Artslim, weight, life, health management.

 
Goal Setting. 02/20/2010
 
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I wrote out my one-month, three month, six month and twelve month goals last night and how I intended to achieve them. So this morning’s motivational thought for the day, appealed to me

"It is our choices...that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities" - J. K. Rowling

Tips for setting and achieving your goal.

You goal must be something you desire. Drinking 8 glasses of water is an action not a goal unless water was a hard to achieve commodity and you crave drinking 8 glasses.

Please try to find goals that excite you, things you would want to make an effort to achieve.

Would you work hard to achieve something that is easy to do that you do not actually want to do? 

Know what a Goal Is, do not mistake an action for a goal. I love drinking, water. It comes easy. If you do not like drinking it, it might be a part of your action plan but it is a very weak goal. 

This confusion about what a goal is, accounts for why so many people struggle to achieve goals. So it will help you to read up on how to set goals, not from people who are not achieving them, but from the experts.  There are many experts in this field.


Your Goal needs to be specific. Losing weight or running is not a specific goal, How much weight and in what time frame, How far, fast or for how long do you want to be able to run and when do you plan to be able to do this? Be very clear about what it is you want to achieve,

Your goal must be believable to you. Yes I believe I can achieve goal weight. No I do not believe I could ~ or should run a marathon.  I set my 12 months goal to passing my next bone density scan with at the very least no further deterioration and hopefully a drug free, all natural with diet and exercise, improvement in my bone density, I believe this can be achieved.

The Goal must be achievable. I cannot expect to achieve the looks and weight I was at age 21, lol, J, I’ll settle for feeling 21, J ~ when better than that, I’ll be a healthy and fit feeling 21 again J. I have already achieved greater health and fitness than I ever had before in my life. At 63 I am my fitness exceeds anything I knew in my youth.

You must know how you are going to achieve your goal.

You must have an action plan so you can see how it will be, achieved.

You must have a To Do List.  Write in your diary, ahead of time, those actions you will be doing to achieve the goal you set. These are appointments with yourself, appointments you commit and promise yourself that you are not going to break, short of serious emergencies.  If you do not do this step, you know you will falter, you will have times when ‘you can’t be bothered or make excuses that you are too busy, so write those to do list actions into your diary now. If someone wants you to do something else during that time, you cannot ‘you have an appointment’.

The most important appointment you could have. is the one that takes you to your goal, your realistic dream for you.   I am about to keep my appointment with the swimming pool beside me J.

 

Have a beautiful and active day. 
 
 
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Wii Workouts, Home Grown fruit and Vegetables, My man, becoming fit and well again :-) and a Weight loss Goal, achieved.

Reg and I 'played' on the Wii Plus yesterday and he played on the Wii sports J  I can't believe not so long ago, Reg was very ill and now he is up playing golf, bowls, jogging, skiing, it's great. 

I am loving the Wii  I bought, after resisting  learning about modern equipment like this for years and not having children to teach me, it took the members of the Biggest Loser Club, setting Wii calories burned, challenges to get me to look into it and I am absolutely thrilled with my buy.  I always compare prices on line these days and look for the best shopping deals as it pays to compare shopping prices.  I ended up having to search simply for anyone who still had the Biggest Loser, Wii program, still in stock; it was, sold out, in most stores.

I am very keen to increase my fitness, even hope to lose a few more kilos before our tour for 2010 begins. I am planning everything carefully, to ensure we can eat and exercise well, even while travelling.  I have been looking at 12 or 240-volt fridges or freezers, for the car to extend the available fresh vegetable storage space. It is near impossible to store a big cabbage or several large heads of lettuce in a caravan fridge and fresh healthy food is one thing I do not wish to skimp on in our meals when we tour.

I had set myself a January, weight loss goal of three kilo by Australia day, I have made this goal J, I know it was the loads of fresh home grown fruit and vegetables , especially tomatoes,  nectarines and strawberries  and the Wii Fit Plus and the Wii Biggest loser exercise sessions that have helped me achieve this J.  So any doubts as to the wisdom of spending the money to buy this Wii Package has been resolved and I think it’s the best fitness investment I have made, since I discovered my Brooks Running Shoes and got moving, three years ago.

