MIRROR, MIRROR

This week's blog is a tough one to write. LOL...I know what I want to say! But I don't want to offend anyone along the way by telling my story and then asking you to participate in what some might consider an uncomfortable challenge.

With that said, on with my story about my body image issues ...

Men and women who suffer from body dysmorphic disorder (BDD) often see themselves in a different light than those around them. They have a skewed perception of themselves.

Oddly enough, my mirror was showing me the men's result, lol!

For years I would look in the mirror and admit to myself that I was overweight. Overweight yes, but never ever called myself fat, chubby was my size and I was content to remain like that for the rest of my life.

 

Wow, was I in denial! What a shock it was to me to find out from my doctor that I was actually OBESE! And that if I didn't lose weight by exercising and eating healthily, I'd be on medications for the rest of my life.

 

Along my journey, I went through various mindsets. To begin with, I only planned on losing 5 lbs. just to make my doctor happy. Then as the lbs. started dropping off and I saw a new me in the mirror, I got excited and proud of myself for taking care of my body...something I should have been doing all along.

 

 

Luckily, I didn't get caught up in society's hype about womens bodies, how we all need to be skinny & prancing around in bikinis. LOL...there is still part of the old me left inside...the one who enjoys food (and not just the good stuff, the bad stuff calls out to me alot and I answer "yes please") too much to be able to stick to the very rigid health regimen needed. Good grief, is it even possible to get an old saggy body to look young again? If it is, sorry, I'm just not up to proving it right or wrong...but if you try for it, please let me know the results :)

 

I guess the point I'm trying to make is that no matter what you see in your mirror, it doesn't matter what your body looks like, you have to love yourself enough to do everything you can to make it a healthy body. We come in all shapes and sizes (who wants to look like everyone else, right?)...the best way to honour that body is to have it encasing a hardy healthy core :)

 

 

On looking back at my overweight life, I now see that I was making myself feel & look older. Firstly, by the clothes I was wearing...never wore jeans, always chose elastic waists, loose-fitting tops, long dresses/skirts, flat shoes, etc. Secondly, by just shuffling along in life, not realizing that my sore feet and achy knees were due to my weight.

 

Now that I am healthy, I can use the money I would have been spending on medication on a new smaller wardrobe, a much more enjoyable outcome :)

 

LOL...I always hated getting my picture taken...for some strange reason, I always looked fat in them...duh, you were Cheryl!!

 

THIS WEEK'S CHALLENGE:

 

The purpose of this week's challenge is to explore your views on body image. I am hoping that I'm not the only one who has problems with their mirror.

 

Below is a body chart I found online. It raised quite a bit of controversy and hateful remarks on it's originating site. I'm hoping none of that happens here. I am not saying any of these bodies are better or worse than others, I am just using them for examples that will be the answers to the challenge questions.

 

I will give you my scenario before listing the challenge questions ...

 

Prior to last year, I was #6, but thought I was #5.

Currently, I am mid-way between #5 and #4.
In my dreams I'd love to be a curvy #3 but will be happy to end up a solid average at #4...only thing standing in my way is some stubborn belly fat :)

 

Note: To my family...please feel free to let me know if I'm still delusional and my body is nowhere near the #s I chose lol.

 

Now, on to the questions for you (if you feel comfortable answering them):

 

1. Which # is how you see yourself in the mirror?

2. Do you think it's correct or skewed?

3. Which # would you like to be?

4. Which # do you think society dictates we should be?

 

As for society, I think it's a tossup between #2 and #8, they seem very similar to me, fit or athletic, I think it's what most women aspire to be these days.

 

NEXT WEEK'S BLOG: Body Types

 

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

DISCLAIMER: Whenever I use the word DIET in my blog posts I am in no way suggesting that I have invented/discovered some miracle system to lose weight. Whenever I use the word DIET, I am simply substituting a single word to replace the longer phrase EATING HEALTHIER THAN IN THE PAST.

AND THE WINNER IS ...

Wow, these past 2 months have flown by! Can't believe it's summer and time to don a bathing suit to take a dip in a lake or swimming pool.

We had 4 competitors in our Beach Body Challenge. It was a tight race between the top 3 spots...lol with me lagging way behind in last place.

Cheryl: Started at 149...ended up at 146

Al: Started at 169...ended up at 164

Desiree: Started at 142...ended up at 136

Anthony: Started at 214...ended up at 209

DESIREE WINS WITH A WEIGHT LOSS OF 6 LBS.!!

Luckily for Desiree, the agony she went through following her dental surgery (pain & nausea), paid off big time. LOL...but definitely not a way I would recommend for fast weight loss!

Congratulations Desiree ...I'll be buying your flip flops tomorrow :)

Kudos to Al and Anthony for a job well done and being tied in 2nd place!

THIS WEEK'S CHALLENGE:

I am challenging everyone to get out their swimsuits and have a great summer no matter what! Just for the record...just because I held a beach body challenge, it doesn't mean that I expect everyone to have a sports illustrated bikini body. I just hope that everyone can feel comfortable enough in their own body to get out and enjoy life to it's fullest.

I came across this motto; it really struck a cord with me and got me thinking of body image. Not so much what society says we should look like, but how I see my own body. More on this topic in next week's blog :)

LOL...I figure we should all get together and have a party to celebrate the end of suck it in season...will you join me for a piece of cake in Sept.?

NEXT WEEK'S BLOG: Body Image

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

DISCLAIMER: Whenever I use the word DIET in my blog posts I am in no way suggesting that I have invented/discovered some miracle system to lose weight. Whenever I use the word DIET, I am simply substituting a single word to replace the longer phrase EATING HEALTHIER THAN IN THE PAST.

