Getting Photographed For The Local Paper

Today a photographer for our local paper came over to photograph me. I wore the same dress that I wore for the Woman Of The Year District Finals.

It was so strange and awkward being on that side of the camera. Usually, I am the one taking the pictures. Back when I was really overweight, I hated having my picture taken. I hated seeing what I looked like in photos, and I hated the idea that a photo of me would be a constant reminder of how big I was.

I don't mind having my photo taken anymore, especially now that the bit of loose skin I had on my arms has started to disappear and firm up, but I still felt awkward standing there posing for a picture. And to make matters worse, as I stood there in my dress and high heels, the photographer asked me to JUMP! Yes, I stood in the park, with curious dog-walkers all around and had to take several leaps into the air with my feet kicked up behind me and my arms stretched up high.

To make matters worse, I am FAR from graceful. In fact, the first jump I did, I fell when I landed. Yep, real graceful. The photographer also had to pause and wait every now and then as people out walking their dogs were stopping in the background to have a curious look at what was going on. We had to wait until they moved on.

The photographer also took some photos of me with my baby boy Cameron. (The other kids were all at school.) Cameron is great at being in photos. He just smiles his biggest smile, because he is truly happy when he knows he is the center of attention.

He was a very nice photographer and we chatted about California for a while. For some reason, people always ask me where I am from as soon as they hear me speak. And the ones who don't ask me where I am from, ask me if I am from Canada.

After all of the embarrassing photo-taking, I forgot to ask when the article is supposed to actually run in the local paper. So now I will have to check the paper until it turns up.

140 POUNDS LOST!!!!

Tonight was a weigh-in night. I went to my Slimming World meeting already in a good mood because of winning the district finals of Woman Of the Year, but more good news happened while I was there!

I lost 1 1/2 pounds this week, which means I have now lost 140 pounds (10 stone)!!! To top that good news off, I also won Slimmer Of The Week this week and got to bring the bowl of fruit home with me.

Before going to the meeting, I had even more good news. I got a phone call from our local paper and I was interviewed over the phone about my weight loss. The reporter arranged to have the paper's photographer come out tomorrow to take a picture of me for the paper. I really hope that, if I do get written about in the paper, I can help inspire someone else who needs to lose weight. I hope they can see my before and after pictures and realize that they CAN lose the weight, that it is not an impossible task. As I keep saying, if I can do this, anyone can!

Slimming World's Woman Of The Year 2010 District Finals

A little while ago in my Slimming World group, I won the Woman Of The Year title for our group. Today, I got to go to Bristol for the district semi-finals.

First off, my day began and, knowing they were going to be weighing me again when I got there, I debated spending some time on the elliptical crosstrainer in the morning, but, after being awakened twice during the night because of my children, I was way too tired, so I decided not to bother.

Last night, I had tried on a dress of mine. I had never worn this dress before. The last time I had tried it on, at the same weight I am now, it had been too tight to zip up. Now, even though I am still the same weight, I was able to zip it up, which shows me that all of my fitness and exercise is paying off in inches even when it's not paying off in pounds-off anymore.

The dress' pattern was not one that goes well with my coloring. I am very freckled and this dress was a leopard print. Fortune was with me in that my 16 year old daughter had the exact same style of dress in a different color. It had black and white stripes going down it. She was willing to trade with me, and the dress was flattering enough, so I decided to wear it today.

My Slimming World consultant came and picked my husband Robert and me up to take us to the competition. Once we got there, we weighed in and then were split into groups. There were 21 of us there, and we were split up into groups of 7 to tell our stories. We were given pieces of paper with numbers on them to determine what order we would speak in.

I drew number 4, so my turn to tell my story came fourth. I was nervous, and with only five minutes to tell my story, I felt like I had left a lot out. I tried so hard not to get weepy, but when I started to tell these new people my story for the first time and detail how poor my health was before losing the weight and how hard it was to be a good mother when I had no energy and was in pain with every step I took, I couldn't help getting a bit weepy thinking about it as I told it.

After telling our stories, we were sent out of the room to have some coffee or tea while the judges picked nine of us, three from each group, for the district finals. Then we all went back into the room where we were given plaques stating that we had made it to the district semi-finals. Then the nine finalists were called out. My name was the first one called out.

This meant that I went to sit in a circle in the middle of the room with the eight other finalists and we all had to tell our stories again, this time with everyone in the room listening. This time, the paper I drew said 2 on it, so I went second.

Some of these women's stories were so touching and really moving! Some of them had been through so much, and it was incredible to hear their stories of hope and how they overcame obstacles in their lives. It was an honor to be in the room with these other inspirational women.

I couldn't help being nerovus. Both times I spoke, it felt as though I had goofed and not done very well, but Sharon (my consultant) told me I had done fine.

Then we had to leave the room again and wait for the judges to make their decision. Only two would go through to the next round.