This is a sponsored post. All opinions are mine.  
 
 
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The family photo shoot, My husband and I, our children, their spouses and the grandchildren, :-) xxx but with the not so loved, VPL's (visible panty lines) , cut out. :-). A great motivator for my own, short term goal. I am thinking I coud do with a better hair style or something, any suggestions welcome, I feel I could look better than this.
With a new diary for 2010, it is an ideal time to make new goals and action plans.

During the Christmas to New Year, period, I have been a little quite in my blog.  I have been doing a lot of thinking, rather than writing.

 Today I have completed my planning phase. I feel ready to share what I have been doing.  I have:-

Planned GOALS. :-for my Life, Creativity, Home and garden, Family, Travel, Weight and Fitness,

I have made

ONE WEEK GOALS

ONE MONTH GOALS

MID TERM (30 week birthday) GOAL.

ONE-YEAR GOAL

FUTURE PLANS .I have thought ahead for the future and have a varied option range of plans, to adapt in a positive way, to what the senior years might present for my husband and me. Life is to be anticipated with pleasure, not over planned ahead of time, at our age. 

I am refining my ‘ACTION PLAN’to achieve each of these goals.

Click here to read:- How to write an action plan

This is important, without the believable action plan, the goal is only a pipe dream.

Right now, I am planning my ‘TO DO LIST’,based on my action plan.

My goals, action plan and to do list are private.  They are not a New Year resolution; I always have these in place. New Year is just a useful time to review where we are, begin a new diary and write down out goals, action plan to achieve the goal we desire and make our daily ‘to do’ list at least 50%  based on our action plan, within.

TIPS  for goals achievement.

This does not all need to be serious focus stuff or nor seemingly hard to achieve goals. In fact your goals need to be ‘bite size’, manageable, achievable as mini goals you can 100% visualize yourself being able to achieve, if you are going to succeed in attaining them.  When the full task s too great to visualize, try focusing on 10% of the task at a time and make ten present goals and 10% changes in lifestyle to achieve them, don’t try to 100% change yourself, to achieve a gaol, that is not something you would want to or should need to do.

Get started with gaol setting.

Set a few ‘easiy’ goals so you can have an immediate taste of success.

Often the motivation to set a goal comes from a ‘shock horror,’ moment and this is a great stimulus to follow through with an action plan to achieve success.  

Lol J, I got a shock when I saw the family group photo, this year. My new party frock, I felt so good in, did not look so good photographed in sunshine, with the dreaded VPL (visible panty line, showing, right across my hips.  A mini goal was to NEVER, ever be caught out in a photo like that again. Action plan, reducing just a couple of kilo will remove the small muffin top over showing through the clingy jersey dress, and I have a plan of sensible portion controlled eating and physical activity that transfers well into my to do list, that will achieve that before the end of a one month goal.  I put buying a slip, on my ‘to do list’, and I took action and did that immediately and a better choice of panty, not one that ends right on my hip where my dress clings the most, will all ensure I do not repeat that family photo shoot, faux pas, again. J. Goal achieved.

 
 
 
My dream goal size 12, (US size 10) Christmas party dress, then a day sun frock, was my present to myself today. :-).
I haven’t earned it from any special exercising nor good eating feat but I have spent a week and a half, helping to clean up the family home of one of my daughters and I think I got rid of the last of the mouldy not eaten school lunches hidden away by the youngest granddaughter, today.  I have to laugh to think, ‘like mother, like daughter and myself  I have vivid memories of searching for the mouldy lunches in my daughter's dressing table and wardrobe.  My daughter was so like me and now my adorable granddaughter takes after her mum.

So I have been working very hard this last two weeks, not achieving a personal goal I have mentioned here, but a goal non the less.  My daughter’s happiness means everything to me. I do not mention my family much, I respect their privacy and do not speak of them a lot, but I love them dearly.  My daughter works very hard, and like all mums, gets tired at times, children do not help a lot, they make lots of creative mess. My daughter is a great mother, encourages creativity, after school interests, and allows the mess that goes with being creative.  I was happy to help but it was hard work.  Work enjoyed and I will keep doing it, though I will not keep rewarding myself spending money on presents for myslelf.