MID-YEAR MOTIVATION

I can't believe the year is almost half gone! LOL...what a shame the same couldn't be said for unwanted weight!

 

This week, I thought I would just share some of the motivational pics I've been saving whenever I spotted something on facebook that caught my eye.

 

 

I'm sure we must all have had one of those days when we really needed to hear a few words of encouragement to motivate us to get back on track or to continue on when we've reached a plateau.

 

 

THIS WEEK'S CHALLENGE:

 

 

Think about the days when you lacked motivation...

 

 

What did you need help with...getting in 30 minutes of exercise daily...eating healthy meals...or a combo of the two?

 

 

Personally, I have no problem with my workouts...they have become a habit and I do them 3 times daily...in fact, Al is always after me to take a break once in awhile :)

 

My biggest problem has become a lack of willpower where unhealthy snacking is involved. LOL...I think I overused my willpower last year and there's not much left for this year...scary thought to think of what next year will be like if I've got no willpower left!

 

 

NEXT WEEK'S BLOG: Beach Body Challenge

 

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

DISCLAIMER: Whenever I use the word DIET in my blog posts I am in no way suggesting that I have invented/discovered some miracle system to lose weight. Whenever I use the word DIET, I am simply substituting a single word to replace the longer phrase EATING HEALTHIER THAN IN THE PAST.

GOT MILK?

 

My main topic this week is milk (and on a lesser scale, other dairy products). Oddly, it only struck me recently that my milk drinking habits have changed over the years. I began as a heavy drinker lol but have waned off considerably, first when the kids left home and most recently last year when I began to try to eat healthier.

 

 

Growing up as a child, we drank milk at every meal and I continued this into my adulthood. LOL...if I wasn't drinking milk because I was pregnant, I was drinking milk because it was on the table for the kids...man we went through alot of milk over the years! Things started to slack off a bit when the 2 left at home became teenagers and weren't always home for meals. I'd just eat my meal, then have a cup of tea afterwards. Then when I started counting calories last year, milk was just too many calories to add to my meal and strangely I had started to like drinking water.

Over the years I also got in many servings of cheese and ice cream...lol, I've probably reached my lifetime limit already. It's been hard to cut down to only 3 servings a day but at least I don't have to worry that I'm not getting enough :)

I just started eating yogurt last year (I'm still not a big fan though, it has to be the kind with fruit in it) so that also counts towards my 3 servings.

Even though milk is high in calories, it is also high in nutrients and apparently can help with weight loss ...

Around thirty studies suggest that a diet rich in calcium or in milk products, as part of a calorie-reduced diet, could make it easier to maintain a healthy weight or lose excess weight.

In fact, it appears that calcium could make the body use fat as an energy source more efficiently and reduce fat storage in cells.

Also, it seems that milk products could achieve this more effectively than calcium supplements, which suggests that other milk components, such as protein, could play an important role, perhaps by reducing appetite.

So, consuming the recommended 2-3 servings of milk products every day could help you manage your weight in a healthy way.

It has also been shown that women who drink low-fat or skim milk lose more weight than those who exclude milk from their diet.

There are several types of milk available today...the one I consume the most of is Almond Milk because it has the least calories.

THIS WEEK'S CHALLENGE:

1. What is your history with milk?
2. Do you get in your daily recommended 3 servings?
3. Which milk do you drink?
4. What percentage of your intake isn't milk but is other dairy products such as cheese, yogurt and ice cream?

NEXT WEEK'S BLOG: Motivation

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

DISCLAIMER: Whenever I use the word DIET in my blog posts I am in no way suggesting that I have invented/discovered some miracle system to lose weight. Whenever I use the word DIET, I am simply substituting a single word to replace the longer phrase EATING HEALTHIER THAN IN THE PAST.

MONTHLY CHECK-IN

 

It's that time again...hop on the scale or bring out your measuring tape... let's share our results for this month :)

 

Just a reminder to the 4 contestants in the Beach Body Challenge...we are half way there now...good luck to all!

 

 

THIS WEEK'S CHALLENGE:

 

This week we'll be revisiting some of our past challenges to see how you've been doing with the ones you've tried out.

 

1. Did you try to cut down on adding salt to your food?
2. Did you switch to a healthier cereal after reading the nutrition label on your usual box?
3. Did you determine if you were eating too many calories per day and if so, how were you able to cut down that amount?
4. Did you make any changes to your portion size or plate size at meal time?
5. LOL...are you still remembering to do your tummy tuck as much as possible?
6. Have you been weighing your food to see if you are getting your serving sizes right? How close were you to being correct?
7. Are you trying out last week's recipe for Fat Flush Water?

 

 

Most importantly:

 

We examined the different issues that could be holding each of us back from losing weight/eating healthier. Have you accomplished anything towards conquering your #1 issue?

 

My #1 issue is my lack of willpower where evening snacking is concerned. Last year I had no problem sticking to it, guess I really wanted to lose weight more last year and this year I am content to just maintain that weight loss. LOL...who am I trying to kid here? LOL...I am not content! I really want to lose more weight...so why am I settling for the weight I am at now? Good grief girl, get your willpower kicked into high gear again!!

 

My check-in status...sadly no weight loss...lol I don't see a new pair of flip flops in my future.

 

NEXT WEEK'S BLOG: Got Milk?

 

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

DISCLAIMER: Whenever I use the word DIET in my blog posts I am in no way suggesting that I have invented/discovered some miracle system to lose weight. Whenever I use the word DIET, I am simply substituting a single word to replace the longer phrase EATING HEALTHIER THAN IN THE PAST.