Goal Setting Is Not Enough. You Need Ass Movers, Too.

As your brain cells have probably concocted through visual observation, my ass was struggling to get up that pole. The pic is from the pathetic pole climbing blog post where I boldly proclaimed…

“I double-dare myself to get to the top of that dang pole. It may take a month. It may takes six months. It better not take a year.”

Over two years later, and I still haven’t made it up that damn pole. I barely even tried.

It was a goal, but I didn’t have a plan of attack. This so-called goal was really nothing more than a stank brain fart of an idea. And it went stagnant inside my cranium, collecting rotten maggot residue and other offensive non-actions.

BUT WHY?

Because I never put expectations on myself, nor did I hold myself accountable to achieve it. There’s obviously is a difference between a real goal and a stank brain fart. Obviously.

But what sets the two apart?

Expectations and Accountability.  These are the two powerhouses that MUST be in the mix. I call them “ass movers”, because they get your ass moving closer to your goals. Expectations get you taking action, because anything less would be unacceptable, and Accountability obligates you to follow through ‘lest you have to face up to explaining why you didn’t.

Yet I dare to say most of us place higher expectations on other people than we do on ourselves. If other people (spouse, kids, co-worker, friend, etc) don’t meet our expectations, we have a bitch fit, complain to others about it, hold them accountable for it and demand they get their shit together and not fluck up again. Tell me I’m wrong. No?

But on ourselves? Do you demand you get your shit together right then and there? Or it is a more lackadaisical approach where you get around to doing better. Eventually.

When you fluck up, treat yourself as you would someone else you have expectations of. Don’t whine and get wussy and curl into a ball of supposed failure. Get pissed about it. Even get a little mad. Call it “contained fury”, if you will. Then translate that fury into ass-moving actions.

Pole climbing is no longer a goal of mine, but the goals I do have are infested with expectations and accountability. So now it’s your turn. Put on a pair of ass movers and git to it!

Ps. Don’t just read this post and then go off somewhere to pick up your nostrils or braid your armpit hairs. You need to seriously be thinking of what Expectations and Accountability mean in the grand plan of your goals.

View the original article here

Enough with the Infographics!

WHAT is with all the infographic peddling anymore? I don’t really care that you made one and I have no desire to display it on my blog.

Maybe, just MAYBE, I’ll share it on twitter or Facebook if it is actually interesting with useful information and an understandable design. However, if you are mass pitching it to bloggers, I hate to tell you, it probably isn’t interesting or useful or nicely designed.

View the original article here

Ask Roni_v52: Freezing Meals, Enough Weight Loss, Food Journaling, Carb Cravings, My Breast Lift

WARNING: This may be my longest podcast yet! The questions were just so good. Oh! and I’m changing it up! Thursday is my new podcast day :)

Topics this week include…

Freezing MealsWhen is the Weight Loss Enough? Feeling fat after weight loss.Best way to Food JournalCarb Cravings The Story of My Breast Lift

Links…

View the original article here

Is Being Ready Enough? Someone Needs Your Advice

I love getting email from Lynn’s Weigh readers. I really do. And I try to answer it as best I can and in a timely manner. But this week I have so much on my plate – out of the ordinary things that are consuming my thoughts – and I wouldn’t be able to answer the following email in a thoughtful way.

So I need your help. Can you, particularly the veteran weight-loss folks, answer this email I received today from Stacey? When I get a chance I’ll refer her to what I’ve written in the past, but I know we each have our individual answer to the questions she poses.

Variety being the spice of life, your answer may be just what Stacey needs to hear to get her on the path of permanent weight loss.

Here’s her email:

“I am looking for advice. How did you stick with it at first? I have a very hard time getting motivated to do it. I know it is pure laziness on my part. I loved WW in the past when I have tried it. When seeing results I get excited and all that but as soon as I fall off the wagon or have a bad day it is all over and I'm back to square one.

I am 36 and at 290. I am so ready for a life change. Any help you can give would be wonderful.”

Leave a comment or send me an email to lynnbering@verizon.net and I’ll be sure to forward it to Stacey. Thanks a ton, you guys.

A quick update on Mathilda. She’s not doing well. Her back legs just aren’t working. We may need to put her down this week. The only saving grace is that we got that second chance, that extra time to spend with her. And we’ve been savoring every moment.

Thank you again for all your kind comments and well wishes. I know so many of you have been down this road before. It’s never easy.

View the original article here

Chocolate & Vicodin: The book cover that’s good enough to eat

The book cover for Chocolate & Vicodin: My Quest for Relief from the Headache that Wouldn’t Go Away appeared on Amazon.com yesterday, so I guess that’s a sign that it’s time to unveil it on the blog:

Please, resist the urge to lick your screen. I hear computers are dirtier than public restrooms because people rarely clean their monitors. I would hate for you to catch an infection because my book cover looked so delectable. Mmmmm, cupcake. Chocolate cupcake. With pills!

I first saw the cover concept for Chocolate & Vicodin at the end of March 2010, long before the final text of the book was completed, which is sort of odd and slightly scary since it’s like taking your wedding photos before you’ve met your groom. However, the cover is needed for placement in the sales catalog the publisher puts together each season to pitch their books to booksellers. Thus, it’s usually created before the book is complete to give booksellers enough lead time to place their orders.

I immediately loved the cover because, really, what formerly morbidly obese woman doesn’t love cupcakes? It’s also a great excuse to serve chocolate frosted cupcakes at any book events. I feel very fortunate that I’ve loved the initial cover concepts for both of my books. Sometimes authors and marketing departments have differing visions of what the cover should look like, but I’ve been lucky to avoid that type of battle so far. I hope you guys love it as much as I do!

Also, as you might have figured out from the link, the book is available for pre-order at Amazon.com in paperback and on the Kindle. It’s also listed for pre-order at other online retailers like Barnes and Noble, Borders, and Indiebound. If/when it becomes available for pre-order on any other e-readers or sites, I’ll let you know.

My birthday request
And since tomorrow is my birthday (my 30th birthday, oh my!), I would consider it a personal early birthday present if anyone who intends to pre-order the book on Amazon does it today. How high can we push that sales rank? Can we make it one of the biggest gainers in books today? I don’t know, but I thought it was worth the awkwardness I feel about any type of self-promotion to ask you to try! (In case this might affect your purchasing decision, I don’t think I’m going to sell autographed copies of the book directly this time like I did with Half-Assed. It was a lot of work, and I don’t really have the time for it now that I freelance full-time. And if I do, you can cancel your Amazon order any time before it ships.)

Thanks again for all your support, guys! I noticed that CHOCOLATE & VICODIN was assigned an Amazon book rank a few weeks ago, which means some of you have already pre-ordered it. I really appreciate that and hope you’ll enjoy the book this February!

PastaQueen.com is a fascist regime ruled with a benevolent fist by PastaQueen and the macaroni military. Lively discussion is encouraged, but any comment may be deleted or edited according to the whims of your monarch. Please read the official rules of commenting etiquette for more details. Spammers are publicly beheaded and their blood is mixed into our spaghetti sauce. Comments are occasionally disabled some time after an entry has been posted to keep the blog on a spam-free diet.

View the original article here