I was thinking today about sacrifice. The "reason for the season" involves a sacrifice (the ultimate) being made for mankind, and then the tomb was empty. Raised into new life.
So appropriate that this Holiday is in Springtime. New life is everywhere, isn't it? From the lambs in the fields, to the flowers down
the lane, the new leaves on the trees, and in our neck of the woods the
perfume of millions and millions of orange blossoms linger in the air.
For me, it is a good time to reflect, a good time to think. This morning I was thinking about sacrifice.
Why
are we so afraid of that word in our own lives? Why are we so hesitant
to "give up" anything? Sometimes we HAVE to give up something in order
to receive something even better. If we are holding on too tightly to something in our fist, then our hand is not open to receive anything else.
Are you holding on to food?
How would you know if you were?
Well, if you have thoughts that sounds like this:
I've been struggling so bad lately with the cravings.....I could hardly stand to watch my kids open their Easter Baskets....I've been grumpy all day because my husband
ordered Pizza last night and I couldn't have any...I really want REAL
food....I just can't seem to stay on plan even one day....I'm so bored
with the Lean and Greens...I just couldn't resisit....I just had to....I found myself eating.....
Then you, my friend, are firmly holding on to food as tightly as your fist can.
Why
not let it go? Why not sacrifice your devotion to food and your
stomach, in order to gain something much more valuable, which is health, and the happiness that comes along with knowing that you aren't worshiping
at the alter of food? Because if you are letting food, and your
devotion to it, keep you from living your best life TODAY, if your
weight has become such an issue so as to be a consideration in every
decision you make throughout your day, then you are destined to ALWAYS struggle, to ALWAYS be overweight or obese, and to ALWAYS be trying to "diet".
Why not let it go, trust the plan, actively turn your attention (FORCE your attention) on to something that will enrich you life, not kill you?
That is a decision I made when I began my plan. Food had been my "god" for so long and
I was very comfortable with that. I broke that relationship
purposefully. I sacrificed the comfort of knowing where I stood with
food (fat and unhappy, BTW), and delved into this great adventure of life and the unknowns that came with becoming someone I had only dreamed of. A healthy person.
I had SEEN healthy people, so I knew they existed.
I knew they were not a myth. But until I found a tool that could
actually GET me there and KEEP me there, I didn't have hope of every
BECOMING one of them.
And now I am. Because I trusted the plan, I made today an ON PLAN day, but MORE than that I decided to sacrifice
my unhealthy and co-dependent relationship with food and ALLOW a void,
ALLOW a vacuum in my soul that I could then fill with legitimate
things. My family. Relationships. My relationship with God. All
those things I had been neglecting, all those things that my relationship with food had pushed to the sidelines, or pushed out entirely.
I did that with intention, I did NOT pine over food, write about food, dream about food in day dreams, watch the Food Network, buy the food magazines, etc.
So what
will you sacrifice today in order to receive something better
tomorrow? Someone I know did that about 2000 years ago too, and I'm so
glad He did.
I am a Certified Health Coach and the program I recommend has successfully helped people create health in their lives for 15 years! E-mail me at mycoachstacy@gmail.com for a FREE consultation!
Happy Easter!
Rinse and Repeat!
Sunday, March 31, 2013
The Truth Will Set You Free
I was listening to a seminar by Jim Rohn last night, and he quoted a verse from the Bible that "The Truth Will Set You Free".
Free to do what? Free to amend your errors and develop your disciplines. To avoid disaster down the road, and to experience AMAZING results.
But first we need to see the truth. Assess where we are currently, honestly. No bull.
Without seeing the truth of the matter, without taking an honest assessment of where we are now, we cannot be free to change things for the better.
So what did you do yesterday? Did you stay on plan? If not, why not? Are you telling yourself the truth? If you aren't, start.
Write it down. Are you on plan? Is your mind already forming excuses as you read this as to how you could have fit what you DID do in to the plan if you tweak this or that or the other?
So the first step is to assess, honestly, whether or not you are following the Medifast 5&1 Plan. If you aren't, then start. If you are, then SWELL! You are on your way to your health goals!
'Nuff said.
Free to do what? Free to amend your errors and develop your disciplines. To avoid disaster down the road, and to experience AMAZING results.
