Success Along the Weigh: May 2011

Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Flexibility

June is turning out to be a way different month than I had planned. I sprained my thumb while on vacation, we’ll say either getting in the hot air balloon or wild escapades because they sound way better than what actually happened, which was luggage related. I’d been x-rayed and nothing was broken or fractured which was a plus but boy did it hurt like a mother. So I wore a brace, got to the point where I actually forgot about it and did routine things like weight training (which I was cleared to do), planks and you know, pushing off of a chair arm and continued to re-injure myself.

June was going to be hell month and unless I want to really set myself back, Hell is gonna have to wait. So June will be full of a LOT of cardio and once a week Forza Sword workouts with wrapping paper cores so there is no additional weight but still working the muscles from repetition. It is going to be hard but I have to do it to take care of myself and not make a bad situation worse. I’ll admit I teared up a little I’ve got to believe it’s for the best right now.

I made up my workout schedule which I’ll post tomorrow. It looks decent and where there might’ve been strength workouts, there is now ab work or lower body calisthenics. We sorely neglect our abs exclusively so that should be a good thing to add in. I’m actually looking forward to seeing what will come of this month so just a reminder that you need to be flexible in your plan because the best mapped out schedules can sometimes get curve balls thrown at them!

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Monday, May 30, 2011

Fish Taco recipe

Tired of burgers and dogs yet? (Pretend you are and play along!) Let's say you are and you want something yummy and summery and awesome...that would be the recipe for my fish tacos!

Now I'll admit, when I used to hear fish taco, the thought made me want to gag but then I made my own and we've loved them ever since! It's one of the Mr's favorite dinners. You can also use cilantro or other fresh herbs and lemon or lime juice to make them taste even better without adding calories. (Or nominal amounts)

Click here for the printable recipe. Happy Memorial Day!

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Saturday, May 28, 2011

End of Month Weigh In

So how did I do for the end of May? I had 2 lbs to lose to make May a wash weight wise. Do you think I could've gotten that thrown to me? Nope. I lost nothing this week which means I am up 2 lbs for May for a vacation where I could only taste the food I was eating 4 out of the 10 days and only 2-3 of them well. So yeah, I get more than a little irritated carrying around some food lard I wasn't even able to enjoy.

Here comes the analytical part that I was kind of worried about. This was week one on yet a new pill. (Low estrogren one) The old pill was breaking me out and I thought that was starting to improve early to mid week but no, all the little bumps are back and with it came a surge of gross hormonal mood swings AFTER my period. Say WHAT!?! So I will take this month and next month to see how my hormones even out and if I am still sporting the skin of a 12 year old boy and having hormonal swings then I'm going to have to go back to the other one because at least with that I only like 1-2 days of grumpiness compared to 2 weeks with the one I'd been on for years and so far a week on these. So I'll give it a proper amount of adjustment time but also if I am gaining weight from it, oh HELLLLL no!

Now, here's the reason I think I may *not* be gaining weight from the pill. Based off of SP's recommendations for my calorie range and exercise range, I really screwed the pooch thinking I was doing myself a favor. My calorie range is 2190 and 2540 and my exercise goal for calorie burn is 4200. What did I average this week calorie wise? 1893. Yeah. So I don't think I'm eating enough. Does anyone ever get used to hearing that? I mean how foreign does that sound? Oh yeah, my calorie burn? 5200. So I underate and overexercised. Well, we see how that paid off. You know, it's like you think you're doing yourself a favor. "Well eating less and burning more should equal more weight loss!" I KNOW this is not true but I've also been bamboozled by my body for months when eating in range and exercising in range and losing next to nothing.

I promise that next week I will work on eating within my calorie range (though I have to admit, it's going to be challenging to hit those numbers, I may pick up some nuts...uh edible ones) and I will stick to my calorie burn number within 100-200 calories. Starting in June is when we go to every other week for the high cal days so hopefully that will warrant some results too. So I guess you could kind of look at today as the last hurrah of our old life where every Saturday was a high cal day. We're having friends over and will enjoy a bit of indulging with them and then this week we'll plan what we want to have next Saturday for our first non-high cal day Saturday. I'm thinking whole wheat lasagna. I can assemble the night before, cook it for lunch time. Reheat for dinner and freeze the rest and unthaw a half loaf of that Boudin sourdough we got which is surprisingly not as bad as I thought it would be nutritionally.

