Daily Routines and Habits!!!

 Have you ever noticed how "bad habits" come so easily but so hard to break them?  When we want to do a "Good Habit" it is even harder to form it and make it a part of our daily routine. 

Erika, Tiffany and I have been walking since January.  It has taken me till April to be able to do 1/2 mile twice a week.  On Friday we had another lady join us, Ramona.  She assured me, she cannot walk fast.  I said, "No problem, neither do I!"  I will just Ramona put me to shame....I am UPPING MY GAME!!!  She just took off and we never did catch up with her.  By the time Erika and I rounded the back end of the building, Ramona was just about rounding the front end!!  Erika tried to tell me "don't compare yourself" but maybe this is what I need to poke me along a little bit more.

With swollen legs and arthritic knees, it is just so hard for me with every step I take.  I can feel they are getting better and I just need to be patient and keep moving forward.  The thing I have realized though, is that I miss walking when we do not go.  When I say "do not go" I mean on the weekends not during the week.

I truly hope you all have found a partner to go walking with you and you commit yourselves to one another on changing your habits.  I know it is not easy.  I also know I am very lucked and blessed to have Erika and Tiffany out with me everyday, knowing I can count on them.

I will continue to battle the No Sugar and No Soda because that is how I feel I do the best.  I think this time around though I am going to focus on exercise and getting stronger in my legs.  I have noticed other things I have changed without even trying.  Every once in a while, I want a nice piece of hot bread, but I don't buy bread anymore.  I go for a salad with a chicken strip across the top.  I am a very simple eater.  My problem was all my snacking and my sugar!!

I know so many things can affect your eating habits.  I hope somewhere in all my babbling and this blog, you have found ways to help combat your issues you are struggling with.  I met a lady in the grocery store yesterday who was struggling with what Shrimp Cocktail Sauce to buy.  Seems like an easy choice right?  She concentrates on the labels and one had 760 sodium in one and 820 sodium in another, and this was for only 1/4 cup of cocktail sauce.  Salt is another one of my bad habits I need to find a way to battle.

But for right now, I want to add exercise to my daily routines and habits.  So what about you?  Now that we are 1/4th into the year are you still striving to work on your habits from the beginning of the year?  Or have they been pushed aside with the excuse of "not enough time".  I can tell you, until you start making the life style changes and make good habits, and break the old habits, you will chase yourself in circles.  Remember if you need support, come here and vent!!  Let's do this!!!

What Have You Learned From No Sugar and No Soda?

So how did every one do with the last challenge of No Sugar No Soda till Easter?  I think for me more than anything it has helped me break the habit of not getting the candy bars and pop as I head through the checkout stands.  Here are some things I have learned: 

• I don't eat till I am full, I eat till the food is all gone.  And it doesn't matter what kind of food it is.  That is why I cannot buy a bag of candy, or package of cookies and think I can eat just one.

• Walking everyday, I can finally see the benefit of the exercise and I can start making plans for the future.  I will be the first to admit it has not been easy and there have been many mornings I did not want to go.  But having buddies to go with changed everything.  Erika even told me she was so sore and achy this morning, she didn't want to go but she did.  She knows I will be there and I know she will be there every morning.

• Advice and remarks from others, although well meaning can still be very hurtful.  But you need to stand your ground.  I know people only want to "help" but you are the only one who knows what is best for you.  My weight is coming off slowly, but I am not really on a diet, I am trying to make life changes.  By taking shakes, or other "weight loss" alternatives does not teach you to change your habits.  You need to change your habits!!

• When I do eat sugar, I realize my patience and my "last nerve" becomes very short.  Laying off the sugar has a lot of affects on my body chemistry. 

• I decide to lay off the sugar now "by choice".  I have decided this go around I will allow my self a treat once a month if I want one...but it has got to be worth it!!  Really worth it!!!  Ha Ha

 So what have you learned from laying off Sugar and Soda?

Are You Up For a New Challenge?

I have a new challenge for all of you. As I mentioned in my last post, I have finally begun to see some progress in my legs and walking.  I have gone from walking 1/4 a mile to 1/2 mile.  It has not been easy, but I can tell you it is becoming so worth it for me.  It's a matter of getting up and moving!  Last Saturday I was at a baby shower and heard a couple of the ladies talk about a 5K they had just done that morning.  I listened to them and thought, "Man I could never do that!!!"  In talking to one of the ladies I jokingly said, "I do good to do my 1/4 of a mile, and just last week started doing 1/2 mile a couple days a week". She said, "Laura it doesn't matter how far you go just get moving!!!" 

So this weighed on my mind all weekend and into the week and Wednesday proposed it to my walking buddies.  Erika and Tiffany said, "Let's do it!!" 

Next Spring we are going to do a 5K!

