After yesterday's post I made up a new batch of cards to help me stay on track.
One of the best ones is this:
IF I AM GOING TO REACH MY GOAL, WHAT SHOULD I DO RIGHT NOW?
FOLLOW THE PLAN
If I stick to the plan, how can I fail? If I don't reach for it, how will I get hold of it?
That is what I see in the 5:2 Diet group on facebook. Those who simply follow their plan are more successful. Even when things are not working right, they follow the plan, and soon it is working right, again.
I also like this one:
WITH PATIENCE I WILL PUT THAT (binge food) ASIDE AND RUN THE RACE THAT IS SET BEFORE ME
I have some scriptures, that are very meaningful to me on this journey:
Mark 12:33 -- And to love him (God) with all
the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the soul, and
with all the strength, and to love his neighbour as himself, is more
than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.
Hebrews 13:15 -- By him therefore let us
offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of
our lips giving thanks to his name.
Romans 12:1 -- I
beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present
your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is
your reasonable service.
Hebrews 12:1 -- Wherefore seeing we also
are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside
every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run
with patience the race that is set before us,
1 Corinthians 9:24 -- Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain.
1 Corinthians 5:7 -- Purge out therefore the
old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even
Christ our passover is sacrificed for us:
I am within an hour and a half of completing a 24 hour fast. I am, as they say in England, chuffed!!
I had been off track and feeling it. Yesterday's inspiration from the Lord got me really motivated to get out of the "feelings" and back into the "action."
Then I found this quote:
"We are what we repeatedly do, excellence then is not an act, but a habit"
-Aristotle
Glad to be back on board.
Looking forward to good results and a good report to give.
Thank You, Lord!! You've answered my prayers and I am grateful!! Thank You Lord!! Amen!
Be back soon
Marcia
Thursday, October 17, 2013
Wednesday, October 16, 2013
Inverting the Circle of Allowance
It's like they took the bubble and turned it inside out. The self pity and letting it be OK to break your own rules every day needs to give way to trusting in the Lord and being obedient. It is a new way of living.
What used to be inside the circle needs to be outside the circle.
This is a new game plan. If you want to reach a certain goal, you have to play the game that will get you there. You can't go to the Olympics if you are not training. And you can't break your training every single day and get to the Olympics.
It seems so obvious when writing it down but when you are living it, the perspective is different. The writing it down allows you to see the perspective. The absurdity of not following the plan and expecting to reach the goal.
I think praying and asking the Lord to search my heart and show me the way to seek Him and to be close to Him.... He is giving me this inspiration. God is so GOOD!
Remember that: Put what does not work, outside the circle and put what works inside the circle. What is the circle? It is the circle of my own personal space. The circle of what I allow in my own life today.
I've been watching "Extreme Makeover, Weight Loss Edition" where super-obese people take a year out of their lives to focus exclusively on loosing as much weight as humanly possible. In the last episode I watched, a lady in Oklahoma lost 202 pounds in 365 days. She exercised for 5 hours every day, counted calories, ate veggies and fruit in an unlimited fashion and did it. Can you imagine 202 pounds gone in one year?
I look back and think, what if one year ago today I had started to stick to my plan.... I would be in a much different space than the one I am in. Granted I had some rather large illnesses to cope with but the Lord has blessed me and I am nearly beyond them now. Thank God! When I recall the reason, I know I don't have to beat me up. I can forgive me and be compassionate without going into self pity.
If I simply take stock of where I am right here, right now -- this can be my new starting place.
Question for the day: What is inside the circle for today? What is outside the circle for today? And then keep them straight.
Here are the things I used to say to allow me to break my own plans in the past:
1. Eating just one or two of "these" should not make that big of a difference. What could it hurt?
2. I can always get back on the wagon tomorrow.
3. I am too tired to do what I really think I should do right now, I will do the right thing tomorrow. Right now I am going to eat.
4. This is the plan I have chosen, but on this other plan, they do it this way -- so that is OK for me to do right now
5. I probably should not cook so much for me to eat, but I'm going to ignore that thought because it would make me anxious to reduce the amount of food I am already cooking in the pan.
6. I've eaten just enough, my body is full -- but there is another one laid out for me to eat. I will ignore my feelings and eat the additional one even though I don't really need it. Or want it.
7. I not only like the feeling of being over full, I seek it -- it is familiar and satisfying. Even I am surprised at how much I can eat -- and do eat.
8. I'm picturing a particular food in my head, I will go and get some. In the past it has been useless to fight it. In the end, even a day or two later, I will make sure I have it, anyway.
What can I do to put these outside the circle? I was going to say I needed to address each one individually, but they are part of a "group" which I may be able to redirect to the outside of the circle based on the fact they are meant to help me, to assist poor pitiful me, to have what I want, rather than sticking to my own plan.
