Answer these 7 Questions to set yourself up for success.

Doing stuff that’s hazardous to your fitness can be downright criminal. We’ve all been there, right? For example, here’s a throwback pic of too much Greedyfication: chocolate cake & pepperoni pizza combo. Dang.
WHY 7 QUESTIONS?

Although I’m posing these 7 Questions to you (and to myself) on a Monday, it’s best to ask yourself the questions before the start of a new week, preferably on the weekend prior. I came up with the questions as a means of taking a closer look at my own situation — to find out how I can make improvements and avoid getting stuck in a rut that I never saw coming (yes, that’s happened recently).

But these questions aren’t just about fitness. You can also apply them to work, household, other personal goals, relationships, etc. One of my non-fitness goals is to run a more efficient household. Greater efficiency on the homefront impacts my family in a positive way and ultimately paves the way for me to focus more on myself without being drawn away to put out unnecessary “fires” due to an out of order home.

Look over the questions and consider your answers:

ALERT: Question #7 is highly suspicious. I don’t know how it got there. A full investigation is underway.

In what areas did I fall short last week?Why did I fall short? (be as specific as possible)What will I do to improve upon last week’s low points?What are my goals for the coming week?How will I prepare for the week to set myself up for success?What specific actions will I commit to in order to meet the week’s goals?Can I haz a slice(s) of pie? YES.

If you find that you fell short due to outside circumstances beyond your control, please don’t sweat it. The rest comes down to PLANNING, PRIORITIES, and pushing through the temptation to avoid taking ACTION.

Don’t skim over these questions and then forget about it. Get serious. Make it happen for yourself this week. You can do it.

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Weight Loss and Financial Debt Reduction Require the Same Strategies for Success. Here’s How.

So, yeah. Weight loss and financial debt reduction definitely go hand and hand.

Got any debt? A little bit or a lot?  Then keep reading…

Take a look at the pic to the right. That right there is a screenshot of the final online payment I made today on my (closed) Macy’s card. Hurrah!

As you can see, my final payment was only $154.57, but back when I started the debt reduction plan for this credit card, the balance was pushing very close to $3,000. “Ewww. Dat’s nasty.”

I paid off the balance in about a year by using the same exact strategies we use to lose weight. 

Strategy #1: Just like the extra weight I used to carry around, I got sick and tired of carrying the Macy’s debt. I refused to accept that I had to live that way. It was a thorn in my side and enough was enough.

Strategy #2: I shut down the card (closed it) to prevent further spending while the balance was still almost $3,000. This is the same as making the decision to shut down crappy habits. But it wasn’t an easy decision. The Macy’s card offered me convenience and many spending pleasures, much like over-indulgence in food offers temporary happiness and instant gratification, but giving into these kinds of temptations is what got me into trouble in the first place, so I activated Strategy #2 — I shut them both down.

Strategy #3: I envisioned the day when the balance would be zero, and used that as the driving force to keep me motivated and on track with my plan. I needed this most on those days when I felt like that damn credit card bill was barely moving downward despite the effort of the extra payments I was making. The balance was still so freaking high, and that really sucked. Staying motivated to slowly chisel away at your debt is no different than staying motivated to whittle down your weight.

Strategy #4: Side road ditches and long detours couldn’t stop me, so they can’t stop YOU either. There are plenty of the times when unexpected stuff came up; when the extra funds set aside to pay down the debt sadly had to be diverted to other things instead. For instance, several times I planned on hitting the balance hard with a $300 payment, but then the stupid water heater died or some rogue mystery bill arrived in the mail. These situations meant no big lump sum to pay down the card, but even if I could throw an extra $5 or $10 extra towards killing the balance (anything but just paying the minimum due for God’s sake!), I knew I was still in active motion towards my goal. As for your weight loss, my point here is this: Life happens. Stuff will slow you down, but you can NOT stop with even the smallest daily actions towards your fitness progress. If you can’t run today, then walk. If you can’t walk, then stand up a little longer. If you can’t stand, then lay your ass down and lift your legs up 10 tens. Ya got me? There is always something you can be doing even when the unexpected throws up on you.

Had I never closed the Macy’s card, I would’ve kept spending. Had I never thirsted for a zero balance, I’d still be making minimum payments and spending the extra money on stupid stuff. When you want something bad enough you make it happen. End of story. It doesn’t matter if it’s debt reduction or weight loss or a career change or whatever. The same strategies and principles pretty much apply to every situation.

Once this blog post is old ‘n crusty, and dried up and hidden in the back pages, I wanna hear stories about YOU succeeding at whatever it is you set your hands to do. But if anything, hopefully I’ll hear about your awesome weight loss with a side dish of debt reduction? Do we haz a deal?

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The secret to my success.

