The No-Plan Plan

Linking up with the Five-Minute Friday community of bloggers, the prompt this week is PLAN. Learn more about it here.

Initially, I was just fed up. I was depressed to go shopping. I was moving into a larger size in every item of clothing, I was uncomfortable in the bath tub. I didn’t like the way I looked or felt. I was fed up.

I didn’t have a plan.

I took an initial step with The 21-day Daniel Fast. I saw results after that initial 21 days that I had never seen before in my experience of trying to lose weight. I made a decision to continue eating according to the Daniel Cure adding seafood. That was over a year ago.

What I’ve learned is a plan is essential in effective executing many things we do. However, a progressive strategic plan that evolves over time can produce results as well.  For me that is what my journey has been, a progressive development of strategies to achieve my goals.

Goal-setting drives the mission, the objective you set for yourself or whatever you desire to achieve. In the beginning it was about changing my diet, that yielded some progress. With teaching I learned that was not enough, I needed to exercise. I had to make a decision to get off the sofa and move. I started with workouts I enjoyed which fueled my motivation. A few months in I hit a plateau and was advised I needed to amp up my workout routine, shock my body, do something different, challenge and stretch myself.

Not having a plan progressed into a strategic plan that has been an adventure, one that continues to challenge me in new ways to achieve my goals.

Moreover, the ultimate plan (intention; objective) is yet to be accomplished.

KEEP On Keeping On

KEEP is the Five Minute Friday prompt by Kate Moutaung today … each Friday a community of bloggers write for five minutes on a one word prompt, no over-thinking, no editing, no proofreading, just write, then link up here, http://katemotaung.com/five-minute-friday/

KEEP On Keeping On

My fitness journey seems to be one without a destination. Sometimes it feels like a running wheel, going and going and going. Every goal starts and ends with another one.

There are days when I want to just chill, pull back, get some balance, concentrate on something else. It is consuming, often overload. The nutrition, the workouts, the progress check, the set backs and stumbles, the plateaus, the ‘you’re not there yet’. Then, trying to motivate others, be an example, staying true to yourself and your commitment. There are days! But I have to keep on keeping on.

Determination doesn’t always roar, it is not always a crashing wave. Sometimes determination is a little ripple wave, just enough to KEEP you upright. A cool pooling around my ankles to remind me of how far I have come, what I have achieved, that I can do it, I just have to keep on keeping on.

So for myself and you, “Believe in yourself, take on your challenges, dig deep within yourself to conquer fears (doubts, whatever). Never let anyone bring you down. You got to keep going.” ~ Chantal Sutherland

 

A Brief Reflection – My Fitness Journey 2014

Since my last writing over two months ago I have experienced progress and missteps along my fitness journey. Since September I have been working with a personal fitness trainer which has elevated my ability to achieve the goals I have set for myself. I confess I still struggle with getting it just right. I continue to prefer my Starbucks indulgence and more often than I should, a sweet treat. While I remain committed to my physical activity and eating well overall, poor choices are stumbling blocks that exist along the way and only stymie my progress.

I am ten days away from my one-year goal date of January 5, when I began my journey this year. Although I will not reach my initial weight loss goal by that date, I have had a banner year. I have learned so much, achieved so much, and grown so much.

“Nothing builds self-esteem and self-confidence like accomplishment.” ~Thomas Carlyle

When I did it, I knew I could. Setting and crushing personal goals fueled every step of my journey. Great people including MYSELF, family, friends, fitness trainers, a nutrition coach, and (I’ll call them) fitness mates have all contributed to my success to date. Goal achievement does not mean you give up or stop, it is just the time to set new goals, to keep pushing. So my status 355 days in is anticipation of achieving that ultimate goal, setting new ones, and most significantly helping others along the way.

“When you learn, teach. When you get, give.” ~ Dr. Maya Angelou

As I continue toward achieving my goals, I am endeavoring to share what I have learned in hopes of helping at least one person succeed in creating a new lifestyle of health and fitness. I want people to be inspired beyond looking at what I have done, to actually doing it for themselves.

“You’ve got what it takes, but it will take everything you’ve got.”

I finally have my own before and after, my own success story … you can too.

Photos: Spring 2013; December 2013; August 2014; December 2014)

Total weight-loss to date is 52.5 lbs.

