Cherish Your Dreams...

I was happily down 1.5 lbs. this morning when I stepped on the scale. I am sure it was a lot of show shoveling and the Walk Away The Pounds DVDs I've been using.  Oh, and cutting out the junk I ate over the holidays and replacing it with healthy food!  That *may have* had something to do with the loss!  I hope all the challengers for January Jump In are feeling positive and have your goals written down.  Let me know in the Comments or on Twitter if you need some encouragement. :)

I found the quote below today and think it is perfect for those of us with Vision Boards and goals written to help us achieve our goals!

Here's to a great week for us! :)

Dream.  Believe.  Achieve!

Jan / HealthyLoserGal 

January Jump In Challenge! Let's Set GOALS!

If there has been one thing I have learned in the last four years since starting my weight loss and fitness journey it is this:  you have to set GOALS for your own success.  And you have to WRITE THEM DOWN! If you don't write them down in a journal or make a dream board, you may as well be wishing.  And we can all wish, but wishing doesn't make the pounds come off or your BMI go down.  Just sayin'...

So as I'm beginning the New Year, I'm not out wining and dining today, I'm home blogging and journaling because I KNOW that if I just think about the goals I want, nothing will happen.  I have to have them there before me - confronting and challenging me - every single day.

And then you have to TAKE ACTION.  I can write out terrific goals, inspiring goals, needed goals for myself and my health, but if I'm going to sit on the couch on my butt and do nothing, nothing is going to come back to me.  In order to achieve your dreams and your goals, you have to take action.

So here comes the January Jump In (#hlgJumpIn) actions that I am taking.  It falls into four easy criteria that you can modify however you want to best fit your health level if you'd like to join the challenge for this month:

1. Hydrate.  I plan to drink 1/2 my body weight every day in water.  If you don't like plain water, you can drink unsweetened tea or water with lemon or lime.  Whatever will get you to stay hydrated without carbonation or sugar works.
2. Plan and track.  Planning my food has always been difficult for me for whatever reason.  To alleviate "falling off the planning wagon" I make the first month's food fairly similar.  I eat a lot of chicken and salmon, salad greens and veggies (both raw and cooked into meals), fruit, low fat yogurt and simple grains. I try to stay away from cheese and cut down on mayo, sauces. And then as soon as I have eaten something, I track it.  There are so many great apps available as well as websites that allow you to track (and plan) your foods but I usually use an old favorite, FitDay.com. Free and easy to use and has a vast food list for nutrition and calorie counting.  My calorie allotment daily is between 1250 to 1400 calories. 
   
3. Move, move, move.  I will be walking a total of 15-20 miles a week. This works for me but you can move in any way you know will work for you and that you can stick with.  In the dead of winter you're not going to find me walking outside except with my lab on those "doggie necessary" walks. : )  But, I walk on the treadmill at the YMCA or Cambridge Athletic Club and have Walk Away the Pound DVDs to walk to in the privacy of my own home.  I will be firming up my sagging arms with the help of a kettle bell and stand alone weights.  I use a balance wheel, a stability ball and Lisa Johnson's Pilates' DVD in my own home, too.  There really is no excuse to not get some activity in daily with the online and at home sources we have available to us! 
4. Be accountable to others.  Tell everyone you know that you're changing your lifestyle and taking time for yourself.  And I do mean everyone! Friends, co-workers, social media buddies. If your friends give you a hard time about getting healthy, you might ask yourself how good of friends they are to not support you in your goals. And if you just had the thought "what if I tell my friends and then fail", all I can tell you is GET THAT THOUGHT OUT OF YOUR HEAD.  You need to remain positive and upbeat no matter how hard it may feel.  You're telling everyone so they'll support you and - if necessary - you can prove it to them and to YOU that you are going to SUCCEED!  There is no other game plan here except to plan on succeeding.

So are we ready to tackle our fitness and weight loss and JUMP IN to the new year with positive action? Let me know if you want to join me by leaving a comment here or on Twitter or Facebook! 

I am ready to make big changes starting today and by my telling you am expecting you to hold me accountable, too!

Here's to our success!

Dream big dreams and write them down.  Believe in yourself and accept only success as an outcome. Achieve your best life knowing that you worked hard and have learned you CAN achieve goals you work hard for!

xo

Jan / HealthyLoserGal

Ready. Set. Dream.

It is always the right time to dream new dreams... bigger dreams... and to bring dreams back to life that you may have given up on long ago!  Drag those "I could never do that..." and "How could I possibly go there?" phrases to the curb and give them a good hard kick 'bye bye'.  You need to reclaim yourself and your dreams and believe that anything is possible again.  Because (psssttttt!)... anything IS possible!  YOU just have to believe in yourself and turn those negative little voices in your head and sometimes the negative voices surrounding you in your life ("supposed" friends, family members who don't wish to see you succeed or change for selfish reasons of their own, your group at your work, you know the ones who are in this category!) into positive beliefs and positive influences in your life.

