Getting Through the Holidays.....

It seems like I've received several emails lately on how to eat healthy and still enjoy the holidays. I will be honest with you, just eat! Eat what you want. Enjoy food. Don't feel guilty. The key is to do it in moderation. 

The only people I know of who have ever eaten a "strict certain diet" over the holidays are those people following a "strict certain diet."  Problem is, what will happen one, two, or three Christmas's from now when they are not on that diet anymore? Will their body know what to do? Will their brain be trained on how to eat for enjoyment but in moderation? Have you trained your brain?  Are you willing to give it a shot?

This is really the key with weight loss and maintenance. Yes, initially you have to make some sacrifices on your food choices when you are actively losing, but when it came to special occasions and or the holidays, I always ate what I wanted but in moderation. I never wanted to deprive myself of anything.  I wanted to train my mind most of all, on how to eat normal foods, even treats, and still come out a winner in the end. I often times wouldn't find myself losing that 1/2 -1 pound weight loss for that week but I maintained without a gain and learned I could enjoy that special celebration or holiday and ENJOY the foods I love. 

I was just at a Christmas luncheon for work a week or so ago and one of the gals I work closely with said to me afterwards, " I love how you just ate whatever you wanted. I saw you pick some naughty things and I also saw you pass by other naughty things. (I try to balance out the naughties when I can.)  It made me look at you and think, if she can do it like that...so can I." 

You too can train your body and brain to be successful during the holidays. The key is to eat what you want, enjoy the festive foods you're surrounded with, and keep moving! Yep, you can't do all this and expect not to exercise. If you're away from your gym or the things you're used to doing, go for a walk. Go on a hike....just be active in some way each day. Honestly your mind needs that more than anything. For me it makes me feel empowered. I'm telling my body who is in charge and that even though we may be eating some things that normally aren't consumed, we're still going to have to work for them. You can do it! You make up the rules remember? Just tell your mind and body how it's going to be, and they will follow along. I promise it works every time.

With that in mind, and as we remember this week the birth of our Savior, I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas!

I'm Still Here

I know many of you have wondered where I've gone and why I've stopped posting lately. Just to clarify, no I haven't stopped because I've decided eating healthy isn't for me and I don't want to do it anymore. No I haven't been gaining all my weight back and are afraid to blog. In fact, here is my scale weight as of this morning.

(So, it was early and I used my phone upside down. Whoops. Basically, it says 146! Very NORMAL for me as I am usually anywhere between 143-147.)

No, I haven't stopped blogging because I'm afraid I won't be able to keep the weight off and am just giving up. Nope, none of the above is true so you can put your mind at ease.

I really don't know that I have a good answer as far as why I haven't been blogging. I actually enjoy blogging about my journey. It's therapy for me. It excites me. It makes me feel good to share my story with others and it makes me even more happy to hear about your progress and your own journeys.

I know October was a hard month for me mentally, which had nothing to do with my weight-loss journey. It was the year mark of a time where my son was seriously ill in the hospital and spent a week in ICU and then some. Just the memories that would often come flooding back through my mind (and they still do) of those days spent there and how scary things were for him and our family during that time have left me a little bit in reserved mode these days.  Even though the outcome was wonderful and I'm so grateful God saw fit to let him stay with us, the whole experience, as beautiful as it was, certainly has seemed to shake my world a bit. 

Don't worry, I think I'll be back to regular posting soon. Just trying to get up again and keep moving forward. The good news is, I've found great peace in my moments of exercise. It brings me joy to know that my health is good, and that my body is able to do such amazing things. I'm finding it important to share this post with you so you can see that I too am very normal. I struggle. I have hard times. 

Just because I haven't been blogging doesn't mean I haven't been doing what I always do. Here's a picture of a great hike we took up Rattlesnake Ridge, Thanksgiving morning while in Seattle. (It was about 2 miles up, a great view, and the two miles down.)

Here's to hopefully another post in the near future!