But here are my two treats :-). My new dress and gorgeous denim coloured shoulder bag, just great to wear with jeans and hold my mobile phone, camera and diary. I will use that a lot during my travels.

Oh and lol, 'did I boast that the dress is a size 12 J ?'  lol, I know I did. 

When I was a size 22 going on 24,, size 12 was my goal size.


My husband saw the specialist today. They will do some more tests, just for precautions but no sinister expectations from them, the specialist seemed to think, as I think, it was just a setback that he had, that he is gradually recovering from :-).  All is well :-), and glamour gran is going to shock her husband and the children by showing her cleavage for the first time this Christmas, lol, :-).

Wherever you are in your preparations for the Christmas holiday season, have fun :-), take it a day at a time and enjoy life :-).  I know Christmas can be a strain for many and there is as much grief as there is joy as we remember family members who are no longer with us more at this time than at other times.   

This isn't so hard for me, my parents left this earth when i was in my 20's, I've had so many Christmases now without my mum, and my own children have grown and given me wonderful grandchildren that I am easy with the partings and see this as a part of life moving on.  This season is very much like this, a time not just for party frocks but also for reflecting about the family now, and the family past. 

I spoke to my daughter this week, I gave her my father’s military records to keep for the next generation, I also mentioned to her that my mother would have been 100 years old, soon, if she had been alive.  There was no pain for me, at all, in talking of loved ones long gone and lol  ( as family skeletons exist in all families), the not so loved ones. 

So (((hugs))), if this season brings more grief or stress to you than joy and I hope if that is the case, that soon your special season, however you celebrate it and whatever its meaning, will be one where you can feel joy in the family and friends that are present. I hope that you soon will, feel pleasure recalling the best of the past and let go of the pain in past memories. I am wishing you a wonderful Christmas season.

For those struggling with weight issues, and self-doubt, remember I was a size 22 going on 24 at Christmas 2006. Today I ate half a take away Asian meal, half a small lemon and shortbread tart, and tonight I am eating a few chocolates (see I am not fanatical about my diet J ), and I'll be loving wearing my size 12 dress and counting my many blessings :-) and sharing the season with loved ones.

 
 
 
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Tips for Guys, "What to give, when"?
Do you like to set fitness and slimming goals to coincide with special occasions?

Do you like to reward goal achievement or is attaining the goal, reward enough for you?

I have applied many rewards to mark special goals, as I find it makes the achievement even more fun and to coincide achieving a goal with a special anniversary is an added happy memory the anniversary acquires.

My husband Reg and I bought our Eco-tourer slipstream caravan, to coincide with our ruby wedding anniversary and a huge downsizing effort of both our home and my size. I decorated the interior of the caravan in soft furnishings with a ruby coloured trim for the 2008 tour, our fortieth, year of marriage. If I had seen the Anniversary Guide in the “Tips for Guys” section of Bella True, web site, I would have made that the home page on my computer, lol J, and added in a few extra hints, as a little ruby ring or earrings had also been on my hope list for the 40th Anniversary.

Reg loves me to plan events and rewards, and he needs more than just a gentle hint. I remember that to make sure I had some fine jewellery, to give me a lifetime of pleasure, for my 50th birthday, I took Reg to the jewellers and showed him a necklace in the window then gently steered him through the door, with cash in his hand, now you cannot drop hints more obvious than thatJ. I still treasure and wear the result of this gentle pointing in the right direction.

My man’s inability to feel at ease, selecting jewellery, is why I loved the “Tips for Guys" section in Bella True, suddenly personal, suddenly you, jewellery, web site, especially the “what to Give When”, section.

I have been thinking of trying to make my goal weight for the 50th Anniversary of Reg and my first meeting and our becoming friends, and asking for a replacement of the wedding ring, I lost over 25 years ago, as the very special significant gift to mark our 50 years of friendship. I am planning not so subtle hints. J I have a year to condition him. lol, J.

I could begin by asking him to proof read this post, lol J. That is a good start. The wedding rings page of Bella True, web site, could be used as my home page on our shared computer and putting a Happy 50th Anniversary of our first meeting and instant friendship, message on our desktop, with a picture of a plain wedding ring sounds like a great follow up plan. 

