Love Thyself

[Devi]

Hello everyone, we have posted a new thread for those wanting to embark on a journey to a healthier life.

Here is my original post...

Ok, not sure what exactly I want to say or accomplish here but... I'll give it a whirl.

I want to have a little 'support group' of local mamas if you will. The underlying theme.... 'self love' i.e. taking care of ourselves, and doing it for the right reasons. I want to exercise and eat right, because I honor myself and my body. Not, because I want to look like "Barbie" KWIM?

I realize how important it is to myself and my family that I begin to appreciate who I am and take proper care of myself (body, mind and spirit)...

Anyone else??

Love Thyself

[Devi]

Originally posted by gardenrn***

Wow Gully2505 I am so where you are on the weight/want to feel better about myself thing. I to have about 20 lbs I need to get rid of just to feel like myself again (not to be skinny).

I kind of do have a plan that I feel will work and want to start so maybe it is something we could experiment on together. From my research and personal experiece there are 3 things that I think would work to make a good weight loss program or at least get your body in shape.
1. Start the day with a high protein, low or no carbohydrate meal. Like an omlet with cheese and lunch meat. No toast on the side. or a soft boiled egg. or something not necessarily a big breakfast just a protein breakfast.
2. Either before breakfast of within an hour of breakfast some kind of an exercise routine that raises your heart rate. It could be as simple as running around the house, sit-ups, jumping jacks. Anything just to get your metabolism going.
3. No eating at least 2 hours or better 3 hours before bed.

Then of course the rest is up to you but just by doing those 3 things I think it would set the day feeling better so you could make better choices. By getting your blood going in the morning you have more energy to fix up a bowl of carrots and celery to grab from throughout the day. Take a walk with the kids. Eat an apple instead of a cookie. That type of thing.

I feel odd giving this advice because so far I have not done it consistently but would like to start and know I feel better when I do.

I am a big believer in staying away from processed foods. Eat as many foods as you can the way they come from nature. Meat, eggs, fish, lots of green veges cooked and uncooked, nuts. Anything as long as it came from nature that way. I like to use honey to sweeten things when I can but it does have a lot of calories. Lastly although I have to say I use quit a bit of it myself if we avoided refined sugar as much as possible we would feel much better.


__________________
Come Check out The GardenRN's "HomeGrown" web site:
http://members.tripod.com/homegrownmo

[Devi]

Gardenrn and I have decided to begin on Monday doing the things she suggested. Mystichealer is joining in after pregnancy and other mamas may join at some point also.

Anyone interested in joining us is welcome!!!

[spryte]

Gully- etal-
I am game.

Monday it is.
K

[Devi]

Sounds great! Im fired up...

[sunbaby]

count me in.
the hardest for me will be not eating before bed, that's when i tend to let go and eat all that ick that makes me feel miserable. a few weeks ago, i felt so on top of it- eating right and feeling good. now i have slipped and gained.....whoops! that's not our focus here. . i am working on not obsessing, for myself AND the messages i send dd. i have been semi-bingeing(no purging for 1 yr) this week and while dh says everybody puts on a little for winter, i am so afraid of reeling out of control....

[berryMO]

sunbaby, we talked about in the other thread, if you really crave a snack at bedtime make it a protein snack like nuts. Something low or no carbs.
It has to do with Human Growth Hormone produced at night
Love Thy self Gag Pg.3

Thanks Gully2505 for the post on this new thread. This is so Cool!! I am ready to go

Ok I have weighed, measured waiste, hips and thigh this morning and am going to try to only weigh once a week.

Best of luck to all of us

[spryte]

Okay- for the first time since I got pg (babe is now 4.5 months), I didn't eat before bed last night (well after dinner).

Also, I had my breakfast, eggs and a glass of water. Whew.

Waiting for dh to get up (his turn to sleep in) and then I will pop on our exercise machine for at least 5 if not 10 min.

(oh and in addition to the goals we all agreed to try to achieve, I decided to drink more water - though I do drink tons already).

Motivation to keep on track-
other women to support (and report to)
Hoping to feel better and
maybe just maybe getting rid of the excess weight from dd and ds

Good luck everyone!!!

Gardenrn- should I do that too?

[berryMO]

spryte I think so. The reason I like to measure is because if you are toning and increasing muscle sometimes it doesn't show up on the scale but if you can see it on the tape measure you will still feel great about yourself and what you are doing for yourself.

