Your Word for 2012

We have a tradition at The Healthy Weigh...choosing a word for the year. As 2011 comes to a close, we've been working on our word choices. We've each been deciding on a word, that if studied, focused on, and mastered would alter our lives in 2012.

Words carry enormous power to move us to a greater level of living. Words create impressions, images and expectations. They build psychological connections. Words dictate how we think, and since our thoughts dictate our actions, there's a powerful connection between the words we focus on and speak, and the results we get.

Poorly chosen words can kill enthusiasm, impact self-esteem, lower expectations and hold people back.
Well chosen words motivate people, offer hope, impact thinking, and alter results. Do you want altered results in 2009?

Choose a word, just for you...then become an expert at it. Select a word that creates a visual of the desired outcome. Choose your word as if it matters...because it does. Research it, become a student of it, and display it all year. Let your friends and family know about your word. Allow your word to alter you in 2012.

I Thought I would post a few of my clients word choices with their explanations as to why they chose that word. It might help get you started on your own word choice.

My word is TRANSITION.
Meaning the process of changing; passing from one condition to another. Its an exciting word for me in many ways; my weight, my fitness goals, and my job. This year I became eligible for early retirement and I get excited thinking about all the things I could do and change the season of my life to a new and exciting chapter but I haven't done anything towards making that happen. I found it interesting to look up and see that opposite words are stagnation, sameness (wow, that's where I've been). While I may not mentally be ready to completely let go I do want to take steps that direction such as cutting back hours and responsibilities to focus on personal goals and interests. Yep, I like the word meaning the "process" of changing and setting goals in all areas of my life in that direction will make it happen!
Peggy

I've had a problem with my word for the last couple of years and finally decided to adopt it. It's not a pretty word like "hope" or "believe" or "understanding".
My word is TENACIOUS
Meaning "persistent in maintaining or seeking something of value", "holding fast", "not easily pulled asunder", "unyielding". I Will Be Tenacious This Year!!!

Susan

My word is FREEDOM.
The state of being free or at liberty rather than in confinement or under physical restraint 2. exemption from external control, interference, regulation, etc.
3. the power to determine action without restraint.
Kimberli

My word for the year is TRIUMPH or TRIUMPHANT.
depending on how you are using it. Triumph/Triumphant...the act, fact, or condition of being victorious or triumphant; victory; conquest, a significant success or noteworthy achievement, exultation resulting from victory; joy over success, to be successful, to be elated or glad; rejoice proudly, the feeling of exultation and happiness derived from a victory or major achievement. What makes this word even better is having the word REJOICE (another great one) in the definition! This is so my word!!!!
Karen

I hope that these words have inspired you to start this powerful and life changing tradition for yourself! I'd love to see your comments and hear about your words for 2012!

Always encouraging you,

Letha...oh, and by the way, my word for 2012 is...FUN!

Give yourself permission to have a Merry Christmas!

It's the Friday before Christmas and I just sat and read through my clients face book posts. I've been inspired to write this morning because of them. I love face book for that reason. It gives me a peek into their lives this Christmas.I read about their struggles and their desire to stay the course. Let's face it, the holiday season isn't an easy time for people who have decided to lose weight and eat healthy.

I guess I want to give a new perspective on eating healthy through the holidays this morning. I could make a list of the top 10 ways to "stay on your diet," I could give a list of "diet recipes" to take to your holiday parties or I could give one of my motivational talks about what it looks like to "make a decision!" Instead I'm going to give you a new way to look at this wonderful time of year!

Have you ever noticed that thin, healthy people go through the holidays and come out on the other side thin and healthy? It's not because they are staying away from EVERYTHING that's not on their program, it's because they are making healthy choices for the most part and then enjoying a few bites of "sometimes foods." Those are the foods that we don't have every day...or even every week. They are the foods that we should have "sometimes" in our diets. Those sometimes foods show up more often during the holidays!

What would happen if you(who are on a weight loss diet)made sure that you were exercising, drinking water, getting in your important food groups, had a bite or two of those "sometimes foods?" I'll tell you...you'd probably STILL lose weight over the holiday!

But here's what happens! Instead of eating your basic, nutritional foods, you start saying yes to the sometimes foods and no to your healthy foods. You don't have a bite of something yummy, you finish it off! Guilt sets in because you were "off program" and to make matters worse, you feel physically sick as well! That sets in motion more of the same and you throw in the towel! You gain weight over the holidays and have to climb out of that hole after New Years' and "start over."