Then I need to do my bit and plan what I will give my man as his gift. J. A slim fit healthy wife is probably the best thing I can offer a practical man. I know he loves me, and wants to see this, because he wants me to be happy and healthy. Wanting me to be fit and well is the expression of true love, not the rubies or the ring I would love to mark the special occasions.

We are very fortunate to have been friends for almost fifty years and still be in love after forty-two years of marriage. That is worth more than golden wedding ringsJ, which is why I have been content to go without one, for so long, waiting for a very special occasion when we need to find something of significance to mark a very special milestone in our lives together.

 
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Never a better time to make a Three-Month Fitness Goal and use the guidance available for FREE on the Dieticians Association of Australia, web site.
I have planned my current three-month fitness goal to end on 28th January 2010, the end of a three year, get fit program I set myself, in the last phase of this goal I will celebrate how much I have achieved in reclaiming my fitness, by being an active participant in

 Australia’s Healthy Weight  Week

Being run by the Dieticians Association of Australia and sponsored by Channel Ten.

The aim of Australia's Healthy Weight Week is to encourage Australians that NOW is the time to eat better, feel better and move more!

Why eat better, feel better and move more NOW?

Being a healthy weight helps you live life to the full

Eating better food and being active helps you feel healthy and happy

If your weight is healthy it is important to keep it healthy

If you are overweight losing a few kilograms will make a big difference

Please check out the web site provided by the Dieticians Association of Australia it is filled with valuable information, there is sure to be something there of benefit to everyone.

As you know I do not recommend dieting, I speak of lifestyle change.

I do not ‘diet’. I eat the way I plan to eat for life. Nothing to struggle to do until I have lost x amount of kilos I eat foods I love from a healthy eating plan that provides the right amount of nutrients and energy for my body, it’s not a diet it’s a way of life because I WANT to be as healthy, fit and able to enjoy life.

Eating better means: I am a trained nutritionist having completed a science degree with nutrition as one of the subjects, I am however not a certified, accredited dietician and I do not give dietary advice, nor recommend diets.  I always recommend using an Accredited Practising Dietitian is your diet coach - they can tailor an eating plan to your individual lifestyle and support and motivate you to make changes for life. Call, toll free, 1800 812 942 or visit 'Find an APD' at www.daa.asn.au to contact your local APD. Make sure the person who is  guiding you in your health and fitness program has the necessary training and is not motivated by the dollars of on selling to you processed foods, patients and pills and a promise of something that will get the excess weight off for you.

Eating healthy can be fun, enjoyable ad delicious for the whole family

Today I am consciously checking that my food group portion sizes are correct, I do this occasionally, all I need is a kitchen scale, to check that it’s 100 mls of natural low fat unsweetened yogurt I add to my half a cup, by measure, homemade muesli.

Nutrient is NOT the same for everyone.

 For women on average, after menopause, our calcium needs are higher and our iron requirement is lower. However we are NOT average, and nutrition plans are best tailor made for the individual,

My personal nutrient needs

I for instance need to think about the pH balance in my body and food combinations to assist the absorption of calcium, due to my having osteoporosis of the spine.

I also need to ensure I do not absorb too much iron and I have an increased need for supplementary Vit D3, as I found out with the assistance of an accredited dietician that I have an overload of iron and an inadequate ability to absorb Vitamin D from sunshine. I work closely with my dietician, and I also have qualified as a bone health specialist, due to my own personal interest in tailor making a diet to suit the individual’s needs.
 
Do, Love, Hope. 10/18/2009
 
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The secret of happiness has been said to be:-

to have something to do,

something to love and

something to hope for. 

Those who are starting out this week on the

We are Slimming Spring into summer, Challenge

are setting out with these three secrets of happiness in their minds through goal plans and their hearts in the spirit of giving mutual support and encouragement to each other. 

Wishing all the starters in the Spring to Summer We are Slimming Challenge, all the very best of success, J 

Action:-Something to do.
I admire your positive spirit that you are ready to participate in setting goals, planning action plans and to do today lists, supporting and encouraging each other, asking for help where needed, this is where the friendship of a group forum excels. 

