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Saturday, January 24, 2015

WANT TO LOSE WEIGHT?


Why in the world, other than obvious health concerns surrounding obesity, is everyone so worried about their weight? It seems the entire U.S. is either on a diet, searching for the next “fad” diet, purchasing diet plans and/or products, or just constantly complaining about wanting to lose weight. Our country is consistently advertising diet sodas (which, by the way, is an extreme oxymoron), diet pills, prepackaged diet foods, various “non” sugars or substitutes, etc. I cannot say I am without having tried to accomplish weight loss myself from time to time, but society's guidelines, as well as their expectations, are very unrealistic.
Americans have become such “foodies” that they make easy targets for the media. If you are overweight, then you know you need to lose weight to avoid, and/or correct health issues...this is not news to you. However, if you are just one of those people who don't like what they see in the mirror, then there are some questions you need to answer first.
1: Am I at a healthy weight for my height and bone structure?
2. Am I at risk for health issues?
3. Is there a medical problem which hinders my weight loss progress?
4. Is my dislike for my body based on what others have said about/to me?
5. Do I lack self-respect?
6. Am I using food to fulfill emptiness?
7. Do I eat just to satisfy boredom?
If the answers to questions 1, 2 or 3 are yes, then it is highly advisable that you seek out medical assistance with your weight loss plan. If the answers to questions 4 through 7 are yes (any of them), then here are a few things to know: You DESERVE to look and feel good about yourself. You DESERVE to be healthy and happy. You DESERVE to love yourself and value only your opinion of yourself and not those of the people in your life. You DESERVE the best that life has to offer.
If you look in the mirror and are not happy with what you see, then DO something about it, but please do it smart. Don't “diet” when it is much simpler and healthier to change your eating habits. Make a lifestyle change, because all too often when you diet to lose weight, 9 times out of ten you always go right back to your poor eating habits when you either feel you have lost enough weight or have given up. I decided to make that change and merely adjusted the way I eat. I don't eat food after 6 o'clock pm, I eat small portions, I eat healthy and balance meals and I cut out things like Soda, potato chips, and pretty much all processed foods. I make my meals from scratch most of the time and I know most of you are poo-pooing that idea, but you can take a day and make a lot of meals and freeze them in individual portions, that way you just pop one out of the freezer after work, microwave, and eat. These are just a few tips, but to tailor a plan that is right for you, do a lot of research on the foods you want to eat.
Exercise is important for your body. Not just to burn calories but your body is made to move and your muscles stay healthy when you use them, especially your heart. I know a lot of you don't like to exercise, but walking, even if you go to the local thrift store and purchase a small treadmill, is an excellent source of both muscle tone and cardio. I walk at least 15 minutes a day if I can. I have been doing it for months now and have built myself up to walking over 3 miles each time. I almost feel as though something is missing if I don't get my exercise for the day. Yes, if you are not used to doing it, it will take some effort to get it started, but make sure you incorporate it into your lifestyle change because you not only want to lose weight, but you want to get your muscles back in shape and stay fit as well.
Start your day with positive affirmations. Wake up each morning, thankful for the new day and the clean slate, and say to yourself, “I love myself...I am worth it...I deserve only the best...and I will settle for nothing less.” I have found a few videos that I watch when I wake up and before I go to sleep that help my subconscious mind realize what an awesome person I am. Below is a link to the main video I watch and the others will follow off of that link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yGo7UR70Wts
Be healthy America, but do it for YOU!














Sunday, January 18, 2015

DO YOU WANT CONTROL?


Most people want to control everything with all of their heart. These are usually referred to as Type “A” personalities (if you are into typing people) and they want to get up in the morning, assuming there is even a guarantee of that happening, and orchestrate their day from start to finish by planning every little detail, not to mention the rest of their lives. In the interim of planning though, I wonder; did they remember to tell their heart muscle to pump blood through their body? Did they remember to tell their lungs to fill with air, their mouth to taste what goes inside and their legs to move forward when walking? If not,I would say they certainly neglected those miniscule details while in the process of planning everything else about their life. Hmm, poor planning? You be the judge (insert laughter here). I can joke about this as I was one of these people.  Finally I had to realize that you can no more “plan” what is going to happen to you than you can plan on your body doing what it needs to do and is going to do no matter how you try to interfere.

