Maintenance 101

[Divalicious]

I'll be soon covering the topic of getting use to your new body, I've touched on it here alreasy but I want to really go in depth.
I've been thinking deeply about it since an exchange of posts between Josie and Helen at the beginning of last November.
Sometimes a subject needs marinating for a while to get the best ideas on it.

Oh my memory isn't what it used to be, can you please remind me what the exchange was about Kim?? I do hope it was after we "kissed and made up" I know Helen and I got off to a bad start but thankfully a few PMs later (behind the scenes) and we're buddies again!!
(If you're out there Helen/Goddess......come back........we miss you!!)

[Divalicious]

I'll be soon covering the topic of getting use to your new body, I've touched on it here alreasy but I want to really go in depth.
I've been thinking deeply about it since an exchange of posts between Josie and Helen at the beginning of last November.
Sometimes a subject needs marinating for a while to get the best ideas on it.

Oh my memory isn't what it used to be, can you please remind me what the exchange was about Kim?? I do hope it was after we "kissed and made up" I know Helen and I got off to a bad start but thankfully a few PMs later (behind the scenes) and we're buddies again!!
(If you're out there Helen/Goddess......come back........we miss you!!)

[Divalicious]

Goodness gracious!!! Not only is my memory failing, but it appears I'm now REPEATING MYSELF TOO!!! Oh the embarrassment.......

[Blitz]

Well that's one way to increase your post count!
Do you know that if you had some edit buttons you could have deleted one of those posts?

Yeah it was when you were buddies again.
It was a conversation you had with her on her thread about not liking the new body (loose skin), new looks (people treating you different), how you view yourself (the head vs the mirror) and how that all hampers success which can lead to sabotage.

Kim

[Blitz]

Thought 48
“Death plucks my ear and says: Live – I am coming.”

In 1931, the Chief Justice of USA, 90 year old Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr was honoured with a public tribute by various prominent men. This event was broadcast on radio to millions. At the conclusion the aged jurists was asked to give a speech in reply. Rather than an oration about his long career or great achievements he gave the following intimate short talk in which each listener felt he was giving them close personal advice from his life experience...

In this Symposium my part is only to sit in silence. To express one’s feelings as the end draws nigh is too intimate task.
But I may mention one thought that comes to me as a listener. The riders in a race do not stop short when they reach the goal. There is a little finishing canter before coming to a standstill. There is time to hear the kind voice of friends and to say to oneself 'the work is done.' But just as one says that, the answer comes 'The race is over, but the work never is done while the power to work remains.' The canter that brings you to a standstill need not be only coming to rest. It cannot be, while you still live. For to live is to function. That is all there is in living.
And so I end with a line from a Latin poet who uttered the message more than fifteen hundred years ago, “Death plucks my ear and says: Live – I am coming.”

Here is a call to lead your life with vigour right to the end and not ease off. For those of us in maintenance these are words to live by. We who have been given a new lease of life – that better future that I’m so fond of talking about, now have to grasp that gift and not waste it. Death comes to all of us. Let it not find us wanting. Let us no longer waste and throw away that new life that we now have. Let us continue to canter to the line in this full new life for Death whispers in our ears, “Live – I am coming.”

Kim

[Divalicious]

Love it!!!!
So agree, that with the new lease of life comes a certain passion to enjoy a better way of living, making choices that are by no means temporary and basically reshaping your mind, as much (if not more) than you have reshaped your body!!
My race is almost done, but it by no means one that is to remain just a memory; I need (and believe I have) to embrace this new way of behaving to keep the prize that I've worked so hard to be awarded.
Yes, death is definitely coming, but I (at least) intend to make the most of my remaining time before it reaches me!!! And with this new body and new mindset, I envisage that each of those days is going to be far more enjoyable!!!

[Divalicious]

Well that's one way to increase your post count!
Do you know that if you had some edit buttons you could have deleted one of those posts?

Yeah it was when you were buddies again.
It was a conversation you had with her on her thread about not liking the new body (loose skin), new looks (people treating you different), how you view yourself (the head vs the mirror) and how that all hampers success which can lead to sabotage.

Kim

Ahhhhh how could I forget.....that "edit" button I've sooooooooooooo longed for.......

Yes now I remember, body image (self perception and acceptance).

As for the loose skin, well I'll come back to that topic shortly, but in the meantime (to those of you out there reading this but who are worried about how it may look if you lose a large amount of weight) ask yourself this........what looks worse, a bit of saggy empty sacks of loose skin or full dimpled areas on your bones?????? I know which I'd rather, which is lighter to carry AND looks (and can be hidden) under clothes!!!

[Blitz]

Stay tuned for my two penny's worth.
I'm too busy in the next three days to knock it up (working a trade show...spruiking at a booth with my magic).
I really want to justice to this topic because I've given it a lot of thought so I'm not going to rush it.

Kim

[Blitz]

Thought 49
Keep Your Weight Down by Talking Yourself Up

The other day I was at the local public pool and saw a large woman obviously exercising to lose weight. My inner Zealot struck again (Thought 43) and I went over to encourage her. I was right; so I shared briefly my story and tried to leave her with the belief that if she continued on that it could happen for her too.

After I left her I was saddened by her attitude and did not hold out any great hope of her immediate success. During the conversation she mentioned several things that stood as obstacles.

I said that swimming was a great aid in my weight loss and she countered that she only lost weight if she went to the pool twice a day...and that it was hard for her to do so. I said that she could do other exercise if she couldn’t get to the pool.
She replied that it was hard for some people because of medical conditions and that she took lots of pills. I said that with fitness a lot of medical problems clear up or become less.