Live out of your imagination, not your history.”
–  Stephen Covey 

Love:-The something to love.
This is powerful stuff. J.  Learning to put your own needs first, take time to do what you want to do and need to do, to support yourself in achieving your goals. Learning that we are responsible for our own happiness, and understanding that no white knight in shining armour or magic mixture is responsible for making us happy is one of the greatest secrets to lhappiness. I always felt that needed to e taught in schools, it's so important, more important than the 3 R's.
This knowledge that it's not only OK to make time for yourself, but it's the best way to care for others, to show others by example that self reliance is the way to inner happiness, and fulfillment of goals, is quite liberating to others. No one wants to be burdened with feeling they are responsible for another's happiness. 
Self love and nurture, is the most unselfish act any one can do and something I think all of us slimmers and carers, need to work on. 

Something to do also involves the encouraging and support we give to others and when we strive to encourage others who are seeking similar goals to our own, it is a powerful motivating force, in helping to keep us following our own action plan toward our own goal.

The time when I lost my greatest amount of excess weight was when I was a forum participant working as an equal, one on one, with others encouraging me out of an invalid status, sedentary lifestyle while I in turn encouraged them to trust themselves around food and learn that slimming involved loving good food eaten regularly and it was no more about denial, hunger and deprivation dieting than it was about the opposite, binging, unhealthy or overeating. Together we applauded our achievements, offered encouragement during the disappointments and safe uncritical friendship when we needed to vent. We crossed the line from the triple digits to the double digits together and made wonderful life lasting friendships in the process.   
I am seeking to find this fellowship by taking a step upward and working with health profesionals in further studies of nutrition and fitness.
Something to hope for.

I’m leaving this area, BLANK – for you to fill in the space with YOUR DREAMSJ, Your future goals. Dream and Believe in YOU.
 
 
 
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Goal revaluation, action plan setting and to do list made and completed, it was a great day today J.

Reg is feeling a bit better on the antiinflamitories I bought from the chemist yesterday and I love my new easy care, short, but long enough to still look feminine, hair cut. 
Reg and I had a great day together, Reg taking it easy, here in the lounge room with the garden view.  I went and dug the clay bank on the far side of the road between the poplar trees and scooped some of the great leaf mould out of the road side gutters, and dug this and manure into the clay bank then planted peas and beans in the freshly prepared bed, watered then mulched the bed with straw.

Then our daughter Leanne came to visitJ, second time this week, great to see her and wonderful seeing Reg can’t get out easily for us to visit the family, ourselves, at the moment. 

After she left and Reg was resting, I popped out to gym and was so pleased that the weight resistance work continues to get easier. I skipped all the aerobic workout, not wanting to be away too long, not yet, not till Reg is feeling consistently a little better. 

There was a steady fresh rain shower once I got home, and I was delighted, this will get our new crop of veggies off to a great start.

I am feeling so much more positive today, my slump of the previous days is over,  though my couple of days of excessive eating beyond my calorie needs will take  more than a couple of days to wear off, though I never ever felt guilty J for eating according to my emotional desires for a change, as I rarely do emotionally eat these days. It’s just something I need to make sure does not become a habit if I am worried. If I felt it was a problem long term I would seek more assistance with this, there are some great books and programs to help people with emotional eating issues.

To make up for overeating for a few day, I don’t want to rush off into a low calorie diet nor take a slimming pill .  I am learning to strive to stay 'balanced', living healthy, no extremes of binging nor dieting, just healthy lifestyle which can include checking my calorie count to achieve healthy levels of weight loss, if I am overweight. I did recheck what would be the recommended calorie intake for my weight and height if I was aiming to lose between 1 kilo and 500 gram per week (a safe amount for most overweight people), using the charts at Spark People and I again filled in a food diary of what I have eaten today and noted I was within my calorie allowance with a little still to spare.

Where I went off the rails, on my over eating days was by snacking in the evening.  Knowing the evening was my ‘weak’ period, on my overeating days, I will make a fresh garden salad now and a low calorie jelly that I will have with a little low fat natural yogurt, which I love. :-), so I have bulky, but low calorie foods in the fridge if I feel  I want to snack tonight and I will drink a couple of extra glasses of water and cups of tea with skim milk added and find some very interesting work to do, to focus my mind on. 