But first we need to see the truth. Assess where we are currently, honestly. No bull.
Without seeing the truth of the matter, without taking an honest assessment of where we are now, we cannot be free to change things for the better.
So what did you do yesterday? Did you stay on plan? If not, why not? Are you telling yourself the truth? If you aren't, start.
Write it down. Are you on plan? Is your mind already forming excuses as you read this as to how you could have fit what you DID do in to the plan if you tweak this or that or the other?
So the first step is to assess, honestly, whether or not you are following the Medifast 5&1 Plan. If you aren't, then start. If you are, then SWELL! You are on your way to your health goals!
'Nuff said.
Easter...Earth Day...Mother's Day...Memorial Day...Flag Day...Father's Day...Fourth of July...Labor Day....
If you were waiting for a good time to start, now is good.
If you are waiting for that perfect time to begin your new life, now is good too.
If you would rather stuff yourself silly on chocolate eggs, do the Mother's Day Champagne Brunch and go back for thirds, suck on that pulled pork BBQ and potato salad at that Memorial Day picnic, eat that homemade ice cream at the Fourth of July.....then I've got a question for you:
What are you doing here?
I mean really, why are you here?
Because there will always be an occasion to pig out. There will always be another holiday around the corner. There will always be reasons to justify going off plan. And if you are one who has oriented your life around food, then you are always on the lookout for those opportunities.
But what if you could choose optimal health today? Today only? What if someone walked up to you and said "Hey, you've got a chance of a lifetime, and this chance expires at midnight tonight. Do you want optimal health or don't you?"
Would you waffle? Would you lament all the Dove Chocolate Valentine's Squares you would, necessarily, need to give up?
Or, would you tell them to come back and ask you.....
Tomorrow?
What'll it be?
Someday you will wake up and realize that TODAY IS ALL YOU'VE GOT. Sink or swim, baby!
Rinse and Repeat!
If you are waiting for that perfect time to begin your new life, now is good too.
If you would rather stuff yourself silly on chocolate eggs, do the Mother's Day Champagne Brunch and go back for thirds, suck on that pulled pork BBQ and potato salad at that Memorial Day picnic, eat that homemade ice cream at the Fourth of July.....then I've got a question for you:
What are you doing here?
I mean really, why are you here?
Because there will always be an occasion to pig out. There will always be another holiday around the corner. There will always be reasons to justify going off plan. And if you are one who has oriented your life around food, then you are always on the lookout for those opportunities.
But what if you could choose optimal health today? Today only? What if someone walked up to you and said "Hey, you've got a chance of a lifetime, and this chance expires at midnight tonight. Do you want optimal health or don't you?"
Would you waffle? Would you lament all the Dove Chocolate Valentine's Squares you would, necessarily, need to give up?
Or, would you tell them to come back and ask you.....
Tomorrow?
What'll it be?
Someday you will wake up and realize that TODAY IS ALL YOU'VE GOT. Sink or swim, baby!
Rinse and Repeat!
Taking Swift Advantage of the Hours
Opportunities
do not come with their values stamped upon them. Everyone
must be challenged. A day dawns, quite like other days;
in it a single hour comes, quite like other hours; but
in that day and in that hour the chance of a lifetime
faces us.
-Maltbie Davenport Bab***
Today I woke up and it was quite like any other day. I went in to the kitchen, I poured my coffee, I kissed my son and husband "goodmorning", then prepared my Maple Brown Sugar Oatmeal and poured 20 ounces of water in to my water bottle for my breakfast.
Today was quite like any other day. Nothing unique about it. But it already had success stamped all over it.
When I woke up, I began my day with my daily Habits of Health rituals. My routine. One that I have been practicing for, well, years really. There was no neon sign flashing above me as I woke up saying "Today you have the opportunity of a LIFETIME, you have the opportunity to CONTINUE MAINTAINING YOUR HEALTH!!" No. I didn't see that neon sign. But I have already internalized that each day presents it's own opportunity for success, for a further reaching of my health goals, so I didn't need the sign.
My sign is inside me now.