All successful people men and women are big dreamers. They imagine what their future could be, ideal in every respect, and then they work every day toward their distant vision, that goal or purpose.
Brian Tracy 

If you follow the blog or have seen my tweets, you must know I am a big believer in "Dream. Believe. Achieve!".  : ) I've just completed a new DREAM BOARD (also called a Vision Board) as I'm embarking on a new chapter in my life as I return to my fitness and health disciplines and as I embark on a very exciting new healthy business venture!  It was time for me to renew my goals and dreams in my own life, to think about "what do I *really* want in my life", "where do I want to be in one year, two years, five years", "if I weren't worried about (fill in the blank), I would...".  I absolutely love having a dream board because I KNOW the dreams on the board, with action put behind them, and belief in yourself and (for me) God and the universe to bring you the dreams you have, and deep gratitude for what you already have becomes dreams realized.  Four years ago I put up my 2009 dream board as my background on Twitter because I knew - that way - I would see it every day, a couple of times a day, and would be reminded of what my dreams were... where I was focusing my energy and momentum.  I have purposefully left that board up for you to take a look at because I have achieved 75 percent of the goals I once thought "out of reach".  75%!!

So let's get started so that you can begin making your own Dream Board and allow great things to appear in your life, too.














1.  Find something to use as a "board"... it can be an old white paper bag, or a poster board, or a piece of foam board that you can buy for under $2 in most office supply stores.  It can be whatever size you feel you'd like it to be... mine is foam board and BIG! :)   You'll need scissors and a glue stick and a stack of old magazines or newspapers or wherever you can find inspiration!

2.  Lay back, close your eyes and DREAM!  What do you really want in your life?  Be specific! Do you have fitness goals?  Do you want to be able to walk a mile without having to stop?  Do you want to skydive?  Do you want to be a marathoner?  (Remember, even if you can't walk 1/4 mile now, you can STILL believe in yourself and your ability to achieve ANY dream, so if you want to run a marathon... that is a dream/goal for you to write down!) You don't have to know now how it is going to come true, just add it to your dreams! Now... what about your personal life?  Are you happy in your relationships?  Do you wish you could see your family more? Do you wish you had more girlfriends?  What about your finances? Do you wish you were able to afford new outfits every season?  New running shoes?  A vacation home on a lake?  A second car? A motor home?  A trip to Australia?  Whatever YOUR DREAMS are - they are your dreams and worth going after.  No one else has the right or the ability to dismiss your dreams.  You get to hold onto them, believe in them, believe they can and WILL come true.  

3.  Write the dreams and goals down.  Big and small.  Make a list and date it.  (You're going to put this list into an envelope and paste the dated envelope on the back of your dream board!)

4.  Now begin paging through your magazines and materials and cut out everything and anything that appeals to you or attracts you.  Words that mean something to you personally, images of people doing things that are part of your goal.  You'll see in the photos that I have cut out a photo of a woman jumping up onto a high box.  I cannot do this yet.  (Note the "yet"!)  But I have a goal to do this and I will do this.  And the photo is a reminder of this goal.  When I see it now every morning, I say to myself, "I've GOT that!"  That positive attitude may take a little work for some people at first, but attitude is like a muscle, it may hurt a little and feel uncomfortable for a little bit, but pretty soon that positive nature and attitude will be second nature to you and not feel odd at all. We ALL want to be positive people, that is how we feel best - when we're smiling and happy.

5. Start a big pile of all your dream photos and words, phrases and begin to lay them out on your board.  I segregate my dream board a little because it is so big... I have a personal fitness side, the middle is about dreaming, believing, and achieving, and the other side is about financial, relationship and business goals I have for myself.  But you should organize your dream/vision board however you feel best it works for you!

6.  Finally, starting pasting down the photos.  I paste and say to myself with each photo or phrase I put down "This dream of jumping on a high box will come true before (and then insert a date) and I will be so excited to have achieved this goal! Thank you, God!"  Sounds a little crazy at first, but I learned this part of the process from reading Jack Canfield's "The Success Principles" and it seems to have changed how I look at each phrase or photo to being able to single them out individually in my mind and know their intent.

7.  When your board is dry, turn it over and paste the back of an envelope to the board and fold up your list of dreams/goals and put it into the envelope, dated.  Let it dry and then find a place you can put your dream board every single day.  If you want to hang it on your bedroom or bathroom wall, a cheap, easy way to make a hanging hook is to take a large paperclip and bend the top outward, taking a piece of duct tape and taking the flat part of the paperclip to the back of your Dream Board.

It is best to hang or place the board where you'll see it multiple times a day.  Take a photo of it and use the photo as your desktop wallpaper and your smartphone background.  Print the photo out and stick it on your frig as a reminder of your dreams and goals.

People with clear, written goals, accomplish far more in a shorter period of time than people without them could ever imagine.

Brian Tracy 

Believe in your goals and take action to make them come true.  Every dream is achievable if you're willing to work hard enough, give up or go after what it is that is needed to accomplish them.

Good luck with your dream board.  I would LOVE to see photos of them on my HealthyLoser Gal Facebook wall! : )  If you have any questions, leave me notes in the comments here and I'll get back to you with an answer as best I can!