So there is the base: What I want vs what will help me to reach my weight loss goals.
Possible response: "I see. This is what I want. Is it part of the plan? Will it help me to reach my goal of losing weight? If I am going to reach my goal, what should I do right now? Follow the plan. With patience, I will put that aside and run the race that is set before me."
...I will see how it goes.
Be back soon,
Marcia
What used to be inside the circle needs to be outside the circle.
This is a new game plan. If you want to reach a certain goal, you have to play the game that will get you there. You can't go to the Olympics if you are not training. And you can't break your training every single day and get to the Olympics.
It seems so obvious when writing it down but when you are living it, the perspective is different. The writing it down allows you to see the perspective. The absurdity of not following the plan and expecting to reach the goal.
I think praying and asking the Lord to search my heart and show me the way to seek Him and to be close to Him.... He is giving me this inspiration. God is so GOOD!
Remember that: Put what does not work, outside the circle and put what works inside the circle. What is the circle? It is the circle of my own personal space. The circle of what I allow in my own life today.
I've been watching "Extreme Makeover, Weight Loss Edition" where super-obese people take a year out of their lives to focus exclusively on loosing as much weight as humanly possible. In the last episode I watched, a lady in Oklahoma lost 202 pounds in 365 days. She exercised for 5 hours every day, counted calories, ate veggies and fruit in an unlimited fashion and did it. Can you imagine 202 pounds gone in one year?
I look back and think, what if one year ago today I had started to stick to my plan.... I would be in a much different space than the one I am in. Granted I had some rather large illnesses to cope with but the Lord has blessed me and I am nearly beyond them now. Thank God! When I recall the reason, I know I don't have to beat me up. I can forgive me and be compassionate without going into self pity.
If I simply take stock of where I am right here, right now -- this can be my new starting place.
Question for the day: What is inside the circle for today? What is outside the circle for today? And then keep them straight.
Here are the things I used to say to allow me to break my own plans in the past:
1. Eating just one or two of "these" should not make that big of a difference. What could it hurt?
2. I can always get back on the wagon tomorrow.
3. I am too tired to do what I really think I should do right now, I will do the right thing tomorrow. Right now I am going to eat.
4. This is the plan I have chosen, but on this other plan, they do it this way -- so that is OK for me to do right now
5. I probably should not cook so much for me to eat, but I'm going to ignore that thought because it would make me anxious to reduce the amount of food I am already cooking in the pan.
6. I've eaten just enough, my body is full -- but there is another one laid out for me to eat. I will ignore my feelings and eat the additional one even though I don't really need it. Or want it.
7. I not only like the feeling of being over full, I seek it -- it is familiar and satisfying. Even I am surprised at how much I can eat -- and do eat.
8. I'm picturing a particular food in my head, I will go and get some. In the past it has been useless to fight it. In the end, even a day or two later, I will make sure I have it, anyway.
What can I do to put these outside the circle? I was going to say I needed to address each one individually, but they are part of a "group" which I may be able to redirect to the outside of the circle based on the fact they are meant to help me, to assist poor pitiful me, to have what I want, rather than sticking to my own plan.
So there is the base: What I want vs what will help me to reach my weight loss goals.
Possible response: "I see. This is what I want. Is it part of the plan? Will it help me to reach my goal of losing weight? If I am going to reach my goal, what should I do right now? Follow the plan. With patience, I will put that aside and run the race that is set before me."
...I will see how it goes.
Be back soon,
Marcia
Tuesday, October 15, 2013
Plans or Distractions.... Not both
Hi,
It has been nearly a month since my last post. I just looked at the last one where I thought I was going to use a writing exercise to help me move on. That never happened. It never came together clearly. I can analyze a statement.... but no "statements" came, so I had nothing to rewrite.
What did happen is that my left knee and ankle went out again. I've been, with the help of my new chiropractor (Dr. Janice Strang) whom I really appreciate, getting them back into alignment. I am back to walking with almost no pain due to the therapy and with that I am well pleased. I do still have to be careful.
I finally found out, from her, what is causing the continual joint malfunction. She said it was because I was sitting with my legs too far apart. When I started to practice sitting with them closer I could feel the change as a relief in my hips. I also surmised that if the sitting was causing that much of a problem, perhaps I needed to see what adjusting the "splay" of my feet when I am walking would do. I started to practice walking with my feet pointed forward rather than splayed out to the sides like a dancer. Amazingly those two changes in posture are making a real difference.
Keeping up those two changes has been a challenge. When I point my feet straight forward, I feel like I'm walking "pigeon-toed" but when I check they are simply straight. When I catch myself with a "splay foot" I adjust it and walk in that awkward way. I trust that at some point it will become my new way of walking.
