Do you sense that if, right now, your body weighed what it weighed in high school, you'd feel better than you do? Just think back for a minute about your body in high school. Can you remember how fun it was to be active in it? It was flexible and it loved to be frisky and run, jump and dance.
The older we are the more we seem to have time on our sides. No you read that right. Sides. Time meaning a length of time to collect fat. For most of us it's a gradual collection over the years. The collecting is surprisingly gradual! For example, if you gained just one pound a year, you'd weigh 25 pounds more at your 25th high school class reunion, 50 pounds more at your 50th. One pound a year! That's only 1.3 ounces a month!!!
When I decided to lose weight several years ago, I lost 35 pounds. I was successful because I decided to focus on just losing 10 pounds as if that was all I had to lose. I also decided not to hold some deadline over my head, but to focus on being aware of my thoughts throughout each day when it came to food. That awareness taught me volumes about my behavior and I documented it in my book.
One of the first thoughts was, 'What does 10 pounds feel like?' After all I was carrying 31/2 units of 10 pounds. Carrying around 10 pounds for a couple hours will really give you tangible information on the impact that amount of weight has on your physical body and your spirit.
While working with that notion, I got the brilliant idea to go on my walk with ten pounds, to see how I felt afterward. So I took a pair of my husband's pajama bottoms and tied a knot at the end of each leg providing a nice space for a five pound bag of flour down each leg. Next, I put the pajamas around my neck like a cloak and headed up the hill in the neighborhood. I called it my wake-up collar, because it made me realize how hard it is to carry even ten pounds of extra weight! On a walk that usually takes me 45 minutes, took me 20 minutes longer. I started to drag early on. I needed to stop periodically and finally I hid my wake-up collar in the bushes in order to finish my walk. I got the contraption later in the car.
Just think how fun it would be to be lighter in 2018! That's really my theme for this wonderful new year we have. The book is called "The Mouth Trap: the butt stops here!" and it's filled with ways to have fun losing weight. It focuses more on how to eat than on what to eat and it'll get you in touch with your inner child who incidentally has a very sweet tooth you'll need to parent just as you did with your real kids.
Just click on the cover to purchase. I'm also offering a New Year's special. If you buy "The Mouth Trap" and "The GOOD Book: Get Out Of Debt" together, you'll get them both at 50% off!
Happy New Year!