We were called back in and we all sat and waited. The first name was called, and she was a very pretty woman who had told a great story about her experience losing weight through Slimming World. The second name was called and it was me! I was so pleased and honored!

I got another engraved pen and paperweight, a framed certificate stating that I had won and an absolutely beautiful bouquet of red roses.

I had a fun day, made some new friends and now, I get to go to Slimming World headquarters in Derby for the Woman Of The Year finals. I am really looking forward to it. Some of you may remember that Robert and I got to go there for the Couple Of The Year 2010 semi-finals, got through the final round and then lost out to another deserving couple. We really enjoyed that and so I have a bit of an idea of what to expect this time.

Two things I want to remember about today:

1 - One of the women who got to come from one of Sharon's other groups was really wonderful and said that being shown my before and after photos and told about how much I exercise inspired her and is what really got her to start to exercise. That meant so much to hear! She said she will come to our later-at-night group soon and I hope she does!

2 - One of the members of my Slimming World group has recently joined to become a Slimming World consultant. Today I was informed that, during her interview, when asked what inspired her, she mentioned me and the weight loss I have achieved. That was so awesome to hear, and I will be sure to give her a hug when I see her tomorrow at our group meeting! (Everyone in our group are friends with one another. It's hard not to be friends with them all when they are all so terrific!)

(I am really so pleased and happy about winning this stage that I am over the moon and dancing around inside right now, but I'm still able (I hope) to maintain my outward composure, so you wouldn't know it to look at me.

Some photos from the day:

Receiving my award:





All of the semi-finalists:



All of the finalists (with the district manager):



The winners with their consultants:



The other finalist and me:



The judges and the "counters" (the ones who kept track of the time we had to do our speaking):



There were three of us there from three of my consultant Sharon's groups, and this is a photo of all of us with Sharon:



The important thing to keep in mind is that everyone there today, whether winning the competition or not, are winners for having lost weight and become healthier.

Ten Things Children Can Teach Us About Staying Active

1. You don't need music or a dance floor to dance.



2. Skirts are meant for twirling.



3. Climbing trees and building treehouses is a great form of exercise.



4. You don't need a car to go places, all you need is your own two legs.



5. If you need to get somewhere fast, ride a bike.



6. Running is not just for exercise; it's also for fun things like playing tag.



7. Any hill, no matter how small, is great for jumping off of.



8. Water was meant for splashing in.



9. There is never a suitable reason not to climb on the climbing frames at playgrounds.



10. Never give up your sense of playfulness.

My Article In Beverly Hills Child Magazine -September Issue

My article, "Ten Ways To Exercise with Your Child" is on page 34 of Beverly Hills Child magazine. (Just click on the magazine in the link and go to page 34.) This is the September 2010 issue.

Children's Voices

In this post from MizFit, many of us were challenged to video our children while they answered what they thought the meanings of three words were. Those words were exercise, strong and support. I was supposed to post the results here on the 13th of August, but of course, I am rarely organized enough to do things on time, so I am now posting the video results 6 days late.

First, I interviewed my 7 year old daughter.



Then I interviewed my 5 year old daughter. She decided once the camera was on her that she really didn't want to do the video and had a bit of a tantrum, so I never did get her to tell us her thoughts.



Last, I interviewed my son who will be turning 4 years old in 11 days from now. I don't think he really knew how to explain the meaning of words, and he didn't really know what the word "support" meant, but at least he tried to give his answers.

Walking & Picking Fruit

Robert and I went for a walk on a wildlife trail near our house. We had seen some fruit on the walk in the past, so we brought some plastic containers and bags with us and used our walk to look for fruit to bring home with us. I would have loved to have found some apple trees, but we didn't find any. We did, however, find plums and blackberries.





The plums were very small, just a little bit bigger than cherries. Despite their size, they were incredibly juicy and very sweet. We picked a huge bowl's worth of them.



It took us a while to find the blackberries. The first blackberries we found were not very plentiful, but we kept walking and took some paths that we don't normally take. Eventually, we came across loads of ripe blackberries. We ended up bringing home enough to fill two big bowls.



I would have to say that it was one of our most productive walks!

Obesity & Children - No More Excuses!

This is a topic that is on my mind a lot as record numbers of children are becoming classed as obese in both America and in the United Kingdom. How can this happen? Aren't parents supposed to be in control of what food is in their home and how much a child is allowed to eat? Aren't parents the ones who prepare their children's meals? As parents, don't we love our kids enough to feed them properly with good nutritious food? Because that's what is comes down to. If you love your child, you will make sure that most of what she eats is nutritious and healthy, full of all of the nutrients and vitamins that she needs and lacking in things like sugar.

I know that, for some, it is not as cut-and-dried as that. I do know that it can be more expensive to buy healthy, fresh food. I know that our kids plead with us on numerous occasions to buy them sugar-laden food, and I know that for some parents, the time it takes to prepare a meal from scratch is a luxury they don't often have.

