My Blog has Moved!

To all my loyal followers and weight loss adventurers:

My blog  has moved to weightlesschronicles.com. Come join me there for more tips on how to lose weight and live great! As a special bonus to visitors to my new website, you can download my FREE “5 in 5 for 5 report“. If you have 5 minutes and 5 pounds to lose, this report is for you!

Don’t forget to sign up for my email list or follow my RSS feed. Thank you for all of your support 🙂

Jennifer

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Sumi Singh

I recently posted a blog about losing baby weight.  This week, I saw a post by Sumi Singh about how to regain fitness post-partum.  Singh’s Abs of Steel are not the result of making excuses.  Check out her five tips for kicking those post-partum excuses to the curb!

http://www.shailafitness.com/blogpost/motivation/fix-it-the-top-5-excuses-moms-give-to-avoid-exercise/#more-313

It’s a Secret

Weight loss is all about accountability.  But, who do you keep accountable to?  Some experts say you need to check in with a personal trainer, nutritionist or support group.  At the very least, you should tell people you love that you are trying to lose weight.

Telling your loved ones does not keep you accountable!  

Rogue

Diets don’t work.  No one can succeed on their own.  Someone needs to tell me what to do and when to do it.

If you have ever said those words, the weight loss industry has you fooled!  According to the NWCR, 46% of successful losers did not join a support group or diet program.

The NWCR is a study group designed to extract the secrets of successful losers who maintained an average weight loss of 60 pounds over 5 years.  I am one of their 4,000 registrants.  As such, I complete an annual questionnaire and follow-up surveys from time to time.  I also get access to the latest research on weight loss.

If you’ve ever been told that you need an individualized weight loss plan crafted by a nutrition or fitness expert, then you’ve been lied to. 

If you’ve ever been told that you need to buy the latest product or supplement on the market in order to reach your goals, then you’ve been swindled. 

If you’ve been told that you need to get approval from anyone on how to live, then you have been wronged.

One of my favorite characters on X-men was Rogue.  Rogue was an extremely powerful but conflicted woman who absorbed the powers and memories of anyone she touched.  I never liked her name.  Until I looked up the definition of “rogue”.

A rogue is an independent person who rejects conventional rules of society in favor of following their own personal goals and values.

Now we’re talking!

You don’t need to follow the rules in order to lose weight.  I’ve read countless books that tell you that bread is the devil, potatoes are evil, and meat is for barbarians.  Guess what?  I ate all of those things, and still lost 100 pounds!

No one can tell you what your own personal goals and values are.  I am not your mother.  I won’t tell you to eat your vegetables, stop eating your favorite foods, or join a gym.

What I will tell you is sometimes you have to be a rogue in order to succeed at weight loss.

Taste of Thoughts Book Review

http://www.amazon.com/review/R3OECRUZJEBRIX

Can’t is a 4 Letter Word

I ran as fast as I could to the safety of my room.  There, I crawled underneath my bed and laid my tear-streaked face on the rough carpet.  Repeating over and over to myself, “I can’t, I can’t, I just can’t”.

 

The cause of this turmoil?  My Ma had just told me that I should stop eating potato chips.  I was a young child, and I was obese.

 

At the time, giving up potato chips was akin to Armageddon.  It was as unthinkable as becoming a mermaid.  It was a challenge that I refused to accept.

 

Today, I have no problem avoiding potato chips.  Remember that famous Lays slogan, “you can’t eat just one?”  They lied.  Not only have I given up potato chips, but I also have stopped even thinking of them as a complement to my favorite meals.

What changed between my childhood tantrum, and my current lack of interest?  I threw out the word, “I can’t.”  Along the way, I learned how to improve my health.

Recently, I was chatting with a personal trainer about one of her clients.  Her client is a busy professional who spends almost every day in the gym.  To my astonishment, she said that he also fasts for up to 3 days at a time.  Considering that my family only approaches me in the morning after I’ve had something to eat, I opined, “I could never do that”.  She turned to me and said, “And that’s why you never will”.

