I am my own worst enemy....Keep your mind on the goal!

Part of losing weight and keeping it off is exercise—that’s really a key factor—let’s call it 1/3 of the equation. Another 3^rd is diet. You CAN NOT “out exercise” a bad diet. I can take 6 fitness classes a week, workout at the gym and power walk 8 miles, but if my diet is full of fatty and unhealthy foods, I might as well be walking around with one foot nailed to the floor...just moving in a circle going nowhere.

Which brings me to the last part of the 3-way equation—that being ‘mental’. In my opinion, this is the 3^rd that can do the most damage. Your mental awareness and attitude can produce either the most success or the most failure in getting fit. The body achieves what the mind believes. Even if you eat healthy and exercise, you have to get yourself into the proper mindset because it’s so easy to sabotage yourself if you’re not into the fitness equation mentally.

I recently watched a cooking video done Olivia Ward (you might recognize Olivia as the winner on season before last – Biggest Loser show). She has a blog along with her sister (2^nd runner up) Hannah Curlee. Their blog is terrific...you might want to check it out http://myfitspiration.com

In the video http://myfitspiration.com/2012/08/14/olivias-breakfast-tour/ she demonstrates cooking her recipe for an omelet made with egg whites, spinach and mushroom. In the video she says that you can add other things—other veggies—fat free ham—low fat cheese, etc. But she follows that up saying, “I don’t put cheese in mine because “I can’t be trusted”. When I first heard her say that I about fell over....those words could have come right out of my mouth....with certain foods “I can’t be trusted”. One of the main rules about getting fit and eating healthy is to remove from your home those food items that you can not “control”. That’s the reason I don’t keep candy in my home, the reason I limit the amount of chips in my home, the reason I limit my treat to ½ cup of frozen yogurt to only Sunday night.

I’m going to be perfectly honest with you here—my “former fat girl mentality” has a mean dangerous way of sneaking up on me and whispering in my ear.......“oh just one more bite won’t hurt you”..... “2 nights of frozen yogurt won’t hurt, after all you exercised really hard today”. It’s like the old cartoon picture of the angel on one shoulder and the devil on the other battling to win over your mind. It’s those little baby steps backwards that lead to slow ‘backsliding’.... that gets you in so much trouble.....and can take you down the old yoyo path of lose weight—gain it back....lose weight—gain it back.

My sweet 89 year old daddy and 87 year old mom love my chocolate chip and oatmeal raisin cookies.....so I have a habit of making a batch of each for them when I travel down to see them every 2-3 weeks. So here I’ll let you guess....Do you think I can just bake them a batch, wrap them up, deliver them, and not have one single cookie myself? OK stop with the laughing and rolling of your eyes.....yes 99% of you guessed right....NO I CAN’T. I’m my own worst enemy. One of my recent goals I’ve set for myself is to do just that. Bake those delights, not take one hot out of the oven, not take one as I box them up, not take two while I’m visiting (because after all everyone else is eating them). The answer is simple, easy and age old....PEGGY—JUST SAY NO!

I’ve worked really hard at eating healthy and exercising faithfully to lose the 55 pounds I’ve lost. Now I just need to bring my mind around full turn to get on board with the program. I am not who I used to be. I don’t want to be who I used to be. I want to be fit now, stay fit and be fit at 99.

FAT GIRL “get thee behind me”. The FIT GIRL that’s hidden so long inside me is out and she’s in charge.

THE BODY ACHIEVES WHAT THE MIND BELIEVES. AND I BELIEVE THAT NOTHING TASTES AS GOOD AS FIT AND HEALTHY FEELS. I’ve got on my T-shirt right now...

Make sure you have all 3 pieces of the equation fully engaged in your quest to be healthy and fit.

EAT HEALTHY

EXERCISE

KEEP YOUR MIND ON THE GOAL!