But I also know that some things in life are more important than all of the excuses that we rely on to keep us from feeling bad for not doing something. The health of our children should be a huge priority in our lives. And that means feeding them healthy meals and limiting the junk food they are allowed to eat. So here are some tips to help us make sure that we do everything we can for our children's health and that we keep those excuses at bay.

Excuse #1 - Healthy, fresh food is too expensive.

Solutions:

- Grow your own fruit and vegetables. You don't even need a yard of your own in order to do this. Some properly sized planting pots and hanging baskets can be enough to help you grow fruit, vegetable and herbs of your own.

- Re-use left-overs to create numerous meals from the same ingredients.

- Buy generic brands. Sometimes they are just as good as the more expensive brand name products, and the nutrition, in many instances, is just as good.

- Buy in bulk. Certain fresh ingredients can be bought in bulk and frozen in order to use later, and buying in bulk often costs less per item bought.

Excuse 2 - My child likes junk food, and they beg and plead for it all of the time.

Solutions:

- Be a parent. Part of being a parent is telling your children "no" when it is in their best interests. You don't have to eliminate junk food from your child's diet, but you should definitely limit it.

- Don't use sweets as a "treat." You don't want your child to be associating sugar-laden, non-nutitrious food as a reward or a special occasion, and giving it to him as a treat or a reward will just enforce the idea in his mind that good times equal sugar (or fast food or whatever unhealthy food you are using).

- Make sure your child can have nutritious fresh food on hand to take the place of the junk food they are craving. Fresh fruit is naturally sweet and filling at the same time. I know very few children who will turn down something as sweet and delicious as strawberries, for example, and strawberries are GOOD for your child to eat.

Excuse #3 - I don't have time to prepare healthy meals or to cook from scratch.

Solutions:

- Batch cook ahead of time. Take one day, maybe Saturday or Sunday (or whatever day you have the most free time) and cook the whole week's meals and then freeze it all, ready to be microwaved or reheated in the oven when you need it.

- Chop and freeze your fresh vegetables needed for cooking ahead of time. For example, if you will be making a lot of dishes that required diced onions during the week, then chop and dice some onion ahead of time and freeze it in freezer bags in the serving sizes that you will need for the meals.

- Measure out and portion your ingredients ahead of time. For example, you can do this with grated cheese. To keep yourself from using more cheese than a recipe calls for, measure out the portions you need into individual bags and store it in the fridge (or freezer) ready to use.

- Use your crockpot (slow cooker). If you wake up early enough in the morning, you can prepare the entire meal and start it cooking before you even leave the house for work in the morning, and by evening, a hot, healthy meal will be ready for you and your children. (Also, by then, the house will smell delicous!)

These are just a few solutions. I hope they are helpful. I'll tackle ways to help your kids be more physically active in a later post.

And Life Goes On

I think this is the longest I have gone without posting to this blog since I started it. Part of the reason is that my laptop, which is my main computer, was away for a while getting itself repaired , and before that, it sat waiting for the manufacturer to come and pick it up while its screen remained completely dark no matter how much I tried to get it to work. Now, I still could write on my blog (and any of my other blogs) from one of the many other computers in the house, but I just didn't feel right sitting at a different computer. It was as if the words wouldn't come because I was in unfamiliar territory. I think I still managed to write a bit on my blogs during that time, despite how foreign it all felt.

So here's where I tell you the obligatory list of all of the things that have been going on while I've been quiet.

I've been working on some recipes for my Skinny Dreaming Recipe blog. It wasn't easy because our oven wasn't working properly and the fuse kept blowing out on it at random times. But I believe I have come up with some recipes that you will enjoy, and now that my computer is back, I will start adding them to the healthy recipes on my recipe blog. I plan on adding some recipe cards for you to buy here as well. Just check back in a few days' time!

I have fallen behind on adding some interviews from inspirational people who've lost weight to my Super Slimmer's blog. This has happened for various reasons. One person is having trouble finding some before pictures to add to her interview. (I hope she finds them soon, because her story is an amazing one!) One person sent me before and after photos but has not returned the interview questions yet. And one person just let me know that the interview questions never reached her, so I will be resending them today. The good news is that those three people are lined up to share their interviews about their success, and you are going to love their stories!

I've started trying to learn to draw and sharing my attempts in a new blog called Designing Doodles. I have never had a natural talent for drawing or art, but I believe that if I practice a lot and read up on techniques and keep at it, I may eventually develop some sort of style of my own that will be worthy of using to illustrate the children's books I have written.

My children's stories are for young children and have themes with lessons in them, such as appreciating the family we are given, finding out we love the life we have now, and learning to live a healthy lifestyle, and they are all magical tales with fairies or mermaids or other fantasy beings.

