Author: admin

Courage consists of hanging on one minute longer

It’s amazing what the body can do when the mind is in the zone.  Virtually the entire time at karate was spent by me repeating to myself, I can DO this… I CAN do this.   It was a mental struggle for me but I overcame it.  I think I’m getting closer and closer to the end of my rope; I really hope I can get my leg surgerized soon.

Witnessing my own deterioration is rather character-building, I must admit.  I view that I have two choices – I can either give into despair, or challenge myself to succeed (without damaging my bones, of course).   It’s truly amazing how you can discover wells of personal strength you never really knew you possessed…until it flourishes to your very being.

I survived both classes today, I’m proud to announce.  But the neat thing was when I walked out the dojo door, I noticed for the first time the big huge tree on the other side of the street.  The wind was picking up something fierce, and the leaves/branches were whipping back and forth with great intensity.  BOOM!  I was transported back to my college days, when I walked the golf course during a hurricane (betcha you weren’t expecting that!) – I had become one with the passion and fury of nature and simply gave myself up to the experience.

It reminded me of how when I was 14 years old, I used to roam the forests and lands around my home with my dog Buddy (a german shepard collie mutt, named for the first Seeing Eye dog back in 1927).  When emotions got tough to deal with, I used to “go to ground” in nature; I’d listen to the secrets whispered by the pines and learn the wisdom of the winds.   Fierce buffeting winds never frightened me; instead I saw my soul commune with the nature around me.

And now, decades later…I find myself still returning to my roots.  After coming home from karate and seeing how the wind picked up, I decided to do my circle walk one last time….and became one with the winds whistling through the trees.  Gosh it was cold, but my soul was quieted and calmed.

I can DO this.  I can, and I will.

You see, when the going gets tough and you want to give up, you simply have to repeat to yourself, I can DO this, and perhaps, courage consists of hanging on, one minute longer.  And then after that, one minute more.  And another minute, and another… and soon you’ll see you have overcome your challenge.

You are who you are…but you can also choose who you become.  And right now, methinks I’m on the right path for me.

Night night,

Barbara

You’re so fat you’re hopeless – taking back control

Morning,

Sigh. One of the biggest challenges some people have is refusing to give others power over them to hurt them emotionally.

Think about it. If you’re overweight, have you ever been told, you’re so fat, you’re hopeless, you’ll never succeed, why do you even try?

Well? Hurtful, isn’t it? Derailing, right?

The thing is, you have to remember that you cannot control what other people say….but you can control how you choose to react.

There was a very interesting thread over at 3FC today about such things. I posted the following response:

….. Can I relate to allowing people to possess power over you. It’s a horrible thing.

I was able to stop the pain by internalizing the following:

1.) I am one of the awesome people on this planet. If the only thing “wrong” with me was my weight, I was ahead of 99.997% of everyone else! I am compassionate, I can empathize, I can take control when needed, I watch out for friends and family….in other words, my own personal qualities are beyond sterling.

2.) Given point 1, I need to evaluate the person who is trying to hurt my feelings. Are they on my level? Do they walk the walk regarding human decency, or are they just trying to exert power over me? In virtually every case, I realize that I’m much a better person….so I can then give myself permission to neutralize any emotional hurt from their words. They’re pathetic, I’m great. They don’t deserve the ability to impact my emotions….MORE….

I firmly believe that you must proactively internalize your true worth whenever you embark on a life-changing journey like weight loss, college degrees, etc.

There will always be people who want to drag you down to their level – refuse! Take back control, give yourself permission to ignore all the naysayers and rise to your own cherished abilities. The people who are important to you will applaud…and the rest of the world can go to heck.

Remember that. It’s your choice….choose wisely.

Barbara

ps – when you control your reactions, you’re one step closer to becoming one with the universe.

Uncovering Discount Sesame Place Tickets, Theme Parks and more!

Morning,

Last Sunday, I had the unmitigated thrill of taking my family to Sesame Place. Now, for those who are currently living in Alpha Centuri, Sesame Place is a tribute towards Sesame Street and most importantly, Elmo The Wonder (as known by my kids).

