Changing Momentum

I was rocking the no snacking challenge last week. ROCKING IT! Every day got easier than the last. I was feeling good. I had momentum on my side.

Then Saturday came with 2 birthday parties.

The pizza. The cake. The ice cream. The chicken nuggets. The cupcakes.

Yes in that order and yes, cupcakeS.

I ended up Saturday night at midnight with a box of Triscuits by my side watching TV with the husband.

Sunday wasn’t as bad but the Doritos got me and I had a cupcake before bed for no real good reason at all. *sigh*

Yesterday was a grill fest of wings and more ice cream than I’d like to admit eating. Let’s just say one should never grab a gallon, a spoon and sit on the couch.

Ever.

ugh.

I’m not mad at myself and I don’t feel guilty. I’m just confused.

WHY do I eat like that when it makes me feel so icky?

Yes, icky. That’s about the only word I can use to describe the bloated, sluggish, slightly nauseous feeling I have when I over eat crap.

Crap!

This morning I decided to push the momentum pendulum back in a direction I can feel good about. It all started with breakfast….

Don’t ask what the baby is doing. I have no idea. He just randomly decided to throw a touch down signal for no apparent reason at all. lol

Anyway, breakfast was a 2 egg omelet with bacon bits and spinach.

Then the husband asked to go out lunch.

NOOOOOO.

Why does he do that? It’s like he KNOWS! But he doesn’t so I said yes.

I could do this! And I did! Hence my note to self mid-day and this salad.

This afternoon I made a quick snack on celery sticks which served 2 purposes…

1.) I was hungry and 2.) I’m working on a post for The Laughing Cow and am experimenting with a few ideas.

Dinner was HUGE. Just look at it..

That’s my last Salmon Burger from the freezer, leftover corn on the cob, roasted broccoli, a sweet potato, and a salad.

I ended my day with, yup, you guessed it Banana Soft Serve!

Click here to see how I made it.

Consider my momentum changed.

I’m ready to tackle tomorrow.

Good Night!

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The Hook is… There is no Hook!

A few months ago I hinted (here and here) that fellow blogger and friend Carla (MizFit) and I were working on a book proposal together.

This is uncharted territory for me. I know nothing of the traditional writing and publishing world. Nothing. But we pulled together a proposal with the help of an agent, wrote our sample chapters and are now waiting.

And waiting.

And WAITING.

For a blogger, or, well, ME, this is tough. I’m so used to having an idea, writing my thoughts and then hitting publish. There is no filter or pitch or editor or approval process. It’s me, my laptop and, well you!

The book world? Not so simple. I always assumed this, but now I know.

We recently asked our agent for some feedback and she replied with,

"…people are really excited about you [Carla] and Roni as authors. They love your style, LOVE your platforms and think you’re a winning combination. The main hangup right now, is that this book doesn’t have that one big dieting hook that will draw people."

Now, I realize I never told you exactly what the book is about so her comment may seem like a disappointment but it’s not. It’s exactly what I wanted to here!

Well, not exactly, but it didn’t bother me in the least bit.

Let me ‘splain.

No, there is too much. Let me sum up.

The book we are pitching is a journal of sorts. It’s not a "diet" book. It’s not a "look how we lost so much weight" book. It’s part inspiration, part journal, part resource. We share our experience and coach readers to make small changes in the way they think about food, fitness and confidence.

In a way, we are writing this book in response to the hundreds, if not thousands, of books out there that make outlandish claims and prey on our insecurities. The ones that tell us we can lose X number of pounds in X many days. The ones the outline yet another eating plan or exercise routine. The ones we keep buying in to because we are seduced by their empty promises when really our problem lies much deeper.

So when a publisher tells me they are not interested in my book because it "doesn’t have that one big dieting hook" I smile because that’s the point.

The Hook is… There is no Hook! 

I’m tired of hooks.

Aren’t you?

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Ten Little Things That Mean A Lot To Your Fitness Goals

One less hour of staying up way too late at night.