My 3 year old son told me his first two stories ever, and I am very proud of him! His stories can be viewed at Imaginative Minds: Writing By Children. He told a story about a boy who walked a long way and wanted some toys that he couldn't afford, and he also told a story about a boy who loved dogs, especially his own dog.

My 7 year old daughter and 3 year old daughter had their Sports Day at school and yesterday had their Summer Concert at school. The Summer Concert had a Disney theme. Isabella's class performed to a Pinnocchio song and all of the girls dressed up as fairies while the boys dressed up as Pinnocchio. Gabriella's class sang a song from Mary Poppins and they all dressed up as chimney sweeps. It was fun to watch, and I could tell that the children all enjoyed performing. I'll be adding photos from both Sports Day and the Summer Concert to my personal blog later this week.

As has happened for many people in the past few years, finances have become an issue for me lately, so I have been brainstorming money-making ideas. I have decided on several products for kids that I will be adding to offerings at Your Kids' Creations' in the next few weeks. Feel free to check in their next week and see what gifts have been added.

I've also been debating buying a domain to keep all of my shops and blogs in one place. I have 18 blogs and even more on-line shops. A part of me thinks it might be easier to maintain them all and for my readers and friends to access all of it if I can keep it under one umbrella domain. I just haven't been able to come up with the name for it yet. Making it more difficult to think of a name is the fact that my blogs and gift designs range from writing, dieting, princesses, fairies, families, cats, photography, recipes, reviews, writing by children, art by children, drawing, self-improvement, comics, fairy photography, dream journaling and more. If anyone has any name suggestions, I'd love to hear them!

My 17 year old daughter spent a week in France on a trip with her biology class. While she was away, Robert and I missed one of our Slimming World meetings. I hate missing meetings. It's weird, but the weigh-ins at the meetings really help keep me focused and on-track with my eating and exercise, and I look forward to the meetings as a social outing. I consider most of the people at my meetings friends, so I look forward to seeing them each week.

I am writing for the Examiner as the Saratoga Fitness Walking Examiner. It's a bit of a struggle though, because my articles there are supposed to be regional for the area of Saratoga, California, and I no longer live there. So if you or anyone you know live in the Saratoga area and do a bit of walking, I'd love to interview you for a future Examiner post.

I am still maintaining my target weight, and I am still exercising regularly. Our elliptical is starting to have problems. We were offered an exchange because this one is falling apart so soon, but the one the company wants to change it for is not as good as the one we have, and we thought about changing it for a rowing machine, but, at 6'8" tall, Robert's legs are too long for the rowing machine that would be in the right price range. We are currently trying to get the company to send someone out to repair the elliptical crosstrainer instead of exchanging it for something else.

So please tell me in the comments what you have been up to during these past couple of weeks.

Walk Your Daughter To Work Day

Today is Walk Your Daughter To Work Day. I can't help but wonder how many people will actually take part in this today. I thought it might be a good idea to help parents make the choice to walk their daughters to work with them today by listing some reasons why it is a good thing to take part in.

Walking is healthy for both you and your daughter. The effort of walking helps with circulation and benefits the heart.

Walking with your daughter is a great way to bond with her. It gives you extra time with your child and allows your child to talk with you. It's a great way to learn more about what your child likes, and, in my experience, children tend to open up and talk quite a lot when out walking with a parent.

Walking with your daughter is a great way to show your child, through your actions, that health and fitness are important to you. Children learn best through the examples that we show them.

Taking your daughter to work with you helps her get to know you better. It's a way for your child to learn a little bit more about what your day away from them is like.

Did you participate in Walk Your Daughter To Work Day?

Signs Of Life

A friend of mine (Kayecee over at Life Over Here) posted this to Facebook today, and I instantly knew I had to share it here. All The Wrinkled Ladies by Anita Renfroe, although seemingly tongue-in-cheek, could actually speak to a lot of women and how they are feeling about their bodies.

I was overweight, seriously overweight, for more than a decade. Once I lost the weight and saw my body once again minus almost 140 pounds in excess fat, I noticed some changes. Some of the changes in my body are the result of having carried and then lost so much weight. Some of the changes are the result of having given birth to seven beautiful children. Some are simply the results of aging.

But even as I work to eradicate some of the changes, as I try to firm up as much of the muscle underneath the loose skin as I can, as I hide my skin from the damaging rays of the sun behind sunblock and hats, and I work to maintain my weight loss, I know that some of the changes are permanent. And I'm okay with that.

The wrinkles next to my eyes and near my mouth are signs that I have had laughter in my life. The stretch marks that crisscross and reach across my belly like a road map are signs that my belly made itself into a temporary home for each of my children before they were ready to come out into the world. The tiny bits of grey showing up along my hairline are a sign that I am no longer a child and have the experience that comes with age.

My friend Barb from Barb's Bookshelf, said it best in her post about True Beauty when she wrote,

True beauty is not simply what’s on the surface. When you feel good about yourself and who you are, when you carry yourself with confidence and self-acceptance, that makes you beautiful. Beauty is in the mind, not in the body.

