Here’s a factoid with something funny my friend said. The human body is made up of between 60-75% water. More when you are a newborn, and decreasing gradually as you age. That’s probably why you get all wrinkly as you get older.
I was explaining this to my friend and she demanded to know, “So if we both have roughly 65% of our bodies as water, how come my water weighs so much more than yours?”
This tip is an oldie, but a goodie. And one you’ve heard a ton from your mom and grammy.
Stand up straight! Go stand in front of a mirror. Now stop cringing, you look fine. Now experiment with different postures from the side view and front view.
When you round your back, you lose an average of 3 inches in height, but gain a nice big tummy roll. Happens to the best of us. I am notorious for this. I have a very rounded back, and horrible posture from years of being heavy in front. Even know my husband regularly reminds me to straighten up.
Another thing to try is whether you prefer your look with hips tucked in or butt out. Look in the mirror and try it. If you have a J.Lo booty you want to flaunt then go for it. Notice the way it may also puff your chest and ribs out, depending on your shape. For me, when my hips are tucked underneath, I seem to have a longer, leaner look.
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Experiment and see what suits your frame the best.
So you already know it’s going to be a busy Monday huh? No time for the gym? Well instead of feeling guilty, bring the workout to you. Do things throughout your day the hard way. Here’s a few suggestions:
-Don’t take the elevator, take the stairs
-Park your car in the farthest spot so you have to walk farther
-Do a few squats while you are doing dishes
-While doing housework, put on your jams and boogie
-Don’t leave your shopping cart in front of your car. Return it all the way back inside the store to walk the most
Move Move Move. If you are busy anyway, making sure you keep moving all day (hey that rhymes!)
It’s that time again. the long run. Today is even a little longer, at least in the blog sense. I have already blogged about this topic today on a blog which I am a weekly contributor to. That post is about playing the Compare Contrast game against other people. You can check it out here if you’d like. Saturday So What: Compare and Contrast
For this post I want to shift the focus on playing the Compare Contrast game with yourself. This topic came up while I was visiting my sister this week. We were talking about my weight loss success and her lack thereof. A little background might be required. Growing up, I was always the fat one of the sisters. The oldest was a skinny twig, the 2nd one was a petite little elf, the 3rd child (the one I was visiting) was my closest in age and appearance. Only 6 sizes smaller.
She’d always been smaller than me and while I was eating carrot sticks, she was shoving down Oreos with nary a stray pound to show for it. Until one day she had some health difficulties and all that bad diet karma smacked her upside the head. Or more accurately, the waistline. Since I had always been fat, I would compare myself to everyone else in the room. My sister, being newly unskinny, chose a much more dangerous foe to compare with…herself.
While I was visiting she confided that it was very difficult for her to see me wearing some of her favorite “skinny” clothes. It reminded her of a time not too long ago when she could wear them. Now she was endlessly frustrated that she was not the same person or size she used to be.
I told her the following and I gonna tell you too. “You can never again be who you were.” For good or bad, we are all constantly changing. My yoga teacher says Life is like a river, you never step in the same water twice.It’s true. It’s pointless to compare yourself to your high school days, For one, you were a lot younger and gravity hadn’t had time to work its nasty magic. For another, you might have gone through ginormous changes, like children. Those little things move in for 9 months and totally redecorate the front and rear end of the property.
I like to say that you can’t compare yourself to another person because they aren’t living your life. That’s why comparing yourself to your past is so dangerous. You fall into the trap of thinking that it’s okay to compare since you are living your own life. Ehhh wrong. You are not living the life you used to. You can’t be. There are new challenges and changes that were not a part of the history you might be romanticizing. I believe sometimes you have to literally view who you were in the past as a different person entirely. That person doesn’t have your current stresses, or health problems.