Two less bites of your favorite decadent food.

Three more reps to go! Don’t stop now. Just finish it.

Four excuses you kill and don’t allow to hinder you anymore.

Five consecutive days of consistency with your fitness.

Six minutes to plan tomorrow’s workout and healthy food choices.

Seven reasons you’re going to make it happen for real this time.

Eight ways you end the self-neglect and finally make yourself a priority.

Nine extra gulps of water throughout the day.

Ten less minutes of bullshitting, procrastination and staying stuck in your situation.

These ten little things will have major impact on your fitness, but they’re not so hard to do. Get your booty in gear and make it happen. Don’t just read this and then go off somewhere and do nothing…

XOXO,

Josie

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My misfit PSA: PAY ATTENTION AT THE POOL

Note how this photo was NOT taken at the pool.

First, HAPPY MEMORIAL DAY to us American types.

Id imagine, even more than weekends, today is the day where blog posts go to wither & die.

The thing is, more than any other day, Id like to imagine my post today is *highly* applicable to today.

(does that even make any sense? is it like “allow myself to introduce myself” phrasing? sadly it all makes sense to me.)

I have a story to share. 

A fleeting, frightening moment & one which made this highly plugged-in Mama grateful for the fact she UNPLUGS when the child arrives home.

It was a lovely, scorching HOT afternoon in the ATX.

A friend invited us over to swim & I eagerly accepted.  Part for the water-play & a lot for the friendship-time.

Life is too, too busy & Id not seen my friend in ages.

Life is too, too busy and, despite my best laid plans, the Tornado hadn’t been in a pool in ages.

I clearly remember driving up to my friend’s home & glancing over at my smart phone on the passenger seat.

I recall thinking: I dont really need to bring this with me. The Tornado is here.

(Im crazy obsessed with the phone when she’s at school.  It’s always with me.  Im convinced the moment it is NOT or the battery dies the school will immediately need to reach me STAT.)

Off we went.  Sunscreen was slathered.  Kids were frolicking.  And I happily basked in the grown-up talk-time I so craved. 

My friend and I were chatting away when I out of the corner of my eye I saw the Tornado begin to struggle.

She panicked, and even though there was a ‘noodle’ within her reach, she slid under gulping water as she went.

Within seconds I leaped into the pool (fully clothed) and dragged her to the side.  Thankfully, outside of being terrified, she was entirely ok.

After a few hugs and a popsicle she returned to the water (& hasnt mentioned the whole experience again).

ME? Ive thought about it over and over and OVER since the day it happened.

More than anything I keep returning to the fact I left my smart-phone in the car and how thankful I am I did.

When I have my phone with me Im always slightly distracted.

When I have my phone with me it’s always buzzing, vibrating, ringing or lighting up and, no matter how PRESENT I strive to be, I tend to check it.

I like to think I check *quickly* but we all know how easily it is to get sucked into social media distractions.

Again and again and AGAIN Ive thought about how, had I been focusing on the smart phone, I might have missed the Tornado going under water.

Again and again and AGAIN Im grateful Ive made it a policy NEVER to bring my smart-phone to the pool.

I know I could miss a call.  I know I could miss a text.  Im certain Im missing emails, tweets, DMs & status updates.

Ive made it a policy to NEVER bring my smart-phone to the pool.

Join me?

I promise not to mind if you email, text, call, DM, tweet or status update another time.

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Show me the other expert bloggers…

and Ill show you the blogger?

Ok, so it doesnt flow quite as well as my fave fave quote: show me the FRIENDS and I’ll show you the WOMAN but you get the idea.