The bone in my lower leg has gone back into place. My knee cap has gone back into place and there is no longer a feel of "crunching" in my knee when I walk. My walk is almost normal (except for the pigeon-toe-feeling). I say "almost" because there are times when there is still some pain. Usually after doing my pool exercises too vigorously. But I am back in the pool exercising again now. So that is a plus.
As to my eating, I've pretty much stuck to veg and protein for a week or two and am no longer craving sweets which is amazing all on its own.
So I think I have stumbled upon a food related "principle." I've noticed that the more carbs I eat the more carbs I want. The opposite is also true: the less carbs I eat, the less carbs I want. This is not really new to me, but I love watching it happen. The new principle is this: the body will adapt to what you do -- not to what you think.
In the 5:2 group on facebook that I belong to I noticed many of the members posting about how just by doing fasting their eating habits on the other days have changed also. They no longer seem to require so much food. Not all of them have said this, but quite a few have. This is an example of the body adapting.
As I watched the kids version of "Supersize vs. Superskinny" one of the kids who had changed his eating habits said that he simply started to eat smaller meals and by the end of the first week he was happy with that. He had adapted to smaller meals.
I've begun to realize that if you want to change your lifestyle and maintain it, you just have to start -- do it for a time, and soon it becomes a habit. The body adapts.
I've often been afraid of eating smaller portions. That is a real challenge for me. What I am thinking is that, just like that little guy who had help from his mother, if I simply make a plan to cut down on the portions.... and then follow the plan.... my body will eventually adapt.
Each change is a new experience. I'm thinking I don't need to worry about the "stage fright" -- worrying and wondering if I will be able to do it. If I decide what I want to do, make a plan that works for me, and then follow the plan.... I should be able to make the kind of changes that will begin to allow me to lose weight.
I've not been fasting consistently and a couple of times when I tried it, I allowed a "feeling" to distract me from completing it.
I've never liked the word "discipline" because it is "hard." It always meant doing something that I did not want to do. So funny. It is not really what I thought it was.
Self Pity. I once had a friend tell me, point blank, that he did not like my "self pity." I was stunned but I thought about it and replied to him sincerely that I did not know how to NOT do that. He said nothing more and I had no idea what to do with that information. In the last couple of days I've prayed and asked God to search my heart again and he showed me that self pity is "beside the point." It actually is more of a distraction than anything else.
I watched an episode of "Extreme Makeover, Weight Loss Edition" and the young overweight woman demonstrated the same kind of self pity that I've done. The trainer had to really push her to what seemed to me to be the ultimate extreme, to get her past the self pity, and on to the "getting it done." It did not happen overnight, either.
If self pity is an ingrained habit, it needs the same kind of treatment as any other bad habit. When you recognize it, stop it. Replace it with adherence to the plan. A plan that is followed makes life easier than having a plan and not following it because of feelings, or distractions, or self pity.
The self guilt from not following the plan is more mind games that just keep getting repeated -- they turn into a super long distraction. What a waste of time. I could have been working towards the goal rather than licking my wounds and wallowing in self sympathy.
I'm afraid I have been doing that all my life. I think I'd like to do something else. Self pity is not fun anymore. I need to find another way to affirm my self and the best way that I can think of is to trust in God. Amen!
I fear writing here what the plan is... but if I don't that is just "more of the same." I know what the plan is, I just want to keep it to myself for a while. I know I need to fast twice a week. I'd like to consistently try 16:8 on my feast days. I'd like to exercise in some way every day while remembering to be careful of my injured limb. I'd like to keep eating veg and protein with some fruit sometimes. So I need to think and write the plan down. Then I need to follow it, without pity.
Definitions:
Pity: sympathetic sorrow for one suffering, distressed, or unhappy
Self-pity: a feeling of pity for yourself because you believe you have suffered more than is fair or reasonable
I think I learned to pity myself when I was very young. I had my reasons. In my mind it makes sense that I would have done that, given my circumstances at the time, but doing that now is only, as I said, a distraction. I would be better off with self discipline. With that I might actually accomplish a goal or two!
Onward!!
Be back soon,
Marcia
It has been nearly a month since my last post. I just looked at the last one where I thought I was going to use a writing exercise to help me move on. That never happened. It never came together clearly. I can analyze a statement.... but no "statements" came, so I had nothing to rewrite.
What did happen is that my left knee and ankle went out again. I've been, with the help of my new chiropractor (Dr. Janice Strang) whom I really appreciate, getting them back into alignment. I am back to walking with almost no pain due to the therapy and with that I am well pleased. I do still have to be careful.