I may be a misfit & oddly comfortable in my own swiftly-wrinkling skin, yet even I paused before I hit PUBLISH on a post bearing today’s title.

Success is such an odd, debatable word.

One woman’s definition (money, fancy homes, nice cars, unlimited access to high quality beef jerky) may look entirely unlike another’s (lots of free time to pursue passions, enough work to pay for food & shelter, a loving partner and children).

There are, Id imagine, as many different definitions are there are people reading this post.

Additionally, if youre anything like I am, your definition is a fluid one.

My current definition of success is simple: the achievement of something planned and attempted.

The key, for me, is in the attempt.

A success which “fell in my lap” (Let’s say BRAVO TV called & asked me to star with Jackie Warner in a TV show) would be hollow because it’s the planning, working, and succeeding which makes achievement satisfying to me.

No matter what the achievement.

This weekend I received a flurry of emails from fellow bloggers who were feeling unsure of themselves.  They asked me for tips on succeeding as a full time writerblogger.

To their chagrin effusive delight I tossed the question back to them.

I asked their definition of success and to list (for me or just themselves) all the times they’ve succeeded in the past.*

I offered specific tips, but more important, in my experience, is believing you are successful and will continue to be a success.

Believe me, I’ve struggled with this.

I struggled less when life was less hectic (pre-marriage, pre-child, pre-pre-pre), but even then I wrestled with “knowing I could do it.”

My solution was the creation of a success box.

The idea started when I was dating Ren Man.  Whenever he’d compliment me (“I loved the article you wrote for Good Life Magazine!”) I’d joke I was “putting it in my pocket” and saving the words to reread later.

Then life grew a bit more hectic.  We married. We moved. I opened my training studio.

I realized it wasnt enough to pretend to hold on to compliments—I needed reminders of past successes for moments when I was feeling none too successful.

I began saving everything on my smart-phone. 

Kind words emailed from a client? Save.

Complimentary letters on a magazine article I’d written? SAVED.

Texts or voicemails from friends or family simply to tell me I ROCKED? Save Save Save.

The best predictor of future success is past success.

If I ever felt uncertain as I faced an assignment or life-challenge all I had to do to ‘predict my success’ was return to my electronically-stored items.

Then life grew more hectic. We moved again. Our two became THREE (five when you count the canines).

I realized smart-phone saving was no longer enough.

Not only could I potentially lose the information—I craved something tangible.

I longed for successes I could sit with and *touch* as I reminded myself “Ive been successful before. I know how to do this. I *can* do it again.”

I printed & printed & cut & trimmed.

I created the success box pictured at the top of this post and I visit it regularly.  Sometimes to add to its contents.  Frequently to remind myself, on those days when nothing seems to be “succeeding” (from parenting to freelancing) , I’ve succeeded before and I will again.

The best predictor of future success for me is reflecting and remembering Ive succeeded before.

How do you encourage yourself when doubt starts to creep in? Do you have a success box, journal or other “reminder” you revisit?

Do you savesavesave on the smart phone as I used to?

Are you grateful I did not, as initially planned, close todays comments and command you to git to Success Box creating PRONTO?

*to my shock & delight everyone played along with my mishegas, list-generated & I hope made Success Boxes as promised.

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Acai Berry <b>Weight Loss</b> – Are the Success Stories True? | <b>Weight</b> <b>...</b>

Acai berry weight loss offers continue to be super hot on the web as consumers become more educated about the benefits of this berry.

Acai is a small purple colored berry that pretty much comes from the Amazon. It is about the size of a large grape with a big seed on the inside.

It is best known for its amazing antioxidant properties. Antioxidants help our bodies to fight against free radicals which basically cause our organs like eyes, liver, and skin to age faster.

However, in addition to its powerful nutrients and being called one of nature’s top superfoods, it is also known to have some great effects on obesity and losing weight.

One of the first ways that acai impacts weight loss is that it helps to fight inflammation. Inflammation is never a good thing and it can cause extra weight as well as potential problems with other disease.

The berries are also known to help stop your body from actually absorbing fat. Clearly, that is a positive when it comes to losing weight. The best selling author, Dr. Nicholas Perricone, actually talks about this in his book.

Acai is often combined by manufacturers with a secondary product called colon cleanse. The two of them together have proven to be a good combination in helping to drop pounds.

If you are surfing the web, it’s important to keep an open mind and do your research. More importantly, ignore any outlandish acai berry weight loss claims that you might come across online. Some of these sites claim that Oprah or Dr. Oz said that you can lose 50 pounds in just a few weeks.

Acai stands on its own as one of mother nature’s best creations but it is not the cure all to rapid weight loss. You will always need to make some common sense lifestyle changes to see the best health results in using this combination.

