Most of the time when we read about diet and weight-loss success stories, we hear how “easy” it was and how “anyone” can do it. But the reality is, for most of us, it’s far from easy. In fact sometimes it’s so not easy that we just give up. Believe me, I get it. I can’t even count the number of times I’ve worked hard at eating healthy or exercising with little to no results.
Of course, I’m still inspired when I hear success stories of women like Valerie Bertinelli and Marie Osmond. But what do we do when we are giving it all we got, and we are still not getting the results we’re looking for?
Should we throw in the towel? Consider ourselves a failure? Give up?
No, absolutely not.
Rather than looking at where we’ve gone wrong and just giving-up, it’s time to look at what we’ve done right. That’s what I’ve been trying to do. Instead of focusing on the fact that I haven’t lost any weight in the last six weeks (even though I’ve been eating healthy), I’m trying to focus on the positive…And you can do it too.
For me, it all started in May, when I decided to get serious about making healthy lifestyle changes. Not just because I want to lose weight, but also because I know it will make a difference in my overall health and wellness. I knew I wouldn’t be able to make all the changes I wanted to over night, but I did want to make the commitment to gradually eliminate the unhealthy foods from my diet, while incorporating more nutritious foods.
And now I find myself in the classic half-full or half-empty mark in my healthy eating plan. I can choose to see my plan as half-empty, because I haven’t even lost one pound yet. Or I can choose to see my plan as half-full, because I have had success in eating healthier foods and avoiding sugar. In other words, I can choose to feel good about myself, or choose to feel like a failure. It’s totally up to me. And I’ve decided to try something new, and “choose” to feel good about myself and take a closer look at all the ways I’ve been successful.
Even a small amount of stress can have negative effects on your overall health and well-being. Can you spare six minutes of your time to reduce some of that stress? If so, give this a try.
Find a quiet place where you will not be disturbed for the next six minutes.
COLORFUL MEDITATION – For meditation and stress reduction is 6 minutes of continuous highly complex computer generated kaleidoscopic imagery with an original New Age ambient music soundtrack…
from www.cinemandala.com
Did you try it? Did it help? Let me know in comments.
Evaluating Your Success, Not Your Failure – Cross-posted at BlogHer.com
If you made a New Year’s resolution, you’ve now had a couple of weeks to work on it. How are you making out? Would you say you’ve been successful, or that you’ve already failed? Don’t answer yet.
My New Year’s resolution included eating healthy, but today my daughter made chocolate chip cookies and I had several of them (they were super yummy too). Some might say that by eating those cookies, I’ve failed at my resolution. Have I? What really matters though, is how I perceive it. If I perceive eating cookies as a failure, then it was. However, I choose to not see it as a failure. I’ve learned from years of dieting that I am less likely to be successful if I’m too strict with myself. So instead, I remind myself of all the days that I did make healthy food choices, and that I can still continue to make healthy food choices tomorrow.
We’ve all heard that most people will fail at their New Year’s resolution. In fact, many people will use this knowledge to justify not making a resolution at all. But should we really avoid resolutions because of a our fears of failure? Of course not.
Most successful people will tell you that failure is success, as long as you learn from it. You may have even heard this famous quote from Thomas Edison:
I have not failed, not once. I’ve discovered ten thousand ways that don’t work.
This is the way I see it – If you’ve made a resolution that is really in your best interest to keep, then don’t throw it out the window just because a few weeks into it you are not exactly where you hoped you would be. It’s the intention that matters most. If your intention was good, then now is as good a time as any to tweak your resolution a bit, and make it more realistic for yourself. Remind yourself that you can choose to see your glass as half empty or half full. Perception is the only thing standing between you and success.
So now, how would you answer the question I asked at the beginning of this post…
Would you say you’ve been successful, or that you’ve already failed?
If it helps, take some time to re-evaluate your resolution, and set more realistic goals yourself. And remember, it’s much better for you to focus on the ways you’ve been successful, rather than on the ways you believe you may be failing.