You see, I could have woken and up and thought "Man, my son has repeat labs this morning from a follow up of last weeks labs where there was a number the Docs didn't like..." and I could have further rationalized that because I'm stressed I deserve to have TWO cups of coffee with half and half in it instead of "only" one. Not only that, but man I could really go for a Starbucks Classic Coffee Cake to go with that coffee, because I'm so stressed and worried and I deserve a little bit of goodness in my day, don't I?
No, I deserve health. And my daily actions support that belief.
I used to believe that food was what I deserved. That food was what I craved. That eating whatever I want meant true freedom, and my single thought going in to whatever new "diet" I was going to try was "I can't wait to get through this....so I can EAT (normally...ha ha what a joke) again.
Food. Food. Food. Food. Food. Food.
Food took a front seat to taking care of myself and my family. Food was prioritized in my social commitments. I was thinking about food from the time I woke up, through the day, and when I went to sleep.
I care about all of you, and this is a journey which is why I stay here and blog, but some days I just can't read one more blog about people who are refusing to turn their attention AWAY from food and TOWARDS health.
This is vital. It is a vital shift, and it doesn't happen by accident. You don't all of a sudden wake up one morning and realize that you are beginning to focus on health. You intentionally SHIFT your focus TOWARDS health. How do you do it? Firstly, STOP watching the Food Network or the Cooking Channel. STOP pouring over Pinterest for yummy looking decadent recipes. STOP buying cookbooks that aren't oriented towards health, lean proteins, vegetables, etc. STOP oohing and ahing over the bakery section in the grocery store. Mindfully. Stop.
If you don't make room for the healthy thoughts to grow, for your fit mind to develop, then they won't.
Start ACTING like a fit and healthy person, and eventually your body will catch up. =) Develop a fit and healthy mind with intention, because it won't happen by accident. It is SO fun! Honest!
So, take swift advantage of the hours my friends, work the plan with thoughtfulness, and carefully guard your wants. For soon enough, your wants become your desires. Then your mind won't rest until you HAVE them. Do you WANT health? Or do you WANT the yummy food? Because we always get what we want.....eventually.....
It only STAYS hard, you only STRUGGLE more if you are filling your mind constantly with thoughts of yummy food, and seeing this whole process as one big DENIAL.
Rinse and Repeat!
-Maltbie Davenport Bab***
Today I woke up and it was quite like any other day. I went in to the kitchen, I poured my coffee, I kissed my son and husband "goodmorning", then prepared my Maple Brown Sugar Oatmeal and poured 20 ounces of water in to my water bottle for my breakfast.
Today was quite like any other day. Nothing unique about it. But it already had success stamped all over it.
When I woke up, I began my day with my daily Habits of Health rituals. My routine. One that I have been practicing for, well, years really. There was no neon sign flashing above me as I woke up saying "Today you have the opportunity of a LIFETIME, you have the opportunity to CONTINUE MAINTAINING YOUR HEALTH!!" No. I didn't see that neon sign. But I have already internalized that each day presents it's own opportunity for success, for a further reaching of my health goals, so I didn't need the sign.
My sign is inside me now.
You see, I could have woken and up and thought "Man, my son has repeat labs this morning from a follow up of last weeks labs where there was a number the Docs didn't like..." and I could have further rationalized that because I'm stressed I deserve to have TWO cups of coffee with half and half in it instead of "only" one. Not only that, but man I could really go for a Starbucks Classic Coffee Cake to go with that coffee, because I'm so stressed and worried and I deserve a little bit of goodness in my day, don't I?
No, I deserve health. And my daily actions support that belief.
I used to believe that food was what I deserved. That food was what I craved. That eating whatever I want meant true freedom, and my single thought going in to whatever new "diet" I was going to try was "I can't wait to get through this....so I can EAT (normally...ha ha what a joke) again.
Food. Food. Food. Food. Food. Food.
Food took a front seat to taking care of myself and my family. Food was prioritized in my social commitments. I was thinking about food from the time I woke up, through the day, and when I went to sleep.
I care about all of you, and this is a journey which is why I stay here and blog, but some days I just can't read one more blog about people who are refusing to turn their attention AWAY from food and TOWARDS health.
