I love “The Biggest Loser”.  Jillian is the trainer you love to hate.  Something she said last night was so powerful.  She was trying to get one the girls (call her Sally because I can’t remember the name - I’m not that into the details) to run on the treadmill at a ridiculously high speed.  Of course Sally was crying and exhausted and said “I Can’t”.  Jillian got in her face and said, “Never say that, it’s a lie - be honest and say I won’t try but never say I can’t”.  I love this!!  It is so true.  One of the our family mottos is “Hopkins boys don’t say I can’t, they say I’ll try.”  We revised it by adding - “No try, Do!”

 When you say, “I can’t”, all momentum stops, motivation ceases and you’re done.  It’s the signal that procrastination is beginning.  Wipe these two toxic words from your vocabulary, after all, you don’t lie. 

 As a side note, obviously there are things that are physically impossible due to lack of conditioning but that can be overcome by trying and building up - anything is possible!  I’m 51 years old and I can do a mean push-up and I can run for an hour.  Never say “I can’t”.  You’ll be amazed at what you’re capable of doing.

I started a trial with a few of my WW members who agreed to exercise 30 minutes a day and eat 5 different vegetables every day.  Of course I wouldn’t ask them to do anything I don’t do so I’ve been focusing in on vegetables.  It takes some planning to eat 5 different vegetables, not to mention shopping.  I’ve done it for 3 days now and am amazed at how full I feel.  I really think vegetables are one of the keys to getting and staying healthy.  To develop the habit of thinking about eating vegetables when I’m hungry has no bad side effects.  Give it a try - it’s bound to make you healthier.

Procrastination is a terrible problem.  I have intended to write on this blog every day but as I see the last post was in Sept. I’ve put it off day after day for 2 months!!  At the risk of sounding like every few pages of my journals, I’m back at it.  I think I stopped because I didn’t want to offend anyone and I felt like I was repeating myself and didn’t have time to go back and check to see if I’d said whatever I was going to say before.  I can clearly see that if I want to keep this blog going I’m just going to have to blog and let the chips fall where they may so here we go again - daily thoughts on a healthy life!  I’d also love to upload pictures but haven’t been successful at that yet.  I enjoy visiting a blog where the owner posts a video of herself talking - it’s so fun - I’d like to try that too.  Maybe my brilliant son will help me if I ask really nice…

 First this weeks WW newsletter as requested by Bonnie - those of you who receive this e-mail can skip this part.

 WW Newsletter 11-14-08

Hi all,

Do you believe this weather?  What a wonderful, warm day!  I hope you’ve had a chance to get out and enjoy it, if not I hear tomorrow is supposed to be beautiful too.  I’m hoping to drag someone to take a hike on lime ridge, it’s a beautiful hike right in our own backyard.

This weeks meeting was so fun!  Weight loss is a lot like a football game – I know, I know you’re thinking geesh Lanette you can make weight loss about anything.  It’s true, I love a good analogy but stick with me, this is a good one and I think I’m going to keep going with it in future weeks if you guys are up to it.

First of all we focused on personal strengths when it comes to weight loss.  Often we focus on what we find difficult in the process and try to change it.  Try focusing instead on your strengths and use them to “play the game.”

Football players get into a huddle to make plans for the next play.  WW meetings are kind of like a huddle.  We know the game plan, flex, core, points etc., we just need to get together and figure out how to put all this knowledge into practice.  We have a goal in mind, all football players want to win the game and all WW members want to be healthy and fit, in the guidelines for a healthy weight range and to stay that way for the rest of our fabulous lives.

Too often WW members focus on the whole chunk of weight we have to lose.  Football players don’t think so much about the whole game – they focus in on what they need to do to get a little further down the field.  They know if they keep moving down the field they’ll be successful at scoring touchdowns.  We need to change focus and pay attention to the little daily “scrimmages” which, when handled in a healthy way, will move us closer to the “goal line”.

