Month: February 2013

Patience. Not just an opera

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Patience is bitter, but its fruit is sweet-Jean-Jacques Rousseau

I tend to rely on quotes for inspiration. Today is no different. As some of you may know, my husband and I decided to adopt a paleo lifestyle (not a diet) at the first of the year and one of the side benefits of this change has been pretty significant weight loss, until now.

Two weeks have gone by and we have not lost weight but gained weight. I noticed that on the whiteboard where we track our weight, my husband had placed a sad face next to his weight gain and I erased it saying, “Don’t think of it like that. Weight loss is supposed to be a side benefit, the main goal is to be in better health” Easy to say, hard to believe.

Patience is necessary for this, because we are only allowed to cheat one meal per week, so you have to constantly turn down Girl Scout cookies, Worlds Finest Chocolate and other temptations wafting about the office. So while I am frustrated by this weight gain, I realize its not a setback but a guidepost in this journey to better health and in a few weeks, when the weight loss has picked up and we are noticing a lack of tightness in our clothing and an extra energy in my step, I will remember the bitter along with the sweet fruits of the patience I have developed.

What is testing your patience in your life, what can you focus on instead?

What are you working on right now?

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So last week, I stepped up to speak in the International Speech contest tonight at my Toastmasters Club and while I am nervous I am also excited because my goal is not to win. I know its pretty crazy to think about competing not to win, but I am using this opportunity to work on my goal of becoming a better speaker.

Someone I respect recently said its important to get joy from the journey and not just the destination.

Think about it, when you have accomplished a goal in the past did you feel excitement at the completion or more so when you ran into obstacles or achieved smaller goals? I don’t know about your journey, I can only talk about mine, but some of the most rewarding results I have experienced were just before I was just about to give up, but decided to stick with it just a little bit longer.?

As an example, my eventual health goal is to lose 75 pounds on this paleo diet. My original goal was 50, but after I started to see major progress (21 pounds in a month and a half)I realized I had outgrown my goal and needed a new one. I think its important when you have a goal to “check in” and see how you are doing, take your temperature, and ask for accountability partners to help you stay honest about how you are doing.

So my question to you is, Where are you going? What are you working on?

Here Comes the Boom. Yes, you read that right…

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Okay, so I can’t believe I am posting about a Kevin James movie, yet I am..

Let me take you back 24 hours, Jeremy and I plan to have a very low-key, stay in, no hearts and flowers or over the top (which we specialize in 364 days of the year) Valentines day.

Pizza (which is cheating on our paleo diet) and a movie. I let him pick the movie, and as we were searching titles, “Here Comes the Boom” popped up and as Jeremy and I are avid fans of “Hitch” largely in part due to Kevin James and Will Smith I thought, okay, fun for him, and fun for me, not going to rock my socks  but it will be fun. and it was, but oh so much more….

First of all, the movie is about a teacher who in trying to save the music department has to come up with 48,000 in a short time. This got me to thinking, what would you do if you had to come up with a lot of money in a short amount of time? Well back when my husband and I were saving for our wedding, we both worked extra hours, and I took a second job, so that is an idea. It’s more about long-term gain not short-term so we would have to think about something else. In any case, this movie peppered with great quotes from Nietzsche (and yes I had to look up to spell it) like “Without music, life would be a mistake” and the usual “Follow your dreams” , and How to inspire others. The usual formula for success story.

Improbable Premise + Plucky Hero + Unbelievable, Rarely happens in life= Happy Endingbut this had a new take, and surprisingly I was very touched by the story. So what is my point, you ask? Well, its simply this, don’t judge a book by its cover until you read it and as a supporting corollary, don’t judge a movie till you watch it.

Have you had similar experiences? Have you read a book you were reluctant to read, to find out it really spoke to you?

Think It, Say It, DO It!

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I have always believed in the phrase, speak it into existence, fake it till you make, or act as if you have faith and faith will be given to you.

Never has this been more true than recently with my weight loss goal. I posted about this goal of losing 50 pounds in mid-December. 

I remember thinking to myself, that’s a good goal, and eating better should help that but its going to take a while and I need to be patient. This started with the small step (felt humongous at the time) of giving up soda because I read a blog about how it helped a woman lose 10 pounds in a month and I thought, well that will be worth trying. I can always pick it back up again if I can’t do it. Then someone my husband works with started talking to him about weight loss and nutrition because we are both overweight and got him very excited about the possibility of weight loss on the paleo diet.  www.paleoaholic.com

I have been overweight or pleasantly plump for most of my life, and it plagues me. I don’t desire to be supermodel skinny, but I am looking forward to not having to wear baggy pants and hang on to that shirt that is just a little bigger so it hides my “fat”.

At the end of last year, my husband and I both had a pretty strong reason to get our health under control, and we decided to change our diet. We have both stuck steadfastly to the paleo diet and experimented with many recipes, I say we, but in truth it is my amazing husband who experiments and cooks and I just say, wow, I never thought of that as something to put together, like shepherd’s pie with quinoa, ground beef, and sweet potatoes, that’s delicious!

I realize the power of making a statement where others read it, and will hold your feet to the fire is incredible. Its not as though I get pressure from people but when they ask how its going I am excited to tell them, so far since I started this journey, I have lost 21 pounds! When you think about the goal of 50 it seems so insurmountable but I am almost halfway to my goal, which is also exciting because it means now, I have outgrown this goal and its time to set a new one. So here goes, I want to lose 75 pounds which will put me at a healthy weight for my height and body mass index which I lamented in November I might never get to and now I really believe it is possible. I also said I wanted to read more books. That isn’t very measurable, so I am updating that goal to 10 books this year. I have already read three. I said I wanted to give 10 speeches this year, I have already given one so everything that seemed so far out of reach, now seems doable, possible and even probable!

What do you want to do? Who will hold your feet to the fire to get it done?  

What do you want to be when you grow up?

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This is a universal question asked to thousands of children everywhere. The answer.

Ballerina

Fireman

Scientist

The list goes on and on as far as the eye can see and the mind can expand.. There are jobs kids are talking about that haven’t even been invented yet! Its important when we hear these answers we stoke desire in those little hearts and minds, not limitations. While on the subject of dreams and encouraging them.. This is not limited to kids. We, adults have dreams too, and its important that we encourage those too. If someone says to you, “I want to learn a new language” be sure you build them up by saying, That sounds like fun, what is your game plan?”

Please don’t discourage them because once upon a time you took Latin and hated it and swore to never speak the dead language again- I will never forget being told I couldn’t be an actress because “you will never make any money”

This idea that I am blogging about is not a new one. Its all part of a philosophy talked about in a great book coming out called “Start” by Jon Acuff, all about how to “punch fear in the face” and “escaping average” I just read the first chapter and am filled with excitement and a new energy to go after my goals. For your review-

Lose 50 pounds- I have lost 17- which leaves 33 to go!!

Read more books- I have read two, working on a third

Get more sleep- up to 8 hours this week

Give 10 speeches this year- Giving my first one tonight

What do you want to do? What kind of support network do you need to build to do it?

Think about it.

 

To pre-order the Jon Acuff’s book, “START” here is the link

http://j.mp/WMzx8d