This is vital. It is a vital shift, and it doesn't happen by accident. You don't all of a sudden wake up one morning and realize that you are beginning to focus on health. You intentionally SHIFT your focus TOWARDS health. How do you do it? Firstly, STOP watching the Food Network or the Cooking Channel. STOP pouring over Pinterest for yummy looking decadent recipes. STOP buying cookbooks that aren't oriented towards health, lean proteins, vegetables, etc. STOP oohing and ahing over the bakery section in the grocery store. Mindfully. Stop.
If you don't make room for the healthy thoughts to grow, for your fit mind to develop, then they won't.
Start ACTING like a fit and healthy person, and eventually your body will catch up. =) Develop a fit and healthy mind with intention, because it won't happen by accident. It is SO fun! Honest!
So, take swift advantage of the hours my friends, work the plan with thoughtfulness, and carefully guard your wants. For soon enough, your wants become your desires. Then your mind won't rest until you HAVE them. Do you WANT health? Or do you WANT the yummy food? Because we always get what we want.....eventually.....
It only STAYS hard, you only STRUGGLE more if you are filling your mind constantly with thoughts of yummy food, and seeing this whole process as one big DENIAL.
Rinse and Repeat!
Wednesday, March 27, 2013
Benjamin Button Revised: The Curious Case of the Perpetual Teenager..... Episode 1
I have a curious case of Stacy Phillips going on in my life, and it is pretty much the REVERSE of mid-life crisis. It is mid-life CELEBRATION!For roughly 18 of the last 20 years of my adult life I have been a morbidly obese individual. Being 43 now, that means from age 22 on I have experienced about 3 years total of being considered a "normal weight". The last year and a half are considered part of that 3 years.
During that time of obesity, I always felt old. I mean really really old. I mean joints ached, body hurt, back sore, huffing-and-puffing walking out to the car old. I felt old inside, and I felt like I had an old body too.
Effectively, I went from newly married and healthy weight at 22 to gaining and gaining and gaining and gaining and eventually needing a cane at age 40 because my knees were hurting so much.
Now I have a new "problem". That new "problem" is that I feel like a teen-ager. I can run, jump, play, ride a bike, roller skate, dance, you name it I do it. I am pain free and cane free.
When I was in college I contracted mononucleosis, with accompanying EBV (Epstein-Barr Virus) to boot. This left me with a condition called "Chronic Fatigue Syndrome" which mystified Doctors at the time, and was not very well understood. It was debilitating. I couldn't study, I slept all the time, I was depressed because I didn't understand what was going on with my body. There is no cure to Chronic Fatigue Sydrome, but my symptoms always disappear when I'm taking care of myself with proper diet, exercise, and sleep.
Wowzers! Proper diet, exercise, and sleep! All of which I have been getting for several years now on my journey to ultra health!
After losing 130 pounds, I have to say that my energy level is through the roof. Which allows me to dance, skip, roller skate, mountain climb, swim, you name it! It allows me to be fully available to take care of my family and myself.
Take Shape For Life, and all that it offers, IS my oxygen mask. And I put it on every morning.
So as I said, I feel like a teen-ager. My husband says I LOOK like a teen-ager. In fact, after years and years of saying "no" he has finally, FINALLY consented to "considering the possibility" of allowing me to get a (GASP) TATTOO!
The ultimate teen-age dream. Heh heh.
Rinse and Repeat!
During that time of obesity, I always felt old. I mean really really old. I mean joints ached, body hurt, back sore, huffing-and-puffing walking out to the car old. I felt old inside, and I felt like I had an old body too.
Effectively, I went from newly married and healthy weight at 22 to gaining and gaining and gaining and gaining and eventually needing a cane at age 40 because my knees were hurting so much.
Now I have a new "problem". That new "problem" is that I feel like a teen-ager. I can run, jump, play, ride a bike, roller skate, dance, you name it I do it. I am pain free and cane free.
When I was in college I contracted mononucleosis, with accompanying EBV (Epstein-Barr Virus) to boot. This left me with a condition called "Chronic Fatigue Syndrome" which mystified Doctors at the time, and was not very well understood. It was debilitating. I couldn't study, I slept all the time, I was depressed because I didn't understand what was going on with my body. There is no cure to Chronic Fatigue Sydrome, but my symptoms always disappear when I'm taking care of myself with proper diet, exercise, and sleep.
