s direction.

It is with fear and trepidation that I co-parent these two precious ladies … fear and trepidation that brings me to my knees! And that is a good place to be.

While on my knees I pray for openness of communication, and for wisdom to help them grow to be wise.

“I want my daughters to be beautiful, accomplished, and good.
To be admired, loved, and respected.
To have a happy youth, to be well and wisely married,
and to lead useful, pleasant lives,
with as little care and sorrow to try them as God sees fit to send.”
Little Women

Read Full Post »

Old to New: The Weight Loss DiaBLOG – Week 7

Posted in Weight Loss DiaBLOG, women, WONDER, tagged accountability, biking, Change, diaBLOG, diet, losing weight, myfitnesspal, Old to New, pounds, self confidence, self perception, Struggle, Swimming, teen girls, weight, Weight Loss on August 20, 2012| 4 Comments »

This past week started with great enthusiasm to get back to walking, and to eat more healthy. Then I got sick … the walking didn’t happen much. One day when sick I did well to walk from the kitchen for more water then back to the living room to lie on the couch.

So, week seven and I have re-lost the three pounds that I had gained, and am now holding firm … well, actually there is little on me that is firm, but I am heading in that direction!

I was told once that we have two choices as we age, we can either be wrinkle free or thin, but not both. I am opting for the wrinkles (although if I actually achieve my l o n g term goals a little plastic surgery nip and tuck … heck, more like yank and fold … might be necessary).

As we have been experiencing a heat wave here in the Pacific Northwest, food is of little interest to me. I have preferred water, Jumbo Freezies (only 100 calories for a Jumbo one, and no fat), and raw vegetables and fruit. So, once it all digests I expect to be pretty much a stick person!

I am not sure about those of you who are in this lifestyle change with me, but I have reached a bit of a plateau. Not physically, but mentally. I feel a bit like my mental get up and go attitude has gotten up and gone.

What do you do when you reach this point? How do you get the desire to keep going back? I would love your input!

Read Full Post »

Old to New: The Weight Loss DiaBLOG – Week 6

Six weeks down and … what was lost has been found … in the form of 3 pounds … 😦

The effects of vacation, and more so, returning from vacation, have amounted to a gain … sigh.

It is not depressing me, as I was anticipating it. Just last night, after polishing off a bowl of Reeces Peanut Butter Cup ice cream (I didn’t buy it, it was just there in the freezer calling my name … I am SO weak), I remembered that the next day was weigh day … too late. I have not continued walking since getting home (much to the chagrin of my beast), and I have not eaten with awareness of what I am putting in my mouth. So, I now live with the consequences of my actions … and my ACTIONS must be better next week!

So, since my recovery from vacation (and bacon) is still in process, I thought I would spend the blog post today on a subject that is close to my heart, and still pertinent to the goal of moving from our old selves to our new self.

The subject is that of the self perception of women in regards to their appearance. Check out this video:

I do believe that this video, were it shot in another city (perhaps where you or I live) and with different women (perhaps with you or I … and our friends) the results would be the same. We struggle to see anything good about our bodies.

What I wish had been done is to include a portion of video of young girls (before the onset of puberty), and asking them the same question. I have a good feeling that their responses would have been quick and that they would have been able to identify numerous things that they love about their body.

What is it that changes in the self perception of females as we grow from child to adult?

See what these girls have to say:

So, how old do you think that first girl is?

How sad, how very sad. Especially since the place (school) that most teens spend most of their waking hours is the place where the negative messages are communicated to them on a regular basis. The pack (like a wolf pack) mentality reigns, and the weak can become trampled. For those of us who work within schools it is vital that we speak constant words of affirmation to the girls in our classes, and who we pass in the halls. Our affirmations might be the only positive message that a girl might hear all day, and we need to be the agents of change for the next generation. For those of us who know girls in any context (our daughters, their friends, at church, in community groups, at the grocery store, the daughters of our friends, etc.).

The self-perception of our next generation of girls could be one of the most effective ways to deal with weight-related health issues in the next generation. If a girl can feel comfortable with her body, she might be more likely to join in that sport, in that dance, in that swim.

How many of us refuse to bring our swim suit to someone’s home when they invite us for a swim?

Read Full Post »

Peaceful Wife

Posted in Marriage, women, tagged April Cassidy, Encouragement, Marriage, peacefulwife, wife on August 12, 2012| Leave a Comment »

I read many different blogs each week, and have been enriched by many. Although I subscribe to many blogs, I do not read them all (I do have a life), nor do I agree all the time with the ones I subscribe to. Heck, sometimes when I re-read my own I do not agree with what I have written!

Today I wanted to share with you readers a lady, by the name of April Cassidy, whose blog I am subscribed to.

She is a woman on a mission to encourage women in marriage.

This particular post was so beautiful to me, and I believe that the words of her prayer can enrich and encourage all wives. After all, in the words of a sweet young woman only two years into marriage, “marriage is hard! And I am married to someone who is such a great husband. But it is so hard.”

Just click the link below. I hope this encourages you married women out there.

Peaceful Wife

Read Full Post »

One Hundred Years Old

Posted in life, women, WONDER, tagged age, aged, Beauty, experience, ladies, Life, one hundred years old, Russia, Women on August 10, 2012| Leave a Comment »

It all started with a picture …

The picture of Khanna Moiseevna Shklovskaya, at one hundred and one years old. The picture of her, on the right, had the following written underneath it:

“Ladies who are at least One Hundred Years Old, imagine the history.”

One Hundred years old … I cannot even fathom living that long. But to be able to hear, to read of the lives and experiences of women who have lived that long would be amazing.

Today I am providing a link to a treasure trove of just such stories.

And, if their stories don’t intrigue you, the beauty of their aged faces certainly will.

100 Year Old Ladies

Read Full Post »

« Newer Posts - Older Posts »