Artslim
 
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Firstly, you do need to have a clear idea of your goals. This is my transition week, closing off some great 12-week goals, forming and already working towards, new one week, one month, three months and six-month goals.

Secondly, have an action plan in place so you can see how to achieve these goals.  no good at making action plans, try a personal trainer or great on line training program like the Michelle Bridges 12 week body transformation program  I am completing this week.

Now with your action plan in front of you; sit down and write out your ‘To Do List’.

While there may be chores like, do the washing, tidy the house/caravan in there, strive to make half the items on the ‘to do list’, be items in your action plan...do this every day, and you achieve, the goals you set yourself. I have worked like this all my life, and it has unfailingly helped me achieve every goal I have set myself.

 

Number the items on your to do list as A, B or C, priority. 
Make sure the things you need to do every day, become an A priority in your mind and on your list, or you will end up not doing them. 
Try not to have more than 6 A priority things to do in a day.
A little pressure is good, too much is stress.
Do all the A priority tasks before moving to the B priority, as much as is practical. Obviously, you need to be a little flexible with this.
Only do the C priority tasks if you want to or if here is available time and another A or B priority has not emerged. This is effective use of your time. If the C priority needs to be done, it will eventually become an A or B priority. Leave it undone, if you are busy, sometimes it just, 'goes away'. :-)
 

Today my 6 item two do list with half of these things to directly related to achieving my slimming and fitness goals, is

1/ Run cross country and on sand (from my fitness and slimming action plan) DONE

2/ Blog a minimum of 3 quality free choice posts (2 Done) and 3 paid posts.(pays for my Pro blog account)

3/ Swim, target set, 800 meters, then deep water running (from my fitness and slimming action plan) to be done next :-)

4/ Companion and carer to Reg, went fishing with him, :-), DONE and ongoing.

5/ Be in the artslim Forum,  :-), Hope to meet YOU at 7PM EST. TONIGHT. :-)  Add more topics to this forum and encourage YOU to make your own diary in here and feel WELCOME to use the topics I set up, for your self, I'll be adding my input to them too. (from my fitness and slimming action plan)

6/ Work on my time management plan. I want to do so much in every day, the day never seems long enough. I need to formulate my plan on how I will 'work smarter, not harder' :-) and achieve all I want.   Tonight I will have my 2010 short term, midterm and longer terms written down, the action plan to achieve them written down and the time management schedule to allow me to be able to do this, worked out and partly in action. (from my fitness and slimming action plan)

Kathy Shell ran an award winning business and taught time management and business studies during her professional life.  Kathy is now in retirement and enjoying 'paying it forward'.  Hope to have you join me in my forums or suggest other forums or forum topics you would love to be able to participate in. 
 
 
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Well here I am in paradise, or it feels like it, at Flying Fish Point, and I am feeling so ‘laid back’ in relaxed holiday mood I do not feel like performing any exercise more strenuous than rubbing fake tanning lotion on my legs.  This will never do, lol.  Even my urge to write has slid as the outdoors is so beautiful, I am happy to take the photos but they are lining up in my computer and I’ve not made the time to edit them.

I guess a couple of quieter exercise days is acceptable, as long as I don't slide back to sedentary, where I came from, again.  I'll have my next 12 week training program in place before the end of the week.
This is going to be a good planning week, lots of head work being done, lots I hope to share here. I enjoy your feedback. Thanks for being interested.

I have to laugh at ‘quieter days’. as I did run for one and a half kilometres on soft hard to run through sand, carry grocery bags (weights), a kilometre to the car as I park the car well away from the shopping centre to deliberately get this carry the shopping exercise and I did swim my 800 meters.  I must be getting addicted to my regular exercise because that felt like a ‘day off’, and an under performance of what I now am able to do. I felt like I was lolling around being lazy, a lot of the time and just enjoying tranquillity.  I do not take a lot of idle time, and I’ve enjoyed this for the last couple of days since arriving here at Flying Fish Point.

 

I have been working on putting forums into all my blog websites, so there has been some ‘work’, going in behind the scenes.

I find it is often out of these relaxed holiday style days that I can put together good fresh goals for the future and this is whare I am at today, half way through the final week of the Michelle Bridges 12 week body transformation and ready to take my new goals, action plans and to do list, into a new area where I am responsible, for my own training, for three months.

 

So yes I am ‘on track’, though no fantastic physical feats, no huge results so far this week, aside from a beautiful feeling of inner peace in my mind. J.  I am sure that must make me weigh a lot less.  lol, but right now, in this peaceful paradise, I have totally lost interest in what the bathroom scales say. 