Hope everyone has an awesome holiday weekend!

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Friday, May 27, 2011

ABCDEFood

I saw this at A Merry Life and swiped it since it's Friday and I haven't nothing Earth shattering to say! hee hee

A is for Apple, what’s your favorite variety?
Pink Lady (or Golden Delicious if Pinks aren't in season)

B: is for Bread, regardless of nutrition, calories, or whole grains what is your favorite type to have a nice big piece of?
Hawaiian Sweet Bread or Asiago Bread

C: is for Cereal what is your favorite kind currently (just one!) Currently-
I'm crushing on Cinnamon Cheerios big time right now but only eat it once or twice a week. (Today! Woot!)

D: is for Doughnuts, you might not currently be eating them but what kind do you fancy?
Chocolate Long Johns baby with CREAM filling, not that custard crap.

E: is for Eggs, how would you like yours prepared?
Scrambled.

F: is for Fat Free, what is your favorite fat free product?
My fat free apple dip.

G: is for Groceries, where do you purchase yours at?
Trader Joe's and Target.

H: is for Hot Beverages, what is your favorite hot drink?
Hot tea or if it's winter, hot chocolate.

I: is for Ice Cream, pick a favorite flavor and add a fun topping.
Dark Chocolate.

CLICK HERE to continue reading

Thursday, May 26, 2011

Chicken Stir Fry recipe

There was a time in a our dieting lives where we lived on stir fries and were losing a lot of weight. I don't know why we ever got away from making them but every now and then I like to bust one out.

If you'd like to make one to, click here to be taken to my chicken stir fry recipe!

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Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Slight freak out

I was having a minor freak out session last night. I could feel that my legs were bloating up. My sodium has been slightly higher the past 2 days but only by a little. See those magical bc pills that made me less of a bee-otch also decided to break me out like a 12 year old. I had bumps all over my face for 2 months and while I didn't really consider myself vain, that ain't cool! So I switched to a low estrogen bc pill this month and I made it very clear I needed something as weight neutral as possible. In just the few days I've been on them I can see the bumps going away (whew) but the bloating was disconcerting.

So then I was like "omg, you've sacrificed a clear face for weight gain! IDIOT!" or "what is the scale going to say?" "you have a goal, what if you don't meet it now because of these pills!?" "How much is getting your innards cleaned out? No wait, then that throws you into menopause and that brings it's own set of problems." So today will be spent trying to breathe and keeping a hawk eye on the sodium the rest of the week and drowning myself in water. I'm trying to remember this is the first few days on the pill and my body does need to adjust a bit. I will control the things I have control over and leave the rest up to the universe. I don't need to add stress and then that makes you hold on to fat. Boo! So be gone stress. (Moons the stress)
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Tuesday, May 24, 2011

What I Ate Today

Breakfast- Vitalicious Egg, Cheese and Veggie Sandwich, banana with 1/2 tbsp Nutella

Morning Snack- Mini Babybel Light (I was dying of hunger)

Lunch- Lean pastrami sandwich with light muenster, spinach and mustard, veggies, TJ's apple bar, apple w/fat free caramel dip, fruit salad (not pictured- with watermelon, cantaloupe and pineapple)

Dinner- BBQ Chicken Pineapple Naan Pizza (w/ Chipotle hummus and 1 slice lacy colbyjack cheese) and 1 serving of Garden of Eatin' No Salt Tortilla Chips and 2 tbsp salsa.

Evening Snack- Skinny Cow Chocolate Ice Cream Sandwich

Water- 135 oz
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Monday, May 23, 2011

Bento Egg Mold Giveaway (Winner Announced!)

What say you random generator?

Comment #6 belongs to Jessy with a "Y"! Congratulations! I'll be getting a hold of you!