I’ll also do some goal setting to get my head into focus so I can see that my current short term weight release goal is achievable by Christmas and take a look at those jeans I’m wanting to wear by Christmas, to increase my awareness of why I am not going to snack on high calorie foods this evening.

Observation: - Three days of evening emotional eating.

Corrections Tool: - Do what can be done to relieve the source of the stress. Make positive actions to continue to maintain healthy eating, quantity management and healthy physical activity.  Focus again on the goal and why I want it. Revaluate the action plan; make sure it is believable and achievable. Plan the ‘to do list’ and then do it. 


I have postponed my follow up post to yesterday's 'the pip' blog post, until tomorrow when I will post about how I use a skill I learned as an artist, to help overcome moments of indecision and generally know when it's OK to leave my to do list, undone, and take a rest.
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Tonight I relaxed with a rose from my garden a small canvas and my oil paints, and a bowl of home grown salad vegetables and a cup of tea, as my snack nibbles.  The art work isn’t finished and photographs badly due to light reflecting off the wet paint, but it was a great evening of creative expression and escapism :-),  Bedtime now. xxx
Follow up, the following morning.
After I had finished painting last night, I cleaned away all evidence that I had been painting, and cleaned myself up, then headed to bed.  Reg woke and asked me 'Why I was wearing an apron'.  I told him 'I had been painting'.   He said, 'That's good', and he did sound so genuinely pleased :-).  I think that his reading my blog has helped him get in touch with my need to be creative :-).
Today I will set up more of my painting area and this time I'll not be packing it away before I go to bed at night, my painting area, will remain permanently set up, and I plan to paint every day, now as well as write. 

Yesterday I proved I could fit in, carer duties, gardening, gym, home, writing, painting and lol, I even found time to blow wave my hair, walk the dog, and plan to eat well with consideration to my future well being, not just the instant gratification of now.
The painting is certainly no masterpiece, but the day, in review, was FANTASTIC.
 
 
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I feel like I’m on a wonder drug. J

I am one third of the way to my weight release goal for Christmas; this makes it highly likely that I will be opening my one size smaller Christmas gift parcel of three new pairs of Jeans, (my gift to myself) J, on Christmas day.

 
Aside from and more important to me, than the weight loss, goal, I am
                                             feeling fantasticJ

How I am getting on this  ‘high’?

I am doing the resistance training workouts using the equipment in the fabulous gym room at Aquamoves Gym, in Shepparton, Victoria.  Something I have done before, but I am noticing that things are different now to when I have started, stopped, and stop started with a gym in the past.

When I arrive at gym these days I feel like I’m getting the benefit of having a personal trainer for part of every gym session that I attend.  I recognise the trainers, they come past and observe how I work out, give me extra tips on how to perform the sets.  They sometimes suggest I change to a new resistance routine that will be better for me, and always they have encouraging words.  They weigh and assess my total fat % and encourage me to achieve my fat percentage goal and are keen, the same as I am that my weight loss is a healthy one, of excess body fat, not lean healthy muscle or bone.

At the Aquamoves gym they don’t high pressure on sell you a gym program and then leave you confused by the equipment or over extended and likely to injure yourself, nor feeing lost and fending for yourself as I have felt in the past, at other gyms and even this one, before I made the effort to ask the trainers for instruction and encouragement, instead of trying to ‘do it alone’.

I am thrilled by the results and the service I am getting at this gym and find myself actually enjoying the weight resistance work out, something that I never thought would ever be more than a to do list, chore, I was giving myself, as part of my action plan  in order to achieve a goal.

Fancy that, J this once morbidly obese and  invalid thinking,  senior, is now  loving doing weight resistance training, J Almost unbelievably, lol, J and I can hardly wipe the grin of my face at how great this feels. J

On a personal level, what can give a 63 year old plump lady more of a thrill than to follow a fit 20 year old around the gym circuit and have to add 20 kilo or more weights to those the younger woman was pushing, pulling or lifting, lol, J, it does wonders for the moral.

