Gain Control

Gaining Control
by Debbie Siebers


You need to figure out why you overeat. Take that energy and put it somewhere else. Somewhere positive! When you feel the urge to binge, immediately do something else. Do jumping jacks, go for a walk, take a shower, call a friend, read a book . . . anything to distract you! Drink a big glass of water; it will keep your stomach feeling full. Repeat saying positive things to yourself. Be patient. Be wise with your decision. Do not overeat at mealtimes. It's all about portion control, cutting back on carbs, especially sugar! Be smart and take good care of that wonderful body that was given to you. Respect yourself! Starve your body of all sugar. Drink tons of water. Eat lots of veggies, fruit, fish, and chicken!

Truly Amazing!

We can be thankful that God has "Amazing Grace" on us and our lives. That God loves us dearly despite our mistakes and sins.

Put blinders on to those things that conspire to hold you back, especially the ones in your own head.

-Meryl Streep

Back to Work!

It is time to get back to work!!

I feel like I have let myself down. I haven't been focused. It is so easy to forget your goals when you have so much going on around you. I have been eating without reservation lately. I have gained some weight back in the last month and I feel like I am not myself anymore. I let all my hard work go down the drain. I am no longer excited to get dressed up, go out or even think about sporting a bikini.I am admitting to this only because I am ready to make a change again. I wanna see the fat shed off of my body. I wanna flex my muscles again.

This battle is 70% mental and 30% physical. I am gonna get out of it.

I think we all go through this from time to time. The key to success is admitting it and moving on from there. Don't focus on the past, focus on the future, one day at a time.

As Tony says "do your best and forget the rest".

So starting tomorrow I am going to clean it up, refocus. I can do it!

To Your Health!

"People are often unreasonable and self-centered. Forgive them anyway.
If you are kind, people may accuse you of ulterior motives. Be kind anyway.
If you are honest, people may cheat you. Be honest anyway.
If you find happiness, people may be jealous. Be happy anyway.
The good you do today may be forgotten tomorrow. Do good anyway.
Give the world the best you have and it may never be enough. Give your best anyway.
For you see, in the end, it is between you and God. It may never be between you and them anyway.
By Dr. Kent M. Keith

Weight Loss Basics

"If you don’t change the direction you are going, then you’re likely to end up where you’re heading…"-John Maxwell

Losing the Loser Mentality

It’s time to lose the loser mentality. I’ll start my diet Monday. The loser mentality, simply defined, is the all-or-nothing approach that keeps the diet industry in business. It’s the notion that when you slip, when you experience a moment of weakness and enjoy something strictly forbidden, like a card carrying member of AA, you’ve blown your sobriety and you return to step one. It’s over. You’ve blown it.Begin again. Start anew. Fineto. When we have been conditioned to adopt the “loser mentality”, we view “dieting” as a temporary prison sentence, a grounding, a period of deprivation, a testing of wills; during which you practice abstinence. Then, one day you can’t take it anymore, you resolve to have just one handful of chips. That’s it. Just a taste. Five handfuls later, your diet is over. Your mentality shifts. You’re free. You think to yourself, “Well, I’ve blown it, so I might as well eat what I want. I’m having a burger, fries and dessert tonight!” By 9 pm of the same day, your stomach is full and your morale is low. Disgusted with yourself for failing once again, you decide your diet is officially over. You are going to thoroughly enjoy yourself. You’ll start a new diet after your up coming vacation. You spend the next month gaining back the 8 pounds you lost on the last diet, and 3 more for good measure. Now you have more to lose than when you started. You’re over-weight. You feel obligated to live your life on the diet rollercoaster. You never really expect lasting results. You long to find the magic potion and get excited about the promises. However, secretly you expect defeat even before you begin. I’ll try this for a while. That’s the loser mentality. As of today, you’ll practice it no more. This time it’s different. This is NOT a diet. This is your diet, meaning simply…the way you eat. Oh sure, I had to package it as a diet book to get you to buy it, but if this is going to work for you, once and for all, you have only one option. You do it. You don’t try. You live it. You adopt and enjoy it. You change your attitude. You change the way you think and your feelings about your new eating habits. You gain control over your body, your weight, your health and your life. This is your new improved way of life. This is the winner’s mentality.As you shift your thinking, you will understand that you have total power over your menu, your food, your exercise and the speed of your transformation. You will experience a peace and comfort, which will get you excited about the positive effect this will have on every aspect of your life! Every aspect! Understand that this is about balance: give and take, good and bad, progression and occasional regression. Success, fitness, health, living a better, fuller life has never been an ‘all or nothing’ proposition. Those who are fit for life have this figured out, and now, so do you. There are going to be days where you planned to exercise, but an emergency arose. Heck, you’re probably going to get the flu this year and you won’t be able to exercise for days! When you followed the loser’s mentality you might have gone months with no exercise. Eventually, you would embark on another diet or exercise kick and begin again! Now, that you realize you have a new way of life, you will jump back in the saddle as soon as you can. You will get back on track as soon as you’re physically able; because you know your life is better for it. You’re a winner. Say it. Know it. Believe it. You’re a winner and you now live following the habits and attitude of every person who has won this battle before you. Tomorrow, you may decide to eat something that you know doesn’t help you move closer to your weight loss goal. You might decide you really want a piece of cake. The dieter’s mentality says, that if you have one or two or three cookies, you’ve blown it. So, you might as well eat the whole box. And that rolls into, well, I’ve blown it today and I might as well punish myself the rest of the week by eating bad food. I’ll start my diet next week. This is called a slide. It’s the loser’s mentality. This is a way of life. You’re human. You’re gonna miss the occasional workout. You’re going to enjoy the occasional treat. You can do those things in moderation. You’re going to recognize that when you’ve fallen off track, you immediately get back on. Now think about it. There are times when you mess up in life. You yell at your kids and you didn’t mean to. You don’t spend the rest of your week screaming, yelling and stomping around. Of course not! You check yourself, put yourself back in line, and start behaving the way you know you should. The same is true of your food. The same is true of your healthy lifestyle. Slip up? Get back on track. Don’t let a slip turn into a slide.