I thought about that conversation for awhile.  Why wouldn’t I be able to fast for three days?  Sure, the last time I tried going without food, I lasted about 12 hours before scarfing down everything in sight.  But, past efforts don’t rule out future success.  The problem was not in my ability.  The problem was in my attitude!

What are your attitudes about your goals?

• When faced with the idea of trying a different workout, what are the first words that come to mind?

• When considering giving up one of your favorite foods, what makes you change your mind?

• When someone offers you a food you have never tried, or you can’t recognize, what do you say?

Can’t is a 4 letter word.  It also travels with some lesser-known family members.  You might recognize these family members, such as “should”, “might”, “don’t”, “won’t”, or “am not”.  All of these words underscore a fear of failure.

Guess what?  The more you fail, the more you improve!  Next time you find yourself saying, “I can’t”, STOP!  Replace “can’t”, with “can”.  Try this for 30 days.

My Ma once challenged me to give up one of my favorite childhood foods.  Little did I know that years later, I would have exceeded all expectations.  What challenge can you accept?

Photo credit: politicsandfinance.blogspot.com

Did Someone Say TREAT??

Like dogs and kids, my ears perk up when I hear the word TREAT.  The problem is, a treat is usually something I put in my mouth.  Something that has too much sugar and fat.  Something that I regret eating later on.

When growing up, the word treat was usually synonymous with “reward”.  A day long bike ride across the border into Illinois from Wisconsin was rewarded with ice cream.  A good grade in school was rewarded with homemade chocolate chip cookies.  An extra hand helping Ma grocery shopping was rewarded with a piece of candy.

Eventually, I got to the point where I was rewarding myself on a daily basis.  From theater-sized boxes of Spree candy to 4 scoop ice cream sundaes with chocolate syrup and nuts, I ate it all up.  Until the day I went cold turkey.

I stopped eating any desserts for one month!  I don’t remember just how difficult it was to last the whole month.  What I do remember is what happened one month later.

I had one of my most vivid eating memories one month later  After an intense absence, I allowed myself a one-time dessert extravaganza called “Offering to the Goddess“.  A smorgasbord of chocolate fondue, marshmallows, bananas, and grahams over an open flame, the Offering was truly god-like.

What I learned from my experience is that treats are not the same thing as rewards.  A treat is a momentary pleasure.  A reward can be a long-lived pleasure.  Ten years later, I can still taste the Offering.

Why you eat something is just as important as what you eat.  How many times have you eaten something just because it was there?  Or because you were stressed, or bored, or even angry?

When choosing to lose weight, you have to realize the difference between treats and rewards.  Once you do, you take one step closer to reaching your goals! Feel free to share some non-food treats that you enjoy!

Gluten-Free Bread Lover

I love bread.  I love cereal.  I love pasta and grains!  Why would I choose to go gluten-free?

I watched my Ma lose 60 pounds when she maintained a gluten-free diet.  I still ate a bowl of cereal every morning for breakfast.

I read Wheat Belly, a compelling book written by a cardiologist from Wisconsin who argues that modern-day wheat is the cause of many medical ailments in addition to obesity.  I still ate a sandwich for lunch every day.

I signed up in January 2013 with a personal trainer named Megan K., who challenges her clients to lose fat.  That’s when I went gluten-free.

Let’s start with the basics.  I don’t need to go gluten-free.  I am not allergic, or intolerant, or suffering from a mysterious ailment that does not respond to treatments.  Megan is not some hard-core trainer who screams that I need to “put the bread down”.

My goal is to experiment with a gluten-free life.  Basically, I want to see how long I can go without eating my beloved bread.

For those of you who are thinking that’s a recipe for disaster, think again.  This is how I began my weight loss journey of 100 pounds over a decade ago.  I wanted to experiment with a new way of eating back then, too.  I still haven’t looked back.