Measure the area of your body you most want to see changes to. Some of us it may be upper arms and bust. But not me mine is my BUTT!

I'm already having trouble this morning. I ate my soft boiled egg and glass of water, but I just stired up some cookie dough with the kids for dh's lunches and I forgot and ate some chocolate chips! : I've got to pay attention better to what I eat! No wonder we eat more calories than we think

Ok now Gully2505- Send us some of the emotional boosters you are so good at. I know I should do some kind of meditation every day but I'm not very good at that stuff. So....

[Devi]

Hia gang~ Im so glad to have you all on this venture with me.

Sunbaby~I so relate to the eating before bed stuff, that is my only weak time through out the day (after dinner). Also, its great that you have not purged in one year. Thats half the battle right. Work with us to change your self image as that is what really matters. I've decided Im gonna care for myself to the best of my ability and however my body decides to look whilst doing that, so be it!

Spryte~great job on the not eating after dinner! Woo Hoo!

Gardenrn~I found this great site for meditation for anyone else who wants to partake. Also, don't sweat the chips today, we are in the 'process' of a better life, and a chip here and there is not gonna make or break us, right? I know you wont be to hard on yourself.

Smeta~where you be??? Come along and inspire!!

Mystic~Join in for any goal you might have. I think we can support eachother with goals even if we cant all do the same thing.

Meditation Room

I had my egg for breakfast, meditated and now am off for a walk outside. Its 30 F and the sun is a-shinin.

Visualizing Success - By Jay March

Everything has it’s beginning in mind. Everything. The world and everything in it was once a thought.

It is an immense power to see in your mind the way you want your life to be. I truly believe in the process of Visualizing goals, taking action based on those Visualized images then seeing their material manifestation here and now.

When you Visualize properly in line with the never-ending infinite creation you are working with an infinite power guiding your image onto the material plane. This infinite power will provide you the opportunities to complete every goal you set for yourself.

I am sure you have heard the stories of Athletes using the power of visualizing before an event. The Athletes see winning in their mind's eye. They win the event before it even begins.

Why couldn’t you do this every day and focus on your goals?

In the morning, right after you awake sit in a quiet area and focus on your goals. See in your mind the actions necessary to obtain the goal. Get a sense of how it feels to complete the goal. Feel the satisfaction knowing the goal is already completed. Feel the confidence here and now. Begin each day with each goal completed. Feel the confidence and power.

Understand you are a vital link to the infinite process of creation. So you have an obligation to continue the process of positive creation.

Understand simply that you are phenomenal. You are of divine substance. See beyond the finite clutter and understand you are infinite. Understand you are not only part of creation but also an apparatus to continue it. So create and create positively based on happiness, joy, love and success.

Have faith in this power of attraction. Do you want to be a champion? Do you want to have Victory? Then begin today to see yourself as you truly want to be.

*I have added one more goal, I am going to limit time online as I lose track of time and become sedentary, I think being online (sitting) so much is part of the reason for my growing arse.

Can't find the tape measurer, but will look. I did weigh in, but there is so much more to this than weight right? Like loving ourselves, taking care of our precious bodies and minds yada, yada, yada... I am trying to remember that in this process as well. This is a 'life' goal.

TTFN

See you all tomorrow!!!

[smeta]

I'm here for inspiration and needing inspiration!

Mostly I just want to focus on exercising. It is easy for me to go for a walk when it's nice out....but now that is sooo cold, forget about it! This is where I need inspiration. Dh watched Cora yesterday a.m. and I went on the treadmill and ran and walked for 17 min. Then did some lunges and ab stuff. Boy my butt is sore today. It's been ages since I did anything like that! On top of that, I got to shower w/o Cora too! What a great start to the day!! If only I could do that everyday.

Anyway, for me exercise is crucial to feeling good about myself. It gets those happy brain waves going.

[sunbaby]

today was awesome. i think having you guys here w/ me really helps.
today i ate lots of protien, because i binged last night, and protien is supposed to be good after a sugar binge.

i haven't eaten since dinner, and i'm commited to keeping it that way for the rest of the evening.

smeta- check this out: it was raining today, so the hike i needed so badly was impossible. instead, i turned up the music and boogied. dd liked it, too. i really got down. first a madonna CD, then a funk compilation. (when i listen to madonna i like to pretend i'm back at a jr high dance, tearing up the dance floor like i should have so long ago....)

then i ran errands in town with dd in the backpack. we have a built in rain hood on it. it was fun, i cant believe dd tolerated it for so long- actually she loved it,too.

tomorrow's gonna be harder- we have a birthday party in the a.m., and another in the p.m. gotta admit i'm a little nervous about all that yummy food......but i'm gonna do it.

i am so excited about this.