The challenges with any theme part nowadays is finding online discounts to assist your wallet! So here’s what I did.

I went to Google and searched for:

Sesame Place discount

And I found:

Optimum Awards

which offered:

Sesame Place Discount
Good through October 27, 2007
Check out these great discounts!

Splash and spin. Slide and ride. Or Dine with a furry friend. Sesame Place is over 14 acres of fantastic family rides – from dry rides that fly to wet, water attractions. Plus, your favorite characters and dining with Big Bird and friends. All this and more make Sesame Place the place for kids and the kid in all of us.

# Save $10 on single-day admission to Sesame Place on any operating day from May 5, 2007 through June 15, 2007 and weekends only from September 4, 2007 through October 27, 2007
# Save $6 on single day admission to Sesame Place on any operating day from June 16, 2007 through September 3, 2007

The discount code was “sesamecablevision” …. and guess what, it worked! I was able to take off $10 for each ticket price.

You can apply this technique to uncover discounts on just about anything! Some useful discount sites online are:

And don’t forget cool searches like:

I ended up saving over $30 by using the above techniques – woohoo, I had money to buy gas! :-)

Enjoy,

Barbara

ps – What’s that? You want more discounts? Consider:

Kimkins – fake diet success pictures (think Mail Order Brides)

If you’re scouting about online for weight loss resources, you’ve probably come across what appears to be a scam huger than Godzilla’s diapers.

It’s called Kimkins, and was heralded on Women’s Wear Daily as a useful way to lose weight.

The problem appears, however, that the originator lied about virtually everything she claimed. :(

Check out these posts:

Fake Success Story Pictures

So that these do not get lost as more posts are added, we’re compiling all the faked success story pictures and original source here on a single page. You can bookmark this page to come back for updates or simply click the link in the options above. Many thanks to those at Low Carb Friends who continue to search for more pictures that were used for the success stories……MORE…..

and

Laura Dolson from About.com Banned at Kimkins

In a post yesterday, Kimmer Continues to Lie, “I am not Heidi”, Kimmer wrote:

The news clip me of the “diet review” done by About.com which also only parrots the anti-Kimmer blogs. No medical review. No impartiality. Hundreds of pro-Kimkins members wrote to Laura Dolson (who was impressed with their intelligence she told me), but didn’t change her review at all.

Laura Dolson, the guide for the Low Carb Diets section at About.com replied within the Kimkins forums today, her reply was removed and she was banned….MORE….

and

‘Livin’ La Vida Low-Carb Show’ Episode 94: The Kimkins Scam Illustrated By The Words Of ‘Kimmer’ Herself

Hello and welcome to the Internet’s premiere low-carb podcast–“The Livin’ La Vida Low-Carb Show with Jimmy Moore!”

In today’s episode, our host Jimmy takes a chronological look at the events — and the seemingly unlimited lies — that lead up to the collapse of Heidi “Kimmer” Diaz’s credibility as a “Diet Guru.” If you don’t know the full story, there are some very interesting recent developments involving Heidi’s own family and the ownership of the Kimkins web site itself.…..MORE…

Now, I don’t have a problem with people selling their dieting and weight loss secrets and ideas. If you’ve achieved success and can package the how-to in a way that benefits others, more power to you!

BUT! I have a HUGE problem with parasites who try to take advantage of people’s desperate desires to lose weight, take their money, and produce only lies in return (and in the case of Kimkins, severe health risks as well).

It’s truly a shame how amoral some people will become in their quests to scam others.

What do you think?

Barbara

ps – one of the best tool I’ve found for losing weight is strength training. Here are some goodies for that:

Making treadmill workouts fun

Morning,

Today’s workout at the gym was most enlightening. True, while I took it ‘way easy (yesterday’s kendo class had completely toasted my wrists, so I chose the ‘super slow’ method of weight lifting today), it was commented to me in the locker room that ‘oh, you can use the treadmill? I get soooo bored on it!’