“Setting a goal is not the main thing.  It is deciding how to achieve it.”  Tom Landry

“Winning is the science of being totally prepared.”  George Allen

In the meeting I asked you to consider the football field like your life.  The goal line and end zone is losing 5 pounds.  Imagine if a football game were played on a 500 yard field instead of 100 yards.  I think teams would scrimmage near the middle never finding the energy, momentum or motivation to go all that distance.  Most who want to lose weight look at it like a long, long road.  I did it too, it was depressing and overwhelming.  What I learned as I lost my 65 pounds was that if I focus in on losing 5 pounds I could succeed.  As I told you in the meetings I was surprised when I reached my goal weight because it felt like I’d only lost 5 pounds.  Like pushing and fighting for the end zone in 100 yard chunks a team can experience the exhilaration of success regardless of the score and every touchdown adds to the possibility of winning.

Even when teams experience a set back they don’t walk off the field and give up.  They redouble their efforts to regain what they lost and continue the forward progress.  Now that’s a great winning strategy for weight loss.

While watching the end of the 49er game Monday I noticed the intensity and power of the players.  They drive down the field with everything they have.  Even when it looks impossible they keep pushing for that next inch.  We need that intensity when it comes to losing weight.  Health is a big deal, much more important than a football game.  It deserves our best effort. 

Terry shared the idea that we are really playing this “game” with ourselves.  We’re the coach, the players, the opponent, and the cheerleaders.  We’re really the only thing standing in our own way.  So when you get to the line of scrimmage remember what you really want and find a way to use your strengths to break through and make your dreams come true.

Huddle up with yourself, make a plan and get out on the field of life and execute your plan. Get excited about losing your next 5 pounds.  I don’t care if you’ve lost it before, feel thrilled that you succeeded – it’s a big deal!!  I’m working on a design for some goal cards with 5 pounds end zones.  Won’t it be fun to use them to track your progress toward the next 5 pounds? 

Be sure to catch a meeting this week – we’ll be planning for Thanksgiving – it will be a good huddle with some healthy ideas to make you really thankful that you’re in the game.

See you soon!

Hugs,

Lanette

Eat Wisely, Move More and     NEVER GIVE UP!

I just heard from a wonderful friend - she’s coming back to WW again.  I’m so happy!  As sad as I am when people leave, I’m twice as happy when they come back.  It’s because I know that’s the secret to a healthy life - working on it again and again.  The secret is making the space between tries as short as possible.  You want to work toward the “fall” looking like a bounce off a trampoline - you jump right back up and go back to fruits and vegetables and exercise.  Healthy striving - that’s the answer - there is no perfect!  So be nice to yourself and keep trying.

A friend was telling me that she just gets tired of thinking about what to eat, planning what to eat etc.  In my quest to figure out why people give up on health and fitness I’ve found that this is a common theme.  It’s so much easier to eat whatever you want, whenever you want it.  In todays world that means our fondest desire is as close as the nearest drive thru!  It takes no more than 5 minutes to have whatever we want.  The problem is that giving up on thinking about eating healthy means obesity and disease.  It means forfeiting what you want most for what you want now. 

Everyone gets tired of passing up the extra helpings, the treats and sitting on the couch.  I fully understand, but the cost of giving up is too high.  Wherever you are in the process of getting healthy and fit -stay with it.  You have the power to change - your hand is the thing that brings the food to your mouth.  Your mind is where the thoughts begin.  Take control and choose what you really want - health and fitness.

 The only thing I ever gained by giving up . . . was weight. – anon.

A dear friend just had gastric bypass surgery to save her life.  I had a chance to chat with her and asked her about her WW experience.  She had joined and been successful 12-15 times but never stuck with it.  She said she just got tired of having to think about and plan food.  I can understand this feeling - it’s so much easier to eat whatever you want when you want it.  The problem is that for most of us this leads to obesity and the diseases associated with being overweight.

