12 Weeks to Better: February 2011

BEST QUOTE OF THE WEEK

Monday, February 28, 2011

Week 9 LIVE

From what I have heard, we have all been "living it up" a bit too much!!! Please read the article titled it's the last 2% that counts on the blog site. It's all about finishing strong!!!

I have fallen behind, but I plan to finish strong....back on the treadmill, back on the plan, reviewing the lessons, staying away from sugar, etc. Read the weeks plans over again and find out where you are the weakest and start there. For me, it is exercise and writing what I eat down!!!

This blog has been all about discovering myself; my strengths, my weaknesses, my highs, my lows. It has kept me accountable. It is my hope that on my journey, you have learned something about yourself and are willing to make some changes to a better life.

This is NOT a diet plan and is not all about food!!! It is the whole package!!! Do you feel better? Did you set a goal and achieve it? If not, did you reset it? Are you exercising more? Have you learned something you didn't know before? Are you reading the right books? Please see the recommended reading list on the blog site.

This is about LIVING, enjoying life and making the most of every day!!! We are human BEINGS, not human DOINGS. Remember to hit the space bar of life and pause for a while. Make time for you!!! Have a bath, have a glass of wine, buy yourself something new!!! Just don't over do it or "live it up" too much!!!!

Good luck and please join me in finishing strong!!!

Monday, February 21, 2011

WEEK 8 ADJUST

Here is a great time to review what works, what doesn't and adjust your plan. For me, I find that most of you are not following any plan. Perhaps this is the week for you to start again. Go back to week 1, do not pass go, do not collect $200!!!

For me, I need to adjust my eating choices. If I want bread, now is the time to change to a flour free or 12 grain bread, not just what is in the cupboard. It is time to adjust the menu because I am bored with the same choices of salad, fruit etc. It is also time to find ways to change up the exercise routine. Zumba is a great way to do that...fun and getting fit at the same time!!!!

This week's topic is also appropriate because we are now selling our house and I need to adjust my plan to fit around a much busier schedule!! What worked for me week 1-6 is not working now because my situation has changed. What has changed in your life and do you need to adjust?!!

Have a great week!!! And remember, no matter what happens, you are still one track to being 12 weeks to better for doing SOMETHING!!!

Monday, February 14, 2011

WEEK 7 SHARE

Since this week is about sharing, let me share my thoughts with you.....I have not been as focused on the 12 weeks to better in the last few weeks due to the stress and time involved in selling our house, packing, purging and cleaning!!!!

I have not been focused on excercise which I believe is crucial to any health plan. I have however learned that I can and continue to avoid sugar...public enemy #1.

This Valentines Day I am even more away of the need to avoid sugar!!! I hope you all do the same...avoid the chocolate!! Now I didnt say NO chocolate, I said avoid chocolate. If you must, have one, not the whole box. Excercise some form of restraint and remember will power is only needed in short bursts, not 24/7. While you are at it, just exercise...do something everyday!!!

Enjoy the journey!!!! You can lose the battles, but we will all win the war!!!!!!

Lastly, on the topic of sharing, I had two scrambled eggs this morning and a cup of tea!!! What did you eat? What have you learned? What are your goals? What is movtiating you?

Please take time to SHARE....TEAM...TOGETHER EVERYONE ACHIEVES MORE!!!!!

Monday, February 7, 2011

Week 6 LEARN

This is actually my favourite week. What have we learned about ourselves over this journey?

Did we learn not to buy the big chocolate bar because we know we will eat it all and not save 1/2...even if it is on sale!!! Did we learn that the weekends are our enemy for bad food and wine!!!!

I have learned that I need my carbs....I am not satisfied unless I have some toast every day!!!!

I have learned that will power IS possible and life without chocolate is possible!!!! 12lbs and counting with the most significant change being sugar elimination!!!

I have learned that I get bored with my food right about now, so I have to switch it up. After all salad does get boring doesn't it!!!!

I have learned that exercise 4-6 days a week is vital, but hard to accomplish without good discipline and priority!!!

So we refocused last week and got back on the treadmill towards a better life.....so now learn from your mistakes and also learn from your sucesses.

BELIEVE you can do it. LEARN from the past that it is possilbe. DO something positive, DO something active, DO make some changes in your daily habits. It takes 21 days to change a habit. Starting now, that will take us to week 9...with 3 weeks to go to the end of the plan!!!!

YOU can do it!!!!!

Tuesday, February 1, 2011

WEEK 5 REFOCUS

This week is very timely!!! It is time to see where we have not been so faithful and spend some time there. Perhaps it's time to get rid of sugar in your diet. Especially with Valentines Day around the corner. How about no chocolate? Can you do it? For just a week? I challenge you!!! Perhaps it's time really make a commitment to be better. Perhaps you need a plan or need a new plan. Lastly, perhaps excersie is not at the level you would have liked.