Bored? How on earth can you be bored on a treadmill? There are lots of ways to ensure you get a good workout and allow the time to fly by, including:

  • TV! I always watch The Discovery Channel or the History Channel while doing my workouts. It’s difficult to be a clock-watcher when you’re entranced with the programming on the screen! ‘How It’s Made‘ is one of my favorite treadmill shows.
  • Personal challenges. If I find myself getting bored, while I never do, mind you, but if (just if!) I did, I can lose myself in my mind and craft the most elaborate scenarios for adventure (which always involves running). Bump up the level to 15, pack on the speed to over 5 mph, …. it all adds to the variety.
  • Homework. I always prepare extra mommy work for my kids, so I can use the treadmill time to work my brain and decide what math/creative problems I can give my kids after school.
  • Singing. Singing makes everything go faster! I have a set repertoire that I can sing thru again and again (my current favorites are songs from Beauty and the Beast and Fiddler on the Roof).

The above are just some ideas to help you make your treadmill workout fun! Push yourself. You have the ability – you only need to let it be free.

Enjoy,

Barbara

ps – some neato treadmill goodies are:

One of the super awesome benefits to losing weight

Morning,

Yesterday’s Kendo class was beyond superb!

True, alas, the person who flattened me last week didn’t bring his armor, but hey. That’s okay; I was able to spar against other extremely talented folks as well. And also true, alas, I was rather, ahem, not exactly skillful….but! I was able to lose myself a bit and counter a good number of strikes that came down on my head.

In other words, I did ‘way better than last week!

This morning, I awakened to a beautifully tinted bruise on my side. The colors are most engaging! :) And my first thought upon spying it was….pride. Not so much, pride that I’m black and blue, but pride that I’m in good enough condition that I can throw myself wholeheartedly into a young person’s sport…and make it my own.

This is a super side-benefit to losing weight! I’m so self-confident now that I adore pitting myself against challenges that would have left me whimpering last year.

You know, you can hear until the cows come home how wonderful it is to get healthy and lose weight….but until you actually witness the magic and see it manifest itself in your reflection, you just have no idea how truly superb this realization can be!

Which brings me to the point of this post. Losing weight and getting healthy isn’t only about being thin. No sirree! It’s also about letting out the inner you – that self-confident person whose courage has been stilted by that little voice of shame and fear. There’s even a discussion going on about that very topic here.

What do you think?

Best wishes,

Barbara

ps – One of my favorite treatments for muscle pains are below!

Fighting past the fear part II

Well! Today is Kendo class, my favorite martial arts weapons activity.

Last week, I was beyond utterly decimated in sparring; I was toasted past recognition. It was quite a character building experience, and I did make certain to use it to teach my kids rather valuable ideas about fear, bravery and the like.

Today, I have committed to myself that I will participate with 110% enthusiasm again. I have been analyzing my lack of skills, and realize that I need to improve my speed and coordinate. Towards that, I took a cane with me on my 2.4 mile circle walk, and practiced over-head strikes during the majority of the distance.

Yes, even I couldn’t justify swinging a wooden sword out in public. :)

So my arms are quite tired but hopefully the muscle memory is building. One of my kids loves nunchaku, another lives for sais…I’ve decided that the sword will be the martial arts weapon that I shall master. You heard it here first. :)

Enjoy,

Barbara

ps – Kendo hails from the Way of the Warrior or the Samurais. Check out these neat things:

Internet acronyms every parents should know

I’m a big believer in knowing what’s going on in my kids’ lives with regards to the Internet. Like I tell them, they might be sincere online…but that doesn’t mean 98% of the people they might encounter are the same way!

