Do You Feel Too Fat To Be Photographed?

OMGosh ... you have to read this article ... this hit me hard.  I have very few pictures of me. I didn't want to have my picture taken because I was "too fat."  I am so phobic about having my picture taken that I once, while in a very crowded restaurant, tried to scoot back out of the range of the camera and the chair broke and I was sprawled out on the floor in front of more than 100 people.  So much for hoping no one noticed I was fat.  I was so humiliated.  Please read this article ...

 

http://myfriendteresablog.com/so-youre-feeling-too-fat-to-be-photographed/ 

We Won! We are Corvallis' Greatest Losers!!

I am so excited to announce that my husband Tom and I won the first Corvallis' Greatest Loser Challenge!! This challenge was sponsored by The Sue Long Team (Keller-Williams Realty) and Bill Zipp Consulting.

Tom lost 10% of this weight in 12 weeks, and I lost 8.6% of mine. This was a city wide contest and we were up against people in all programs, ViSalus, Nutrisystem, Weight Watchers, MediFast, etc. The Isagenix System really proved itself.

The next contest starts on April 16th and we would really appreciate your support!!

Thanks!!!

We made the Paper!!

Weight-loss competition organizer hopes to inspire community

By Anthony Rimel, Corvallis Gazette-TimesCorvallis Gazette Times

Next Wednesday marks the end of a competition between a small group of local residents who have been waging one of modern society’s most perennial battles over the past 12 weeks: trying to shed their excess weight. Modeled after the NBC show “The Biggest Loser,” the competition is called the “Corvallis Greatest Loser,” and its 12 participants already have lost 139 pounds collectively.

Sue Long, a Corvallis real estate broker who organized the competition, said she hopes their efforts will inspire other local groups to organize similar competitions.“My goal is to make Corvallis the healthiest community in America,” she said. Long, who was a dietitian before she became a broker, said she modeled parts of the program on a similar competition in Lebanon.

At the start of the competition, participants each contribute $20 to a pool and agree to pay an additional $10 if they miss their weekly weigh-in at Long’s office, or if the weigh-in indicates that they’ve gained weight. At the end of the competition the money collected will be split between the male and female contestants who lost the greatest percentage of body weight.

Participants meet every few weeks for a discussion with experts on various exercise, health and nutrition topics. Long said they also have weekly challenges aimed at healthy living, such as drinking a total of 64 ounces of water each day for a week or getting eight hours of sleep every night.

Long said she participated in the competition herself, so she “felt the pain of what was going on, too.”
Being the leader of the group inspired her to stick with the program — even after she broke her ankle four weeks in — because she felt accountable to the group.

Donna Helm, a wellness coach from Corvallis, was one of the contest’s participants, and she said that she and her husband participated because they thought it would help to motivate them.  “I think accountability is the big thing we needed. That, and support,” she said.  Helm said she has lost 23 pounds over the course of the competition; she has lost 85 pounds since June 2011.  She chose to participate in part because, she said, she had reached a plateau in her weight loss, and she thought this would be a good opportunity to push herself more.

“My husband and I tended to not make the best food decisions,” she said, and now they eat less meat and more vegetables. She added that they are exercising more, and have started to use the gym equipment they had bought in the past, but never used.  “We kept thinking buy the machine, and you’ll get thinner. We forgot you had to use it, too,” she said.

After the competition ends next week, Long plans to start it again April 15. Helm said that she will participate again.  “It has been really beneficial to be part of this challenge,” she said.

Anthony Rimel covers K-12 education. He can be reached at 541-758-9526 or anthony.rimel@lee.net.

... Dance Like No One Is Watching ...

For too much of my life I have been to hung up on what people thought of me ... ashamed about the way I looked ... I would hide ... and consequently I never really let myself "go" and just enjoy the heck out of my life.  In the past two years I have been stretching myself beyond my self imposed borders ... and it has been great.  I found this video, and I am choosing to take on this guy's attitude and "dance like no one is watching" ... and begin LIVING my life instead of just EXISTING!!

