Lukewarm...Yuck!

Have you ever noticed how a lot of foods, when eaten at room temperature, don't taste as great as they do when eaten hot or cold? For example, in my opinion, fried chicken taste great hot, great cold, and not as great when sitting at room temp. Or take pizza for example, it's good hot, but even better cold, and just alright at room temp.  Now if I were a scientist, and don't worry I'm not, I'd also mention the obvious health concerns associated with foods sitting at room temperature. Most importantly bacteria multiplies at ridiculous rates when foods are left sitting in a lukewarm state which can lead to sickness.

I say all of this to say things just taste better and are better for you when you make a clear decision as to how you want to eat them, whether hot or cold. This same concept applies when setting out to attain any goal in life, whether weight loss or something else. You need to either be all in or all out because halfway may actually do more damage than good.

Yo Yo dieting is actually a detriment to your metabolism, motivation, and self esteem. For me, every failed attempt at some "lose weight quick" scheme or established program actually made it harder for me to commit and give 100% to the next attempt. Which explains why I've been doing this blog off and on over the last 3 years with very little weight loss.

So what's different this time?  

This time, unlike the other times, I'm working on changing my mindset. I'm changing my thought processes and how I approach life. This is no easy task, but I'm choosing to live life with no gray area when it comes to most things. Now of course there may be a need for a gray area someplace in my life, I can't think of where right now, but I want to make it clear that I'm not turning into a militant "all or nothing" type of person.

I'm saying I'm committing today and the rest of my life to invest 100% of my efforts into total body health. Of course I may have a few set backs, but I commit to never giving up.

The Bible even identifies that to be lukewarm is distasteful to God. In Revelations 3:15-16 God says His desire is for us to be hot or cold and for those who are neither one He will spit them out of His mouth! 

Think about other areas of your life, would you like a "lukewarm" friend? Someone who treats you as a friend sometimes and sometimes acts as though they barely know you. Or what about a "lukewarm" mate? Someone who treats you as if you're their everything one minute and they could care less about you the next minute.

To be lukewarm is just a waste of time and energy. Thus far (for 2 weeks) I've stuck to my 3 days a week 60 minute cardio sessions. I will increase this weeks workout schedule by one day. On the 4th day I will do 30 minutes of cardio and 45 minutes of strength training. My eating habits over this past two weeks have been AMAZING! I've even surprised myself. I'll include a link to a blog that has supplied me with my most recent recipes (http://jennycollier.com/?p=7999).

If you're enjoying the reading, don't forget to follow the blog, share the blog, and shout from the roof tops about how much you love the blog!

Lastly, If you're a fat chic like me stay motivated, be encouraged, and know that inside of every fat chic is a skinny chic waiting to come out. 

Cold Turkey

So, as I sat watching T.V. a commercial for a brand of nicotine gum aired and lead me to my most recent epiphany.  In the commercial there's an animated person explaining how people don't expect you to work out one day and drop 25 pounds the next day so they shouldn't expect you to quit smoking cold turkey. They explained that the process should be taken one day at a time with small changes in habits being made daily.

Now if you're reading this and you're anything like me you're thinking, "Duh, everybody knows that change takes time." 

Question: if this is something that "everyone" knows why is this mistake one that trips up most people involved in making major life changes (especially for those of us involved in the battle of the bulge)? 

What mistake you ask? 

The one in which you make the declaration to change your life for the healthy (or insert your new year’s resolution here) and as a result you swear off (insert your vices here) all pop, all alcohol, all juice, all candy, all desserts, all bread, all pasta, and all potatoes. Instead you make a vow to only eat lean meats, fish, vegetables, fruits, and drink only water. You're going to work out 5-7 days a week and you'll get 8 hours of sleep every night and this will all happen first thing tomorrow morning.

Sound familiar? (Don’t act like I'm the only one)

That type of thinking is actually the very tool that sabotages our good intentions before we're even able to put them into actions. In my opinion, anything that is built entirely around restrictions (can't have this, don't do that, only do this) is bound to fail. This is because the very thing that you aren't supposed to do is the very thing that's constantly on your mind. 

I'm reminded of my early years as a Christian. I didn't immediately stop partying, cursing, and living life as I had prior to accepting Christ. No, if I were able to do that I wouldn't need Christ; I would just go ahead and cure world hunger and bring world peace while I'm at it. 

What I understood then was that doing my will a.k.a. doing things my way is what got me into my situation and I was not strong enough to change that on my own. I understood that all I wanted and needed was in Christ and as I further immersed myself in Him I would eventually lose the desire for the things that were outside of His will for me.  

Small changes can make BIG differences.

In the case of my Christian lifestyle I made the small, but big choice to build a relationship with God and He worked everything else out. The key was committing myself firmly to God and allowing him to guide me through this process of reconstruction. It baffles me that it's taken me 31 years to figure out that I need to approach my weight loss with this same philosophy.  

We make hundreds of choices daily that have lasting impacts on our quality of life. Most of these choices are made without ever considering the overall impact it will have on our mind, body, and spirit. 

Today and every day going forward I am making the small, but big choice to choose life. I am choosing to commit to working out three days a week for 60 minutes (to begin) and I will gradually increase to six days a week for 60 minutes over the course of the next eight weeks.  

Choosing to focus on just one thing in your life to work on can make a huge impact in your overall health. 

If you're enjoying the reading, don't forget to follow the blog.

Lastly, If you're a fat chic like me stay motivated, be encouraged, and know that inside of every fat chic is a skinny chic waiting to come out!

Life's too short to...

It's been 1 year since my last blog entry, but 2013, for me is a year of total body health...blah, blah, blah, blah, yea, uh huh, blah, blah, blah, blah, oh ok, blah, blah, huh, hmmmm...

If you've read past blog entries, personally spoken to me over the past 31 years, or have a speech of your own that's similar to the one above welcome. Or if this is your first exposure to the fat chick, hello, nice to meet you, hope that you check back in next week to see what else we'll be up to.

Now that we've gotten the pleasantries out of the way lets talk about the real deal.

Being fat stinks! It's another year and another health plan has been set in motion. I feel like I'm on a roller coaster for fat people and I really, really, REALLY wanna get off. Life's too short to be unhappy, which is the foundation of obesity (unhappiness).

Well this is the year of reconstruction; total body health. When a structure is needing to be reconstructed there are aspects that are in "good" or even "great" shape, but there are parts that need to be fixed. There maybe foundational issues, cosmetic issues, or any issue that takes the value of the structure below what it truly could be worth (or was intended to be worth).

I've been created, purposed, and destined for greatness and its time for me to whole heartedly chase after that greatness. How, you ask?

Reconstruction has to start in the mind. I have "fat people" thoughts... "I'm too tired to workout" , "Vegetables are gross" , "I need a quick fix because exercising and eating right isn't fast enough". These thoughts and the thousands of "healthy life defeating" others I have are what keeps me from being successful at Weightloss.

Romans 12:2 says Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind... My tactic is to use positive affirmations and to counteract every negative thought with an equally positive one about the same topic. I have to make a conscious effort to speak life into myself.

Over this past year my health issues have only worsened. I look at my husband and my daughter and think about how selfish I'm being choosing to not take my health seriously. It's not about me, I need to be healthy for the one's I love. Life's too short to be obese and not be able to truly live.

If you're a fat chic like me stay motivated, be encouraged, and know that inside of every fat chic is a skinny chic waiting to come out.