The point of this post is three-fold:

VOLUNTEER.  My mother is renown for saying “the best opportunities are outgrowths of volunteer efforts.”  This could be job-related.  This could be friendship/relationship related.  For her the notion crosses all arenas and I have to say Ive found this to be true.  The writing opportunity I have today is a direct result of volunteer efforts from yesterday.WE ARE PERCEIVED TO BE LIKE THOSE WITH WHOM WE SURROUND OURSELVES.  In this instance Im honored to be listed among highly trained experts & very respected writers & hope ‘outsiders’ view me as one of them.  In other instances, in my younger days, I made some, uh, poor “surrounding” choices and deserved the assumptions made about me as a result even though at the time they pissed me off.  This whole concept—while a semi-complicated one–is something Im already striving to teach the Tornado.  It’s amazing what assumptions we (the royal) make about people given the crowd they hang with.  Is this right? I dont know that it is.  Does it happen? Heck yes.  This is a notion I think about frequently.Im frazzled.  There are lots of life-things happening right now.  Some great.  A few not so.  Im in a go go go place & either compelled to JETTISON exercise or stop take.a moment. and PRACTICE WHAT I PREACH.  In a fitting fashion my post today over at the Life…supplemented blog  (managed by the Council for Responsible Nutrition) is about precisely this: fitting fitness into a busy life.  Im hectic. Im stressed. More than ever I need to be sure I plan in time to workout.

Im over there hanging today.

And Im over here fitting in this:

row row row yer band...

And this:

do dah dippity.

And taking many many deep breaths.

And you?

It seems we are all jammedslammed this time of year—are you making time to fit in some fitness?

Have you, too, spent time reflecting (hello high school years!) upon the notion of “show me the friends and Ill show you the wo/man?”

Wanna join me in a fittingitin office workout?

please to hit us all up in the comments below…

Pin It

Tags: frazzled, Life...supplemented blog, volunteer

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My Sensational Sunday in Shots

I’m spent. Nothing left. It was a jam packed day so I’m going to let my photos do most of the talking after I share my morning run…

I have a 10 miler scheduled in two weeks so I thought I best be starting to run again. I’ve been inconsistent since the mudder. It’s time to get my training groove back. I’ll post more about this later, on to today’s Photos.

Breakfast…

Walking Practice…

Walk to the grocery store…

LUNCH!

Boxing at a Birthday party…

My budding photographer (and new minifigures. :)

Herbs in our small container garden…

Laundry and Golf…

Bugs at the park…

More practice…

One day…

PIZZA! (kale and pepperoni, a winning combo the whole family ate!!)

That’s all I have in me. Time to crash and watch Game of Thrones and Mad Men. I’m not sure I’m gonna make it.

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A Fit Family Day at the Mall

Only have a minute tonight but I wanted to hop on real quick and share some photos from the Fit Family Day at our local mall.

We went on a whim after Little Guy’s baseball game was canceled and I saw the article on the Patch.

When we got there they gave us 5 bracelets to track our fruit and vegetable consumption throughout the day. Every time you eat a serving you are suppose to move the bracelet from one arm to the other.

Love this idea!

Then they started little workout classes.

They did some aerobics, sit ups, pushups, even yoga…

…which was quite amusing. Even Little Bean thought so..

Overall it was a fun morning. It made me want to do more things on a local level and I inquired about possibly helping out next year or even setting up a station to give out a few copies of my cook book.

After all the activities we decided on some frozen yogurt. They opened one of those new places where you can make your own. I might have went a little nuts…

Mine was a squirt of all the fruit flavors topped with lots of fruit and a few chocolate sprinkles for fun.

I tried to share with the Bean but this is his reaction after trying almost anything in the fruit family…

He cracks me up! I can get him to eat frozen blueberries and banana SOMETIMES other than that fruit just isn’t an option. Although I must give him credit. I keep offering it and he keeps trying. Sometimes pureeing helps. One day maybe his tastes will change.

Anyway, I have one more picture to share and some of you will totally get this.

We didn’t finish them. I took a cue from the Little Guy who handed me his yogurt and said, "Here, I’m done."

I thought about it for a second and said, "Me too."

And we tossed them in the closest trash can.

I’m almost 36 years old and I think that may have been the first time I didn’t finish a bowl of ice cream.

Progress. :)

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