(I've borrowed this quote from her before, because it is so appropriate and reflects something that I believe in very strongly.)

So are you accepting of your body as it is? Or are you waiting until you achieve that ever-elusive, perfect body?

AmericanSoda.co.uk - Review

I had the good fortune of getting some free goodies from American Soda in exchange for reviewing them here. I got in touch with them for the opportunity because I really love shopping with them.

As many of you know, I am a displaced American. I was born and raised in California, but am and have been living in the UK for over eight years now. One of the difficult things in living so far away from home is that I miss a lot of the food that I used to be able to get back home but is not available in stores here. That's where American Soda comes into the picture.

At American Soda, I can buy many of my childhood favorites, such as the ones sent to me for review: Lucky Charms cereal, Hershey's chocolate, Angel Food Cake Mix, Nabisco Honey Maid Graham Crackers, Jell-O Pudding and Diet Mug Root Beer.



Lucky Charms is in no way, shape or form a health food. It is very high in sugar. But I remember it from my childhood, and I loved it as a child. My children, who are notoriously picky when it to comes to cereals, all love Lucky Charms too. Most of the time, instead of giving it to them for breakfast, I just put a small amount of it into a small bowl or cup and let them munch on it dry as a snack. For me, since I believe in moderation and in allowing myself to eat small amounts of the things I love, I occasionally allowed myself (while the box of Lucky Charms lasted) a half-serving which equalled 55 calories (3 syns). This way I catered to my cravings but didn't ruin my diet. (I lost a pound this week, so it didn't hurt my weight at all.)

To see what my youngest four children thought of the cereal, in their own words, go to Children Review's blog post on the subject.



My favorite of everything sent to me was the Diet Mug Root Beer. Even in the US, it is sometimes hard to find the diet version of Mug Root Beer. And buying root beer of any kind in the UK is nearly impossible. Mug is my favorite and one of the things I sorely missed when I moved out here. I missed it so much that on the rare occasion when a family member from the US flew out for a visit, I always made sure they'd bring a 12 pack or 24 pack of Diet Mug Root Beer with them! I love to sit and relax with a can of Diet Mug Root Beer. I'm just sad that they only sent me one!

I wanted to mix some vanilla extract and sweetener into some 0% fat Greek Yogurt and freeze it, then try adding a scoop of it to a glass of my diet root beer to see how close it came to tasting like a traditional root beer float, but they only sent me one can, and I drank it straight away. For people on low carb diets, they can add some cream to a glass of diet root beer and get the same foamy flavor of a root beer float as they would get with a traditional one. And for people who prefer their root beer caffeinated, American Soda also sell Barq's.



As for the graham crackers, they are whole grain and low in fat. My kids love to eat them plain or to make s'mores out of them using marshmallow cream and Hershey's chocolate and then heating it for about ten second in the microwave, but I didn't have marshmallow cream (although that too can be bought at American Soda), so they didn't get to do that. What I like to use the graham crackers for is to make a healthier version of pie crust. It's especially tastey made into the crust of a healthy pumpkin pie (I use the pumpkin pie I buy from American Soda) or a healthy cheesecake. You just add an ounce of light margarine or low fat spread to about ten crumbled and crushed graham crackers, mix it up and spread it into the bottom of a pie tin. Then refrigerate it for a few hours and it's ready to add your pie or cheesecake filling to.



The Angel Food cake mix I have bought in the past. Last time I bought it, I made Angel Food cupcakes, topped them with frosting made with greek yogurt, quark, sweetener and vanilla extract, and then added some strawberries to them. I took them to one of my Slimming World meeting's Bring & Try nights, and everyone loved them! I made 40 cupcakes with one mix, and they were only about 2 syns a cupcake because Angel Food cake is fat free. And an added bonus is that my children also loved them!

I have yet to find any cake mixes in UK stores that are fat free like this one is! Angel Food cake is a very traditional American cake that can be found at almost every supermarket in the US, either pre-baked in their bakery section or in mixes for you to make yourself. It makes a great cake for making a healthy strawberry shortcake.



With the Betty Crocker Angel Food Cake mix sent to me this time, I plan on making a slightly different dessert. I was also sent Jell-O Fat Free Chocolate Instant Pudding mix. I'm planning on making the cake, cutting it into pieces, putting the pieces into bowls and then pouring some of the chocolate pudding over them. When I get around to making them, I will take some photographs and add the recipe to my recipe site.



I was also sent something that I have never tried before. American Soda sent me a small bag of Sugar-free Hershey's chocolate minies. Robert tried one and seemed to like it. I loved it, although I did think it tasted a bit more like dark chocolate than milk chocolate, and I noticed the texture was just a tiny bit more waxy. My friend Helen tried one and she said she loved it. They were only 31 calories a piece, so that would be about 1 1/2 syns each on Slimming World.

