Halloween candy...trick, not treat!

Ok, it's here again…the Halloween candy!  We’ll all be passing it in the stores for the next month.  Those huge bags of "fun size" Snickers, Twix, Skittles, Kit Kat, M&M’s, etc!  Yum!  In the past, I would buy several bags so it would “look” like I was buying it early before it was all gone.  Right, you know what happened!  I would break into those bags and go back and buy more again and again.  After all, they are "fun size"!

Being a self-admitted sugarholic, it's not smart for me to buy any of it because I KNOW I will eat it!!  If any of you have ever read the book Sugar Busters, then you know what sugar really does to your system...gross!  But, the taste of candy used to be heaven to me.  I’m sure everyone has noticed that a lot of candy bags say "FAT-FREE” on them.  Yes, it IS fat-free because it's all sugar.  Sugar and fat are not the same.  Sugar turns into fat (cellulite, blubber, pounds, muffin-tops) once it's inside of you!  

If we stop and think about all the hard, sweaty workouts that we have endured because of those stupid decisions to eat candy in the past, (snickers, twix, skittles, etc.) hopefully you can STOP, DROP, & ROLL (or run) away from those candy bags that bombard us when walking into stores.  Yes, it tastes good, but do you really want to wear it under your skin?

I love Halloween, but I had to 100% stop the candy.  Fair warning…this year, watch out for the treats that really are the tricks!

Health...do you "have" it?

Have you ever heard people say, “Well if you have your health, you have everything.”  I have heard this so many times and after analyzing this quote, I asked myself, do we really just “have” our health?  No.  We earn our good health.  Having health doesn’t just mysteriously happen by itself.  Food and drug companies aren’t in charge of our GOOD health.  We are the ones that can make our own bodies the best that they can be.

There are very few people who are smokers, overweight, junk food junkies, and sugar-holics, who somehow scoot through life with virtually no major health issues.  For the most part, those of us who do care, we educate ourselves on proper nutrition and exercise to make our bodies look and feel the best that they can.  It takes a lot of work and we EARN our good health. 

Be proud of the fact that you have taken initiative to work hard at eating clean because that is the first piece of the puzzle.  After you conquer that initial change in your life, your beautiful new body will follow.  Make your good health happen, then you really can “have everything.”

~ Some people dream of success...while others wake up and work hard at it. ~

Mind Over Fatter...

After getting over sugar addictions and making the choice to change the way we eat and look, many innocent thoughts can change the direction of our journey.  As most of us have experienced, the biggest battle in a new healthy lifestyle is all in our minds.  It’s not that we don’t want it bad enough or that our intensions aren’t good…it’s that most people (including myself) sabotage all of the good efforts by letting that little pop-up evil inner voice convince us to eat junk again or skip workouts. 

What actually helps me fight the inner evil voice is saying my opposition out loud.  I know it sounds crazy, but it has worked for me for well over a year now.  When I find myself heading toward that candy or cookie isle that I feel magnetized to, I will say, “No…I like the way I look now better than that will taste” or “I know it tastes good but I don’t want to wear it.”  I figure I’ve had the opportunity to eat all of that junk for most of my life and it hasn’t gotten me anywhere but fat and sad!

It’s not rocket science, but it is a fact…eating clean and working out will get you in the best shape of your life.  Keep that vision of how you want to look and feel in your thoughts every day.  Stay strong and don’t play mind games with yourself.  

~ A man is but the product of his thoughts.  What he thinks, he becomes. ~
Mohandas Gandhi