Day 2 - Choose Two Plans

Ok - today I am to pick a food (diet) plan as well as a back up plan - in case plan A is not working for me. It also says to modify the plan in advance to allow for the odd indulgence.

Here is my plan A: Best Life diet - I found this on Oprah's web site and sounds like it will suit me for the long term and it will be doable (healthy enough) even when pregnant.

• eliminate alcohol
• have a glass of water with every meal
• stop eating 2 hours before bed
• eat 3 meals and 1 snack (aim for 150 - 200 cal. snacks)
• allow only one or 2 soft drinks per week (I modified this from the original)
• elimnate all foods containing transfat (read labels)
• eliminate all fried foods
• eat whole grains only -no regular pasta or white bread
• eliminate high fat dairy - use only fat free or low fat choices (yogurt, milk, cheese etc)
• try to eat more vegetables then any other food group
• go easy on potatoes, corn and peas (too starchy)
• eat 2 servings of beans per week
• eat at least 2 servings of fruit per day
• severely limit all desserts/snacks with more than 8 g of sugar. aim for no more than 1 per week.. (my own modification)
• gradually increase exercise to 150 minutes 4 times per week and 2 sessions of strength training of at least 6 to 10 exercises
• only eat when you are feeling: weak and lightheaded (stomach acids turning), very uncomfortable (irritable and unable to concentrait), uncontrollably hungry (rumbling stomach)
• Stop eating wen you are more or less satisfied, when you feel like you could eat just a little bit more.
• Weigh yourself once per week.

To Maintain: add in 150 cal of the eliminated foods only IF you continue to exercise and add 1 strength training session.

PLAN B - Weight Watchers

The book advises that you do not begin this diet until Day 15. However, I plan to start some aspects of it - I am going to start drinking more water and eating more fruit in the meantime.

Last night I automatically stopped eating my dinner at a restaurant when I noticed I was getting full. I am not sure I ever did that before, automatically. I was able to bring some home! YAY me!

Beck Diet Solution- Day 1

I believe that the universe has delivered to me a wonderful learning oppotunity by way of a book I came across yesterday. On a whim, last night I suggested to Karl that we go to Chapter's. Normally I have to talk him into a trip to the bookstore but he was easily persuaded and said "sure." Right away. Even at the moment I was pleasently surprised. I had wanted to look for a diet book called "The Portion Teller Plan" which shows what a healthy portion of a variety of foods look like. I almost ordered it online yesterday but something stopped me. At Chapters I first went to look for books about the Law of Attraction and ended up choosing Dr. Wayne Dyers book "The Power of Intention" although the book I was looking for was "Ask and It Is Given: Learning to Manifest Your Desires" by Esther & Jerry Hicks. I then made my way to the Diet books and found the portion control book. As I looked through It I found it interesting, but from my experiences of having bought many diet books in the past, it would just end up on my bookshelf like all the others - increasing my guilt. I was drawn to the bright pink hardcover The Beck Diet Solution Book. There was nothing really interesting about the cover or anything indicating what the book was about - by all appearances it was just another diet book. As soon as I read the inside cover I was certain that I had manifested this book and made the decision to purchase it on the spot.

Last night when we got home, I read the first 4 chapters. As I read I kept thinking "This book is ABOUT ME! This author knows exactly whats going on in my head! I am not crazy - I am normal and there is HOPE! There is no doubt I manifested this into my life! One of the examples, even used my name! It really felt like this book was written personally for me.

And so now, I commit myself to the Beck Diet Solution. Today being:

Day ONE
Today I am to make a list of all of the reasons/advantages/benefits of losing weight. Order them by importantce to me and copy them on an index card which I will read a minimum of twice a day.