Mind you we are WALKING not RUNNING.  I have tried to gather other friends, most have laughed and said "Good Luck!  But no!" 

So I propose the same challenge to all of you!!!  It is a year away.  No matter where you are I am sure there are 5K's in your area.  A 5K is about 3 1/2 miles, so not really too far. When you think about going to Disneyland or Disney World it is nothing to walk that much in a couple of hours.

If you are like me and think "But I can hardly walk" this is your chance to make a goal and get up and get moving!!  This all comes line upon line.....one step at a time.  Right now we are only at 1/2 mile a few times a week then we will work up to 3/4 a mile, then a mile and so forth.

I am going to continue my blog, I will try to update at least once a week to let you know how I am doing.  How is everyone else doing?  With my No Sugar and No Soda, I have learned something interesting.  It started out by giving up Sugar and Soda because I needed control of my life.  It kept me away from sweets and broke my habit of getting a candy bar every time I went through the check out line.  I don't buy a bag of candy because I know I will eat it all.  But I can seem to control myself more now with sweets more than I ever could before.  Last Sunday we were all three in a meeting and I passed up the brownies because Erika and Tiffany were there.  I laugh at myself, because why don't I just go buy brownies?  Maybe it is because I have finally realized I don't need a brownie every time I see one. 

Little by little things will come, just start one step at a time.  I am anxious to hear how everyone else has done on their goals.  I am looking forward to Easter and having a Bunny!!!  Thank you for following my blog and my journey!!  I want to hear about yours!!

Never, Never, Never GIVE UP!!!!

I apologize for the lack of support and updates lately.  I am very limited on my computer time and it seems so much of my time is spent on catching up with email and the happenings of the world and life.  So I truly apologize!  How is everyone doing on the No Sugar and No Soda.

I know Kathy has said she has not lost any weight and so after Easter was not going to do it anymore. For me I will continue to do it, because it keeps me from just going and buying candy and then eating it all.  I actually made quite the breakthrough today!!! I WALKED 1/2 MILE!!!

Now I know what you are thinking, Laura ANYONE can do 1/2 mile.....No not anyone!!!  About a year ago I was on a cane and have decided I was going to get healthy.  I got rid of the soda, the sweets, and at the first of the year started walking.  Erika and I were talking today about when we started walking.  It was late January or February.  When we first started, I could barely do the 1/4 of a mile.  But she kept reminding me, BUT YOU DID IT!  Gradually we went from three days a week to five. Today she told me how good I did going around the building and we decided to do another lap!!  Go US!!

If there is anything I can say to any of you about fighting the weight loss battle, it is to NEVER, NEVER GIVE UP!!  Maybe the no sugar and no soda is not working for you.  For me it helped me to see habits and how easy it was to grab a candy bar on the way out the door.  Also because I know longer have those things in my midst, I do not snack as I used to. 

This has also taught me PATIENCE!!!  No one can ever know the pain in my legs and knees I tolerate to just be able to walk a few steps a day.  There were times at night that my legs hurt so badly they throbbed.  I would try various medications on them just hoping the throbbing would die down enough that I could get some sleep.  There are a few things I found helped some.  The Lymph Gland Cleanse seemed to help the swelling in my legs some.  I started to take a daily vitamin, Alleve every day and some Glucosamine Chondroitin.  Supposedly this is supposed to help you rebuild the cartilage in your joints.

One of the problems I could feel with my knees, is they would grind when I tried to bend them.  Sometimes my knee would catch and when it would "un-catch" it hurt.  But through all this I decided if I was to ever get better, I had to keep trying.  Today FINALLY I saw some different results.  YEAAA ME!!

I could have never had done this without the support and belief of all of you.  And without Erika and Tiffany!!  You all rock!!!  Even if you feel you need to take a break from all this, just DON"T EVER GIVE UP!!! 

Trials, Struggles and Crashes -- OH MY!!

Hey Everyone....I hope you are all hanging in there and doing the best you can!!  Easter is just around the corner!  For what ever reason this has been an extremely hard month and beginning of year for me.  There is good news....I have begun to walk five times a week instead of just three times a week!!!  Yea Me!!  I am trying to celebrate the little things.

On the flip side of that, my computer  has CRASHED!!!  UGH!!!  I have been using computers since 1988 and this is the first time I have ever had a computer crash!!!  I have very limited access to one in the Family History Center.  Please forgive me for not keeping this blog up....I will try do better once I get a computer again!

Hugs to all and Hang In There!!!  Laura

Feeding Times....Do They Exist?

A few years ago, someone told me their mom had lost quite a bit of weight by changing a few things.

1. Ate cereal for breakfast
2. Had a large salad for Lunch.
3. Ate anything she wanted for dinner with these exceptions:
1. She could not eat after 6 p.m.

