Today's Horoscope - Eating My Feelings

I don't look up my horoscope very often, but today I did for some reason.  It's a little slap on the hand for what I've been doing lately.

"Trying to eat your feelings instead of dealing with them? That's dangerous for both your emotional and physical health. Take a small step toward recognizing what's going on and put down the cookie that you automatically grabbed when things became a little stressful. If necessary, you can have it later. But for now, think about what triggered that automatic response toward food. Was it actual hunger? Didn't think so."

My Take on Food

It seems that everything I'm hearing and learning recently about health and nutrition all seem to match up.  No extreme diets, but eating healthy real, whole foods.  The biggest lesson I've begun incorporating into my life is to eat less processed foods.  Yes, it's amazing that scientists have discovered all different ways to make food stronger, bigger, cheaper, but is it the healthiest thing to be putting all of these chemicals and genetically-modified food into my body?  I don't think so.  It's hard to avoid some of it, because it's so prevalent in current day.  Recently, there was much discussion about the "frankenfish" - the genetically modified salmon.  If I recall correctly, scientists figured out a way to turn off the hormone that tells a fish when it's grown to full-size, so that it continues to grow bigger and bigger.  Not only are they modifying the genetics of plants, but now animals.  One of the worst parts of the whole thing is that if this is approved, there may be no labeling difference, so we won't know if our fish has been genetically modified or not.

I'm thankful that God has blessed me with an intelligent brain to begin reasoning out what I'm putting into my body.  Before I started this blog, there were many reasons why I ate what I ate:  "This tastes good," "I'm hungry," "It's cheap," "This is quick or easy to make," "I'm happy," "I'm sad," "I'm frustrated," "I'm celebrating," "I'm lonely," "I'm with friends," "I'm bored," etc.  The list can go on and on. Now I've begun viewing food as nourishment.  I'm realizing that what I'm putting into my body has a purpose other than satisfying some craving.  If my focus is HEALTH, then why would I want to continue sabotaging my body with unhealthy food?  If a car is created to operate with gasoline and oil, why would you attempt to fuel it with Coca-Cola?  If God created my body to be fueled with the food He created for me, like grass-fed meats, fish, fruits, veggies, and water, then why should I attempt to fuel it with pizza, ice cream, hamburgers, french fries and soda?

Week 6 Results

10/13/10
Weight: 248 (down 12.2)
Body Fat %: 42.1% (down 1.3% = 8.5 BF lbs)
BMI: 38.84 (down 1.91)

"Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body." 2 Corinthians 6:19-20

Quotable Quotes 3

"Fall seven times, get up eight."
~Japanese Proverb

"Patience and perseverance have a magical effect before which difficulties disappear and obstacles vanish."
~ John Quincy Adams

"The gem cannot be polished without friction, nor man perfected without trials."
~ Chinese Proverb

"Never give in. Never. Never. Never. Never."
~ Winston Churchill

"Great works are performed not by strength but by perseverance."
~ Samuel Johnson

"All I have to do is take one little step at a time, and I can do anything!"

Week 5

Trying to think back over the last 7 days, nothing memorable stands out.  This was a week of blah.   The "attack of the killer cold" has really gotten to me, along with struggling with hormonal issues that come with being a female.  I caved over the weekend and ordered a pizza, thinking that food would comfort me.  I know better!  It didn't even taste good.  Not one bite.  I hope I don't make that mistake again. So, I feel as though I've flatlined this week.  No progression, no regression. 

Correction:  Well, okay, I actually lost some more weight, which hopefully means I'm slowly teaching my metabolism to work better.  Or maybe it's all the green tea I'm drinking!  Regardless, 10 pounds in 5 weeks is nothing to sneeze at (- although I've been doing more of that this week due to my cold!).

I've decided to look forward to my next seven days before I get to check in again!  What will I do this week to be happy and healthy?

On a side note, in a meeting / conference call yesterday, I was reminded of the fact that small changes are the lasting changes.  The speaker used the metaphor of bricks of change.    Each brick is one small change, and you're building the wall one brick at a time.  What a cool way to think of it!  It also makes me think of the movie "What About Bob?" where Bob is instructed to make small changes through taking "baby" steps.  "Baby step onto the elevator...  Baby step into the elevator... Baby steps get on the bus... Baby steps down the aisle, baby steps..."

10/6/10
Weight: 250.4 (down 9.8)
Body Fat %: 42.7% (down 0.6 = 5.75 BF lbs)
BMI: 39.21 (down 1.53)

Restating my GOALS:
* Continue as before:  10,000 steps daily.  64 oz of water daily.  Multivitamin daily.  3 Curves workouts a week.  Continue nutrition education with The Maker's Diet.
* Prepare meals and snacks in advance. 
* Count carbs. 
* Make healthy food choices.