My current fitness focus is muscle building and toning. Nutrition goals include drinking more water (still); eliminating sugar/sweet treats (still); and committing to cooking and preparing my own meals (still). I also want to adopt the 12 hr fast (stop eating by 7-7:30 pm), http://amazingy.com/magazine/secret-boundless-energy-moment-get/.

To keep crushing goals … I MUST WIN!

Will I Maintain The Gain?!

I have finally reached the time when I celebrate my transformation. For so long compliments were nice but I still didn’t see or feel it for myself.
Now, right behind an inward celebratory thought of ‘you’ve done well’, ‘you look good’, is a taunt ‘you’re going to be a public failure like Oprah’. She made her weight loss journey so public and then gained all her weight back. It is scary to think about it. I have lived out my journey on FB and here on this blog for all the social media world to see. While I feel that my transformation, all that I have learned and the new behaviors I have adopted are pretty solid, I wonder.
Will I maintain the gain?!
The reality is my lifestyle must be forever committed to my personal wellness and fitness. I must continue to make the best choices for my health and for my life. Eating well, even better and moving as long as this body will go. It is both exhilarating and exhausting, I’m not a young woman, I’m a grandmother!:-) I know several people who have gone to the extremes of weight loss surgery and they have gained the weight back. People who have lost a significant amount of weight and gained the weight back. I just cannot.
I always share that this is as much a spiritual journey as anything that we trust God for or depend on Him to do for us. I know then that I must affirm all that I have achieved and who I have become. It is more than the weight loss, it is my sense of self. Who I was, who I am, and who I am becoming. I have been stretched beyond anything I ever thought possible of myself. I have gained so much.
My Prayer:
Lord, change me from the inside out that healthy thoughts continue to govern my behavior and that I will continue to have strength of mind, body and spirit to maintain the gain. Pure and simple, I pray for discipline and determination to win over indulgences and seeking comfort in food. I know that by Your hands I am fearfully and wonderfully made. I know that You have created me and refined me in the fire. I know that my body is Your temple, that you have given it to me whole, well and beautiful. I know that Your hands form, frame and shape my being. I know that it is You Who has helped me and I will depend on You ALWAYS.

Defeat By Excuses (A Work In Progress, That’s Me, Part II)

Tags

Apostolic, Christian, dreams, Fear, Fitness, health, Inspiration, Motivation, Overcoming, Personal Development, Personal Growth, wellness

Continuing from my previous writing, I knew there was something critically important I was forgetting at the time: EXCUSES!
They surface from our thought patterns to our lips with lightning speed as a crutch for why we cannot be what we need to be or do what we need to do. Excuses exempt us from what we do not want to do. Excuses are empty, some call them cop-outs. My Pastor teaches, ‘excuses are filled with corruption’.  The point is they lead to no where, no success, no progress, nothing. Excuses only limit us and defeat us.
This year I have had to fight past excuses (not always successful), fight past the “I can’t do it”, “I look awkward”, “I’m too thick for Yoga”, “I’m tired”, “I’m the oldest on this floor (in this room)”, “I’m too old”, “No one welcomed me”! Then there is the beast on the floor, someone running past me along my walk, or spinning like the blades of a fan in front of me. Yada, yada, yada.
Excuses are endless, relentless, they link together like a chain to choke the life out of you.
Excuses choke possibility.

Excuses are the pseudo voices that justify why we cannot or will not do (because we don’t want to) what we need to do.
‘Fear of failure’ is so huge. I have written about it before, https://simplyphenomenal.wordpress.com/2014/03/28/quitting-before-you-get-started/
Imagine the rich experiences and opportunities that we miss because we never start, never take the first step or initiative to see if we can succeed. We are no better for it. We just remain in the same stagnation. That surely is not the abundant life.
It is not until we break free of our fears and excuses, that we realize we can succeed enough to stretch and pursue more.
To be more, to do more, to have more, to live more.
Most of our dreams are beyond our reach and require us to risk tripping, falling, failure or rejection to attain them. It is then, ‘in order to succeed, our desire for success must be greater than our fear of failure’. (paraphrasing Bill Cosby)
My wellness/fitness journey has been and continues to be one of overcoming, choosing every day to stay the course, to push through stinking thinking, push, fight, push, fight. Keeping the set goals forefront in my mind, visualizing the finish, and finding a way to get there.
I know excuses will not get me there. My desire for success is greater.