I thought this was crazy!!! But thought I would give it a try.  After only a couple of weeks my friend said, "Laura you have lost weight."  That made me smile.  But of course when I told them what I was doing they didn't believe me.  I am not a cereal eater either, but I realized I did like some cereal.

One of the side affects of this I saw real fast, was that I would wake up in the middle of the night starving.  My tummy would grumble like it had not eaten in a week.  I learned that water could quiet my stomach down enough until I could eat in the morning.  I stuck to my guns about not eating after 6 p.m.  On a few occasions I had to politely turned down someone's offer to eat after my dead line.  Some understood but many more let me know how ridiculous it was and tried to guilt me into eating. 

So again, my point here is changing another habit.  Maybe you cannot set a 6 p.m. deadline, maybe it is a 6:30 or 7 deadline.  But just like everything else we need to do in our lives, it needs to be budgeted.  When you don't budget the times, like everything else it can spin out of control faster than chocolate disappears from a chocoholic's hand to their mouth.  In other words, DON'T BLINK.

Find times that work for you and your family.  It may be difficult at first to get everyone together for dinner, but keep trying till you work out the quirks.  It will come.

I am interested to hear if anyone else has set feeding times?

Living In a Perfect Society.....

I was thinking about this morning, if you could have one thing perfect in your life what would it be?

Is it a perfect body?  Family?  Ideal job? Clean house?  Bank account?  What would it be?

This has been on my mind, because I am learning through my life that nothing is perfect although we always seem to strive for that.  But what is Perfect?  Is it what we set for ourselves, or do we tend to gear towards what society thinks is perfect?

Take our bodies.  For me it didn't matter if I was 20 lbs overweight or 200 lbs overweight I was still referred to as an animal.  I have been through all this before, because I was seen as an animal, that is how I saw myself.  Today, I can see how I have lost weight, and whiles others say "Great Job, Laura!"  there are those that look me up and down and then proceed to give me their advice of how I need to go on a diet, lose weight etc.  But it doesn't stop with just our self image.

I look at families.  I remember a family who lived up the street from us my mom would call "the baby factory".  Why? Was it because of the amount of children (who I believe had one or two more than she did) or was it because it was the society standard to go against those with large families?  What about the wayward teenager?  Too many times I hear a parent say, "my child would never do that" or "he is so out of control he is no longer my problem".  Why could it never be your child or why is he/she is no longer your "problem"?

I have had jobs that were great and I loved and believe I even once had the perfect job.  But sometimes things happen in our "perfect societies" that we need to re-evaluate and try again.  The key to all this I believe is not striving for a "perfect life" but to strive for a way that we learn to stand up for what is right for us, not what is popular by society.

I am a BYU Fan and yes I have been "JIMMERED"!  Just when we thought life was getting perfect for BYU Basketball a snafu was thrown into the mix.  The day after making a 3rd ranking in the polls, it was announced one of the players had been suspended from the team for an honor code violation.  Immediately it was all over the news.  What became interesting to me were the people (mainly younger generation) who said, "So what it was only pre-martial sex.  Come to our school, you can drink, party, have sex as much as you want and not be judged." The older generation seemed to give a high five to BYU that they stuck to the rules and everyone is treated the same.  The thing that impressed me the most, was it was the player who came to them and admitted what he had done.  Coach Rose went on to say we put our arms around him to let him know he was loved and to help him back. 

I saw this as a great service of love.  On Seniors Day, Brandon was there with the team on the bench in street clothes.  The fans were behind Brandon, letting him know "yeah we all mess up...you're just being slung through the dirt.....but we are right here for you!" When it came time to cutting down the net, Brandon had to be found to cut down a piece and received a "Standing Ovation (SO)".  The SO was not about what he had done that made national headlines, it was about he did RIGHT that brought everyone to their feet. 

I have thought about Brandon in the last couple of weeks.  He has taught me, "Stand up for what is right, not what is popular."  I apply this to my own life this way.  People do not need to tell me I am overweight, I know that.  But I also learned instead of sitting there and feeling bad about the lecture or "advice" that was given me, I need to speak up for a people that often is looked at as not being strong enough.  That is hogwash, we are strong!!  We just need to stand up and say so!

Part of losing weight is about what you eat, but it is not the WHOLE PICTURE!!  You cannot fix the outside till we fix the inside. That means becoming stronger people!! And it means not letting the words and actions of others dictate what we know is right for us, not for society.

Sometimes we are going to fall, we need to get back up and try again.  Sometimes we are going to let society get to us and question our abilities, we need to get back up and keep trying. So what would I want perfect in my life?  Not sure. I know now that my weaknesses will become my strengths, and I never want to stop growing!  I have decided I no longer need a perfect life or society to live with in, I just need what is right for me. 


Whew!!  Now I feel better, coming down off my soapbox!!