When it comes to interacting with their customers and being responsive to their customers requests, American Soda is one of the few companies I have found that really gets it! They are on Twitter and on Facebook, and in both places, they offer coupons, respond to customer requests, and generally show truly wonderful customer service. There is another on-line company where I can buy my much-missed American goods here in the UK, but they are not nearly as interactive, and in this way, American Soda has made itself stand out.

Keep an eye on Skinny Dreaming Recipes over the next week as I will be adding some recipes created using these products as soon as I can make them and take photos of the results.

*I received a product for this review on behalf of the company. All opinions are solely my own. Others who may use this product or service may have different opinions.*

Finding Time For Walking Despite A Busy Schedule

Walking is one of the easiest ways to exercise throughout
the day. Experts recommend taking 10,000 steps a day for optimal health benefits. You don't have to set aside a large chunk of time and go out for a long walk to get your walking fitness done. There are some easy ways to fit walking into a busy schedule.

Park at the far end of the parking lot when going to work or shopping. You can even park a block away. The few minutes that it will take you to walk that little bit further will increase the amount of steps you take for the day without eating into a large bite of your time.

Use the stairs. If a building you work in or a store you visit has a choice between stairs or elevator, take the stairs. You'll get a quick boost to your heart rate and help get more of your daily steps completed.

Take short ten-minute walks. Just go outside and walk around the block or walk around the building you are working in. Doing this a few times a day adds up to a lot of walking without interfering with your other daily activities.

Walk early in the morning or late in the evening. Setting aside time to walk before your day has begun or once your other activities have been completed means you can spend more time just walking and enjoying the sights around you.

Walk your children to school. Cars can be a hazard near schools anyway, so take the simple approach and walk your children to school. It will help with traffic congestion around the school and will benefit your children’s health as well as your own. If you live too far away, just drive part of the way to the school and walk the rest.

Kebabs!

A cookbook arrived in the mail today. It was addressed to me and it came from The Book People, a book company that I have ordered from in the past. It did not say who bought it and had it sent to me, and I don't remember ordering it. It must have been a gift from someone as the price was zeroed out on the ordering form. It was a really pleasant surprise!

The book is a cookbook called Kebabs & Other Light Grills. Robert and I cook a lot, so I had a look through the book. Most of the recipes look very healthy and light, so I will definitely be cooking from it soon!

I'm only mentioning it here to let you know that there may be some new kebab recipes being added to my recipe blog soon. (I will add the recipes that we try out, if they are healthy enough.)

Thank you to whomever sent this to me!

Prioritizing

"Losing weight is not your life’s work. Your life’s work is to love, to serve, to be honest, to develop personal integrity, to be kind, to raise healthy children, to grow spiritually, to adore yourself. Which is not to say you can’t choose to shed some excess baggage. You’ll just do it with a sense of perspective." ~Lisa Turner

I cannot remember which blog I read this quote on, only that it was written by Lisa Turner. But regardless, I felt the need to share it. It explains so well where I am at in my weight loss journey right now. Yes, I am already at my goal weight, so it's easier to say I don't need to make losing weight my "life's work," but that isn't the point. It has never been and was never meant to be my life's work. I never intended to put losing weight on the top of my list of priorities, and whenever it started to feel like that was what was happening, I would make efforts to reign that urge in.

Losing weight was meant to enhance the rest of my life. Being healthy, fit and active was only a means to an end, a way to be present for my kids in the long-term and capable enough and with enough energy to cope with their needs. Being fit has meant being able to go on long walks with my husband (who has always loved walking and hiking). It has meant I have more energy and better confidence in myself.

It has meant a lot of things in my life, but it was never the be-all and end-all of my existence.

Please don't let it take over your life either. Let your healthy lifestyle and the excess weight you are losing enhance your life, but not become your life.

11 Things You Can Do To Help Lose Weight

1. Write everything down that you eat. It will help keep you mindful of what and how much you are actually eating. Be completely honest.

2. If you're counting calories, don't count the calories in most fruit and vegetables, so you can eat as much of them as you want. (I love, love, love strawberries.) It'll help you choose to eat more of these nutritious foods. Remember some fruits are better for weight loss than other fruits. (For example, while bananas are a healthy food to eat, they are not particularly helpful in weight loss, but strawberries are a great weight loss aid.)

3. Make sure you include some fat-free dairy in your diet. Studies have shown that including more non-fat dairy in your diet, such as the dairy found in non-fat yogurts, can aid in weight loss.

4. Limit your breads, pastas, rice and flour products, but when you do have bread or burrito shells, go for wholegrain ones as the extrta fiber in wholegrain breads, rices amd pastas will help with digestion.

5. Do have desserts, but get creative in cooking up healthy desserts, or buying low-cal versions of things you hate doing without. Telling yourself you can't have nay desserts will just make you start craving them more, but by allowing yourself the occasional treat, you avoid making desserts become too much of a temptation.

