Breaking the Negative Self Talk Cycle

So, I was reading up at Scale Junkie today and decided to take the challenge to write down ten positive things about myself.

"Big whoop, we do that on facebook every day when we get tagged."

Yeah, well... for "normal", non food-obsessed folks, it's a little easier. When you get caught in the yo-yo-diet trap and are constantly obsessing over your numbers, weight, flaws, flab and fatness, it gets progressively more and more difficult.

As time moves along I find myself engaging in self hate talk and thoughts. "I'm so fat." "Yeah, look at these thunder thighs!" "I couldn't fit into that in 100 years." "I'm so disgusting."

And it continues. Now, it's not that it happens all the time, but it happens a lot. Nobody's partner should have to continually say, "You're not fat." Especially one who calls you beautiful all the time. :)


So. Here I go.

* When I have clear rules, I'm REALLY good at following an eating plan.
* I try to exceed my trainer's expectations, and usually do
* I keep a good sense of humor, even if I fail
* I am a loving partner and loving kitty momma
* I have a capacity to learn and will seek new information daily
* I can read 100 pages an hour, so I can read a new book almost every day
* I am a talented photographer
* I am a good writer, dammit, and I will finish my book
* I'm a good cook, and can make healthy meals for myself and Dan every day
* I feel really proud of myself and happy after I've worked out


And now I'll say what she said:

Your turn, even if it hurts, even if it causes some discomfort, write a list of positive things that are true about you. I wrote 10, you can write more or less but do at least 6 and really push yourself out of that comfort zone and look inside of yourself for this list. You don’t have to share them if you don’t want but I really REALLY hope you do! Looking a little deeper sometimes provides the push that we need.

Love Shout Outs...

I was perusing my traffic and noticed that Mike over at Zumewalk gave me a sweet shout-out!




Gah! I love that.


Make sure you go check him out - he's got loads of great things to say, most recently I saw his discussion on The Biggest Loser.


I also want to clarify and make sure (for those of you who are new readers and haven't followed the recipe posting from the beginning) that I'm posting these recipes from the book "Quick & Healthy Recipes and Ideas" by Brenda J. Ponichtera. She was also kind enough to stop by my blog and comment on the first entry I did! :)

I do also post recipes from other people such as my trainer, or ones I come up with on my own - and those will be individually noted as such. :)

~J

World's the Word

This is totally awesome. My tracker has a feature that shows a world map of the location of the people who have recently visited my blog. Dude.



~J

Does This Blog Make Us Look Fat?

Okay, so I know I've mentioned my obsessive habit of searching for weight loss and/or diet blogs. I don't know exactly what it is, but something about knowing I'm not the only one out there really makes me feel happy. I have nosed around different forums before, and that doesn't quite do it for me for some reason. I think there's a whole other world going on with bloggers (Can I put myself in this category yet? I feel like I need to have been doing this for a year before I can call myself a "Blogger".)-- Bloggers have a different level of commitment and obsession with this thing. And, most of them (the good ones, at least) are writers. That in and of itself gets them into my good book.

And, speaking of my good book, the fabulous folks down at Does This Blog Make US Look Fat? gave me a shout-out at their blog.


I appreciate that... 'cause a girl wants to boost her circulation, ya know what I'm saying??? ;)

So, if you're a blog junkie like me, go check them out. Their blog has a really great style, it's organized, and way easy to get hooked on. Especially if you like those old fashioned cartoon clips with attitude. Well... you'll just have to go check it out for yourself. ;)

~J

Resowhations?

So, I am obsessed with fat / weight / weight loss / diet blogs.

I've been doing some random searching through Google, and happened across Fat Girl on a Date, and I dig this chick. Her writing is good, she's got some solid content and actually writes intriguing blogs that keep me interested.

She mentioned something in a blog that a friend of hers had told her.

"We spend all this time looking for the right person, when what we should be doing is becoming the right person."

I LOVE this. It's similar to what I like to tell people, "Before you can be half of a whole in a relationship, you have to be whole in and of yourself." But I like the other one better.

So for all my single friends out there... take it to heart. Don't look at your singledom as a dooming, depressing time. Look at it as free time to make yourself into exactly who you dream of being. Healthy, successful, happy, peaceful, whatever.

Now is your time. This is your year.


~J

Hassle Me.

This is a great website that will help you with your New Years Resolutions.

http://www.hassleme.co.uk/

Enter the frequency and type of hassle you want, enter your e-mail address, and let them do the work.

I asked them to hassle me about working out. :)

Stuffy Stuff.

So, a few things that aren't related to each other and are all in all kind of random.

Dan in the footy pajamas my Mom got him:


The cookies I made with my Mom (We're awesome...)


The signed, framed photo of John Mayer Jesse got me:


And the awesome cookbook Jesse got me:



It has dinner menus and shopping lists for 20 weeks. How awesome is that??? I'm going to be blogging the meals I make from the menu and sharing the recipes here starting next Sunday. :)

Love,
Jenn

A Few Changes.

