So???? Sow!!!!

"How have you been?"  Common question, right?  But what about this response...."So, So."

Augh!!!  Just what does that mean?  Well, it means that they are stuck in the middle of something...nothing good, most likely not happy being there and there is no plan to get out of where they are.

SO......We all have been there.   Ray Charles says "Don't go backwards...you've already been there."

I like the word So when used as a complete sentence.  Difficulties are always lurking, nothing will change that.  Our responses are the key to changes and we Can change that. 

Things just aren't going the way that I  planned them to go...So?
I did everything right this week and that scale did not agree with me...So?
I lost my motivation...So?
I'm so stressed...So?

So.....used as a question it gives you endless possibilities on ways to change things.  It leaves the field wide open.


We can learn a lesson from the Sunflower.  One day a farmer looked over his vast empty field and said So....what I see here is 'nothing'  and I want 'something'....So...I will Sow!
He was given a choice of staying the same...keeping his nothing.... or doing something about his nothing.


So he did Sow!  He planted the tiny  seed of the sunflower, believed in it, watered it, fertilized it and waited.  Day after day he believed in it, watered it, fertilized it and waited.  
Things began to change because the farmer did something about what he wanted to change.
 Soon the empty field returned to him the fruit of his labor...A stunning, majestic field of bright, bold,  fresh,  beautiful sunflowers!  What Joy! 


The face of the sunflower always turns and faces the sun...it chooses to see the bright side of any day.   


So...things will never always be the way we planned...So?  Choose to "Sow" ...plant the seeds of change...believe in it the seed of change and wait. Waiting is an activity.  Soon you will reap your harvest!  

Keep your face to the sunshine and you cannot see the shadow. It's what sunflowers do.   ~Helen Keller

Good Health Begins in the Kitchen

The rich aroma of a favorite food simmering...the sounds of happy chatter around the table...a well-worn apron flung on a chair...Ahhhh the memories of the most popular room in a home...THE KITCHEN!  

This is the genesis of our eating habits.  We eat for more reasons than hunger and if we are aware of that ...then our unhealthy eating habits can begin to change.  

Eating is necessary, pleasurable & incorporated in every social event.  It's a good thing!  


But what IF the kitchen would house only the foods that were good for us?  What IF we ate just until our body says..."I feel just right"?  What IF we ate just when we were hungry?  Would anything change?


I suggest it would!  We would feel a sense of empowerment by making healthy choices.  Clothing sizes would decrease, health issues would begin to improve & self-esteem would skyrocket...Gosh...we would just feel better!

We are deserving of good health and it begins in the kitchen.  You cannot eat what you don't have!  Be the President of your Domain...the Kitchen!  Take charge of what you stock in that most popular room.  Make it colorful & tempting with a display in-season fruits and veggies just waiting for someone to enjoy as the table chatter continues.  Let those rich aromas simmer still with a medley of veggies dancing in the skillet.  Let that well-worn apron show the signs of a healthy meal well prepared for a loving family that deserves a healthy bounty.  Habits can change and the effect of habits changing for the better makes for a very happy kitchen...after all that is where Good Health Begins!

"We are what we repeatedly do.  Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit."
~Aristotle

With Every End comes a New Beginning

Consider this...at one time that beautiful butterfly did not resemble anything even remotely connected to a butterfly.  As a matter of fact, he really experienced a difficult life.  He had so many reasons to say "Gosh, this is just to hard...it takes so long...I don't like changes."
But deep inside, there was a 'knowing'...a 'knowing' that there is something better ahead...if I just continue my journey...do what I know to do...one day at a time, I just know I have a destiny.  So what would life be if every day were the same?  Nothing new to look forward to...Nothing different to experience...No new hills to climb...No feeling of accomplishment at the end of that experience...Nothing exciting to learn...Nothing to teach others from your experiences...it would be the same old, same old. 

Sometimes we feel like that caterpillar, tired and not wanting to continue.  That is just a season....a good season.  Experience it...get in touch with it...feel it!  It is a learning time, a resting time.  Take a breath...feel that 'knowing'... a new season awaits.  This stage is ending.  With every end comes a New Beginning full of promise and rich with wisdom from the past season.  Time to move on!

 You are richer now...closer to your goal.  You've experienced 'stuff' and learned from it.
On to the next stage...Wow...what a wonderful journey...look what you can teach others who have yet to go thru that stage.  You can encourage them..they can do it too!  Look ahead...there is so much more.  Soon you will experience freedom to do the things that held you captive.  Better health, the ability to move about freely, new sizes of clothing that you just dreamed of before, the beauty that is only YOU.

Suddenly it happens...the New Beginning!  It happens because you stayed the course...ended one season and stepped into a New Beginning!  It will happen..it just will!

You will remember that it might have been hard, you were tired,  but there is a worthwhile destiny ahead and it comes because of that 'knowing'...With Every End comes a New Beginning!

Let us then be up and doing
With a heart for any fate
Still achieving, still pursuing
Learn to labor and to wait.   ~Longfellow

Is there Magic in Weight Loss?

"If only I could look like they do..."

We all want that magical little something to just make the extra pounds disappear.  There really is no magic in weight loss and if there were...what would we learn along the way?  Looking back on our weight loss path, enjoy the things you have learned that you would not have learned any other way...being label and ingredient savvy, learning that water is the beverage of champions, learning that moving more gives back to you...takes nothing away and is even fun, noticing other shoppers grocery carts and wanting to encourage them to make  better choices....why??? Because now YOU know so much that you would not have learned if you had a magic wand.

So...if you want magic try this...IMAGINE yourself at your GOAL weight...IMAGINE what that would feel like...IMAGINE what size you would be in...IMAGINE receiving compliments...IMAGINE yourself at a buffet and choosing just the right portions and just the right 'good for me' foods...IMAGINE walking away and someone saying about you "If only I could look like they do..."


Albert Einstein said "IMAGINATION is EVERYTHING...It is the preview of life's coming attractions."


So wave your magic wand and IMAGINE that!
 

Summer time and the Livin' is Easy!!

Welcome to my Blog!!  This is where we will share feelings, tips and snips from our weight loss & weight maintenance journey.

It is all about  YOU!  The journey is not a destination...and it's not about all of the treasures found at the end...but it is about all of  the treasures found along the way.  

As we begin a brand new month, let's look back only to see how far we've come, realizing every day is a new day and YOU are in charge!  Be the President of your day!

Decide how you want this day to end and begin with that in mind.

Happy July, 2011!!!  Celebrate the FREEDOM weight loss brings and Celebrate the FREEDOM

that YOU have to chose "To Feel Good!"

C U at a Weight Watchers meeting this week.  Until then...Eat Responsibly!!!

~Mary Ellen