Be Careful of Diet Resolutions – Cross Posted at BlogHer Health & Wellness
Welcome to the dawn of a new decade. I would be lying if I said I was sad to see the last one go.
It’s a new year, and once again we will all spend time analyzing our lives. We will wonder if there is something we can change that could make our lives better in the coming year.
This is a re-write from something I wrote back in January 2007…
Finding Empowerment Through Adversity
When we are suffering it is very difficult, if not impossible, to see the light at the end of the tunnel. But it is there. We will get through it. And in time, our wounds really will be healed.
Can something good come out of adversity? Often in the face of adversity, we are unable to see anything through our pain. The only thing we can think about are questions. Why is this happening to me? How will I go on? How will I survive?
Although we may want to, we should not turn away from our pain. It is very important that we feel all of our feelings during these times of adversity and heartache. Denying our pain, or denying our feelings, will not benefit us in any way. In fact, it will likely prolong our troubles. But if we look at our situation, and face our problems head-on…we will triumph.
We may sometimes feel like we are losing the battle; but when we push through the battle, we come out on the other side the winner of the war. That’s because we are empowered when we conquer life’s toughest battles. Only at these times of empowerment do we grow into the people we are meant to be. Think about that for a minute. Who would you be right now, if it wasn’t for the adversity you have been through in your life?
For me personally, I wish I had never had to go through many of the painful events of my life – loss, divorce, illness, betrayal, just to name a few. But I also know that I would not be the woman I am today, had I not. My past heartache and my past pain, are what make me the compassionate person that I am today. And in retrospect, I don’t think I would want to be the kind of person who knows no hardships. It is because of these hardships that I appreciate every thing I have, even the little things, the things that many people often take for granted.
I can now see that my past adversity, has truly been a blessing in my life. And although I don’t look forward to future adversity, I do know it will come. And when it does come, I will have the knowledge of my past strengths to help me overcome, and once again triumph.
My hope for everyone, is that they are able to one day look past their pain, to find their empowerment.
Diet and exercise are important for good health, but did you know laughter is too? If you want to be as healthy as you can be, than laughter needs to be part of your healthy living regimen. Is it?
Laughter decreases stress hormones and increases infection fighting antibodies. It increases our attentiveness, heart rate, and pulse.
People who laugh heartily on a regular basis have lower standing blood pressure than the average person. When people have a good laugh, initially the blood pressure increases, but then it decreases to levels below normal. Breathing then becomes deeper which sends oxygen enriched blood and nutrients throughout the body.
Laughter, along with an active sense of humor, may help protect you against a heart attack, according to the study at the University of Maryland Medical Center (cited above). The study, which is the first to indicate that laughter may help prevent heart disease, found that people with heart disease were 40 percent less likely to laugh in a variety of situations compared to people of the same age without heart disease.
Here is a Humor Survey by the University of Maryland Medical Center…
This is a post in honor of breast cancer survivors. They are women sharing their stories of hope, struggle, determination, and survival. Some are in words and some are in video.
Can you imagine being in high school or college and suddenly learning you have cancer? You thought you had a lifetime ahead of you and the whole world at your feet, but suddenly you’re told… maybe not. How would you cope?
That’s the question the twenty young people in this book had to answer when they were diagnosed with childhood cancer. Perseverance shares life lessons learned through their stories and educates the reader on how to incorporate them into his/her life. It tells of their trials and tribulations, of their triumphs, and of the unique challenges that day-to-day life brings them. Perseverance also provides an intimate look at the lives and journeys of these young people and how their courage and strength have affected the lives of others.
We all know that nothing stays the same. And we know that life is constantly changing. However, I think that we all under-estimate this fact in many ways. What I mean is…When things are going great in our lives, we don’t think about the times that they weren’t so great. And, when things are going badly and we are feeling sad, it’s sometimes hard to remember that we were ever happy. In both these cases, it is important for us to not only remember, but to also reflect.