6. If you're buying low fat products, check the ingredients. Sometimes "low fat" just means "high sugar." Better yet, stick to naturally low in fat, high in protein foods.

7. Eating things like bacon, ham, beef, pork, chicken, turkey, lamb, etc is fine as long as you go with lean versions or extra lean versions. Lean meats are an excellent source of protein, and protein tends to keep you feeling full for longer than carbohydrate-laden foods.

8. As often as possible, cook your food from scratch. This way you know what's in your food. The more processed something is, the less healthy it probably is. Once you start cooking more, it can be fun to experiment with healthier cooking.

9. Don't obsess. There will be times when you eat something bad for you. Do not see yourself as a failure because of it and then go on to eat more junk. See those times as a momentary blip in your healthy eating plan and go right back to eating healthy. Don't let yourself feel out of control.

10. At meals, fill your plate 1/3 full with vegetables/fruit, then add your meat & whatever else to the space that's left. If you are really hungry and need seconds, that's okay, but do the same thing again (filling plate 1/3 with vegetables).

11. Get some exercise. Even if it's just a bit of walking, it will help your heart and aid in upping your metabolism.

The Courage To Dream

Empowerment

What does the word mean to you? I’m not asking about anything related to electricity or turning your washing machine on. In regards to you as a person, what does the word empowerment mean to you? Do you feel empowered? Or do you feel weak and helpless?

The reason I am asking this is because so many of my friends seem to be embracing the idea of being powerless about making changes in their lives. They have dreams, but they feel as though everything is against them achieving those dreams and that they have no say in whether or not they can make those dreams a reality.

I hear from them, over and over again, phrases such as, “I wish...”, “I can’t...”, and “If only...” I never hear positive phrases such as “I will...”, “I can...”, and “I am...” But in speaking in the negative tones that they speak in, they are, in fact, ignoring any power they have over their own situation. In not even considering the chance that they can do something to change things, they are making themselves helpless. But they don’t have to be helpless, and neither do you.

What is it you want from life? Is it to lose weight and get fit and healthy? Is it to write the next blockbuster novel? Are you unhappy in your current career and want to change it? Do you want to earn a better income or take a trip across the world? Nothing is out of your reach! What do you dream about doing? Tell yourself that you are going to do it! Wouldn’t it be great to empower yourself? Wouldn’t it be great to feel strong and capable and in control of where your life is heading? Wouldn’t it be great not just to have the courage to dream but to have the courage to grab for those dreams too? The only things that stand in the way of your dreams becoming a reality are the limits you place on yourself. And you can remove those limits with nothing more than a thought!

The first step is to have the courage to dream. Make a list of the things that you really want in life. What would you do if you knew you couldn’t fail? Write it down! Have you always wanted to take a vacation in Ireland or Hawaii? Have you always wanted to own your own house? Do you want to lose weight or build up muscle? Are you a banker but always dreamed of being a teacher? Write it down!

The second step is to believe that you are capable of achieving that dream. Sounds simple, right? The good news is that it really is that simple. Believe in yourself. Believe in your abilities. Tell yourself you are strong, capable and even fearless if the need arises. You can do this. You will do this. You will make your dreams come true. Get rid of that negative little voice in your head that whispers to you that you can’t do it, you’re not strong enough, it’s too hard and all of the other negative words. Just ignore it. You know, deep down, that you can achieve your dreams, so follow that deeper inner voice and believe in yourself.

The third and final step is to decide what steps you need to do to achieve your dreams and then take those steps. If you’re dreaming of becoming a novelist, then you need to start writing. You need to set aside time every day to write. Maybe you need to fine tune some of your writing skills so taking a class would help. If you’re dreaming of being a teacher, then you need to get the requisite training and degrees, even if it means taking classes after work while you continue your current job. If you dream of taking a trip to Europe, then you need to find out what it will cost you and start setting aside money from each paycheck. If you dream of owning your own house, then you need to clear your debts, clean up your credit history and save up the deposit. If you want to lose weight, then you need to find out what diet and exercise plan will work for you and you need to start doing it. Fit in exercise every day. Eat less junk and more healthy food. For whatever your dream is, you need to start working in the direction of making that dream a reality. Stop defeating yourself with negative thoughts and empower yourself, not just with positive thinking but with your actions.

You might be asking yourself why I care whether or not you reach for your dreams. I care because I used to feel powerless. I used to feel like all of my dreams were just out of my reach and that there was nothing I could do about it. I used to feel as though I wasn’t strong enough or good enough or capable enough to make my dreams a reality. But all along, I was deceiving myself into inaction. And I don't want anyone else to go through that, to live through feeling helpless when there is no need for them to feel that way.