I love the movie "The Mirror Has Two Faces." I don't know if any of you like Barbra Streisand movies, or if you've ever seen this one, but I find it to be particularly inspiring when it comes to working out, eating better and changing your body. There's a part when her husband (who married her because she was unattractive, because he didn't want sex to be a distraction or a factor in his relationships) comes home from a long business trip and she's lost a ton of weight, looks beautiful, got her hair done, is wearing makeup and a sexy dress. He is outraged and says "what did you do to yourself?!!!?" She says, "Do to myself? It's not like I had surgery. I just made a few changes."

That is really what it's all about. Making a few changes in the way you live your life. My Mom and I were talking about this over coffee today. It's the way I feel. Making a few changes: Eating more natural foods. Being more active.

I haven't worked out at the gym for three days. It's harder when I don't have a gym membership out here and my parents went to the gym early in the morning all three days. I'm a work out around 4-7pm type of person. But I've been walking a lot, and stretching a lot. I'm going to try to do some work on my Mom's Bosu Ball today. The good news is that I've been eating well and eating just at or under my recommended caloric intake for each day. Except yesterday I was about 100 calories over. No biggie.

I haven't weighed myself in two days... it's probably healthier to do that. I have an obsession with the scale and I could weigh myself several times a day if I let myself. I hope to get to the point that I weigh myself weekly instead of daily.

I went shopping with my Mom for our Christmas foods today, and we made a few small changes. Where we might previously have bought a bag of white flour rolls, we got these instead:



Where she usually buys a salad mix of iceberg lettuce (zero nutritional value), we bought this instead:



Those two things alone will provide us with healthier choices for our holiday meal.



I also wanted to share some of what I eat on a regular basis. I found a beautiful fruit salad with mango and kiwi... YUM! This is my after lunch snack:



I had Pho for lunch (Vietnamese beef noodle bowl) but I didn't get a photo of it... this is what pho looks like (image found at eatvancouver.net):




I love soy milk and all natural juice drinks and shakes:


Organic Yogurt:


Sprouted Grain Breads:


Kashi TLC crackers:


And affordable sushi from Costco... this was only 5 bucks!:


I love sushi. And, okay, I know that California rolls are NOT real sushi because it's imitation crab... and this contains white sushi rice. BUT... sushi is still a nice, light, healthy option and I feel great after I eat it. :)

Tonight I'm off to watch my friend and his band play a show, and then going out with some friends after that. Hurray for free time! :)~

~J

You're Turning Violet, Violet!

So... I had the opportunity, now that I'm home in Denver to go see my FABULOUS hair stylist Travis. I wanted to do something fun and funky because I am my own boss, and don't have to deal with corporate bullshit dictating what I can and can't wear, what piercings or tattoos I have, or what color my hair is.

The result? A kickass mix of black, purple and white blonde hair. BAD ASS!

Travis is AMAZING.




That's all.

My Past Life

I stumbled upon a website that "tells you your past life". :) I couldn't resist it.




Your past life diagnosis:

---

I don't know how you feel about it, but you were female in your last earthly incarnation.You were born somewhere in the territory of modern Central India around the year 1275. Your profession was that of a preacher, publisher or writer of ancient inscriptions.

---

Your brief psychological profile in your past life:
Timid, constrained, quiet person. You had creative talents, which waited until this life to be liberated. Sometimes your environment considered you strange.

---

The lesson that your last past life brought to your present incarnation:
Your main task is to make the world more beautiful. Physical and spiritual deserts are just waiting for your touch. Keep smiling!

---

Do you remember now?




Considering that I'm a photographer now, I'm sort of surprised it pulled all of this just from my birthday (the creativity, etc)... but let's just call it coincidental.

If you want to give it a run, visit www.thebigview.com/pastlife/


Well... I'm off to the gym. This is the earliest I've ever gone (11:30am) so we'll see how it effects me. I have to leave tomorrow at 5am for a 7:30am flight to Denver. From there, I'll be home for two sweet weeks! Don't worry... I'm sticking to the plan and will be updating daily. :)~

PS... Status Report: Today, down another .06 lbs to 219.2.

:~)

~J

Future Me

I just found the coolest thing. www.futureme.org. You can write yourself an email in the future.

I did it. Here's mine:




Dear FutureMe,

I'm writing you, today, December 10th, 2008. You started your weight loss and fitness program on December 1st, and are writing a blog.

I'm sending this for delivery SIX months from now, June 10th, 2009. Hopefully by now, you are at or very close to your goal weight of 160.

If you're not, or you gave up, shame on you. Remember how good it felt to eat right and exercise?

Hopefully this email will help you feel GREAT and PROUD about your accomplishments!

No matter what... I love you. :)





So... you should do it. I'm curious also, if you're willing to share, what your "Future Me" email said.

~J