• I will have a healthy pregnancy
• My pants won't wear out between the legs before the rest wear out
• a regular towel will go all the way around me and maybe even look cute
• I will feel more comfortable being naked in the sauna
• Karl will be proud of me
• I will be proud of me
• My children will never know me as fat
• I will look sexy not frumpy
• Bending over will be easier
• Walking and climbing stairs will not leave me huffing and puffing
• Friends won't make comments about my large sized chest
• I will be able to get a fabulous haircut instead of worrying if my face will look too fat
• I will be able to cross my legs again
• I won't dread getting dressed up for an evening out
• I will be able to look in a full length mirror with pride
• I will not be ashamed to say my weight out loud
• My feet won't hurt
• Shopping for clothes will be more fun and have more variety
• I want to wear underwear that's cute - not industrial
• I won't be embarrassed to have my picture taken
• I'll fit better into movie theatre seats
• I will have more energy to be a good mom and wife

I will read my index cards daily at 11:30 and 3:00 pm as these are the times I tend towards craving sugar. I will set my email reminders to remind me to do this.

Looking forward to day two tomorrow!

Scale of 1 to 10

" ...when you’re stuck at a 7, you’re using the wrong type of rating criteria anyway. You’re rating your current status, your location on the path. What you should be rating is the path itself."

What is your path right now? How clear is it? Where will it take you in 5-10 years? How would you rate the path itself if you were to view it outside of time?"

For example, in observing your health status, rate the path you’re on. Is your health declining or improving? Are your diet and exercise habits making you stronger and fitter and more resistant to disease, or are you becoming weaker and sicker? What path are you on?
When you think about what path you’re on, rather than just your current position, you’ll become much more aware of where you really are on a scale of 1-10. Life is a journey, not a destination. When you get stuck at a 7, your path is the problem — it’s your path that’s really a 3 because it isn’t moving you forward. You’ve stagnated."

From http://www.stevepavlina.com/

As usual Steve's articles really get me thinking and evaluating where I am in life. If you compare where my physical helth/appearance is, compared to wher eI want it to be (see What Life Looks Like) I am only at a 1 at best. When I summon the courage and look at where I am now, using Steve's questions:

"What is your path right now? How clear is it? Where will it take you in 5-10 years? How would you rate the path itself if you were to view it outside of time?"

My answer looks like this:

My path right now is all wrong. I am as far from where my intentions lie as I could be. It is very clear. I am over weight I get out of breath walking short distances. In 5 to 10 years I will be in the negative values on the scale. My health could begin to deteriorate rapidly. I am only a one now because I have began to exercise for 20 minutes. I have only done this for 2 days but I am committed to making it a habit. I have much more work to do to change this path. I need to make drastic changes in my lifestyle to hit a 10! I need to gather information, I need to push myself forward instead of continuing to fall further backwards (while I wonder why the light at the end of the tunnel is getting farther away!). I need to plan out meals and out grocery shopping diligently, I need to add more activity into every aspect of my day. I nee to make better food choices and make sure there are lots of healthy choices in my home. I need to live more consciencly. At this point I am getting farther away from 10 each day. It's time to turn things around.

Courage.

Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgment that something else is more important than fear.- Ambrose Redmoon

Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one's courage.- Anais Nin

Courage is the price that Life exacts for granting peace.- Amelia Earhart

You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself, "I have lived through this horror. I can take the next thing that comes along." You must do the thing you think you cannot do.- Eleanor Roosevelt

I've been reading about courage lately. How it relates to the Law of Attraction and how it can improve my life. I have a new perspective of courage now. It's not just for firefighters and soldiers and people with deadly diseases. Courage, or the lack of it deeply effects day to day life. It dulls our conciousness, it festers and it prevents us from living our true life, being our true self. I believe that this informtion is what I need to make some serious changes in my life. And as the law of attraction says - the univerise is currently providing me with all sorts of new ideas and information about courage - even the newest Oprah magazine, that I bought on a whim has a thought provoking, inspiring section about courage!

Most of our obstacles would melt away if, instead of cowering before them, we should make up our minds to walk boldly through them.- Orison Swett Marden

Courage and perseverance have a magical talisman, before which difficulties disappear and obstacles vanish into air.- John Quincy Adams

There is an exercise in Oprah's magazine that says to summon your courage and confront that inner voice of fear. Write down the things you know are absolutely true in your life. Once you have done that, write down what life would look like if you lived as though those things were 100% true.

I plan to work on this exercise this weekend. I wonder where it will lead...

Inaction breeds doubt and fear. Action breeds confidence and courage. If you want to conquer fear, do not sit home and think about it. Go out and get busy.- Dale Carnegie