The weather is glorious, the fridge has been restocked with fresh vegetables the fruit bowl is full, nuts, muesli, yogurt and skim milk powder are restocked and I bought Reg a fishing line so, lol fresh caught whitting, or is it legumes or tinned salmon for dinner, my loved ones, the man and dog with me, the extended family just a phone call away. A choice of walking, running and swimming for outdoor exercise and all my art supplies here with me in this tropical garden. Did I say 'Paradise'? 

 
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Skinny-Plump –Plus Sized, Love yourself as you are.

Take good care of yourself now.
Please don't sacrifice muscle and bone to please the scales.
LOVE yourself naturally healthy and slim. 
This is my 'Art Slim', message.
The art of healthy living and slimming.

Loving yourself is NOT self-neglect or overeating and under exercising, and it certainly is not the self-abuse of dieting and exercising to injury causing level. Today I am ready to take responsibility for and plan my next week, next month, next three months and year of self nurture. I will be doing this in my blog and new artslim forum. You are invited to join me though my blog comments or in the forum where you can participate.

 

This is NOT a substitute for great professional guidance or a professionally moderated forum like Michelle Bridges 12 week body transformation, the latter I love, I just need to do it, ‘my way’, in keeping with the program but not the same. For example I’m not tempting fate by doing step jumps with a reconstructed leg and I cannot buy 2/3 of the food in the menu plans in the small country towns I shop in, so I am not sure I need to do round 2, as I can self motivate and I have sufficient understanding of nutrition and bone health to plan my own diet well.

 

I am moving onward in an eclectic way, taking from each, program I have participated in, those things that benefit me and leaving behind those things that do not assist me now. The one thing I will be leaving behind me, the one thing I only took on due to starting the 12wbt, is the scales. once I do my final weigh in, as part of my 12wbt, commitment, this Sunday, the scales will be buried deep under the caravan bed and blocked away out of sight and out of mind, maybe to be used as part of a quarterly general health assessment but not as part of my main focus. That is simply my choice for me, the only scale I want in my life now is one of seeking a healthy life balance a balance that will see me achieving the best weight for my body, whatever this is.

 

Eating disorders KILL and cause Osteoporosis.

 

How many people recognise an eating disorder in themselves?

 

I have had eating disorders, both over and underrating in the past, shown by yo-yo dieting and I never recognised at the time that I had eating disorders.

 

Do You Binge? Do you diet?  STOP!   Start loving yourself.

 

Healthy portion controlled eating when hungry and stopping when satisfied and taking care of your emotional needs in other ways than through food. Becoming an active person with an hour of planned physical exercise on average, every day, and you will achieve the size that is right for your body and maintain weight at your perfect size.

.

Diets do not work, healthy lifestyle does.

 

Give weight loss time, you gain weight slowly; it is OK to take it off slowly.

 

Dieting and lack of weight bearing exercise causes osteoporosis..

 .

A woman is 10 times more likely to have an osteoporosis-related fracture than being diagnosed with breast cancer or 5 times more likely than having a heart attack.

 
"Osteoporosis can be combated most effectively through proper nutrition and weight bearing exercise -- without medication.

I do not run because I love running.
I run because I love my bone, muscle density, heart and lung health, and 'will' them to be strong with every step. I am running now, because I love and care for myself, not because it's easy to find the time or motivation to do it.

I will make my goals, action plans and to do lists, public in the new artslim forum and you are invited to join me there if you wish, though I still suggest using professional guidance. I am not taking on the role of the personal trainer in this. 
I also will be looking to do some ongoing study and training myself.  To be the best we can be we need experts to guide us, in everything and learning weight managment is no different, the self taught person has a fool for a teacher. 
Get your self experts as a part of your winning team. 

This next three months I will be focusing on developing my abdominal muscle strength and setting clear-cut goals related to this, maintenance, and improvement of my aerobic capacity, rather than a weight based goal.  I choose to LOVE myself to my natural slim size with healthy strong healthy bones, not though the appathy of self neglect or obsesive dieting, but through self love and self motivation, setting goals that I want, action plans and to do lists and placing them in a public forum as my commitment to on going self care then just getting out there and doing it. 

Links

The BEST on line fitness and slimming program I know of, is the Michelle Bridges, 12 Week Body Transformation. 
I recommend, doing it. 

Osteoporosis prevention

Why You Don't Want To Take Boniva: Dr Joel Fuhrman Explains


 
 
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.