It took me two weeks of overall grumpiness and frustration before I manifested some of the benefits of cutting out bread.  So far, I have lost 6 pounds, 3% body fat, and the grumpiness of “dough withdrawal”.  I also have a different energy level.

In order to avoid bread, you have to have a lot of patience and a bit of creativity.

Here are my 3 best tips for those bread lovers who are willing to try:

1. Find go-to meals that take the work out of building your new meals (i.e., Amy’s Light and Lean entrees, Garden Lites, Kind Bars or Pamela’s Whenever Bars, cheese, hard-boiled eggs, fruit, raw veggies, nuts, etc)

2. Remember your specific motivation for going gluten-free

3. Don’t demonize bread!  If you obsess over a piece of bread, just eat it!

Only time will tell if I will completely adopt the gluten-free lifestyle.  They say that new habits are adopted within 21 days.  I have lasted for about one month.

What change can you make in your lifestyle, even if only for one month?

The Numbers Game

Photo credit: wmphoenixopen.com

As a woman, I cringe whenever numbers are discussed.  I think this must be a universal concept for all women everywhere.  Most questions that are asking for a number are generally difficult for women to answer.

• How old are you?

• What size do you wear?

• How much do you weigh?

No matter what you answer is to any of these questions, you may be setting yourself up for disappointment.  The reason for the disappointment is not the reaction of whoever asked you.  More often than not, it is how your answer makes you feel.

Is there any woman alive who feels that any of her “numbers” are good, or even just right?  I know women my age who feel “old”, even though they have years before they hit the dreaded mid-life crisis.  I know beautiful women with the body that I yearn for who are unhappy with their size.  Most of all, just about everyone I know tells me they “could stand to lose 10 pounds”.

The numbers game depends upon perennial dissatisfaction.

What if I told you that not all numbers are bad?  I named my blog and professional speaking business, Weightless, because I feel that the number on the scale should not determine your satisfaction with life.  When you become “weightless”, you are given the freedom to fly in whatever direction you choose.  There are still numbers in your life, but they will not make you feel bad.

Let’s play a new numbers game.  The highest number wins!

♥  How many steps toward better health will you take today?

♥  How many flights of stairs will you climb this week to reach your goal?

♥  How many times will you congratulate yourself for reaching your milestones this month?

Embrace the Scale

The number one 2013 New Year’s resolution for most Americans is to lose weight.  According to the American Heart Association, 149.3 million Americans are overweight or obese.  Of those 149.3 million, 75 million are obese.  What is the difference between being overweight or obese?

A normal BMI for a person ranges from 18.5 to 24.9.  An overweight person has a BMI of 25 or greater.  Once the BMI reaches 30, the person is considered obese.

Like many of you, I have always been fat.  But, I rarely paid attention to how fat I was.  The reason was simple.  I didn’t want to know.

Before I knew it, I surpassed overweight.  I surpassed obese.  I entered the dangerous category of “Ohmigod!”  As in “Ohmigod, how did I get so big?!”  Upon seeing a picture of myself, “Ohmigod, is that ME?!”

Do you know where you are on the overweight, obese or ohmigod scale?  Do you avoid doctor’s appointments because you dread stepping on the scale?  Do you have a scale at home?  When is the last time you stepped on it?

Whether you need to lose 10 or 100 pounds, you need to embrace the scale!  Don’t take it from me.  Take it from the National Weight Control Registry, which tracks people who have maintained significant weight loss.  They have determined that most successful maintainers get on the scale at least once a week.  Some even weigh themselves daily.

I am the last person to tell you that your weight should dictate your life.  In fact, I named my blog Weightlesschronicles because I believe that the quality of your life is not represented by the number on your bathroom scale.

However, I am committed to success.  In order to reach your weight loss goals, you need to understand where you stand.  Don’t wait for that “ohmigod” moment in your life.  Take that scale out, and use it as a tool to your success!