Mini Goals

Today I want to talk about goals. Sure, I want to wear a size 4. Sure, I want to look smoking hot. Blah, blah, blah. When you are obese, you don't see yourself as thin. You see yourself as disgustingly fat, and seeing your end goal is impossible. It's frustrating, counter productive and if you keep thinking of how much weight you have to lose, you will fall down into a pit of despair and not even try. I know this. I have been there.

But then one day I read about small goals. I am not talking 25 pounds as a small goal. Think smaller. Tiny baby step goals. TINY! When you break your weight loss, your exercise and your diet into little smaller chunks, it's much easier to focus and to wrap your brain around it. I've been doing little tiny baby steps for awhile now, and they add up. I am down 55 pounds. Had I started with "I am going to lose 50 pounds" I never would have done it!

Let's focus on the three main areas - your weight loss, your exercise and your diet, and find small manageable goals within each one.

Let's start with weight loss. Everyone has a different opinion on the scale, and personally, I think you should weigh yourself every single day. People who say "Only weigh once a week" are probably skinny people. For all of us that are overweight, we know that it is all too easy to have a really bad week and pack on five pounds or more! If you weigh yourself every single day, granted, maybe there is some water weight involved, but it keeps you honest and helps you stay on track. Did you eat pizza last night and the scale is up 3 pounds today? Then let your small goal for the day be to eat clean, workout a little longer, and not let that 3 pounds spiral out of control.

What do you weigh right now? For me, I am hovering bouncing back around 180 for a bit now. My goal right now is to get below 175. Note that I am not looking at a HUGE goal. I am not looking at the weight I want to be forever. I am focusing on the weight I want to be VERY soon. I remember not all that long ago that my big goal was to be able to stand on the scale with all my clothes on and be under 200. Obviously I can do that now, and it feels great. I adjust my mini goals as needed. Sometimes it's just a matter of wanting to lose half a pound.

We are going on vacation next week, and I am pretty nervous. I won't be doing my workouts every day, but I will be walking at the amusement parks a lot. I will be eating out a lot, so that makes me nervous too. My weight goal for vacation is to not go above 185. That's five pounds above where I am now. If I can get back from vacation and be under 185, I will be thrilled. 185 is my magic 50 pound number, so this is very important to me.

By setting small weight loss goals and limits for yourself, you eventually will accomplish the bigger goals. Now let's look at exercise mini goals. If you tell yourself, "I am going to work out for 2 hours every day for the next three weeks" chances are you will crash and burn. Take it one day at a time. One workout at a time. I have days where I even take it one song at a time. One mile at a time. One minute at a time.

Plan and prepare are key to success. The night before, make sure you set out your workout clothes, and pack your gym bag. It's so much easier to fail if you do not plan. It's easier to NOT go to the gym, right? But if all your things are sitting out, well, it's just plain easier. Now, let's say you are on the treadmill. I know I can't run five miles, but I know I can run 1 minute. Maybe starting out you can only run ten seconds. Maybe you are stronger and can run for one song on your Ipod. Figure out what works for you to break it down into manageable pieces that you can accomplish.

I used to be only able to walk on the treadmill for 20 minutes at about 3 mph when I started. Now I can do 45 minutes with 2 minute intervals of jogging at 5.2 mph and walking at 4 mph! That's a big difference. But it didn't happen overnight. I built up slowly. Reevaluate your goals as often as you need to do so.

Now let's talk about food. Again, planning is so key. You aren't going to go from existing on McDonalds to eating sprouts overnight. By going WAY overboard, most people set themselves up to fail. Make small goals, small changes. Maybe your goal today is to get rid of five things from your pantry that aren't healthy. Your goal for tomorrow could be to clean your fridge. You can take your food goals in steps. For instance, you could go from full fat salad dressing to light salad dressing to fat free salad dressing to dressing on the side and only dipping your fork into it, to no dressing, just a spritz of oil/vinegar. You could go from 3 slices of cheese on a sandwich down to 2, down to one, down to low fat, down to 1/2 a slice of low fat down to none.