EFT (tapping) To Raise Your Metabolism - Try It, You'll Like It

I have recently started using EFT ("tapping") techniques and have had amazing results (more about that later in this post!!) I found this tapping sequence on "raising your metabolism" on YouTube. I decided to give it a shot and I could feel the difference immediately.  This was not just in my head.  My husband did this sequence with me and he had the same sensation after we completed the rounds!!

At first you don't really have to understand "why" this works ... just follow along with the tapper ... be sure to note how you feel before and after you do the "rounds."

Here is the video:

I know this is going to look and feel stupid (at least that is what I thought at first), but do it anyway ... here is my testimony after my first tapping experience.

Due to my diabetes I have had nerve damage to my toes.  It had become so severe that I couldn't sleep at night due to the "pins & needles" sensations.  I would have to take a scalding hot bath each night to overwhelm those nerves so I could sleep.  My husband talked me into trying EFT for the problem with my toes ... skeptically I agreed.  I did 3 rounds of tapping where the beginning pain was at a "10" and when I finished it was at a "1."  (This process took less than 5 minutes).  That was the first night I went to sleep without pain.  The next night the pain was back, but just in my big toe.  I did one more round of tapping and the pain went away and has not returned, even though it has been over three weeks.

I am not really sure why it worked ... but it did!!!  I hope you have this kind of success with your tapping experience.

Gratitude

Image from
outofthedarknessintothelight.com

Today, I can say I am very grateful for releasing another 1-1/2 pounds because I know that I have overcome a big block in my road to success.  Thank You.

I am celebrating my gratitude for all the blessings in my life including finding the Isagenix program.  I have thousands of attempts to lose my excess weight and although I would have a short successes in the past, ultimately I always regained the weight and added on a few extra pounds as a bonus.

For years, I had maintained my weight around 250 pounds.  For my body, that was about the most I could carry and still be functional.  When I became debilitated I wasn’t able to move freely anymore … I was forced to stay in bed or on the couch for at least eight of my waking hours.  I would get up just in time to greet my husband with a kiss when he returned from work, but I would have to return to bed after a few hours because the discomfort in my joints and muscles was unbearable.  It was during this eight or nine year period I ballooned up to 330-340 pounds.  And in my head I knew there was nothing I could do about it. 

Fortunately I have a warrior’s heart and I didn’t give up.  After living this existence for almost a decade, I found Isagenix … and the rest was history.  After starting the program, I lost 60 pounds in the first 60 days and my physical problems were turned around (as verified by lab tests).  I learned the true meaning of gratitude at that time.  And I have practiced it every day since.

Here are some of the things I did as I started practicing gratitude on a daily basis:

1.  Every night I list (in a special book) all of the things I was grateful for during the day … I would write: “I am so very grateful that I was able to release 1-1/2 pounds today, so I know that I am living my dream” or “I am so grateful for the beautiful sunset tonight because the beauty warms my soul and makes me happy.”   I always add “why” I am grateful and then end with “Thank You.”

2.  Starting the day with a prayer or meditation about what my expectations are for that day always gets me off to a positive start on the day.  Throughout the day I say a great big “Thank You” as each event unfolds.  I also say thank you for the people who come into my life during the day and for all the unexpected little “miracles” that occur.  I am always expecting some kind of miracle … and always grateful for when they happen.

3.  I don’t wait for holidays to say “thank you” or “I love you” or to give a compliment  to someone who is  in  my life.  I try never to miss that opportunity to take the time to express my positive feelings to people because it is heartwarming to see the response you get from people (especially if they are not having the best day) when you say “thank you” from your heart.

The great thing about Gratitude is that it can lead to feelings of love, appreciation, generosity, and compassion, which further open our hearts and help rewire our brains to ignite more positive thinking.