 My friend eats 200 calories a day - her stomach is the size of an egg.  She wishes she could have lost weight another way but it required this drastic intervention to save her life.  Her options are forcefully limited now.  There are things she will never be able to eat and she will still have to learn how to control her eating so that she doesn’t gain the weight back in future years.

 I want to help so many of the members I’ve met who give up on health and fitness.  There’s no magic pill or potion.  The answer lies within each of us - it is Consistent Persistence.  The answer is to be determined to try again to make good healthy choices over and over for the rest of our lives.  Yes it’s hard, but not as hard as the alternative.  Choose life, choose health, forget perfection and work for consistent persistence.

If you know me well you know I love rice krispy treats.  I cannot keep marshmellows in the house.  We have treats on Sunday and frequently these are the treats of choice.   Usually I make a point of using up all the marshmellows on Sunday so there won’t be any to call my name on Monday morning.  As you may know a full bag of marshmellows makes two batches of rice krispy treats - yesterday I only made one batch.  Here’s how this morning went - get up, step on the scale, see the usual Sunday bump up (I really don’t want to see that since I’m working on losing that last 5 lbs… but I expected it… no details necessary) come downstairs, pray, plan my day, go for my run.  Here’s where it gets interesting.  I come home and start preparing oatmeal, my breakfast plan, but there, staring me in the face, are the marshmellows.  I feel myself going into automatic pilot - my brain pushing down my spirit as it tries to remind me of what I really want.  I take out the box of rice krispies and tell myself I’ll just make a small batch but then it happens - the thing I’ve learned to do that has changed my life from a fat girl wanting to be thin to a healthy girl wanting to stay that way. 

 Here’s the internal conversation I had with myself.  “Don’t go mindless Lanette - let’s think about this.  If I have rice krispy treats (hereafter referred to as RKT) this morning how will the rest of my day go?  Not good - I won’t stop until the bag of marshmellows is gone.  Is that what you want? No!  Ok how about you eat breakfast and then if you want RKT I’ll make them.  OK.”  I make the oatmeal and realize I’m feeling stronger about the RKT resistance.  “Here’s a better idea, how about saving them until tonight after dinner when everyone is home - that way you can have one, enjoy it, count it and stay in control?  Sounds fabulous!”  That’s my plan for today and I know it will work - I have gathered strength from the resistance.

 Believe it or not I volunteered to make a million RKT for the wedding - we’re having a chocolate fountain….  As I was debating my morning battle I realized that making a truck load of RKT is going to present a hazardous situation.  Since I love them my plan has been to make a couple of batches each day this week (that way I can eat the remains on the pan several times and have a couple of RKT from each batch - they have to be cut up for the reception anyway and some will surely be the wrong size….we wouldn’t want unsightly RKT at the reception).  Realizing that it sounded like fun but will not help me reach my goal I started rethinking the wedding RKT.  So my new plan is to have a marathon RKT making session on Wednesday afternoon, set aside one RKT to enjoy when the cooking is done and take them to Cate on Wednesday night so they’re out of the house.  I’m so happy with my new plan.  Here’s a review you might use with your favorite healthy eating buster obsession.

1.  Don’t go mindless.

2.  Put some time between thought and consumption.

3.  Force yourself to think about what you really want.

4.  Make a plan

5.  Stick with your plan.

6.  Enjoy your fabulous healthy life!

Life = Stress 

The last 2 days have been stressful - happy stress but stress none the less.  I anticipate that the coming week will be equally crazy stresswise (wedding Friday!).  Interestingly I realized that yesterday I didn’t eat a vegetable!  Honestly it’s been months since I had a day without a vegetable.  Vegetables do not relieve stress - have you noticed?  Carbs and fat relieve stress, MRI’s have shown that when we eat high fat/carb foods, hormones are released that counteract stress hormones.  It turns out we’re not crazy - we use food because it works!  The problem is that if we use food to relieve stress all the time we’ll be unhealthy and overweight.  Here are a few suggestions:

1.  Don’t increase your stress by beating yourself up when you get off your healthy living track.  Realize that you have fallen back on a strategy that works to give you a little break from a stressful situation.  Also recognize that you can make another choice.