Last week made you focus on what activity/exercise you were doing and to try and do something EVERY day.

Perhaps you have had some successes. Perhaps you have had some set backs. Either way, you are better than you were before we started the 12 weeks to better!!!. Anything is better than nothing!!! Celebrate your successes and REFOCUS where you think you were weak.

For some, it might be going back to week one and spending a week detoxing from sugar. For others, it might be the commitment that needs to be made again, or perhaps never really started. That's ok, this week is the start again week!!!! For me, I have been good all weeks, but the exercise routine was not enough. I hit a plateau and needed the exercise to get me moving again. So this week I will refocus on exercise.

What will be your FOCUS this week?

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INSPIRATION CORNER

Success is not a race, be patient.
Success leads to success.
Success is always a work in progress.
Success doesn't come to you--you go to it.
Success is a journey, not a destination. Focus on the process.
Some people dream about success... while others wake up and work hard at it.
Success is achieved and maintained by those who try-and keep trying.
Everyday is a good day to SUCCEED!
If at first you don't succeed-try, try again

When you get to a plateau, think of it as a landing on the stairway to your goal. And maintenance is a lifelong plateau, so a bit of "rehearsal" for maintenance isn't the worst thing in the world.

"Any experience can be transformed into something of value. Everything depends on the way you look at things. You cannot have the success without the failures.

What are stumbling blocks and defeat before you, can be stepping stones to victory if you remain determined.

In all your adversities there lies the seeds of equivalent advantages. In every defeat there is a lesson showing you how to win the next time.

I wake up every day with the realization that this is it, that there's only one shot at this life and I can either enjoy the ride and live it to its fullest and to my highest potential or I can stay the way I am.

Make the decision, then do something - no matter how small - toward accomplishing what you want.

Persevere and you will win the prize.

You get whatever you settle for.

Your past does not equal, nor does it dictate, your future.

One definition of insanity is: Doing the same thing again and again and expecting a different result.

Do you choose to simply know the path, or do you choose to walk it?

We fail because we don't strike the iron while it's hot. We don't take immediate action toward achieving what we want. We decide to wait until tomorrow, or next week, or even next month.

It comes down to a simple question: what do you want out of life, and what are you willing to do to get it?

Be specific in what you want, and use specific words. Empower yourself, and become the person you dream about

Listen closely: the only time it's too late to change yourself is when you're dead. Until then, you're simply making excuses or lying to yourself.

If you didn't need a pill to get fat, why would you need one to get unfat?

You won't fail if you're not perfect, you'll fail if you're not committed to improving yourself slightly each day.

Rather than aiming for being perfect, just aim to be little bit better today than you were yesterday.

We can reverse years of damage to our bodies by deciding to raise our standards for ourselves, then living differently. Old wounds heal, injuries repair, and the whole system improves with just a few changes in what we put into our bodies and how we move them.

"Anything is possible, It's your choice whether or not you choose to make IT happen."

What would you attempt, if you knew you could not fail?

Discipline is remembering what you want.

"You have failed only when you quit trying. Until then, you're still in the act of progression. So, never quit trying and you'll never be a failure.---Tommy Kelley

"If we defend our habits, we have no intentions of quitting them."

"When one approach is not working to reach the desired goal, that's not a reason to abandon the goal. Instead, it is time to devise another approach."------Ralph Marston

If you want what you do not have, you must do what you have not done.

Nothing tastes as good as being thin feels.

IT'S NOT ABOUT HOW GOOD YOU ARE BUT HOW BAD YOU WANT IT!!

Food for Thought: The starting point of all achievement is desire. Keep this constantly in mind. Strengthen Your Desire! Weak desires bring weak results, just as a small amount of fire makes a small amount of heat.

Your body keeps an accurate journal regardless of what you write down...

Every time you are tempted to react in the same old way, ask if you want to be a prisoner of the past or a pioneer of the future. ~ Deepak Chopra ~

He who gets up one more time than he falls, makes it through...

Determination today leads to success tomorrow!

Quitting is NOT an option.

I can do this...I know I can. It's just going to take time & patience.

Start doing what's necessary, then do what's possible, and suddenly you'll be doing the impossible!

"My life tomorrow will be the result of my attitudes and the choices I make today."

In this age, which believes that there is a short cut to everything, the greatest lesson to be learned is that the most difficult way is, in the long run, the easiest! --Henry Miller

My world is expanding as my butt is shrinking!

"Don't sacrifice your future for a momentary pleasure"

"Never give up on a dream just because of the length of time it will take to accomplish it. The time will pass anyway."