The best you can do while learning no to plan, is to “plan” to accept everything that comes your way, no matter what. You can “plan” for the best possible outcome, expect the best possible outcome, and accept no less than the best possible outcome and you will receive the best possible outcome. That doesn't mean it is going to be exactly what you thought it would be every time, but it will definitely be the “best” possible outcome for you in that situation. Expect the best and that is what you will attract, hence the laws of attraction. See the good in everyone and that is what you will attract from them. Expect the best from yourself and that is what you will be. Love and respect yourself 100% and you will see and feel that love and respect from everyone in your world. Know it, believe it, see it, be it.

Not everything makes sense to us, but those who understand that and learn that life is change and that to live life you must accept change and make it positive, or at least find the positive in all of it, they will be the people who really live. There are those of us who are cautious or who just work and go home and never expand our world because we think that is all there is. Then there are those of us who know there is more to living than just existing and who go out there and make our dreams realities. If you are not the latter, remember that you CAN be. You CAN be anything you want to be and you CAN have everything you ever wanted. Just go for it. If it helps, make a bucket list and do everything on it while you know you're still alive and that list will forever change and grow. In that way you can teach yourself to live. Also remember that no matter what excuse you come up with, there is always time in a day for things you want; get up earlier or go to bed later, maybe even cut out things that aren't as important, but make the time and you will see the joy begin to infiltrate your life, deeper and deeper until it becomes all there is. You don't have to have a reason to feel joy; you can feel joy for no reason at all.

Sunday, January 11, 2015

NOT JUST FOR TAURUS...

My horoscope for today offered such great advice I thought I would share it because it can apply to so many people, Taurus or not.

You are diligent in everything you do, Taurus.  Everyone who knows you knows that you are reliable, that you have integrity, and that you keep your promises. However, sometimes you take your diligence too far. Sometimes you take on burdens that aren't yours, and then you feel obligated to see them through, even when if affects you in a negative way. You need to let go of an obligation you've been clinging to.  It isn't yours to hold, and something that is meant to be yours will come along when you let it go.


Thank you for taking the time to stop and visit and please, if you like what you've read, leave a comment. If you have a blog or website of your own I would love to visit it. After your comment, make sure to post your link and I will stop by and leave a comment as well. Happy blogging.

Friday, January 9, 2015

DO YOU LIKE ME?

Do you like me?  This is a question that 99% of all human beings constantly ask of others.  I used to be one of them and I'm so ecstatically happy that I am not anymore.

I find it odd as to how much people are willing to do, I mean go way out of their way several times daily, just to make sure they are liked by certain people, if not all people.  Yes, "Him just wanna be loved," but at what cost?  Generally the sacrifice is that of one's self.  Too high a price to pay?  I say, "Hell Yes!" 

Why do we think it's just fine to please others before we please ourselves?  Why sacrifice our own happiness just to "make" others like us, and let's face it, we really don't have that control. An example would be: I know a person who actually does not like to gossip, but they get really good at it because it makes them popular with a certain crowd in the work place. What they don't realize often enough though, is that it makes them unpopular with the majority of people in the workplace and for someone who wants to be liked so much you would think that that would be a deciding factor.

At some point this betrayal becomes so convoluted that you may even start to believe that this version of who you let yourself become, is actually who you are. You have lost sight of your true values and inner integrity.  You keep your word to your so-called friends, but not to anyone else and certainly not to yourself.  It's no wonder you don't like who you are when you aren't very nice to yourself and you put yourself last.

If this sounds like you, do not despair because it is never too late to turn it around.  Start the day by looking in a mirror, any mirror, and ask yourself this question, "Do you like me?" I guarantee that the majority of the people who try this exercise will answer, "No."  Continue this exercise as often as possible until you can stare at this person and do it without judgment and criticism.  Stare at this person and say only nice and positive things about him or her.  It helps starting out if you put sticky notes all around the mirror with only positive words or quotes on them. If you define who you are by other peoples' judgments of you, then you will never know you and that is not only a huge loss, but also a silly sacrifice.

Thank you for taking the time to stop and visit and please, if you like what you've read, leave a comment. If you have a blog or website of your own I would love to visit it. After your comment, make sure to post your link and I will stop by and leave a comment as well. Happy blogging.

YODA SAID IT BEST!

I love watching movies, not only for their entertainment value, but some of the best advice I have ever received has been from movie lines.  This one from Star Wars with Yoda was priceless.  He was such a great teacher.

Thank you for taking the time to stop and visit and please, if you like what you've read, leave a comment. If you have a blog or website of your own I would love to visit it. After your comment, make sure to post your link and I will stop by and leave a comment as well. Happy blogging.