I think this is important because if we take some time to reflect on the bad days, on days that are going well for us, we can get a better perspective on our lives. Seeing a bad day from the perspective of a good day, allows us to become “aware” of the notion that time heals. Something that on our bad days, we may not be able to fully appreciate.
Is stress wearing you down? Are you worried about the bad economy? Your job? The mortgage? Your health? Your family? If so, you are not alone.
Life is always changing, and that can feel very stressful. But often, seemingly bad things will happen in our lives, that will actually turn out to be the catalysts to something positive. It’s very true that when one door closes another will open. Although it never feels so great when that one door closes. Recently I’ve had several doors close on me. But as hard as it’s been, I can already see that these things needed to happen to bring me closer to where I am meant to be.
There are three things we can do to help relieve the stress in our lives…
Last week I watched Valerie Bertinelli and Marie Osmond on the Oprah Winfrey Show talking about their personal weight loss success stories, and I found both stories to be very inspirational. As most of you already know, I’ve been struggling with my weight for several years now. And for that reason, I find myself easily able to relate to these two women. After watching that show I felt more motivated then ever to continue eating healthy and losing weight. I don’t think I was alone, but as always, there was also a backlash.
When you hear the word “yoga” what do you think of? You may think you know all there is to know about yoga, but there is a good chance that you don’t. Let’s take a look at some of what women are blogging on the topic of yoga.
Would you like to live to 100 years and beyond? Dr. Oz and other medical experts believe that a calorie restriction diet can help people to live longer with a higher quality of life. The calorie restriction diet also focuses on consuming calories that provide a high nutritional value, not just low calorie.
I wasn’t sure what I was going to write about today, and then I came across this interesting article on how reading can reduce stress. Since I love to read, and I also love anything that can help me reduce stress, I thought this would be a great post for today.
Are you stressed about the economy? Your job? Your kids? Politics? It’s no secret that life is very stressful these days. So…What can we do to reduce stress? Apparently, reading a book is one of the best ways to reduce stress.
Reading is the best way to relax and even six minutes can be enough to reduce the stress levels by more than two thirds or 68%.
New research by consultancy Mindlab International at the University of Sussex says reading works better and faster than other methods to calm frazzled nerves such as listening to music, going for a walk or settling down with a cup of tea.
Are you a reader? Does it help you relax and de-stress?
Is stress wearing you down? Are you worried about the bad economy? Your job? The mortgage? Your health? Your family? If so, you are not alone.
Life is always changing, and that can feel very stressful. But often, seemingly bad things will happen in our lives, that will actually turn out to be the catalysts to something positive. It’s very true that when one door closes another will open. Although it never feels so great when that one door closes. Recently I’ve had several doors close on me. But as hard as it’s been, I can already see that these things needed to happen to bring me closer to where I am meant to be.
There are three things we can do to help relieve the stress in our lives…
A few weeks ago I was flipping through the million channels on my TV trying to find just one thing worth watching (which isn’t an easy task). Luckily I found Dr. Wayne Dyer on PBS.
I read my first book by Dr. Wayne Dyer (Real Magic) about twelve years ago, and I’ve been hooked ever since. So when I watched his seminar on PBS that was based on his latest book, of course I had to run out the next day and buy it. This one is called Change Your Thoughts – Change Your Life, and it’s his interpretation of the 81 verses of the Tao.
[The Tao Te Ching was written five hundred years before the birth of Jesus, and offers advice and guidance for living a balanced life.]
As I read, I came across aspects of this wisdom that are helpful in my quest for better health and weight loss. So, even though I’m no philosopher (obviously), I thought I would share some verses that stood out for me. They offer guidance for healthy living and even weight loss. Here are three.
[Keep in mind that I am only pulling the parts of these verses that I find most relevant to good health, this is by no means a complete look at any of these verses.]