Thank you everyone who participated and look for more giveaways in the future!
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You think I went on vacation and didn't bring my awesome readers anything back? Pssht! Whilst shopping in Japantown in San Francisco at Ichiban Kan, I spied some cool bento stuff and decided to do a giveaway when I returned. You may remember one of the first posts I did here using my egg mold for bento. Lots of people thought it was cute and I thought how's about sharing that cuteness with you?

This is a 2 pack bento egg mold set. A rabbit and a bear. (Did anyone else just think of the Eddie Murphy joke from Delirious?) You put a peeled hard boiled egg in the mold while it's still hot, close it, put it in ice water (or the fridge) and pop it out about 20 minutes later and bingo...adorable animal eggs! Think this one is only for the kiddies? I think not! Much much more fun is it to eat eggs when you can bite off bunny ears or bear noses!?

Rules of the game:

If you want to enter, you must enter a comment below telling me how you make or keep your food interesting. (A follow would be nice too but who am I to push?)

The contest ends Tuesday, May 24th at 6pm EST and will the winner be chosen by a random number generator and the person whose comment number is chosen. Check back here Wednesday morning to see if you're a winner and to give me a way to get ahold of you if I don't already know you.

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Saturday, May 21, 2011

After Vacay Weigh In

I didn't do a weigh in "officially" because I'd only had 3 days under my belt by weigh in time and whatever was going to come off would be water weight. Last week that was 3 lbs of the 8 I gained while in San Francisco.

This week after a full week of good eatin' and exercise I've got another 3 pounds off with 2 still hanging on. I'm PRAYING that it comes off this week and May can be a wash where I started. There would be nothing more frustrating than to having weight I didn't start with at the beginning of the month hanging around when I didn't even get to taste and enjoy it because of some d-bag's cold they decided to pass on to me on day 2.

So send out those vibes folks and I'll send some good ones right back at ya! Have an awesome weekend!

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Friday, May 20, 2011

Chicken Taco recipe

We enjoyed some awesome chicken tacos last night and I thought I'd share the recipe with y'all!

If you like it, make sure you rate it on the other site!

Click here for the recipe!

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Thursday, May 19, 2011

Pop a squat

Yesterday was a nice, successful day one for doing my 10 squats at the top of the hour. I will admit, I got behind about midday because I was in a zone working (which paid off later with a Zazzle "Today's Best Pick"...go moi!) So there was one point where I had to make up 30 in a row but that's okay with me as long as I got the 100 in. Honestly, it helped alot with the lower back pain I'm having from my bed. (Dang thing is like 2 years old and already giving me back problems no matter how many times I rotate it or whatnot. Boo!) I've got 20 under my belt so far this morning and again it's helping with the lower back pain so I'm gonna stick with it. I know it doesn't sound like much but if you figure that if someone asked you to give them 100 squats, you'd groan just a little on the inside. By breaking it up it feels like "is that all you got?" Who knows, I might sneak a couple extra in here and there.

Looking forward to chicken tacos tonight. I'm a big cheese person but I love that I don't even need cheese on these, it tastes like it's already there! It's the creamy texture of the hummus that makes it feel like it's there. I sub spinach for lettuce and still add the onion. So I'll have to whip out my handy dandy onion goggles (yes, they really work! I was skeptical too!) and cut those up later. Maybe I'll keep half raw and carmelize the other half if I'm feeling ambitious. So perhaps y'all will have a new recipe to look forward to tomorrow! (Of course I pretty much just gave you the recipe. D'oh!)

Have a great one everybody!

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Wednesday, May 18, 2011

I Decided...

I wanted to thank everyone for their input on "Naming the Baby" yesterday. I decided to not do an official challenge where I will do blog weigh in's or anything like that because I already do that. Declaring a challenge will not change a single way I do things. I work my butt off everyday and am very careful about my food so I think the pressure of a public challenge would only mess with the good mental thing I have going.

How will you know if succeeded? When you see a picture of me ziplining across the rainforest in Maui. If not, well, I can't force my body to do more than I already ask of it. We will be cutting back on the high cal day twice a month to see if that does anything to help us along (I'm sure it will) but we're not cutting them out entirely, it's just not how we could live the rest of our lives and 170+ pounds off says it's not a bad strategy for us.