I finally found out, from her, what is causing the continual joint malfunction. She said it was because I was sitting with my legs too far apart. When I started to practice sitting with them closer I could feel the change as a relief in my hips. I also surmised that if the sitting was causing that much of a problem, perhaps I needed to see what adjusting the "splay" of my feet when I am walking would do. I started to practice walking with my feet pointed forward rather than splayed out to the sides like a dancer. Amazingly those two changes in posture are making a real difference.
Keeping up those two changes has been a challenge. When I point my feet straight forward, I feel like I'm walking "pigeon-toed" but when I check they are simply straight. When I catch myself with a "splay foot" I adjust it and walk in that awkward way. I trust that at some point it will become my new way of walking.
The bone in my lower leg has gone back into place. My knee cap has gone back into place and there is no longer a feel of "crunching" in my knee when I walk. My walk is almost normal (except for the pigeon-toe-feeling). I say "almost" because there are times when there is still some pain. Usually after doing my pool exercises too vigorously. But I am back in the pool exercising again now. So that is a plus.
As to my eating, I've pretty much stuck to veg and protein for a week or two and am no longer craving sweets which is amazing all on its own.
So I think I have stumbled upon a food related "principle." I've noticed that the more carbs I eat the more carbs I want. The opposite is also true: the less carbs I eat, the less carbs I want. This is not really new to me, but I love watching it happen. The new principle is this: the body will adapt to what you do -- not to what you think.
In the 5:2 group on facebook that I belong to I noticed many of the members posting about how just by doing fasting their eating habits on the other days have changed also. They no longer seem to require so much food. Not all of them have said this, but quite a few have. This is an example of the body adapting.
As I watched the kids version of "Supersize vs. Superskinny" one of the kids who had changed his eating habits said that he simply started to eat smaller meals and by the end of the first week he was happy with that. He had adapted to smaller meals.
I've begun to realize that if you want to change your lifestyle and maintain it, you just have to start -- do it for a time, and soon it becomes a habit. The body adapts.
I've often been afraid of eating smaller portions. That is a real challenge for me. What I am thinking is that, just like that little guy who had help from his mother, if I simply make a plan to cut down on the portions.... and then follow the plan.... my body will eventually adapt.
Each change is a new experience. I'm thinking I don't need to worry about the "stage fright" -- worrying and wondering if I will be able to do it. If I decide what I want to do, make a plan that works for me, and then follow the plan.... I should be able to make the kind of changes that will begin to allow me to lose weight.
I've not been fasting consistently and a couple of times when I tried it, I allowed a "feeling" to distract me from completing it.
I've never liked the word "discipline" because it is "hard." It always meant doing something that I did not want to do. So funny. It is not really what I thought it was.
Self Pity. I once had a friend tell me, point blank, that he did not like my "self pity." I was stunned but I thought about it and replied to him sincerely that I did not know how to NOT do that. He said nothing more and I had no idea what to do with that information. In the last couple of days I've prayed and asked God to search my heart again and he showed me that self pity is "beside the point." It actually is more of a distraction than anything else.
I watched an episode of "Extreme Makeover, Weight Loss Edition" and the young overweight woman demonstrated the same kind of self pity that I've done. The trainer had to really push her to what seemed to me to be the ultimate extreme, to get her past the self pity, and on to the "getting it done." It did not happen overnight, either.
If self pity is an ingrained habit, it needs the same kind of treatment as any other bad habit. When you recognize it, stop it. Replace it with adherence to the plan. A plan that is followed makes life easier than having a plan and not following it because of feelings, or distractions, or self pity.
The self guilt from not following the plan is more mind games that just keep getting repeated -- they turn into a super long distraction. What a waste of time. I could have been working towards the goal rather than licking my wounds and wallowing in self sympathy.
I'm afraid I have been doing that all my life. I think I'd like to do something else. Self pity is not fun anymore. I need to find another way to affirm my self and the best way that I can think of is to trust in God. Amen!
I fear writing here what the plan is... but if I don't that is just "more of the same." I know what the plan is, I just want to keep it to myself for a while. I know I need to fast twice a week. I'd like to consistently try 16:8 on my feast days. I'd like to exercise in some way every day while remembering to be careful of my injured limb. I'd like to keep eating veg and protein with some fruit sometimes. So I need to think and write the plan down. Then I need to follow it, without pity.
Definitions:
Pity: sympathetic sorrow for one suffering, distressed, or unhappy
Self-pity: a feeling of pity for yourself because you believe you have suffered more than is fair or reasonable
I think I learned to pity myself when I was very young. I had my reasons. In my mind it makes sense that I would have done that, given my circumstances at the time, but doing that now is only, as I said, a distraction. I would be better off with self discipline. With that I might actually accomplish a goal or two!
Onward!!
Be back soon,
Marcia
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