I have a love/hate relationship with my scale. — by Catherine Morgan (cross-posted at BlogHer)
About eight weeks ago I posted about how I started a pre-diet. I was trying to get reacquainted with the taste of healthy foods, and wean myself off of sugar. As far as that goes, I feel like I’m doing pretty well, I’ve even lost some weight. At the time of the post I had lost about six pounds, and since then I have lost another six. I’m now down 12 pounds from my heaviest weight ever (not counting when I was pregnant), I know because that’s what my scale says. If it wasn’t for my scale I wouldn’t believe I’ve lost any weight at all, so for that reason, I love my scale. However, I also hate that the number is still so high. And, I hate that even after losing 12 pounds, I still have almost 30 to go.
BlogHer Health & Wellness Blog Roundup — by Catherine Morgan (cross-posted at BlogHer)
Tonight I am surfing the BlogHerHealth and WellnessBlogroll. So many great blogs, I wish I could tell you about every one…But you could always do a little surfing yourself.
So, in no particular order, here are eleven blogs that are new to me.
I am a firm believer that the number one thing any of us can do to promote good health…Is to eat a healthy, well balanced diet. Regardless of your weight (even if you are thin or at an ideal weight), it’s important that we all try to eat healthy. Unfortunately, that is sometimes the hardest thing for many of us to do.
It can be overwhelming for someone with “questionable” eating habits to make the changes necessary for good health. But, it’s also the best thing you can do to reduce your risk of heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, cancer, and chronic illness. So, what can we do? Well, I recommend you take it slow, and not put too much pressure on yourself.
Don’t decide today to make radical changes in your eating habits. If you do that you are setting yourself up for failure. Instead, let’s look at what I believe are the top three changes you can make that won’t be hard for you to stick to. Once you have conquered these three things, you will become empowered to continue taking a step at a time toward healthier eating habits and a healthier life. So, let’s give it a try.
Well, not really. It sounds like a good plan though. The truth is…I have no motivation, I haven’t been able to stick to a diet in years, and yoga is just another four letter word to me. When if comes to healthy living…I’m slowly but surly becoming the poster child (middle-aged woman) for unhealthy living.
So, I started this post thinking I might find some motivation to stop eating so much ice-cream and cookies. And then I came across this…
Living and Blogging with Chronic Illness — by Catherine Morgan (cross-posted at BlogHer)
I was surfing the BlogHer Health and Wellness Blogroll, looking for something to write about tonight, and I came across a new blog on living with autoimmune disease. As you might already know, I live with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, and other chronic health problems…So, I decided to do tonight’s post, on living with chronic illness.
My name is Michelle and I decided to start a blog about my illness and my life. I became sick about 2 years ago and at that time I didn’t know what was happening to me. 2 doctors, 3 neurologists, and 1 rheumatologist later I now know that I have a couple of autoimmune diseases; still working on a definite diagnosis… So far I have Mixed Connective Tissue Disease, Dermatomyositis, and most recently what they think is the early stages of Rheumatoid Arthritis.
Four Tips To A Long Life — by Catherine Morgan (cross-posted at BlogHer)
I was surfing the health and wellness news trying to decide what to post on tonight, and I came across this Reuters article… Four Health Changes Can Prolong Life 14 Years. Who wouldn’t want to prolong their life by 14 years?
So, would you make a “resolution” to make four lifestyle changes, if it would increase your life by 14 years? Better than a New Years Resolution, this would be a “Life Resolution”.
What are the four changes to a longer life?
1) Stop Smoking
2) Eat Five Servings of Fruits and Vegetables a Day
3) Exercise
4) Limit Alcohol Consumption
The lifestyle change with the biggest benefit was giving up smoking, which led to an 80 percent improvement in health, the study found. This was followed by eating fruits and vegetables. Moderate drinking and keeping active brought the same benefits…
Well, that seems pretty simple. While we’re on the subject, why not surf around for some other ways to live longer?