Wowzers! Proper diet, exercise, and sleep! All of which I have been getting for several years now on my journey to ultra health!
After losing 130 pounds, I have to say that my energy level is through the roof. Which allows me to dance, skip, roller skate, mountain climb, swim, you name it! It allows me to be fully available to take care of my family and myself.
Take Shape For Life, and all that it offers, IS my oxygen mask. And I put it on every morning.
So as I said, I feel like a teen-ager. My husband says I LOOK like a teen-ager. In fact, after years and years of saying "no" he has finally, FINALLY consented to "considering the possibility" of allowing me to get a (GASP) TATTOO!
The ultimate teen-age dream. Heh heh.
Rinse and Repeat!
Sunday, March 24, 2013
Dream Hog
I was ruminating yesterday about how many years the dream of "losing weight" dominated my dreamscape.
Looking back over my journals, from Jr High on, really, I noticed that the underlying pattern of "Someday I'll......" and the overall theme of a desire yet unmet, was that of losing weight.
Page after page of charts, time frames, resolves, decreasing numbers on the scale with whatever "new thing" I was attempting, only to flip a few pages more and find that months had gone by and the "starting" number was back where it began, or higher.
Where were the young girl dreams of what I wanted to be when I grew up? What were the young woman dreams of, I don't know, what DO young women dream about?
All of my dreams were weight-centered. All of my dreams involved putting off every other thing in my life (dreamwise) because I was constantly working on THIS one?
In short, the dream of "losing weight" was the ultimate "DREAM HOG" for my entire life UNTIL......
I did it.
And let me tell you, I was not prepared for the floodgates to open and all of my other suppressed dreams to rush in and fill the void.
You see, when all we can think about, when the only "I wish I could..." involves "losing weight", then that leaves no room for any other of our legitimate heart felt dreams to develop into REAL dreams, SUBSTANTIVE dreams that we can follow and accomplish.
The only way to allow other dreams to move in and flourish is to GET THIS ONE OUT OF THE WAY. And the only way to get this one out of the way, is to accomplish it.
You can't push this "losing weight" dream to the rear of your dreamlife. It will always push it's way back to the front. You can't ignore it either, it is a legitimate heartfelt desire because you know that ultimately, being overweight or obese doesn't really allow you to live your best life now. You feel that intrinsically. Which is why we HAVE the overriding constant desire "to lose weight" that effects everything we do and every decision to make.
The best thing that we can do is to DO IT once and for all. Accomplish that dream.
Once I DID THAT, I realized I had all SORTS of other dreams that I was so excited to get working on!
My only regret is that it took me so long to finally get this one done and the box checked off. Because once I DID that, the ultimate dream hog was resolved into a reality and it allowed new dreams to bloom and grow in my imagination.
And I guess I can really say "I'm living the dream!"
And you can, too.
Is accomplishing this dream worth enough to you to stay on plan today? That's all you need to do.
Rinse and Repeat!
Looking back over my journals, from Jr High on, really, I noticed that the underlying pattern of "Someday I'll......" and the overall theme of a desire yet unmet, was that of losing weight.
Page after page of charts, time frames, resolves, decreasing numbers on the scale with whatever "new thing" I was attempting, only to flip a few pages more and find that months had gone by and the "starting" number was back where it began, or higher.
Where were the young girl dreams of what I wanted to be when I grew up? What were the young woman dreams of, I don't know, what DO young women dream about?
All of my dreams were weight-centered. All of my dreams involved putting off every other thing in my life (dreamwise) because I was constantly working on THIS one?
In short, the dream of "losing weight" was the ultimate "DREAM HOG" for my entire life UNTIL......
I did it.
And let me tell you, I was not prepared for the floodgates to open and all of my other suppressed dreams to rush in and fill the void.
You see, when all we can think about, when the only "I wish I could..." involves "losing weight", then that leaves no room for any other of our legitimate heart felt dreams to develop into REAL dreams, SUBSTANTIVE dreams that we can follow and accomplish.
The only way to allow other dreams to move in and flourish is to GET THIS ONE OUT OF THE WAY. And the only way to get this one out of the way, is to accomplish it.