Here are some Internet acronyms every parent should know, taken from Net.Lingo:

  1. POS – Parent Over Shoulder

  2. PIR – Parent In Room

  3. P911 – Parent Alert

  4. PAW – Parents Are Watching

  5. PAL – Parents Are Listening

  6. ASL – Age/Sex/Location

  7. MorF – Male or Female

  8. SorG – Straight or Gay

  9. LMIRL – Let’s Meet In Real Life

  10. KPC – Keeping Parents Clueless

  11. TDTM – Talk Dirty To Me

  12. IWSN – I Want Sex Now

  13. NIFOC – Nude In Front Of Computer

  14. GYPO – Get Your Pants Off

  15. ADR or addy – Address

  16. WYCM – Will You Call Me?

  17. KFY – Kiss For You

  18. MOOS – Member(s) Of the Opposite Sex

  19. MOSS or MOTSS – Member(s) Of The Same Sex

  20. NALOPKT – Not A Lot Of People Know That

Utterly amazing. And to think, when I was “that age”, folks instead focused on things like The Cow Shed.

The times, they have a’changed. :-/

Barbara

ps – did you know you can get keystroke loggers online? Consider:

Kids getting fatter? Here’s what you can do.

Morning,

Kids are getting fatter again. Here’s the latest:….

ST. LOUIS – Heavy children who lost weight kept the pounds off better through weight maintenance follow-up, but even that wasn’t terribly successful over two years, researchers reported.

The less-than-perfect results underscore the challenge in fighting the nation’s obesity epidemic. About 34 percent of American children are overweight.

A team led by researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis found that obese children who lost weight kept it off if they were in a maintenance program, but its effectiveness waned over time…. MORE …..

Like all parents, I’m concerned with my kids’ overall health and fitness as well. One thing I found that works really well is giving them Dance Dance Revolution – they can easily burn up tons of calories while having a blast at the same time! It truly is a godsend for children who don’t like participating in team sports.

There’s even a great site for parents who want to get fit via DDR too!

One of the dieting gurus who really walks the walk concerning children is Richard Simmons. Last year, Richard went to Washington DC to promote getting PE back into school…what a great cause! He writes:

… Somebody asked me what my legacy is. And I said one thing I want to do while on this earth is to get our children more fit. There are so many schools in the United States that have no PE. Some have it once a day for 15 minutes and this is just wrong. Our kids are overweight. They’re out of shape. They’re diabetic. They’re taking medication for antidepressants.

So what I did was I created a questionnaire that you could fill out if you were a parent, a teacher, a superintendent. I collected almost 60,000 that everybody around the country sent in to me…..MORE….

Walking the walk….it’s a great thing.

Some other great resources for getting and keeping your kids healthy are:

Remember, kids being kids, they might need some pushing and prodding. Do your job as a parent and make certain they DON’T sit on their rears every moment at home playing on the computer….get them up and moving. They’ll thank you for it later.

Enjoy,

Barbara

ps – some great DDR things are:

Corporate exercise ideas

Morning,

Long long ago, back before the earth’s crust cooled, I worked at a large telecommunications company…in a building surrounded by park-like lands complete with MacGyver geese and other assorted wildlife.

One of the neat things I noticed was many employees would walk around in groups outside during their lunch break. True, I never joined them (what, me, exercise?), but still it looked like quite a good idea.

Sometimes companies will provide workout stations along paths that are carved outside their building. These stops allow you to do jumping jacks, stretches, pullups, etc., assuring your body of a rather decent workout.

The opportunities for adding exercise to your desk-bound routine are many if you work in a large corporate center! Some ideas include:

  • Shunning the elevator up and down
  • Taking a 5 minute quick walk down the hallways every hour, carrying some heavy books
  • Volunteering to help move items from office to office
  • Joining an employee fitness club

Speaking of employee clubs, quite often you can find many extracurricular activities that will benefit your health! For example, I was a member of the Jujitsu club, the Lion Dancers Club and the Singles Club (president of that, actually….); it was a great way to meet folks with similar interests and enjoy fun activities.

Here are some examples of corporate employee clubs:

Who knows what interests you’ll uncover?

Enjoy,

Barbara

ps – True, while I only played the cymbals, the Lion Dancing club was one to remember!