The only thing we can do is the best with what we have in front of us. Right now, for my sister, it’s trying to be healthy, fit, and following a dietary budget. There are a few funky aspects to her health that seem to be preventing any weight loss, but in the meantime she is doing what she can. That’s all we can ever do. It is not failure to grow and change from what we once were. We can’t slow down the wheels of time. Your 40 year old self will not look like your 18 year old self -ever. Even if you’re Heidi Klum. With any luck we get a bit wiser as time marches on too. And have better hair.
Here’s a word of advice for you aspiring authors. Do not get attached to your title. Because there is a decent chance you won’t get to keep it. What I mean is, you are working hard on your manuscript and it grows on you. Either like a fungus or a baby. Depends on how well its going at the time. So you give it a name or a title in your head and you fall in love. Then you submit it to agents or publishers and someone picks it up. Then their marketing team gets a hold of it. That’s when you and your beloved title might break up.
At this point I think I need to trust in the experts. Its true that no one will love and know your book like you do. But your marketing team should hopeful have years of experience knowing exactly how to reach your audience and bookstore buyers. I’m hoping mine does at least. So at this point I’m going to let go and let the experts. I will post soon with the results of the survey. Cross your fingers that it’s something good.Ok so it’s the end of the week. You’re tired. The weekend is almost upon you. Do you feel like maybe this week hasn’t gone as planned?
Well every Friday I am going to suggest an exercise for your mind and spirit.
Today I want you to think up on thing you need to do today. It can be something on your to do list or a goal you want to meet.
Here’s some suggestions from my previous Fridays:
Track down funky smell from kitchen
Wash all ten baskets of laundry
Get through entire day without sugar
Get through entire day without yelling at kids
Be serious or have fun with it. The important thing is to make sure it gets done. Move heaven and earth if you have to. Just get er done.
The goal of this exercise is to prove to yourself that you can achieve your goals with a little will umph and intent. I promise that after you finish it you will feel a rush of satisfaction of actually doing what you said you’d do.
I personally do this everyday. I find it makes me feel more accomplished and helps build my self esteem because I feel like I made a difference and have control in my life
Like the little kid off the cereal commercial says “Try it, you’ll like it”
Thursdays are going to be my random thought, fact or observation.
Here’s a little FYI The by-the-slice Food court Cheese Pizza at Costco is 700 calories. That’s for one slice people. I used to estimate it at 350 tops. ehhh wrong. The next time I’m in costco looking at that pizza, I’m gonna decide if that cheesy goodness is worth 700 calories of my daily budget. Some days yes, some days no. But at least I won’t underestimate it again
This ones a little close to home today.
When buying clothes, go for fit rather than size.
I worked hard to go from 2X to a small pant size/ medium top. So when I went shopping for an outfit at a new store, Lucy, I was ticked when the medium active tank with built in sports bra fit more like a sausage casing than a supportive and lightly compressive yoga top. I did not NOT want to admit defeat and buy the much more flattering large. It took a few minutes to realize that, no, I had not changed shape since the last time. This was a new brand with a different size chart
But oh, my pride did not want to listen. I wanted to go find a store where the mediums fit. Even though this “large” top was probably the most comfortable well made and flattering item I had tried on.
In the end I did what I am advising you to do…ignore the size. In some brands you will be a M in others a L or XL. But guess what? The only person that ever sees that little tag is you. What everyone else sees is how it fits. So would you rather squeeze into the size 8 jeans that give you a horrible muffin top, just so you know you are wearing an 8. Or would you rather find a pair of jeans that make your butt look fabulous, even though it might be a size or two bigger in that brand.
Unless you leave the sales tag on, the general public will never know your size. And if you want, you can cut out the tag so you don’t have to either. A proper fitted garment will make you look slimmer than an ill fitting smaller size or much too big size that swamps you.
Mindless snacking can be a killer You eat five Starbursts thinking “Eh, I don’t need to worry about it. It’s only 5”.
Well did you know those 5 starburst equals 100 calories. You would need to run a mile just balance your budget.
If you are hungry, candy is not the way to go. Empty calories and you’ll only crave more. Try fruit or a light yogurts. Still sweet but fills your tummy a bit more