What if you gave yourself permission to take a bite of Aunt Judy's fudge? What if you gave yourself permission to eat the prettiest sugar cookie on the plate? What if you gave yourself permission to eat like a thin, healthy person on Christmas Eve? I'll tell you. You'd feel great, you'd be really proud of your choices and you'd probably lose weight over the holidays!

If I had a list of things to do to stay healthy over the holidays it'd look like this:
Make sure you are eating ALL your program food! Don't miss a meal.
Put cranberries or frozen strawberries with lime in your water and drink a ton of it!
Before you start your holiday cooking/baking, eat a meal!
Don't run out of healthy/program food!
Get outside and MOVE!
When you choose to have a bite of a "sometimes food"...pick the best! don't waste a calorie on something that isn't GREAT!
GET RID OF LEFTOVERS! Don't let the celebration continue for days!

I know for some of you this perspective will be a relief, for others it will stress you out! Living in extremes is a similar characteristic of over weight people; it's all or nothing. What if you gave yourself permission to live life in the balance this Christmas?

I'm making sugar cookies today. The sparkly snowflakes are my favorite! I'll be having one with my Christmas Eve dinner.

To you and yours I say Merry Christmas my friends. Have a healthy, balanced, guilt free Christmas!

VISION 2012!

At our house we have a saying about good movies, we just say. “quality movie.”
Remember The Titans… “quality movie”, The Count of Monte Cristo… “quality movie”, …Zoro “quality movie”.

We always remember great lines of quality movies. One of my favorite lines ever is in the movie Zoro when the governor of California asks Alejandro, “Are you a man of vision?” He replies… “I am a man in search of a vision!”

So I’ve got to ask you today…are you a person of vision, or are you a person in search of a vision?…or neither?

Vision; a dream, a mental picture, foresight, the ability to see the future.

Quest; a chase, pursuit, you go in search of, you are on a hunt for.

To change, to lose weight permanently, to have a vital, strong, healthy, free life, you MUST have vision quest!

It works like this: You know your vision…now you’re on a quest to get there!


Without Vision…people perish…(give up the ghost), die!

The first step to any change is to know what you want,to have vision! Vision is about looking ahead, looking to what you want.


Vision is a picture or idea you have in your mind of yourself, or your life. A clear vision helps you pursue dreams and achieve goals. A vision that is clear will open your thoughts to the endless possibilities of the future. Your thoughts dictate your feelings and your feeling dictate your actions so you’ve got to have vision to open your thoughts and keep them on right track!

A vision will help you to overcome obstacles in the way and helps you hold on when times are tough. A vision that is well defined helps you to focus and create a purpose that becomes your measurement for your success.

If you do not have a vision of who you want to be, how you want to succeed or what you want out of life, you begin to lack drive and your life becomes just an order of events.
A strong and current vision connects with your passions and greatest potentials. Regardless of what is going on in the world or challenges that present themselves, a vision helps you know what and why you are doing the things you are doing. Having a vision is most important in the path of your success in life.

A vision might be the most powerful way to keep focused on what you want in life while keeping you motivated in achieving it. A vision will open up your mind to many possibilities and a brighter and bigger future. When you can envision a future that is better, happier, more productive, you are going to make the changes that are necessary for you to reach that type of life.

Who do you want to be?
Your vision should include who you want to be. It is important to know clearly who you are right now to know who you want to become. This includes your habits, attitudes, and your beliefs. If you are unclear about yourself, you will be unclear about your future. The destination of your vision should be emotional, physical, spiritual and intellectual.

When you create a successful vision, you begin to feel passionate about it. The only way to be successful in your vision is to visualize it and set goals and a plan of action to reach your vision.

Over time, you will begin to see more parts of your vision coming true until one day you see yourself living your vision. You gained your weight little by little. You didn’t wake up one morning with 30 extra pounds on your body because of what you ate last night. That’s how it is when we begin to live a new life, with new habits, based on a vision of the life we really want. Little by little we begin to see that vision lived out! That’s so cool!

A vision is the capability to see beyond your current reality, creating and inventing what does not now exist and becoming what you are not right now. A vision is important in all aspects of life; body, soul and spirit. Building your vision does not have to be difficult as long as you know exactly what it is you see for yourself in the future. But that can be the problem sometimes, not knowing what we really want.