A Work In Progress, That’s Me

Tags

Apostolic, Christian, Education, Goals, health, Inspiration, Motivation, Overcoming, Personal Development, Personal Growth, self development, wellness, Women

This writing is a response to an inquiry someone made to me about my wellness/fitness journey. I started it to reply to her directly, but decided to blog it and share it with everyone. I know much of it is being restated from previous writings but in case you missed it before, here it is again.

Praise the Lord, Sister …
First thing is you have to change your thinking, really make a decision to commit to the WORK. I must say too, you don’t realize it until you actually start the journey.
I have written about my journey on my blog, http://www.simplyphenomenal.wordpress.com … look through some of my writings this year.
I started with the 21-day Daniel Fast. I did not do it as a spiritual fast but as a jump start to my weight loss and it was the motivation that I needed to continue. I recommended getting the book because it has devotions for those 21-days that will help your mindset which is VERY IMPORTANT. After the 21 days, I continued eating the way I did while on the fast, [called the Daniel Cure], it was working for me (no meat, chicken, dairy, processed foods, sugar, etc).
I changed EVERYTHING because #1 I was experiencing success and #2 I was determined.
Also, most importantly, I COMMITTED TO ONE YEAR … it is not something you can do in a short amount of time.
Making short-term, realistic and achievable goals will help you maintain your motivation.
Also, important, is accountability, fine someone or people who you will be accountable to … in addition to wanting to encourage others with my journey on FB, is that it makes/keeps me accountable … I know people are watching, but they are also encouraging and cheering me on.
At first I just changed my diet and I had some success. Then I realized it was not enough, I HAD TO EXERCISE.
I enjoyed Zumba so I was doing that periodically. Then I went to a Health Fair and came across a walking program so I started walking again. I pretty much started with 1 mile, now as you may have noticed on a distance walk I can do 6-7 miles (even with a torn menicus in my knee).
So, I changed my MIND, changed my DIET, started EXERCISING, then you also have to build a COMMUNITY of people who will counsel you and motivate you … Fitness Trainers do that. So I started going to fitness classes, I like group classes doing different workouts and learning what I need to do to reach my goal. You MUST surround yourself and interact with people who will HELP YOU, TEACH YOU, MOTIVATE YOU, BE AN EXAMPLE.
So as you can see, it is no play thing. TIMING is of the essence, you have to be ready … I was fed up with the way I looked and felt. Also, EDUCATION & INFORMATION … I also connected with a Health Coach/Nutrition (actually blessed through the Wellness Program at my job) to learn about health eating. I have also learned a lot just my searching and googling the internet. I get smoothie recipes, etc. from the internet, even FB … you can search for just about anything on FB just like the internet.
It is an investment of time AND money (which I would spend on other things any way).
COMMITMENT to yourself and your goals, not anyone else (your husband, anything or anyone) … you have to do it for YOURSELF!
You have to make a decision, set a long-term goals, set short-term goals and strategies to achieve your goal(s), and then get to work. When you put the time and effort in, you will achieve results. It will not be drastic, it takes time, you have to give it time and you have to be CONSISTENT and COMMITTED to the promise you make to YOURSELF.
I cannot remember how much I lost after the initial 21-day Daniel Fast (in a previous blog), but it was the most weight I had lost in 30 yrs and it was the motivation I needed to continue.
Over the year, starting with my diet, then to walking, then I kept challenging myself to do more, so I made a commitment to MYSELF to do something/an hour or more of exercise every day (inspired by the girl who went to the gym 100 days, http://youtu.be/I5FkshLcNLQ). I keep evolving to stay motivated and to experience new things (What I have done this year: Walking, Zumba, BOKWA, R.I.P.P.E.D., Bootcamp, Yoga (not a fan, ijs), Body Toning, Diet/Nutrition, Personal Training, my latest adventure is Spinning)
Every time I reach a short-term goal, I set another one: 3 lbs, 5 lbs because that is easier than 10 lbs or 20 lbs. My ultimate goal is 100 lbs which I’ve been advised may be too much but we will see. I know it will take time, probably longer than my initial commitment, but I’m COMMITTED to MYSELF to keep chipping, squeezing or melting the fat away.
I am nearly 9 months in, having lost 44 lbs my last weigh in. Every day is not perfect. Some days I make blunders (sweets), but I don’t give up, I put on my big girl pants, check into warrior mode, and I get right back in the game because of the commitment I made to myself.
Finally, this has been one of the most rewarding experiences of my life … I am not there yet, but I know I will get there. [tear]
I owe God great praise, He is my HELP!

~ 85 days ’til my Birthday! ~