Tag / lifestyle

by Janet

Phase II

Week one has come to an end and I’m happy to report that I’m down 4 pounds. What’s even better? It’s the beginning of week TWO!

Now it’s time to shake things up. I’ve been reading the book I mentioned before, One Small Step Can Change Your Life: The Kaizen Way, and it has inspired me to take some steps. Some very SMALL steps. And I’ll be counting every one of them.

I ordered a fitness tracker and will have that in hand by Tuesday evening. So… starting Wednesday, I’m going to shoot for 10,000 steps a day and see how that works. What I hope is that wearing the tracker around my wrist will be a constant reminder to me—to get up and move!

My image began as a photo of the moon. I shot it a few days ago when the sun was still shining. I always light up when I can see the moon in the afternoon sky. Does it make for a fantastic photograph? Not always. Not this time anyway. That being said… I decided to give her a little makeover of her own… something to bring out her natural glow.

That’s about all for now. Thank you for reading!

This upcoming week I’ll be sharing some of the cool things that I’ve learned on this journey so far. I hope you’ll stay tuned!

by Janet

Empowered

The only way to make sense out of change is to plunge into it, move with it, and join the dance.

Alan Watts

I thought I’d create this composite piece to express how I’m feeling this evening: Empowered.

Nothing earthshaking has happened. The scale hasn’t tipped and my willpower crumbled again at the sight of the cookies. The good news is that—with a little help from the family—that little brown box is empty now. Yay! Overall I’m eating much better than I was a week ago, so I’m making positive changes. That’s not why I feel empowered, though.

The fact that I see this as an endless undertaking is what is giving me strength. There is no finish line; no gold medal to be won if I move at warp speed. I have months (even years) to work on this lifestyle change… and that is what empowers me. I have time.

I’ve taken the plunge, and although the changes are slow and small, I am in there… moving and dancing with them.

Peace & love everyone. Thank you for allowing me to share my journey with you!

by Janet

Stealing the Spotlight

The shy and the extroverted have this in common—that they both fancy they are the center of attention.

Robert Breault

I think that quote is excellent. In Developmental Psychology we learned about the imaginary audience in adolescence, which is the belief that others are acutely aware of and attentive to one’s appearance and behavior. This belief—that everyone is watching and/or judging them—makes them more self-conscious.

It’s funny taking psychology classes when you’re older. Every time I learned something new I would look back at my life and think “Oh yeah! I had that!” Or… even scarier… “I think I still do!” It’s like some kind of psyche-hypochondria.

Anyway, it was interesting to think about the shy one and the extrovert believing that they’re the center of attention… yet their reactions to being in the spotlight are so different. Maybe I relate to it because there was a lot of talk about the personality traits of an alcoholic in meetings. Most shared the feeling of teetering back and forth between the shy one and the extrovert. “Hey look at me, look at me!” and then “Hey! Stop looking at me!” And then there’s me, just like when I’m at school, thinking… “Hey, I think I have that too!”

I know that’s really random, especially since I was looking for a quote to accompany my plant… who is budding in the spotlight. I guess you never really know where things will take you.

Anyway, this writing was kind of therapeutic. Not once did food cross my mind! 😉 And I’ve been thinking about my vices; drinking… smoking… now eating. I’m sensing a pattern here and it makes me wonder. If (when) this lifestyle makeover pans out, is there another unhealthy vice out there… just waiting in the wings for me?

Those were just a few thoughts I had today. And they do lead me to one last thing. I’m realizing that although my eating is a problem, it’s not the biggest one. I really do sit too much and no diet in the world will change that. So… while I’m getting my thoughts together about food this week, next week I’m shifting the conversation to movement. Not a rigorous workout plan… just a couple little things that I’m keeping up my sleeve until later.

Thank you for reading!