There are few things that cause you more stress and worry than your weight. If you gained a few pounds over the holidays, don’t panic…..yet. According to an article (reprinted below) about a study published last November, people who are a little overweight actually live longer.
Could you live longer if you walked faster? Apparently so…
New research following 500 older people for nearly a decade found quicker walkers were less likely to die. Nine years after initial gait speed was measured, 77 percent of slow walkers had died, compared to only 50 percent of medium speed and 27 percent of fast walkers.
As our population ages, our society is finally recognizing that old age is a gift. Despite some of the negative images in the media, it really is possible to embrace our elderhood as a creative and spiritual journey.
People who have aged successfully share common characteristics.
There is no question that most of our lifestyle choices are what will determine whether we age in good physical and mental health or fall prey to sickness and disability. Although it may be a cliché, moderation is the key in everything. By practicing moderation and following these ten tips, you too can be a “long-liver” and, more importantly, enjoy your elder hood in the process.
Happy New Year everyone! This is one of my most popular posts, and since everyone seems to be talking about dieting and weight loss, I figured now was a good time to re-post. Hope you like it.
You heard right. All you can eat. And it’s not a gimmick. How can that be? All you can eat diet? No diet is all you can eat? Well you are right, and wrong. No starvation or quick fix theme diet, is ever going to be an all you can eat diet. And we all know there is no pill or powder that allows you to eat anything you want and still lose weight. So, what exactly is an ALL YOU CAN EAT DIET?
Most diets have you starving, or at least hungry most of the time. If you do happen to lose weight on one of these “fad” diets, you just end up gaining it all back and then some. Worst yet, many of us go on these diets because we know it would be better for our overall health if we lost some of our excess weight. We might want to lower our blood pressure, control sleep apnea, prevent diabetes, just to name a few. But, what we end up doing by following “fad” or starvation type diets, is put ourselves at greater risk for health problems.
So, why do we do it? Why do we spend millions on books, pills, and powders that are generally 100% proven to be ineffective. Well, I don’t know the answer to that. But, it might have something to do with the fact that, “keeping” you at an ideal weight can’t be the goal of these multi-million dollar companies, or there just would be no more money to made.
Not only is this an ALL YOU CAN EAT DIET. But, it is also not going to cost you one penny to get the secrets. Because, I’m going to just tell you. The truth is, you already know it. It’s just that we have been programed to think that dieting is some kind of big deal, and if we don’t do it just right we will fail. Well, that is just wrong.
The one way you will lose weight, without risking your health and in fact becoming a more healthy person. The one way, is to eat healthy foods. That’s it. Two simple words; HEALTHY FOODS. What ones? Any and all of them. What is healthy? Basically, anything that isn’t full of sugar, fat, and sodium. Fruits, vegetables, whole wheats, fish, lean meats, milk, cheese, nuts. The list goes on and on. By now we all know the difference between the healthy foods and the not healthy foods. There is no trick, no gimmick. Just stop eating the processed foods that are full of sugar, fat, and sodium; and start eating healthy foods that aren’t.
Throw away the unhealthy foods and the unhealthy diets, and say hello to healthy foods and healthy living. No need to limit yourself. It will take a bit longer, than starvation, but results will last much longer. Once you start eating healthy foods, you won’t have cravings for sugar and salt, you won’t need to binge eat, and most of all you won’t be hungry all the time. You will be on your way to a leaner, healthier you.
No need to make it complicated, just go shopping and get all the healthy foods you want, and start eating them. You can even use the Internet to look up healthy new recipes for the foods you like. Best of all; it’s ALL YOU CAN EAT, ALL THE TIME.
HOW WE CAN CREATE PEACE AND LOVE IN OUR LIVES – BY LETTING GO OF ANGER AND HATE – by Catherine Morgan
If we wish peace for ourselves, me must first wish peace for others. How do we do that? I think a good place to start is to take “hate” out of our thoughts and mind. It’s easy to say you’re not a hater, but to truly live a life without hating is not that easy. Here are a few suggestions….
