7 secrets of....

We've all heard of the books. I learned a new one tonight, 7 Secrets of a Slim Person. I didn't read it but I got the Cliff's notes from Norene. Here they are:
1) Listen to your body not your mind. ie. ignore that little voice in your head if your not hungry don't eat. May sound simple to many but not as easy for a lot of us.
2) Eat with awareness and judgement. This is the meaning I took with this. Slow down and enjoy food. Be aware of what your eating and the flavors. This will help you enjoy it more. Also make food a part of your experience not your experience. If you go out to eat with your spouse, friends, etc; make the evening about the people not the food.
3) Eat only when your physically hungry. Many people eat with their anxious, nervous, sad, etc. You may even think your hungry. Go back to number one, listen to your body. If you just ate a big meal, your probably not hungry. Also if it's not meal time start with water. Sometime your really thirsty and not hungry.
4) Stop eating with your satisfied not full. I think this one is self explanatory but not always easy.
5) Eat what you want most. This will help you enjoy eating. The kicker is this, never eat it alone. Always eat a vegetable with your food.
6) Notice how your body feels after eating. On a scale of 0-10 you should always be between a 3-7. You don't want to be starved but you never want to over eat.
7) Honor your feelings don't hide them in food.

To many these might sound easy. To those of us who over eat and struggle with food; not so easy. We talked about many things tonight. So far it's easy because Norene has me taking baby steps. When she tells me where I will eventually be, I say good luck. I will get there. We will talk more on that later.

Let's talk a bit about my day. I took the day off for Jenny. She had a rough day and needed me home. She had a molar pulled and has been in a lot of pain. While she was at the dentist's office I went to the gym and did my cardio. I really must say it is getting easier and easier. I really believe that I hit my wall last week. I don't dread going, and it is easy when I'm there. I went and picked Jenny up, and took her home. I ran some errands and took care of some chores. I got my Bible study stuff done. When the car pool dropped Lauren off, She and I went to pick Jack up. We then ran another errand or two and came home. We were home for about an hour and I changed and went back to the gym.

When I got to the gym I met with Norene. after my meeting with Norene, I went and warmed up to get ready for my workout with Jeremy. The first words out of his mouth today was, "your gonna hate me today". I said "bring it on" (well not really, but it sounds good on paper). What we've been doing is called weight stripping. I got pretty comfortable with that. He said that we are going to be changing the routine every two weeks. This two weeks is call supersets. The first exercise out of the bag was leg press and the dreaded lunges. I do 20 reps of each exercise for 1 set. that is 40 reps a set. Three sets is 120 reps in all. On the first set Jeremy saw how I was struggling and said we'll only do 10. I stopped at 10, as I stood there for a few seconds I started working again. He told me I could stop... NO! you wanted 20 your getting 20! It might hurt, they might not be pretty, they might not be any where near the way they should be... but I am going to do it. I did do it. I made it through the rest of the night. It was hard, It's not all fun, but i am starting to enjoy it. When I leave the gym I feel like I've had a good workout but I can walk on my own.

This is one of the greatest experiences in my life. As I wanted; this is going to be life changing for me and my family. I see improvements in my physical and mental shape. It makes it easier that I can find a little victory in each day. I think of how hard its been and want to see more progress. I then look at the big picture, it's only been 2 weeks, Patience Grasshopper.!