2.  Choose to eat vegetables, lean protein and whole grains so you are not hungry on top of stressed.  When you know it’s going to be a stressful day make an eating plan so you don’t have to think about food.

3.  Choose to relieve stress in another way - walk, read, breathe etc.

4.  Get the garbage out of the house - when you’re in stress you grab and go.  Do yourself a favor and set yourself up for the best outcome.

5.  This is big - are you stressing yourself for no good reason?  I’ve been stressing about painting the baseboards….I finally realized I’m not going to have time to paint the baseboards and frankly who cares?  If someone doesn’t like me because my baseboards are thrashed I’ll just have to deal with it.  Analyze your stress and get off your own back!

 We could spend our lives stressed about stress and our reactions to stress or we can recognize that we tend to get off track during stress and plan accordingly. 

Hi all,

So sorry I’m a day late!  Things are getting a little crazy over here.  A week from today Doug will marry Cate – Yeah another girl!!  Steven (19) is going on a mission for our church (Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints aka Mormon).  He’ll get a letter telling him where he’ll be serving for the next two years any day now.  We expected it yesterday but sadly it didn’t come.  He could be sent anywhere in the world.  Dave (hubby) went to

It’s like that with weight isn’t it?  Often we’re motivated by an upcoming event to lose weight.  It would be much less stressful and much more beneficial to our general health and well being to do the little things every day that will keep us healthy and fit.  After all, events come and go and we still need to exercise and eat wisely.  Too often we slide back into bad habits when the pressure is off.  Like a home that will eventually fall apart if we don’t keep up with maintenance, our health will eventually suffer if we don’t stick with eating healthy foods and moving more.

My tracking-seriously is going well.  I continue to learn so much from writing down what I eat.  Yesterday I learned that Pistachios cost far too many points (1 oz.= 4 pts. 1 cup shelled =16 pts.). I also learned that if they’re in the cabinet in the kitchen they call to me and I can eat a handful before I even realize I’ve done it.   If I put them in the garage I have time to talk myself out of it before I get to them.  Lessons learned…. again…  Please join me in tracking seriously and share your lessons learned.

This week we talked about Weight Watchers – then and now.  There were many fun memories of past programs.  There were some ideas that seem strange to us (ie. Liver once a week) now but in their time they were based on the best science available.  Over the years Weight Watchers has been dedicated to focusing on solid research and member feedback to develop programs that will help members lose weight in a safe and sustainable way.  Every year new things are introduced that keep the program fresh and successful. 

I love what Jean Nidetch said, “I don’t believe [the Program] has changed all that much….[Members] will always need to know that first of all, they’re not alone; secondly, they’re not bad people for being overweight; and third, if they really want something, it’s within their power to go and get it.”

That’s why I love Weight Watchers.  We need the encouragement and support of a group.  I know how it feels to be overweight and to feel hopeless and I also know that it’s possible to change.  For years I thought I was doomed to being overweight and felt helpless to change.  Little by little that attitude has changed as I’ve learned that making small adjustments in what I do and, most importantly, in how I think, has made all the difference.  As we say every week at the end of each meeting Never Give UP~  That’s the only difference between now and all the times I failed at losing weight.  I refuse to give up on being healthy and fit.  Day after day we keep trying and that’s all it takes.  Weight Watchers gives us the information and the framework, the support and feedback but the real success comes when you keep walking back into the meeting room determined to get what you want.  I’ll be there waiting to cheer you on!

Have a wonderful, healthy weekend!

Hugs,

Lanette

Eat Wisely, Move More and NEVER GIVE UP!!