A year from now, you may wish you had started today- Robert Schuller

"If you always do what you always did, you'll always get what you
always got"

"Never trade what you want the most for what you want at the moment"

To accomplish great things, we must not only act, but also dream;
not only plan, but also believe.
- Anatole France

Great changes may not happen right away, but with effort even the
difficult may become easy.
- Bill Blackma

"Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every
time we fall" confucious

"The greatest thing you have is the 24 hours in front
of you.
The past is gone; the future is distant.
Today you CAN succeed.
Set a goal you can achieve in the next 24 hours."

"Only those who risk going too far can
possibly find out how far one can go..."
-T.S. Eliot

"The fishermen know the sea is dangerous and the storms are
terrible, but they have never found this sufficient reason to remain
on shore." Vincent Van Gogh

"Obstacles are what we see when we take our eyes off the goal." Rita
Davenport

"The odds of hitting a target go up dramatically when you aim at
it."
Mal Pancoast

"Things that seem hard are not always that hard. Put one foot in
front of the other, and you'll get to the end."

"Watch your thoughts; they become words. Watch your words; they become actions. Watch your actions; they become habits. Watch your habits; they become character. Watch your character; it becomes your Destiny." Frank Outlaw

5-4-3-2-1 DIET PLAN

Follow the new 5-4-3-2-1 Diet Plan for fast and easy weight loss!

This plan is an excellent way to jump-start your weight loss efforts!

Use this exciting new diet at home and away. It is especially easy to use when eating out! Follow it exactly as written and YOU WILL LOSE WEIGHT; more importantly, YOU WILL BE SATISFIED!

Each of three meals per day should consist of:

5 bites of protein.

4 bites of vegetables.

3 bites of carbs, preferably whole grains.

2 bites of sweets.

1 minute between bites.

Add: One mid-morning snack, one mid-afternoon snack (yogurt or other dairy, fruit, nuts), a multivitamin, and 8 glasses of water each day.

Rules for this diet plan:

If you do not want dessert, you can eat two additional bites of protein, vegetables, or carbs.
If your menu items are not separated, eat 14 total bites. For example, a pasta dish would not be separated.
One subtle way to help count bites is to move a piece of food off to the side of your plate for each bite you eat.
Bites should be “normal”-sized and chewed well.
Eat “mindfully.” Don’t be distracted. Savor each bite.
Limit diet soda to one per day.
Prepare foods in a healthy manner. Limit fats to two teaspoons of heart-healthy oils each day.
Use food pyramid guidelines for snack portions.
Include a minimum of 30 minutes each day of exercise.
Choose denser foods to stay full longer.

Getting off the PLATEAU

Are you looking for the BEST ways to lose weight in a week?

If rapid weight loss is your goal, then you've come to the right place! Most people who need fast weight loss try to achieve it by fasting or starving themselves. What many people don't realize, is that that is the WORST possible way to lose weight fast!

When you starve your body for an extended period of time, your metabolism slows down to the point that it's almost impossible to burn calories. By regularly fueling the body, you can achieve the results that you want!

There are some simple tips that you can follow that will help you lose weight in a week and be happy with the results!

For 7 days, follow these guidelines exactly, with NO cheating!

Tips to lose weight FAST:

Record your weight and your measurements prior to starting the week.
Keep a weight loss journal where you can record your food consumption, daily activity, and thoughts.
Eat 3 small meals each day and 2 small snacks. Meals should be approximately 300 calories each and snacks should be 100 calories each.
Eat healthy, highly nutritious foods--NO empty calories!
If calorie counting is not your thing, follow the 5-4-3-2-1 Diet for 7 days.
Eat off small plates so that it appears that you're eating more than you are. Dieting is a "head game" after all!
Drink plenty of water--at least 6-8 tall glasses each day. Not only will water help you feel full but it will help to flush out your system.
Avoid all sweet drinks, including diet soda.
Avoid all alcoholic beverages as they provide empty calories and weaken your will-power.
Take a multi-vitamin each day.
Eliminate as much salt as possible from your diet. Don't eat salty foods and don't add salt to your food.
Avoid all sugar. Products that are high in sugar provide no nutritional value and slow weight loss.
The more you exercise, the more weight you will lose. Try to sweat, huff, and puff at least 30 minutes each day. More is better! At the very least, take a 30 minute walk each day and look for ways to get more activity into your daily routine. Listen to your favorite workout songs and keep a positive attitude.
Keep your motivation for weight loss high!
Post weight loss quotes around your house, car, and office.
Read motivational weight loss articles.
Watch weight loss success videos.
Read about the weight loss success of others.
Keep your mind focused on your one-week goal!

12 Weeks to Better