Important things to remember when creating a vision:
Know exactly who you are.
Brainstorm, imagine and dream.
Focus on things that give your life purpose and meaning.
Do not put limits on your dreams.

What do you really want? Why have you set out to lose fat off your body? Is your vision to weigh less, or is your vision to live more!!!?

If you have not created a vision for the life you want to be living, the life you MUST live, then now is the time to do it!
It’s really about having the discipline to sit down and dream. We are all so different,but it helps me to dream in compartments. A vision for my physical body, a vision for my soul;my mind, will and emotions and a vision for my spiritual life;the deepest place of who I am.

Creating a vision should be intense,it’s about knowing who you are today, knowing how you live today and saying "I want it to look different." "I want a new life." "I want it to be different!"
Then and only then, will you be inspired to move, to go, to leave behind what you’ve known and go to that new place!

Without vision people parish. Be a person of vision as we head into 2012!

Always encouraging you,
Letha

It's The Most Wonderful Time of The Year...

or is it?

For some of us, we're feeling the squeeze of our cultures expectations, to shop, to eat, to bake, to GO!
For others, this holiday season may hold fears and sorrow. This might be the 1st holiday season without a loved one or it's a holiday full of change.
For some, you're just mad because it's the most wonderful time of the year and you're on a diet!

The great news of this holiday is that you have a choice. No matter what your circumstances, this holiday season can be one you look back on a remember that your soul(mind, will and emotions) was fed! This can be the year that you blaze a new trail! You can chose to have this holiday season look different and be wonderful all at the same time!

As we look together at making this the most wonderful time of the year, I thought I'd help you take a look at some holiday goals for body, soul and spirit!

BODY:
What are your physical goals in the next 4 weeks? What will you weigh on Christmas day? What will you weigh on Jan 1st 2012? Be specific. Set those goals.
How many times are you going to exercise between now and 2012? The benefits of exercise are so important all year, but especially during the holidays.Exercise;
Brightens your mood
Causes you to sleep better
Burns calories
Feeds your soul if you exercise with a friend!

SOUL: (Remember, your soul is made up of your mind, will and emotions)
You can spend your holiday season stuffing yourself with food and still feel empty...or you can work to fill up emotionally and feel more full than you've ever felt! What does it look like to set emotional goals?

How will you spend your holidays? What activities with family and friends can you do this year to feel your soul? Our community is full of events that feed the soul with music and theater during the holidays. Start traditions with your family that bring you closer together this holiday season.
Set a goal to give this holiday season! Studies have shown that the brain activity when giving, is associated with the parts of the brain that enjoy food and sexual activity! Want a warm glow this holiday season??? Give often!

Take the time to reflect on your year. Make a list of the things that happened in 2011 that you are grateful for. Start looking ahead to your goals for 2012! Feeding your emotions takes time and purposeful planning!

Cozy up with a good book.(fill your holiday season with stories of hope, miracles and fun!)

SPIRIT:
Tis the season, to look at the spiritual part of you! Some ideas to revive your spirit during the holidays;
Look at a daily devotional to start your day now through Jan 1st.

Attend a Christmas Eve service that you've not attended before, invite a friend to join you.

If you celebrate Christmas, read the Christmas story for yourself. Luke 2:1-20

Record your prayers for the rest of the month.

What ever you do this holiday season, be purposeful about your goals; body, soul and spirit. I promise if you look for ways to feed your soul, you'll feel full all month long.

I am convinced that this weight loss journey has little to do with food and everything to do with being full.

It is the most wonderful time of the year!

Always encouraging you,
Letha

Walk & Knock

This morning I'm filling up my brown paper bag with items to feed the hungry. I'm always a little bit convicted as I fill my Walk & Knock bag each year with food I'll never miss.

I can't help but think about hunger, and question my self as to whether or not I've ever been hungry.

I visit with clients every week who are afraid that they'll be hungry if they eat 3 servings of protein, 4 servings of vegetables, 3 servings of fruit, 2 servings of starch and 2 servings of milk...every day.

Hunger, is defined as; a discomfort caused by a need for food. I guess the next question I'd have to ask my self is what is a need. Is my need for food related to physical hunger or something else?

My words will be few this morning. I'm on my way to drop off this bag of food. I encourage you to do the same this weekend.

Visit www.walkandknock.org for more information.

Always encouraging you,
Letha