I have also decided to intersperse a bit of "top o' the hour" bursts of movement. At the top of the hour, I stand up and do 10 squats and 10 arm reaches to spike the heart rate a bit. I want to make this a habit and will eventually move to every half hour. If I start to forget, I will set the microwave timer so I have to get up to turn it off and reset it. I hope this little extra bit of movement helps things along too. Mind you, I'm not holding my breath but all I can do is do everything I've been doing because as you all know, I don't give excuses anymore where health is concerned. So if you want to send extra successful vibes out, that would help to make for an extra awesome anniversary trip!
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Tuesday, May 17, 2011

"Naming the Baby"

I am trying to make a decision on something. I do not believe in setting numeric weight loss goals. I do pretty much everything right 90% of the year consistently which those of you who have followed me know. We're going back to Maui (to Maui...Maui...sorry, LL Cool J moment) for our anniversary trip next year and I would LOVE to zipline. I do not want to be anywhere near the weight limit because I know their scale could differ from mine and they weigh you before they hook you up and don't refund your money if you've eaten a bit too much loco moco the night before.

I would be comfortable with a 20 pound cushion. That means I would have 50 weeks to lose 83 pounds or 1.66 pounds per week. Easy! Totally doable! Not. I burn a TON of calories during workouts (800-1100 minimum) and I am vigilant about tracking my food paying special attention to fiber, sodium, calories and water intake. Despite never missing a scheduled workout, doing strength training 3x week, being an angel 6 days a week and having the numbers work out to a 3-4 lb loss even INCLUDING high cal days, I consistently average 1 lb per week in weight loss. It is beyond frustrating. The only other adjustment we can do is cut back the high cal days which we have both agreed to do starting twice a month where I'll be cooking those days just so we can be sure what we're taking in instead of guessing. If this has been the missing link then we'll be all the better for it.

So while I would LOVE to say "I'm doing the 83/50 challenge!", I am petrified if I name it, I will jinx it. I'm not sure that I want to throw out an official challenge declaration and put the additional pressure on myself. I know how that goes from numerous failed attempts in the past and I end up feeling like I failed even if I did everything right and I've really tried to take unnecessary mental constraints off of this journey. Conundrum. I desperately want to be one of those people who can do that and at the end of the month/time period say "goal reached!" but history says that's not who I am regardless of effort or motivation. Boo.

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Monday, May 16, 2011

Grillin' time!

We wanted to be grillers but honestly, we're lazy when it came to grill care. A ripped cover was about all it took to not care about covering it during rougher weather and then you open the lid and are like "I don't want to eat off of that no matter how much elbow grease I put into it!" But the Mr saw a charcoal commercial and that was about it. Off we went to home improvement stores to look for a new grill. He really wanted an infrared grill and the one we liked was being guarded by a d-bag salesman who got me SO ticked off I literally had to walk away before I punched him. I looked at the Mr and said we're LEAVING! So off to their competitor where they had an upgraded version with a cover for the same price. So we thought "score!" We realized the guy who was much nicer and likeable was also a shuck and jive artist and didn't really know what he was talking about. They only had assembled ones that wouldn't fit in our car. Then he checked another store for boxed ones and said they had 14. We drive out there and they have none. This did not make for a happy Mrs. Then we drove to the final one that wasn't in a bad area and they had one left. It got dismantled and put into the car.

So after 3 hours, the Mr had it put together. The next day we put it out there, seasoned it and I threw some salmon burgers on the grill and some corn on the cob. It was AWESOME! We tried to do mahi mahi on the grill but that didn't come out as well. I think we might actually be going back into the world of grilling and it's nicer to not worry about those frequent cancer inducing flare ups to char the food. It's all covered up under its cozy grill cover waiting for our next culinary adventure. Oh and our old grill? Well, I stuck a sign on it that said "Free! Clean today, grill tonight!" and 58 minutes later it was gone! Gotta love it!