Another thing that always thrills me is to see the very fit, senior, slender proudly grey haired ladies working out; it gives me a grey pride and belief in a sensational seniors, fit and active future. These are the people I want to mix with; these are the people who inspire me to be at my best.

Next evidence that I’m definitely ‘on something ‘ ;-) lol J is how well I am sleeping, how energetic I am waking in the morning, and how easy thing like housework become once your able to do leg presses of 200lb weights, pull downs at 60lb and chest presses at 50lb.  Lol, OK, these are still, beginners weights, but they are a huge improvement for me and I can feel the benefit these along with the superman exercise I can do here at home and the stability ball squats, all designed to strengthen my core muscles and back muscles is making my back pain, a thing of the past and the chances that I will injure myself doing everyday tasks, is becoming less likely as I develop my core strength.

From the ‘Fit Seniors’, web site: -One of the best ways to reduce stress is to exercise!! Exercise increases your overall health and your sense of well-being, which puts more pep in your steps every day. But exercise also has some direct stress-busting benefits.

Exercise pumps up your endorphins. Physical activity helps to boost the production of your brain’s feel-good neurotransmitters, called endorphins.

To read the full text, go to Fit Seniors
 
 
 
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A living it up, slimming lunch, which I ate when hungry, enjoyed, and I stopped eating when I was satisfied.  This easy lunch was highly nutritious, full of vitamins, bone health minerals plus protein, fat and carbohydrate balance. 
Losing weight is not about deprivation, it is about loving ourselves slim.
You are not going to stick to punishing yourself to get slim, and why should you?

100 gram salmon steak, seared in 1 teaspoon of good oils, asparagus and 1/2 slice low fat cheese melt, garden side salad and a wedge of lemon and watermelon.
My new gaols

I am back with a weight loss goal, in order to bring my blood pressure down a notch,( a 'how I feel', reason ), as I am happy with how I look, even if I am still technically on the plump side.  This will be a healthy, loving myself, goal and action plan. :-)

My action plan is to focusing on when I eat, (when hungry), and how much eat,  (eat until satisfied, don’t overeat), and what I eat, (foods my body thrives on, self love is not eating junk) and nurturing my emotional needs in a healthy way (not with self abusive,  comfort eating), and becoming a little fitter and more active each day, knowing that protecting and building muscle increases my resting metabolism and makes losing fat, easier.

Emotionally I will surround myself with supporting people, reading and create my own supportive environment that includes those who want to lose weight by loving themselves enough to do so in a healthy way.  Sorry, no poor nutrition, starvation or restrictive diet will be mentioned in my blog and if I get excited about food, it will not be the latest saturated fat and sugar biscuit or spread on the market, it will be that my favourite fruit or vegetables are back in season or I bought a beautiful looking fresh salmon steak.  LOL, I did exactly that, while shopping last night.  I chose a small perfect looking piece of salmon and some barramundi. At the fresh fish shop.

I might make a fresh garden salad, using some of my own home grown garden greens and cook the salmon in a hot non stick pan in one teaspoon per person of good oil, and serve it for lunch. I tell you, my diet is a LIVEIT J/ you too can become the weight your body is meant to be, not by dieting, but by loving yourself slim. Take the time to love yourself, just as I'm going to focus intently on doing during these busy months that lead up to Christmas. We have time (if we have a weight loss goal), to treat ourselves to a one size smaller outfit, as our Christmas gift to ourself.

Some healthy, slimming, eating tips.

If you are struggling to lose weight, try spending most of your food money in on fresh produce.

Love yourself and your family enough to break the addiction to the pjunk food, it hasn’t got you to where you want to be, has its?

Eat when you are hungry, eat and eat foods you love and enjoy. Experiment and broaden the range of healthy foods you may not have previously tried.  If you do avoided buying fresh food, because it is  expensive, then consider buying a 100 gram per person serving, that costs less for a beautiful lunch than many people are spending on the junk food in their trolley and I am not adverse to trying some of the cheaper cuts of fish and I buy trays of tinned salmon from the factory at only $1. per  tin.  Good food is affordable.

Junk food is too expensive for my budget, to give to any member of my family, in terms f it’s long term effect on health. 

Will you love yourself more if you buy the latest white chocolate Tim tams and iSnack?