You can't push this "losing weight" dream to the rear of your dreamlife. It will always push it's way back to the front. You can't ignore it either, it is a legitimate heartfelt desire because you know that ultimately, being overweight or obese doesn't really allow you to live your best life now. You feel that intrinsically. Which is why we HAVE the overriding constant desire "to lose weight" that effects everything we do and every decision to make.
The best thing that we can do is to DO IT once and for all. Accomplish that dream.
Once I DID THAT, I realized I had all SORTS of other dreams that I was so excited to get working on!
My only regret is that it took me so long to finally get this one done and the box checked off. Because once I DID that, the ultimate dream hog was resolved into a reality and it allowed new dreams to bloom and grow in my imagination.
And I guess I can really say "I'm living the dream!"
And you can, too.
Is accomplishing this dream worth enough to you to stay on plan today? That's all you need to do.
Rinse and Repeat!
Friday, March 22, 2013
Changing Our Body Takes Time. Changing Our Mind Takes a Split-Second.
I heard somebody say that on the finale of this season's Biggest Loser. It really stuck with me. And it is SO true!
Think about it. Changing our body DOES take time. It DOES take a little bit of time for the Healthy Habits that we have adopted to be reflected by our bodies. "Allowing for the passage of time" a wonderful Medifaster has said frequently. Maybe that is why sometimes we don't really grasp the importance, or more accurately the VITAL AND IMMEDIATE AND URGENT importance, of changing our mind.
Once our mind is changed, once we decide that what we SAID we wanted, to attain and maintain a healthy weight, is of supreme importance, and takes precedence over EVERYTHING ELSE that may be going on in our lives, THAT is when we have succeeded. And that truly takes a split second to decide.
The rest is just a little bit of time.
Have you CHANGED your own mind? Or are still still stuck in the hamster-wheel of "On plan during the week, off plan during the weekend". Or, how about the "I just can't seem to stay on plan for a single day". Or, have you heard the one about the "I just get these cravings and can't stop myself".....
Yeah, I've heard that one too. I've heard all of it. Much of it I have said myself, TO myself. Do you know when the MOMENT was that I BECAME a healthy weight? The MOMENT I stopped believing those lies I was telling myself, the MOMENT I was "all in". Then a little time had to pass. Big deal. Time I have.....until I don't anymore.
So take swift advantage of the hours you have ahead of you, my friends. Will those hours be taking you CLOSER to your goals? Or will those hours be taking you FARTHER from them? Or are you stuck in the Hamster-Wheel of Hindrance, which is YOU hindering yourself from achieving what you are SAYING you want?
Find Health my friends!
Rinse and Repeat!
Think about it. Changing our body DOES take time. It DOES take a little bit of time for the Healthy Habits that we have adopted to be reflected by our bodies. "Allowing for the passage of time" a wonderful Medifaster has said frequently. Maybe that is why sometimes we don't really grasp the importance, or more accurately the VITAL AND IMMEDIATE AND URGENT importance, of changing our mind.
Once our mind is changed, once we decide that what we SAID we wanted, to attain and maintain a healthy weight, is of supreme importance, and takes precedence over EVERYTHING ELSE that may be going on in our lives, THAT is when we have succeeded. And that truly takes a split second to decide.
The rest is just a little bit of time.
Have you CHANGED your own mind? Or are still still stuck in the hamster-wheel of "On plan during the week, off plan during the weekend". Or, how about the "I just can't seem to stay on plan for a single day". Or, have you heard the one about the "I just get these cravings and can't stop myself".....
Yeah, I've heard that one too. I've heard all of it. Much of it I have said myself, TO myself. Do you know when the MOMENT was that I BECAME a healthy weight? The MOMENT I stopped believing those lies I was telling myself, the MOMENT I was "all in". Then a little time had to pass. Big deal. Time I have.....until I don't anymore.
So take swift advantage of the hours you have ahead of you, my friends. Will those hours be taking you CLOSER to your goals? Or will those hours be taking you FARTHER from them? Or are you stuck in the Hamster-Wheel of Hindrance, which is YOU hindering yourself from achieving what you are SAYING you want?
Find Health my friends!
Rinse and Repeat!
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