She then played her ace card – she had diabetes. I told her that I had a belly hernia, bad back and asthma...and when I started exercising all I could do was a ten minute walk...and now I can do a two hour run. I also said that the diabetes will greatly improve once the weight is gone. She said that it messes up her body and that she once had lost 13 kilos in three months but because of it she put it all back on. Strangely enough, she said this as a great achievement not comprehending that the regain undercut that achievement.
I finished up pointing out that in my early weight loss days I was losing 10 kilos a month and the weight loss journey wasn’t just about taking the weight off but keeping it off.

The conversation bothered me.
She could find all the reasons why she wouldn’t succeed but none of the vision needed to achieve success.
She was talking herself down. She was talking herself to defeat.

In Thought 13 I wrote “Practice mindfulness about your maintenance and weight”.
In this thought I want to travel further.
Once you have filled your mind you must wash it into your being by verbalise it to yourself.
Those that believe they can – can...those that believe they can’t – can’t.
Uplifting self talk is essential in weight loss.
Uplifting self talk is essential and vital in weight maintenance.
Verbalise the benefits. Replay inspiring songs and quotes in your head.
Tell yourself that you can.
This is the glue that holds it all together.

Kim

[CronicBadger]

Here's my small contribution to the topic:

Don't embrace failure as you would a familiar, comfortable friend. It is not your friend.

[Blitz]

That's a good thought Marc...I like the it very much.

We often go back to old ways because they are very much the comfortable way.
Change is challenging and that means it will take us away from our comfort zone big time.

What we have to remember is the reason why we attempt change in the first place...dissatisfaction with our old lifestyle.
That old lifestyle may be comfortable but it is the underlining reason why our lives got bogged in a pit of despair caused by the consequences of being overweight.

Kim

[Blitz]

Thought 50
When Life Hands You Lemons – Make Lemonade

Life can get tough.
Even so that doesn’t mean that maintenance has to be put on the back burner.
When life events crowd your time, enthusiasm or routine then it is up to you to get creative.

Recently my car gave up the ghost big time. This has meant a lot of extra running around and worry. Getting repair quotes, hiring a car, deciding whether to fix the old car or buy another one, hunting and looking at other cars...and on top of that juggling a busy life as well. But none of this means that maintenance can be put to one side. Indeed, with a little bit of creative thinking I’ve been able to use these events instead of having them as an excuse for failure.

For example; I’ve done a lot of walking around car yards looking at used cars. Most car yards are clustered near others – so instead of driving from one to another I would walk up the street to check a few out.
When my old car was given the death certificate by the mechanic I went down to claim the body. After paying up, they drove the car (noisily) to the front of the premises. I said that I’ll have to arrange a tow truck to get it to my place. The mechanic said that I could try driving it home...at worst it could completely die and the tow trunk can come then. Sensibly I didn’t attempt to do this in the peak hour traffic that was then. I parked the car out front and at 9pm that night I got on my bike and cycled the 5km to the car. Put the bike in the car and drove it towards home – making horrendous sounds. I got so close...less than 1km from home the last death rattle occurred! The tow truck was called in for the shortest tow he has done in a very long time. But at least I got some extra exercise in!

Found another car...paid the money...parked the car nearby and drive the hire car home. Now I could have asked a friend to drive me to the car yard to pick up the car but that isn’t creative for my maintenance. Instead I mounted my trusty bike at 7:30 pm that night and biked the 10km to the car. When I got there I put the bike into the car and drove home. It took me 40 minutes to get there and was an awful lot of fun. Made me want to do some more night riding again real soon!

When life gets tough...squeeze that lemon and get creative to find a way to make it work for you and your maintenance.

Kim

[Blitz]

As an adjunct to Thought 50...I returned the hire car yesterday morning and walked home with my daughter.
We stopped at the local markets to buy some natural nuts and a few bananas and made a detour to the supermarket and bought milk and a newspaper. It was over a two hour walk all up.
If I hadn't had my daughter with me I reckon I would have jogged the lot in under an hour instead...still it was a fun time with my daughter and it did encourage her to exercise.

Kim

[Blitz]

Thought 51
Shave the Calories to Save the Calories

You have heard the expression “take care of the pennies and the pounds will take care of themselves”. Here is an idea that is transferrable to weight loss and maintenance as well. This is all about doing things smarter.

With your weight loss experience hopefully you have figured out that by shaving the calories off your food choices you make life a lot easier for yourself. This is a practice that should be continued as you maintain your healthy lifestyle.

It is those tiny choices that you make that on their own don’t seem to make any difference in the scheme of things that actually do add up in time. Things like using margarine on your sandwich (sometimes it is required but other times it could be missed with compromising on taste) or using a low fat mayonnaise rather than regular one. Even portion sizes should be considered. Does it really need to be dripping with mayo and/or margarine?

Our choices are our own and we take ownership of them. For me I don’t like the taste of skim milk. On my cereal in the morning I use whole milk. I however don’t drown the bowl with milk but use just enough. In my tea I use whole milk but again I have my tea strong. I like to have daily cappuccino as a treat. Recently however I’ve noticed that at my favourite coffee shop it started to taste “fatty”. As a result I now have it with skim milk...with the extra advantage of banking the calories saved.

Just like professional athletics talk about giving that extra one percent by doing just as a little bit more than the required work. We too can shave off a few calories that we wouldn’t miss and end up banking the savings.

Kim