New Year...New Realities.

Ahh…a brand new year with big dreams, new goals, and bright visions for the months ahead.  It’s fun to plan and imagine all the great things that we hope to accomplish in the coming year.  That’s the only way that most of us can get from point A to point B.  Plan ahead and execute the plan.  Unfortunately, the execution part is where most of us lose enthusiasm as reality sets in.  We say to ourselves, “This is hard…wow, this really sucks!”  Then, we easily forget those once focused and visionary goals and dreams that we had for the year and go back to our old ways.

When it comes to losing weight and starting a new workout routine, it IS hard and it DOES suck sometimes.  You have to plan for that too.  If you get so focused on the potential outcome and don’t picture the true reality of the sacrifices, the sweat, and the out of breath hard work you will be putting into your vision, you’re setting yourself up for a big disappointment.  It’s all about the execution. 

Since it’s coming up on my two year fit and healthy anniversary, I know from experience what it takes to get here and the “realities” during the journey.  My dreams, visions, and plan gave me a path to get where I wanted to be, but my determination and focus forced me to execute that plan every day. 

Making a resolution?  Remember this…

Determination + Focus + Execution = A New You!  You need all these ingredients for your dreams to become a reality no matter what you do.

Thanks to everyone for reading and responding to my blog this year.  I look forward to exciting things in 2011, both personally and professionally.  Have a safe and Happy New Year!!

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

A bad name...

The other day I caught a doctor on TV plugging his new a “17-day” diet.  The host said that everyone was talking about it!  Hmm…17 days huh?  No wonder diet fads fail and crazy diet plans give the word DIET itself a bad name.  According to MiriamWebster.com, the definition of the word DIET means -

a:  food and drink regularly provided or consumed

b:  habitual nourishment

c:  the kind and amount of food prescribed for a person or animal for a special reason

d:  a regimen of eating and drinking sparingly so as to reduce one's weight <going on a diet>

Where does it say that diet means deprivation?  The word diet for me is a lifestyle.  When people ask me what I eat and I tell them that I eat clean (non-processed foods) they usually say, “Oh, you’re on a diet?”  I tell them that it’s a lifestyle.  It is a set diet with no deprivation.  It's really all about eating and WHAT you eat, not about what you don’t. 

Get over the word and just live the healthy and fit lifestyle with no deprivation.  Let’s call it a LIVET!

Get REAL!!

I have never tried to hide my hatred or total disgust for cigarettes.  Besides the terrible stench that they produce, and the fact that they ARE cancer sticks, it reveals the people who don’t value their own body, life, and the same for others around them.  Years ago, I saw a poster from the American Cancer Society with a photo of a woman smoking a cigarette. She had giant oozing sores all over her skin.  The poster said…Would you still smoke if the outside of your body looked the same as the inside?  It’s obvious that most smokers are in denial because they can’t SEE the actual damage that they’re doing to their lungs and the rest of their internal organs. 

The same thing is true for consuming fat and junk.  It definitely tastes good, but because you can’t see yellow fat blobs under your skin or what it’s actually doing to your insides, denial is there as well.  If I could design a new poster for healthy eating, it would say…Would you still eat junk food if your skin was transparent?  The photo would show an unhealthy overweight person with yellow fat surrounding their heart and organs.  Fat would be bulging under the skin and stretching it to full capacity. 

Whether you see a real smoker’s black lung or a real blob of human fat, that “reality” check actually does work to get some people to quit smoking or quit eating junk.  No matter what your crutch is, face reality and run from denial.  The truth really WILL set you free!  

Sugar in the bowl or on your thighs...what's your DESIRE?

It’s that time of year again…a plethora of holiday candy available everywhere.  I’ve noticed desks and cubicles with bowls filled with red and green Hershey’s Kisses, M&M’s, and peppermints.  My older sugarholic self would’ve been a user and supplier of these yummy holiday treats, but my new self is over the temptation, desire, and addiction to eat those beautiful blubber contributors. 

When, and if, it comes up in conversation that I no longer eat sugar and/or candy, people always say, “Oh, I could never do that.”  Well, I didn’t think I could either, but it depends on how bad you want it.  For me, this was something that I knew that I had to do for my health.  I had the desire to do it and I did it.  Was it easy?  Heck no!  It’s one of the hardest things that I have ever done.  The first month off the stuff, I was having real withdrawals!  I thought I was losing my mind and I wanted it so bad that’s all I thought about.  That feeling did go away shortly after and I’m so glad that I actually did it.  I’m off candy and sugar!  As I have stated before in other posts, I no longer have migraines, the added weight, and the feeling of constantly being tired. I had the desire to live truly “sugar-free” and have made it happen for almost two years now. 

If it doesn’t mean that much to you, you’re not going to do it…just like anything else in life.  You have to have the drive and desire.  It may not sound like much to those who don’t have weight issues or a real addiction to sugar like I did, but if you really want to give up the “white powder” decorated in pretty packaging, you absolutely can.  Do you have the DESIRE?

~ Desire is the starting point of all achievement, not a hope, not a wish, but a keen pulsating desire which transcends everything. ~ Napoleon Hill