Thursday, January 8, 2015

MY ART JOURNAL...

I have been having such fun putting my moods and feelings into my art and writing journals for so many years. What a wonderful outlet and for me, a complete and satisfying release for everything I need to pour out of me at the time.  I thought I would share one of my journals' pages in the hopes it may inspire someone to use an art journal, or a writing journal, to release their feelings and map out their affirmations and gratitude.



















Thank you for taking the time to stop and visit and please, if you like what you've read, leave a comment. If you have a blog or website of your own I would love to visit it. After your comment, make sure to post your link and I will stop by and leave a comment as well. Happy blogging.

Tuesday, January 6, 2015

SHOULD YOU???

One of the most detrimental words in the English language is the word, "should."  You can do so much harm to yourself with this horrible word.  A lot of you might be thinking, come on, that's just a word, how damaging can it be?  But what you may not realize is how harmful it is to your self-talk, which in turn can kill or damage any or all of your self-esteem.  

Let's say, for the sake of example, that your job is in an office building where a lot of other people work and where there is a central location for an Inbox and an Outbox in your particular department. Let's also say that the Inbox is always on the right and the Outbox is always on the left.  So, at one point you finish your work, print it out and take it over to insert it in the Inbox, but when you get there you notice that someone has moved the Inbox to the left and placed the Outbox on the right.  Your first thought is going to be that the Inbox should be on the right and that this new placement is wrong. Now, you are either going to do one of three things at this point; you either 1) Shrug it off, place your work in the Inbox and go about your day, 2) Find someone in charge and ask why the switch was made and make sure they are aware it is wrong, or 3) Switch them back yourself, overriding the person who made this new decision, because you knew that that was the way they should be positioned.  The healthiest choice? Number 1.  If you just realize that it happened, that it wasn't your choice nor your decision as to the placement of the boxes and just go about your day, all is well in your world and there is no stress from this situation. However, if you insist that the Inbox should be on the right and you have to make sure it is, then you have stressed yourself with worry because of some sort of displaced fear.  Now your day has become a bit more complicated as you have attracted negativity to you by bringing fear into a situation that didn't need it. In whatever position the boxes were in, your work was done and you deposited it into the Inbox so by walking away you showed the universe that you accepted whatever was happening and let it be.

Most of the time using the word, "should," is a mechanism for either fighting change or being the one to control the change.  There is no should.  There is or there isn't.  It does or is doesn't.  It will or it won't. Accept it, move on and don't dwell.  

The more time you spend giving energy to situations you cannot control, the more stress you create in your life. I feel bad for people who say they are, "stressed out," because I used to be one of them and I know first-hand just how silly I was to be drawing negativity into my life with fear (which is the basis of worrying).  The word, "should," creates worry which therefore creates negativity which therefore creates stress.  

Learn to live in the moment and for the moment and let everything around you take care of itself because you know what?  It will.  Think healthily.  


Thank you for taking the time to stop and visit and please, if you like what you've read, leave a comment. If you have a blog or website of your own I would love to visit it. After your comment, make sure to post your link and I will stop by and leave a comment as well. Happy blogging.

Saturday, January 3, 2015

KEEP YOUR WORD...

I did some research this morning about self-love and I was completely lit up by what I found as though a light turned on inside of me.  This was another answer to a question I had been searching for for a lifetime.  My revelation is this...you have to keep your word to yourself.  You have to know that you are the one person in the entire universe that you must remain true to.  If you always keep your word to yourself and keep your promises and stay true to your own convictions, never letting yourself down, you will always be self-confident, calm, centered, balanced and able to navigate each moment of life as though it were second nature.  Eventually, with practice, it will become first nature, which is the absolute best place for it.  There is nothing more powerful within yourself than to feel together and balanced and that self-confidence and love can bring you those things and more.  

Self-confidence is your personal key to unlock anything and everything you desire.  Once you have this key and master the laws of attraction, there is nothing you cannot have...nothing you cannot do.


Thank you for stopping by and please leave a comment...if you have a blog or site of your own I would love to visit it. After you leave your comment, make sure to post your link and I will stop by. Thanks for visiting and thanks for leaving a comment.

LUNCH TIME...

Yesterday I went to the beach, lunch and camera in hand, and had the most lovely day.  Below are pictures of my inspired lunch trip.






























***Please leave a comment and if you have a blog or site of your own I would love to visit it. After your comment, leave me your link and I will stop by. Thanks for visiting and thanks for leaving a comment.