When I finally started to take charge of my own inner voices, when I started to tell myself that I could achieve my dreams and when I started taking the steps that were necessary to get to my goals, I began to empower myself. And one of those dreams has already come true as a result. And now that I know that anything is possible, that I am capable of making my dreams come true, look out World!

Finding The Fun In Exercising With Your Children

Last Saturday, Robert, the children and I all went for a picnic in the park. Our friend Helen came too and brought three of her four children. She also goes to Slimming World with us, so we made sure to pack healthy food for our lunch.

It was a wonderfully fun day out in the sunshine, and we found various ways to get some exercise that felt more like fun than exercise. I, for one, was walking around after the children all day trying to capture photos and video of them, so I got a lot of walking done that day. (I also got a mild sunburn, despite the sunblock I had applied before we went out.)

Here is a short video clip showing just a small amount of the many ways we found to exercise without feeling like we were exercising. Helen rolled down the hill with the kids, Kayla (one of my teenage daughters) chased after little Cameron, Robert carried Cameron on his shoulders for a bit of weight training, and Helen pushed the children on the swings. There were lots of other ways that we played with the children and managed to be exercising at the same time, but the video would have been too long if I shared them all!



What things do you do with the kids that could count as exercise?

Super Slimmers!

A lot has been going on here at Skinny Dreaming in the last week. First off, Skinny Dreaming is now on Facebook, and is just a small number of fans away from reaching 100 fans! Please go and fan Skinny Dreaming over there and help us reach 100 fans!

Second, Skinny Dreaming has started a new page that's all about inspirational stories from people who've beat the odds and lost a lot of weight. It's called "Super Slimmer's." My hope is that these interviews from Super Slimmers, along with their before and after pictures and words of wisdom will help inspire you and anyone who needs inspiration to stick to a healthier lifestyle. I know, for me personally, it was the stories of others who had managed to lose a lot of weight and set themselves on a healthy lifestyle that helped to inspire me to achieve my own weight loss.

With that in mind, Skinny Dreaming is looking for future Super Slimmers to feature! Are you a Super Slimmer? Want to be featured on Skinny Dreaming's Super Slimmers? If you're selected to be featured, you will get a Super Slimmer mug for the month that you are featured in. Criterea: Must have before and after photos and have lost at least 50 pounds (3 stone 8 lbs). Just e-mail me through the e-mail link on the sidebar here and put in the subject line "Skinny Dreaming's Super Slimmer Interview." Go ahead and take a peek at the Skinny Dreaming's Super Slimmers site now. You can even "follow" it if you want to be updated when new interviews are added.

Our first Super Slimmer interview is already posted and available to inpsire you! Jennifer lost over 160 pounds and her interview is a must-read!

And third, several more recipes have been added to Skinny Dreaming Recipes, so go and have a look and see if there is anything there that you might like to try. Every recipe added to the site has been made and tasted by myself and my family before being added.

Skinny Dreaming Is On Facebook!

I've added a page for Skinny Dreaming over on Facebook. Please go and become a fan!

So far, it's just a bare bones version, but I intend to add recipes soon and links to informative posts from all over the Internet. I'll also do occasional giveaways from the Facebook page.

Let me know in the comments anything you'd like to see at Skinny Dreaming on Facebook.

Also this week, I'll be featuring the first of Skinny Dreaming's Super Slimmers! It's a woman who's lost over 160 pounds, and hopefully, I will be able to share many more inspirational stories like hers in the future with you.

Exercise & Daily Life

Robert and I went for a lovely walk in the sunshine today. Mercury, our dog, loves it when we take him to the park with the lake; it's only about two miles to walk to it from our house. We usually walk all the way around it and around the lake before cming home, and today was no exception.



Because it was so bright and sunny outside, we decided to bring the camera. We took some photos of Mercury and, when we passed by some sheep, I couldn't resist taking some photos of the little black lambs.



Why am I telling you about this beautiful walk? Because I want to share the concept that exercise doesn't always have to be a chore. You can find ways to fit exercise into your day that won't feel like drudgery, that you won't want to hurry through to get over with.

I exercise on the elliptical crosstrainer almost every day. I used to hate it. I couldn't wait to just get it over with and done so I could enjoy the rest of my day. But then I taught myself how to read while using the elliptical crosstrainer. In my daily life, it is usually hard to find time to read, and I love reading. So now, I look forward to my time on the crosstrainer as it is time I get to spend reading.

Yesterday, Robert and I took the children to a play center with lots of climbing, sliding and tumbling types of play areas for the kids to play in. Between us, we had to do a lot of lifting of the baby and following the kids around, helping the younger ones with some of the equipment. It was fun and it was a form of exercise.

Taking the kids to the park afterward, Robert pushed them on the swings for a while and then helped to spin them around the the merry-go-round. Again, it was enjoyable time spent with our children, and it was a form of exercise.

There are many enjoyable ways to fit exercise into your day. What are some ways to exercise that you find enjoyable?