Hi all,

What a beautiful, glorious day!  A perfect day for a birthday party – yes in a few hours 5 teenagers will be running around my house with nerf dart guns trying to shoot each other.  Nerf dart guns are just one bonus of being the youngest.  The older 4 boys never had guns – I felt very strongly about not having them in the house.  Johnny’s begging skills won me over and now he has 6 or 7 nerf dart guns.   So far I’ve survived the whining of the older boys telling me it’s not fair…

If you missed this weeks meeting, you missed a lot.  I announced my current weight!  Can you believe it?  I reasoned that I know what you weigh so it’s only fair that you know my weight.  Here’s the background to the announcement.  When I got my drivers license I put my weight a little lower than I actually weighed – I know it’s shocking – you’ve never heard of such a thing.  Well I’ve never actually weighed that – I’ve been living a lie for 35 years…  I’m ready to try to get to that magical driver’s license number at least once in my life.  Actually I think I’d like to stay there but we’ll see when I arrive.  I know I can maintain at the top of my healthy weight range – I’ve done it for 2 years so I can always go back if the lower weight doesn’t work out. 

I decided that I need someone to be accountable to, someone who will know my goal and ask how I’m doing.  So now I have about 100 of you.  I’ll be bringing my tracker to meetings and you are welcome to look at it and give me suggestions.  I’ll be reporting my weight loss each week during August.

Last Thursday I started tracking – seriously.  I took the quiz to determine my daily points for weight loss (about 6 less than I use to maintain).  I pulled out the scale and the measuring tools and have tracked everything that I put in my mouth for 1 week.  I’m on my way down and really loving it.  I’ll be sharing all the things I’m learning and loving as the weeks go on.  Stay tuned to see when the scale number matches my license!

This brings me to the August challenge – track – seriously!  This is a habit that you’ll need, not just to get to goal but to maintain your healthy weight.  I don’t think anyone can get excited about writing down everything they eat for the rest of their lives and I don’t think it’s necessary but there are times when weight creeps up.  That is the time you’ll pull out the old tracker and get serious for a time until your weight returns to its new “normal”.  So will you join me?  There’s no time like the present to buckle down and do your best.

For you fabulous core people, I wouldn’t dream of having you track – it’s not the plan, except for the non-core foods – you must keep track of those points.  You might also keep an eye on how well your day is balanced, eating from all the food groups on the core food list.  If you want to write down what you eat just for fun for a few weeks – jump in!  It might help those considering core to see how it’s done.

This truly will be the summer of love of tracking!!

The Olympics start tomorrow – it so exciting!  This week we talked about developing a “love of the game”.  Thinking of exercise as something we love which would inspire us to keep doing it and striving to do our best.  Would it help to challenge yourself?  Athletes often have a goal in mind as they train.  We could do the same thing.  It might be to walk a certain number of miles in a week or to participate in a race.  Remember to use the week 2 booklet on moving more for ideas about how to ramp up your exercise.  We talked about using the Perceived Rate of Exertion scale to be sure that you’re working hard enough to make the best use of your exercise time.  Beware of the myth of the “fat-burning zone” that may keep you from improving.  Here are a few of the activities members mentioned this week.  Is there an activity on the list you’d like to try?  Go for it!

Walking, Biking, Hiking, Swimming, Dancing, Running, Tennis, Golf, Horseback riding, yoga, weights, spinning, pilates, tai bo, karate, Raquetball, gardening, step class… The skies the limit!

Consider these Olympic athlete habits.  They are important as we continue to work on becoming and then staying healthy and fit.

-         Coaching is Critical  (ie. Don’t miss WW meetings!)

-         Keep a positive Mindset.

-         Always know how you’re doing (Step on the scale)

-         Believe in yourself

-         Do better

-         Reward your best efforts

We may never stand on a metals platform in the Olympics but as we “train” everyday we’ll be sure to be ready for the important “events” of our lives.  Olympians spend 4 years preparing themselves for their chance at the gold.  I don’t think it’s just in the hope of getting a gold metal – they love the game – they love what they do.  Find the activity that you love and then jump in with everything you’ve got.  Go for the Gold (the gold weight watcher lifetime key that is!)

Hugs,

Lanette

Eat Wisely, Move More and Never Give Up!!