[Devi]

it was raining today, so the hike i needed so badly was impossible. instead, i turned up the music and boogied. dd liked it, too. i really got down. first a madonna CD, then a funk compilation. (when i listen to madonna i like to pretend i'm back at a jr high dance, tearing up the dance floor like i should have so long ago....)

What a great story. I may whip out the ol' Madonna too! I really did get healthier dancing around my living room last time, just being active like gardenrn mentioned.

Yesterday wen't well, I accomplished all goals. I think the meditation in the early hours helped me, then the walk it was awesome, but coooold. I agree with you Smeta, I was so out of touch with the fact that my body/mind need to 'move' in order for me to maintain balance.

I did not eat after nine. I go to bed at midnight and plan 5 small meals daily at 9am, 12pm, 3pm, 6pm, 9pm. This worked for me before and it is inline with what gardenrn suggested about not eating 2-3 hours before bed. Eventually I may 'wean' to not eating after dinner, but I was with in caloric/fat/carb goals so I am pleased.

Hope yesterday went well for all, if not:
Get back on that horse that threw ya, and go for it today!

Gully

Off to meditate,
work out somehow, weights/walk/ or dance around the livingroom!
Put on makeup and enjoy the day!

[berryMO]

You all are doing Great! I am so excited for you and for me.
Gully2505 just try to make you 9pm snack a protien.

I have been trying to decide how long after breakfast it is okay to eat some carbs, in a lunch or snack. I'm still working on that, based on how I've felt I feel like it should be somewhere around 3 hours. What do you all think?

Is anyone else craving like a hot drink in the morning, after breadfast when you sit down at the computer?

I have recently started drinking postum but it does have some carbohydrates in it. I had to quit coffee because of another health problem I have.

I love your idea of getting down and dancing with the kids. I think it is so funny. My 4yr old was very resistant to learn how to coung past 10 but loves to lay in the floor doing exercises with me and counting to 30.

[spryte]

Congrats to everyone- WAY to GO!

Okay- I still haven't measured myself. I tried but our measuring tape is metal and I couldn't find any string. (we are kind of over run right now with kidlings and the holidays. )

I have actually stuck to all but one of my goals for 2 days. I haven't had as much water as I would like but the other three, not eating within 3 hours of bed, eating a protein only bfast and exercising after have all went well.

The next two days will be my hardest. Usually I can do two or even three days, then it all goes to pot. : Hoping hard tho.

Keep taking care and loving yourselves.

[smeta]

you gals are awesome!!!

gardenern - try herbal tea!! I love it and dd does too. We've been drinking echinacea lately trying to fight off a cold, but my favorites are peppermint (for digestion) and cammomile (to calm).

sunbaby - I loved your stories too! Actually made me miss rain!

It has been unusually warm here so Cora willingly went for a walk yesterday! It is supposed to be nice tomorrow too so I am hoping to make it out again.

Keep up the good work. Any progress is great progress, so just focus on the little things!

[sunbaby]

another good day for me. i am a little down, but it actually feels kind of good to just let it be and not try to eat it away.

[Devi]

Yea to everyone!

I agree about allowing ourselves to 'feel'. I've been doing great on the healthy living stuff, but I've had no real emotional challenges so we shall see. I am going to visualize some about it.

Yesterday I followed the plan walked and went to gym yahoo.
I also meditated and ate according to plan.

Today is also going well.

TTFN

[sunbaby]

gully2505, glad you feel good about today, too.
i hope people keep posting in this thread because it is really helping me out to do this work togeather- is it that way for anyone else? day #3 went well again. how are you guys?

[spryte]

So glad to hear everyone did so well today!

Sunbaby- you are right it is really helpful to feel I am working together with you all to accomplish the goals.

I too agree it is very strange in some ways to just feel. We have had one heck of a week already- lots of money issues,(both dh and I are unemployed) but I have stuck to my goals.

Today was pretty good, met all of my goals but one. Today I didn't exercise. For me though, normally day 3 and 4 it all just stops so to have kept on with three out of four goals is pretty great. I just have to make sure I use the exercise machine tomorrow.

Gardenrn- also try green tea. I find it is really tasty in the am warm or cold.