1. Start with yourself. Stop hating yourself. Stop hating your weight, your looks, your job, your face, your inabilities, and on and on. This first step might be the most difficult, but it is also the most important. Learn to love yourself.
2. Stop hating the uncontrollable situations in your life. Things like; the traffic, the news, the bills, the check-out girl, any circumstance in your life that makes you angry but that you have no control over.
You can be conscious of your emotions at these times. When you feel yourself getting impatient in a traffic jam, use this time to reflect on your need to learn how to be more patient. Realize that this hold-up may actually keep you from being in an accident yourself, acknowledge that traffic isn’t the enemy unless you let it be. Do this type of refection with all the uncontrollable inconveniences that you hate in your life. Take some time to reflect, see the uselessness in your anger.
Redefining Yourself From Healthy and Successful to Successfully Living with a Chronic Illness — by Catherine Morgan (cross posted at Living With Chronic Fatigue Syndrome)
This issue is so important, and that is because; When you suffer from chronic illness, although you are being treated (even successfully), going back to your former life before you were sick may be impossible. I hear this all the time from others suffering with CFS and FM, and I am certain it holds true for many others suffering with chronic disease as well. The biggest problem, is that many of us “define” ourselves through our work, or what we do for a living. Quite frankly, this is a bad idea even if you are a healthy person. None of us “are” our work. Our work is not who we are, it’s simply what we do. But, we all know it doesn’t always feel that way, especially when out of nowhere, we are unable to do what we do.
Find Your Way Out Of The Darkness — by Catherine Morgan
Challenge yourself to see past the darkness in your life, and find the beauty. Walk through your life today, just a little slower, and just a little more aware. How you see your life is ultimately up to you; if you see yourself as sad, then you are sad. When there is no light at the end of your tunnel, it is because you are choosing not to see it. Just remember that the darkness can not exist without the light, darkness is simply the ying to the lights yang. So, if you are having one of those “dark nights of the soul”, know that when you are ready, you can choose to let the light back in.
See the light at the end of the tunnel, and walk confidently in the direction of your dreams.
If You Want To Attract Love, Be A Loving Person — by Catherine Morgan
Did you ever notice that angry people tend to attract other angry people? That greedy people, enjoy the company of other greedy people? Just like we choose to associate with people in our lives that have similar interests as we do, we are also unconsciously choosing people that are putting out that same emotional “frequency” as we do.
So, who cares? Well, you should. That is; if you are interested in “attracting” people into your life that are kind, caring, and loving, and not angry, bitter, and hateful.
It’s all about awareness. If you are attracting negative people into your life, it is most likely that you are putting out negative “energy”, and you are most likely doing that because you are feeling negative “emotions”. If you are aware of that, you can work on putting out more positive energy, by choosing to feel more positive emotions. It’s really very simple.
HOW WE CAN CREATE PEACE AND LOVE IN OUR LIVES – BY LETTING GO OF ANGER AND HATE – by Catherine Morgan
If we wish peace for ourselves, me must first wish peace for others. How do we do that? I think a good place to start is to take “hate” out of our thoughts and mind. It’s easy to say you’re not a hater, but to truly live a life without hating is not that easy. Here are a few suggestions….
1. Start with yourself. Stop hating yourself. Stop hating your weight, your looks, your job, your face, your inabilities, and on and on. This first step might be the most difficult, but it is also the most important. Learn to love yourself.
My name is Catherine Morgan...I'm a writer, nurse, and mother. I'm also a contributing editor for BlogHer Health & Wellness.
Welcome to my blog...I write a little bit of everything with an emphasis on healthy living, inspiration, nutrition, and health news. I hope you'll find topics that interest you here, and I would love to know what you think in comments. Thanks for stopping by.
Can you imagine being in high school or college and suddenly learning you have cancer? You thought you had a lifetime ahead of you and the whole world at your feet, but suddenly you’re told… maybe not. How would you cope?
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