Related posts:

Advanced Acai Berry Weight Loss System – Suppress Appetite Safely & Lose Weight Fast With AcaiAcai Berry and Green TeaAcai Berry For Weight Loss? It Can Be ConfusingAcai berry scams – Is your acai supplement pure?Weight Loss Supplements – MonaVie Launches New Acai Berry ProductsTags: antioxidant properties, nutrients

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Posted in Weight Loss Stories by Angela

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<b>Weight loss</b> success story: Larry Hammack | MNN - Mother Nature Network

The following is one of a series of weight loss success stories featured on Mother Nature Network. Check back for more in coming weeks.Larry Hammack doesn’t drink coffee when he wakes up.“I don’t need it,” said the 54-year-old Atlanta resident. “I have the energy of a 19-year-old.”That wasn’t always the case. In fact, up until a year ago, Hammack was carrying around an extra 65 pounds, and had little energy to do anything. The co-owner of a florist shop, his typical day consisted of four activities: working, feeding the dog, eating and sleeping.   WorldShares lets you earn donations for your favorite nonprofit. Earn up to 20 points now.
Learn More“All I wanted to do was eat,” he said. “I would sneak into the cookie jar and eat oatmeal cookies with my breakfast.”But last April, Hammack got the prodding he needed to lose the extra weight. A visit to the doctor delivered the news he was dreading: he weighed 276 pounds.“I almost fell over when I saw that,” he said.He also learned that in addition to high blood pressure, he had low testosterone, which is associated with obesity, depression and fatigue.And the doctor discovered that Hammack had a hernia, which the extra weight had concealed.Hammack quickly went to work on devising an exercise and diet plan that has trimmed more than 60 pounds off his frame. He took inspiration from several mainstream diets by immediately eliminating white sugar. He now stays away from anything with white flour and he eschews any kind of canned, boxed or processed food. Fresh fruits, grains, raw nuts, grilled chicken and whole wheat pasta are the mainstays of his diet.He’s also attentive to how much he eats.“Make a fist, and anything beyond that size, you don’t need to eat,” said Hammack, echoing a common theme of many popular diet programs.Hammack said it’s easy to overeat at restaurants because you’re paying for the food and don’t want to waste any. But restaurants are notorious for offering super-sized portions, often of food that even in smaller quantities is ill-advised.He estimates he consumed 5,000 to 6,000 calories a day before he went on the diet. Now his calorie-intake is far below the 2,000-calorie threshold.As for exercise, it’s now one of Hammack’s favorite activities.Just as he did nine months ago when his weight loss journey began, Hammack rises at 5:30 every morning to walk before heading to Foxgloves and Ivy, his flower shop.When he began, he could barely walk a block. Now he walks about two miles every day, but he’s considering doubling the distance since he can cover four miles in the same time it once took him to cover two.After work, he hits the gym. Hammack belongs to a small gym where he works closely with the owner, who is a personal trainer. He gets pumped up by synchronizing his treadmill work out to a playlist on his iPod music player. He also goes out dancing several times a week. Since losing the weight, he’s learned how to dance the country two-step.“Find something to do in the evenings,” he said. “Get away from the TV.”Hammack now weighs 210 pounds, down from 276 when he began. He’d like to lose 20 more pounds. His blood pressure a year ago was 190 over 120, which his doctor said was a “walking stroke.” It’s now 120 over 80.Hammack’s advice for others who want to lose weight? Get a complete physical to see if there’s a medical cause for the sudden weight gain. Low testosterone, one known culprit, is at epidemic levels for men, and low vitamin D concentration is also an issue.“It’s never too late to change,” he said. “It’s never too late to do something to change yourself for the better.”With the excess weight gone, Hammack is looking forward to several reunions. A native of Macon, he’ll soon be attending a reunion of his Boy Scout troop.“We keep planning these reunions, and the last time they saw me, I was an old, fat man. Now I really want to show them how I look,” he said.That goes ditto for a reunion with his Air Force buddies. He will soon be seeing fellow vets who were stationed in Germany together two decades ago.“I’m going to show them I’m in better shape now than 25 years ago,” Hammack said.There’s no end to the activities he enjoys. But mainly he’s happy that he doesn’t have to say no to anything because of physical limitations.“If friends say, ‘Let’s go on a biking trip in the mountains,’ I want to say ‘Great, let’s go,’ and just be ready for anything,” he said. $(document).ready( function (){ var so = new SWFObject("/sites/all/themes/mnn/worldshares/WorldSharesAnimation.swf", "worldshares2", "100", "50", "9.0", "#FFFFFF"); so.addParam("wmode", "transparent"); so.write("flashtwitter"); $(".horizontal-social-links td a[href*='worldshares/dopoints/share-twitter'] ").click( function (){ // sendToActionscript("worldshares2","3"); return true; }); });

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