90 Days to a New Me

Well, I have taken stock of my current situation and find myself in a surprising place. My house is completely cluttered. This resulted when I was spending most of my time in Minneapolis and my daughter, son-in-law and ex-stepson were all living in my house. I had to rearrange all my things to make room for them. When I came back, I had additional household items that I had purchased in the Twin Cities. However, there is no room for them here because I really need to clean out other unwanted stuff first. So almost every room has to be cleaned out and reorganized. My garage is still holding items that belong to my former houseguests!

Second, I am the fattest I have ever been in my entire life. I am 39 pounds OVER the weight I was when I delivered my daughter (that’s 39 pounds over 9-months pregnant weight!) My skin is broken out in a rash on my chest and one calf – I am sure this is entirely a result of stress. I am stressed because I am working a full-time job and trying to start up a small business. I am also attending seminary to become and ordained interfaith minister – all of these things take up time and I am spread thin amongst them all.

Third, the company I work for has been having cash flow problems and the last three months they have pushed back our paydate. This along with a 25% paycut at the beginning of this year has put me in a position I never thought I’d see again. I had been spending without really thinking much about it and unfortunately continued to do so after the paycut. I now realize I have gotten back into debt and have made a huge dent in savings. This is also adding to my stress!

However, like Scarlett O’Hara, I will not let myself get down about this – tomorrow is another day. Actually, I am quite excited because I am starting a 90 day program of my own design to get me from here to where I want to be. I think this program could eventually become a product/service I can deliver in my coaching business. As Film Producer Mike Todd said, “I’ve never been poor, but I have been broke.” Broke is a temporary situation; poor is a state of mind. I am definitely not poor! It’s all in your attitude no matter your situation.

So, yesterday was Day 1 – I took stock of my checking and savings balances and debt balances. I also created a vision of the life I would love. I then created a spending plan. I am now working on a project plan to get me from the current situation to a new situation in 90 days which will be a step on the road to my ultimate dream life. I looked at my outflow and cut back on some expenses. I also called in some money that was owed to me. I even found 7 bucks and some change in a wallet I haven’t used in a while! It just goes to show that with the right intention and positive thought, God provides what you need to you.

So, today I didn’t change my financial situation much and I definitely didn’t change my stress – I worked on work stuff for 14 hours and didn’t exercise. But I am getting some of the clutter under control so that should help me get my mind clearer as well to determine the best time to schedule some of the things I need to do daily. The plan is to make small improvements daily – I’ll let you know how it goes!

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WeightWatchers DropOut

I have officially deemed myself a Weight Watchers dropout. Not that I don’t like the program or think that it works. I do believe that it is one of the best systems for losing weight for many people – I’m just not one of them.

As you may know, you get a certain amount of points allowed per day based on your current weight. Every food is worth so many points. The points values are calculated based on calories, fat and fiber. So, two items with the same amount of calories, the one with less fiber would have more points. So, theoretically if you eat “good” foods such as fruits and vegetables, you will have plenty of points to make it through the day. So, while it’s true that you can eat what you want when you want it, it isn’t entirely true because sometimes you are out of points when the thing you really want will cost you a lot of points.

My problem is that I am an emotional eater. I eat when I’m bored, anxious, sad, nervous, angry, pretty much anything except hungry…oh, yeah and when I’m hungry too! The other issue for me is that the minute something is deemed off-limits, then it’s all I can think about. I have dreams of it and want it with every fiber of my being. So, while technically WW allows you to have whatever you want (you just count the points), if you are out of points – YOU CAN’T HAVE IT!!!

Many years ago, I lost quite a bit of weight and the way I did it was to be VERY permissive with myself. I was actually working for a psychotherapist who specialized in eating disorders and this was a method she employed with her compulsive eaters, AKA emotional eaters. I told myself I could have whatever I wanted. The deal was that there were a few ground rules…

1) Eat only when hungry – that’s physically hungry. For some of us it takes a while to figure this one out – we’ve never allowed ourselves to actually experience it

2) Stop when satisfied – NOT gorged to the max, just satisfied. A friend and weight loss coach once told me that she finds this point is when in the middle of a meal she sighs – that is her body’s indication that she is satisfied. I have used this one as well – simply because sometimes there is no other indication.

3) Eat with no distractions – thoroughly enjoy and focus on what you are eating. This means no TV, no eating in the car, no stressful conversations while eating, no reading while eating. Focus totally and completely on your food – on the taste and smell of it, the texture. Enjoy it to the fullest. This also makes it easier to determine when you are satisfied.

4) Eat only what you really want to eat. If you eat what you think you should eat, you will never really feel satisfied and then you will reach for it later and probably consume way more than you would have if you had just allowed yourself to have it to begin with.

Geneen Roth, in her book – When Food Is Love”, describes her first few weeks of eating only what she wanted. She ate chocolate chip cookies both baked and the raw dough and variations of each at every meal for about two weeks until she got to a point that she never thought she’d want to see a chocolate chip cookie again. Some of us have deprived ourselves for so long, that we want those things fearing we will never get to see them again. These first few weeks can be scary as our minds adjust to believing that we aren’t going to be deprived anymore.

Now, when we stop using food to cover up our emotions, we are still left with the emotions we have to deal with. There are many methods for doing this including therapy, journaling, meditating, screaming. The most interesting one is the one used by Paul McKenna in his book and TV show of the same name, “I Can Make You Thin”. It is EFT or the Emotional Freedom Technique which consists of a series of tapping motions that you make on various meridian points on your body in conjunction with stating appropriate affirmations. This actually works surprisingly well IF you can remember to do this when you’re in the middle of a binge.

Well, for what it’s worth, I’ve canceled my WW membership and re-read Geneen Roth’s books and am now starting down my path of dealing with the emotional eating rather than the weight. It probably means I’ll be blogging more so I can vent my emotions through my writing. Stay tuned!

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Friday Favorite – T-Tapp!

Well, in order to work off the gelato from last week, we need to get our buns in gear! Today you’ll hear about my favorite exercise. This exercise is great for exercisers and non-exercisers alike! It is called T-Tapp and it was created by a woman who used to be a physical therapist. It is really quick to learn (but you do need to be very careful about using proper form!) and can be done without any equipment in a space the size of a closet!

Also, no matter where you live, you can get instruction on proper form by Kirsten Tucker – she is the best T-Tapp instructor! If you are in Houston or Minneapolis, you can do this in person. If not, can even help you long-distance using webcam to get your form corrected.

This system of exercise really works on your lymphatic system to help get rid of toxins, it also help to balance your blood sugar levels and also balances your hormones. The end result is weight loss, muscle firmness and more energy – who could ask for more?

You can check out the main website here: www.t-tapp.com They have some free videos you can watch and learn some of the exercises – you can also order books and DVDs there. However, if you join one of Kirsten’s bootcamps, you get a 20% discount off on any products purchased from her.

Check out Kirsten’s website here: Kirsten Tucker Be sure to sign up for her newsletter and if you are a travel aficionado, please sign up for her travel newsletter. She is planning a trip to New York in December and you can attend no matter where you live!

I urge you to try this exercise whether you are an athlete or a couch potato – you will gain results from it. The bottom line is that when I do it, I lose weight and when I don’t, I don’t!

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