Do you grill out alot? If so, what do you like to throw on the barbie?
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Friday, May 13, 2011

Avoiding the spiral

Vacations has always been our downfall. Not necessarily because of the weight we gain by loosening the reigns a bit on the food (never the exercise though, we walk all the time on vacay) but because when we came back we always procrastinated getting started again. We'd give ourselves the rest of the time off work as a free for all because we were "on vacation." Then we wouldn't workout and if I didn't mention it, he wouldn't either or we'd say "we need to workout" and then not do it. Before we knew it, weeks and sometimes months passed by before we'd get back and by that time we kept our vacation weight and then some. We could retrace the beginning of the end many times back to not getting right back to business when we came back from vacation.

Last year when we came back from Hawaii, we got right back to it the next day both food and exercise and never looked back. We did the same thing this time when we got back from vacation. I wasn't able to do a full strength session our first day due to a thumb injury but it was good enough to get a good pump going and some soreness the next day. Then Turbo Fire 45 yesterday which I thought I was doing pretty good at until I felt like I usually do when I'm done halfway through and today 50 minutes of Dance Dance Revolution. I am happy that we're back in the routine, have all of the fruit and veggies cut and ready to go and the water is flowing. I'm still trying to get my innards back on track but hoping the fiber and water will rectify all of that. I can't explain why but I have a renewed vigor approaching my journey and ready to roll baby!

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Thursday, May 12, 2011

Poll: What's your vacation philosophy?

When it comes to food on vacation, what is your philosophy?

1) "Plan out where I can eat the most healthy meals so that I can keep as close to my normal plan as possible."

2) "It's a vacation! The reigns are loosened, I enjoy myself knowing the scale might not be kind when I get home but get right back on track."

3) "A mix of the two. I try to eat well most of the time but give myself the occasional treat."

4) "I go buck wild, avoid the scale when I get home and don't always get right back to it."

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Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Planting season is here!

I love having fresh herbs on hand so I'm glad the "safe date" for planting is fast approaching. My chives have already come up so I just need to use them. The other stuff I like to plant are rosemary, thyme, parsley, basil and oregano. I might do something other than parsley this year because it never seems to get used, even for garnish so I'm open for suggestions other than mint.

I tried planting a vegetable container garden last year and that just did not go well. We did have a few strawberries for the Mr but nothing that could be used for a fruit salad. I planted butter lettuce but it mutated into some spiked bear trap lettuce that the Mr begrudgingly choked down. I planted jalapeno peppers for me which a few small random ones came up and sweet peppers for the Mr, which again a few small random ones popped up late in the season. Zucchini never happened. Tomatoes were laughable because we both hate them but were trying to get enough to make sauce and they pointed and laughed. This year I'd like to do spinach if we can. I wouldn't mind doing jalapenos again and maybe some kind of bean. I need something that gonna give me yield people! :-)

Do you plant gardens? If so, do you have a big one, container or are just looking to get started. What do you plant?

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Monday, May 9, 2011

Review: Ritz Hint of Salt Crackers

I was asked to make my cream cheese ball for Easter, I was trying to think of ways to cut the salt as much as possible from this salt lick fest and I passed these babies when I was in the store. I don't know if they're new or not because I'm not a cracker person but I thought the cheeseball would have enough moisture and salt to balance the lack of it in the cracker.

On it's own, the cracker tastes like regular Ritz except slightly less salts for about the first 2 chews then you notice that there is very little salt (30mg of sodium compared to 130mg) and they're pretty dry. If you are going to use this as a foundation for a cheeseball or something with moisture in it, it'll be fine. If you're looking for a sliced cheese foundation, this might not do so well because it would probably be leave you looking for a water chaser. All in all, I'd get them again since the family didn't openly complain to my face about them.