Cutting cheese WAY down in my diet was a huge deal. Cheese was my favorite, and I never thought I could live with out it. I used to put cheese on EVERYTHING! Sandwiches, soups, salads, on vegetables, and more. It was just on everything. I cut to one slice. I changed to low fat. I broke it down. I told myself I would have one sandwich without cheese, and then next time I could have one with it. Funny, I never went back. I told myself one day, "No cheese on your broccoli today." And I never went back. Little by little I cut it out. I do still eat it but very rarely, maybe once every week or two. I do still enjoy a nice piece of pizza here and there, but I don't eat it multiple times a day like I used to do.

So, to wrap up, break it down. Small, manageable goals! You can do this. We are all in this together!!!

Love, laughter and light,
Mrs. ChildFun

The High Cost of Eating Healthy?

Some friends and I were recently talking about how much eating healthy costs. It's true. A small carton of berries the other day was $5.00! WOW! I could have a whole meal at McDonalds for that much! I will admit, I have seen my food bill go up significantly. Especially since I live in Minnesota and in the winter, fresh produce gets trucked in from South America mostly. It is expensive. And if you want organic food, pretty much double the prices. Cheap, unhealthy food is INEXPENSIVE! You can buy carb filled sugary fatty shit for real cheap! Not only can you get it cheap, but you can get it SUPERSIZED! A family of five can eat at McDonalds for a month on what I spend in groceries in two weeks. It is insane!

BUT, let me put this in perspective for you.....and please, listen carefully.

My mother was overweight (severely obese - like 500 pounds), and she had arthritis (prescriptions), diabetes (prescriptions and blood testing supplies), heart problems (more prescriptions), and a few other prescriptions that I wasn't even sure what they were for...

She had to buy special clothes because she was SO large that they didn't carry her size in stores. Had to order it all and pay extra shipping costs. Special bras. Special shirts. Special pants. Special underwear. She had to buy a special machine to use on her legs to bring the pressure down, and had to buy special socks that were like $300 a pair.

She was so fat that she had trouble walking. She had to buy a cane. Then when that wasn't enough to help her, she had to buy a walker. Then when that couldn't support her weight, she had to buy a wheelchair. And then, when she couldn't handle that, it actually broke because she was so large, she had to buy one of those "scooters". But, she was too fat for a normal scooter, she had to buy a super heavy duty expensive scooter. She spent $3000 on a lift chair because she was so fat she couldn't stand up on her own. She had to buy a new mattress every couple years because she was SO fat that she ruined them.

She had to buy a special toilet partly to support her weight, and partly because she couldn't get down low enough to a regular toilet. She had to have her bathtub removed and get a special walk in shower. She had to pay to have special bars put in the shower to hang onto.

She had horrendous medical bills that even insurance and medicare didn't cover.

She lived with extreme humiliation due to her weight. She was ridiculed and teased behind her back. From the time I was little, people made fun of my mom. And not behind my back either. Growing up with the stigma of an obese parent is worse than you can imagine. It's like having a parent that is an alcoholic. (Gee, I must have hit the jackpot, I had one of those too.) She couldn't fly on a plane or go places she wanted because she was just too fat. She couldn't use most public restrooms. People, I could go on and on and on and on about the things she endured. I debated about using the word endured. Perhaps "brought on herself" would be better.

Yes, it is. She could have changed. She could have gotten help. She chose not to do so. And it killed her. She went into congestive heart failure at the VERY young age of 70 years old and died within days. It was all because of her weight. She left behind a family that still needed her, and 4 grand children who barely had a chance to know her....

That healthy $5 carton of berries doesn't sound so bad now, does it?

Tromping to the grocery store every 2-3 days to get fresh fruits and vegetables and spending more than I want just doesn't seem so bad...

Really my point is, the high price of the food is worth it. TOTALLY! The costs of high food are NOTHING compared to what happens to an obese person.....

Until next time!

Mrs. ChildFun