Sunday Hope

Psalms 51:10 Create in me a clean heart, O God, And renew a steadfast spirit within me.

Whenever you have lost HOPE remember God is with you.

Have a great day!

Beachbody Tip: Rest and Hydration

Success requires rules and a plan. If you're struggling out there, you're probably breaking the rules and trying to wing it. Most of the information flying around today regarding how to get from here to there in life doesn't cover the basics because it's boring and not new. I believe that the self-imposed pressures of the modern world steer us away from the basic rules of life. One of those rules is rest and hydration. I call this combination the 8 & 8. I've see people follow these simple laws of nature and get their lives back. I'm telling you that if you get eight hours of sleep at night and drink eight ounces of water eight times a day, some of your problems will disappear and your life will improve.

Our bodies are 72% water, give or take, and this water circulates nutrients and hormones, distributes heat, and provides the medium in which chemical reactions take place. Most importantly, water flushes out the toxic substances and waste materials via the kidneys. It's how our basic balance of body chemistry is maintained. Proper hydration plays a huge role in the prevention of disease. Drinking eight glasses of water daily can decrease the risk of colon cancer by 45%, bladder cancer by 50%, and can potentially reduce the risk of breast cancer.

Eight hours of sleep every night restores the powers of the mind, body, and spirit. Proper rest combined with healthy food and supplementation is the best way to improve the immune system, restore cognitive and motor performance, and replenish your energy and enthusiasm for the day ahead. Countless studies have shown that people suffering from irritability, sadness, depression, and anxiety no longer needed medication for these aliments after discovering that proper sleep was the key ingredient to stabilize brain chemistry and improve cognitive performance.

Do yourself a big favor and try this experiment for one week. Hit the hay eight hours before the alarm goes off and drink water (nothing else) eight times in a day. Eight ounces is a small glass, so spread them out throughout the day. Don't try to drink large amounts all at once because you'll lose out on the benefits and stress out the kidneys. Follow this simple 8 & 8 plan every day and you'll find that life will get a little easier, a little less stressful, and a lot more productive. It also contributes to weight loss and better health.

Don't feel like working out someday's? Feel like Charlie Brown?

Well I have to tell you I am doing the program Insanity and I feel like this most days before my workout. I am thinking "oh, good grief" not again. The workouts are extremely difficult and challenging. But after I talk myself into starting my workout I am glad I did. I sweat like crazy and sometimes just lay on the floor from exhaustion. But once I finish my workout I feel a great sense of accomplishment. I am so proud I made it through another day of Insanity. As I keep doing the program the workouts are becoming easier. And what I mean by easier is that I can actually stay upright throughout the entire workout.

So if you don't feel like working out remember you will feel so much better once you do. Just focus on your goals and take one workout at a time.

To Your Health!