Here are a few additional resources that I like about Dream Boards and Vision Boards:

From Jack Canfield: http://jackcanfield.com/how-to-create-an-empowering-vision-book/
From Oprah: O Dream Board: Envision Your Best Life
http://www.oprah.com/spirit/O-Dream-Board-Envision-Your-Best-LifeTM

Dream. Believe. Achieve!
Jan / HealthyLoserGal

Believe in YOURSELF!

From quotablecards.com

As the New Year begins, these words above are never more true. I believe in setting goals, not making resolutions.

 

Write down three goals you have for this month.  Put those goals somewhere you'll see them everyday... your frig, your bathroom mirror, write them, take a photo and make them your phone's screensaver! And then - every single day - work toward your goals.  Push yourself beyond  your own comfort level.  Sweat.  Sweat a lot.  Reward yourself with little trinkets (not food!) when you've achieved a significant milestone. Break up with your couch! ; )  Have a personal mantra while you're striving toward your goal.  Say to yourself throughout every day "I am awesome.  I can do this.  I am proving to myself how much I can do."  

 

I believe we're going to have a GREAT 2013.  I believe in YOU... now it is your turn to believe in YOURSELF! :)

 

Here's to our health!

Dream. Believe. Achieve!

Jan / HealthyLoserGal

Be Proud of Your Accomplishments!

Does anyone else love the movie "What About Bob?" with Bill Murray?  If you recall the movie, Bob (played by Murray) has many phobias, one is leaving his house... so Dr. Leo Marvin (Richard Dreyfus) teaches him how to "baby step" to overcome his fears.

Not such bad advice!

I am really so impressed by how far each one of us can come if we just believe in our own selves!  Pushing aside those negative "inside your head tapes" of "I'll never be able to run" or "I can't walk a 5k... am I kidding!?" or "I used to love to play tennis, but I am not in good shape anymore!" and replacing them with "I'm going to run a 5k by year's end" and "I know I can make it to the end of the block without stopping" can help us achieve our goals.

I know I say this a lot but BELIEVE in yourself.  Set a goal for yourself and then Believe you can do what you set out to do.  Don't allow negativity to enter your mind.  Work toward your goal with 'baby steps' and soon, you're going to be so proud of yourself because you will have ACHIEVED your goal!!

Here is a tweet from @suzyscrapbook today on Twitter that illustrates just this:  Running 2mi today I was frustrated that I stopped to walk. Two months ago I couldn't even run for 5min w/o stopping. Progress! #hlgFitGift 

I'm so impressed!  And I know that Eucerin would want YOU, Leslie,  to have the giveaway set of Eucerin Everyday Protection Body Lotion with spf 15 and the Everyday Face Lotion with spf 30 so you can continue your outdoor activities and achieve your goals!  They sent me the same products to use and review this summer and I think they're fantastic!  Eucerin believes in putting the health of your skin first before we head outside. This is a little tiny reward for achieving a goal you'd set for yourself during our 90 Day Gift of Fitness & Health Challenge!  Congrats, friend! :)


Dream! Believe! Achieve!
Jan / HealthyLoserGal

Awesome August Challenge! Let's Go For It!

Last August I started monthly challenges on the blog and over the course of a year we have had 327 people (!!!) join into healthy challenges for weight loss or fitness or... like me, for both! :)  This month, I'm going back to the original challenge and hope you'll all join in!  I want to ROCK this month of August... I want to end it looking back and by us saying "I really gave this month my all... it truly has been AWESOME!" So who is with me?

Oh! and I'm still working on my Healthy Habit Challenge, too, believe me - - and so far so good - I'm planning my food and exercise and logging which is my goal for a new habit!

How did the summer come and go so quickly? I am determined to make every little second of August count for me - both for summer fun and fitness! When thinking about this earlier tonight I logged onto Twitter and posed the question "If I were to challenge you to an #AwesomeAugust for #fitness, would you join me? Maybe something like committing to exercise 24 of 31 days?" Well, within an hour or so, I had well over two dozen resounding "I'm IN!" replies! I was so shocked and happy! How totally cool are our Twitter friends and I am SURE some of you reading the blog will join in, too.



Sweaty, happy,
HealthyLoser :)

 So here is the idea... let's really commit to ourselves to make August count with our own personal fitness pledge. Of the 31 days of August, commit to yourself and to the #AwesomeAugust group that you will walk or exercise 24 of those days. It is really incredibly hot in some parts of the country so the rest days will be recovery days to use! : ) We can make the last month of the summer our best month of the summer and enter September proud of ourselves for the commitment we made and KEPT to ourselves!! You can post here on the blog or on Twitter when you've exercised or group the days together and post what you did for the week. If you're posting on Twitter, please use the #AwesomeAugust hashtag so we can find one another and support each other during the month!! It'll be fun! :)

If "you're in!" on the Awesome August Challenge and want to use the badge above or over on the right, simply right click on it and save it to your photo directory to add to your webpage or blog!

Happy first day of August, friends, and let's have an Awesome August!!

Dream. Believe. Achieve!
Jan / HealthyLoserGal