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Friday, May 6, 2011

Versus

We are pretty level headed about the things we choose in our diets. We don't jump on the latest uber food unless we feel it can provide a true benefit to the lifestyle we're choosing. If we don't like it, we're not going to choke it down for the sake of being on the bandwagon. Often times people blindly follow the trends because someone they know is eating a certain food or saw a TV doctor recommended it but fail to really research it before doing so. I'm guilty of it too. I have bought brown rice more times than I care to admit; regular and instant. No matter how many different ways I've tried to make it or how many things I've added to it, I just hate brown rice. I'll eat other whole wheat / grain products like whole wheat pasta instead of white, whole wheat bread instead of white and stuff like that but brown rice, nope, can't do it. Does that make me a bad healthy girl? Nope. Matter of fact, let's compare the two:

Brown Rice

¼ cup serving
160 calories
Fat 2g
Carbs 35g
Fiber 2g
Protein 4g

White Rice

1/4 cup serving
Carbs 33g
Fiber 1g
Protein 3g

Okay so the supposed healthier rice while it has 1 extra gram of fiber and protein has 10 more calories per serving, fat where the white doesn't and 2g more carbs. I know that replacing white rice with brown rice can reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes by 16% but I don't have it (I check my blood sugar) and I can count on one and a half hands how many times a year I have rice so I'm gonna have steamed white rice and enjoy it with my Bragg's Liquid Aminos in lieu of soy sauce and I'm not going to feel guilty about it just because the diet industry tells me I should. Read your labels and decide for yourself what inspires you and if a healthier option isn't for you then work it in when you can, guilt free.

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Thursday, May 5, 2011

Fun Poll: Which do you prefer?

When you exercise, do you prefer:

A) At home exercise

B) At the gym

C) Outside

D) A mixture of some of the above
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Wednesday, May 4, 2011

15 Years Ago Today

I married the man of my dreams. Our road has always seemed to be us against the world but there is no other person I would rather travel that road with. We have been together since we were teenagers and been through many changes from having lost weight to gaining weight to losing some to regaining LOTS of weight and now we've lost over 340 pounds together over the past 3 years.

We are celebrating this year in ways we never dreamed possible and ways we wouldn't have been able to at 494 and 455. I am excited for the future we are building and I know that every day whatever I face, I never face it alone.

I love you honey!

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Tuesday, May 3, 2011

Lycra Revisited

Okay, so I didn't kill myself this time trying to get into the new shaper. It wasn't the easiest thing I've ever done but I worked my way into it. I think next time I will bend over and lift the ta ta's higher into the tank top because I felt like I was trying to tape my boobs down in it. Here are the results:

Click picture to enlarge

You'll be able to see better if you click the picture. It does flatten slightly from a front view but you can't really tell here. The side view is where you see the most difference. In the first pic, the boobs and upper tire area stick out a little more so you can see gathers that cling to them. In the second pic, everything just looks smoother. The only thing I don't like is I look like a carpenters dream...flat as a board and...oh. Well again I think I'll lift the breastages into the tank top portion up top to attempt to give some shape in the right way instead of being smooshed down.

Would I recommend it? Sure. It's not necessarily the most pleasant thing you'll wear but it's not uncomfortable; you can breathe in it. It's not a waist cincher so if you're looking for an hourglass shape, this isn't going to give you that. It's gonna suck you in as much as possible and quarters will bounce off of you. This was a reasonable price from One Stop Plus and they ALWAYS have a coupon code floating around out there so look for one. Remember to order 2 sizes larger than what you currently wear or you will never fit into it!
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Monday, May 2, 2011

Learn to take a compliment

I'm saying this as much as a reminder to myself as I am to you. I think for many of us with weight problems, negative self talk is a common thing. When you don't feel like you look pretty or you might feel because you're overweight or obese that you couldn't possibly look good, well, ever. When someone compliments you, it can almost feel like they're being sarcastic even when they're not. Our brains seem to process something different than what is actually said. Instead of saying thank you, it's much easier to point out your flaws ("That top looks so cute on you!" "Thanks I just wish my arm fat didn't hang out of it though.") or make a joke ("You look really good today!" *looks around* "I know you can't be talking to me, I'm pretty sure I look as bad as I feel!").

Not only is this chipping away at our own self esteem by feeling like we don't deserve compliment because we may not be the perfect weight for our height or whatever but think of how it makes the person giving it feel! You keep rejecting compliments or coming back with some smart aleck reason as to why you don't deserve one and people won't make the "mistake" again! So even if you're uncomfortable getting one and everything in you is tempted to give your usual comeback...smile, say thank you and know that the person meant it so you should believe it!

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