Category: Diet

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.

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:

One of the biggest challenges dieters have is refusing temptation…no matter in what form it takes.

But you know, temptation goes beyond mere food. Over at one of my favorite forums, I posted a followup to Giving into Human Temptation:

…I can really understand your feelings. How do you NOT care? Short answer: by internalizing how truly super a person you are…and how you shouldn’t waste yourself on someone who lacks the ability to appreciate you.

And how do you come to peace with what happened?

One thing that I’ve learned over my vast eons of experience is:

Everything…happens for a reason. You might not know why at that very moment, or the next week, or the next year, or the next decade….but…we always learn something from every agonizingly bad choice we make….MORE…

Which brings me to the point of this post in particular.

I’ve had epiphanies happen to me years after an event….all of a sudden, something would go *click!* and I’d realize, omigosh, because of xyz challenge 7 years ago, I knew how to handle the abc of yesterday. And if I hadn’t have gone thru the agony of those experiences long ago, I’d be up the proverbial creek without a paddle today.

Relate this now to you!

What choices have you made in the past that created the person you are today? To what temptations did you give in…and how have the affected your self-confidence, personality and soul?

Are you learning the long-term consequences of short-term personal gratifications of, say, falling off the diet wagon?

Getting together with an ex?

Playing the corporate politics game?

Giving your heart to someone who fails to treat it like the precious gift it is?

Well?

It is …. to think. And I think you’ll gain a deeper insight into what makes you tick and what can help you achieve success…once you give yourself permission to understand.

Enjoy,

Barbara

ps – Here’s my temptations!

Morning,

Isn’t it amazing how easy we can sabotage ourselves when we try to lose weight?

Think about it. In what other activity in the world can you say, okay, if I continue to gain weight and resemble grounded hot air balloons, I’ll definitely die a whole lot sooner…but hey! Just one more cookie can’t really hurt now, can it?

Well?

Why people sabotage themselves is indeed a fascinating subject to study. There are lots of reasons, including:

• Lots of fat can shield a person from flirtatious attention (shyness)
• You’ve never succeeded before, so you figure, what’s different this time?
• You feel like you just don’t *deserve* to be thin
• You see your other friends chomping along, and don’t want to make them feel uncomfortable with your success (ain’t it amazing how (often women) can empathize to the point of insanity)?
• You’re told by your spouse or SO that you’re perfect “just the way you are” (translation, if you’re losing weight and getting sexy, maybe you’ll want to attract someone else….)
• Dieting…it requires too much short-term sacrifice.
• etc.

As a formerly big and hefty wench, I can attest to how important a solid, committed mind-set really is! After all, it’s your mind that controls if you start to inhale the yummy food that made you what you are today…it’s your mind that stops your hand from reaching for those Krispy Kreme donuts that are seductively singing your name…it’s your mind that moves your feet towards the gym and onto that blasted treadmill….it’s even your mind that lets you put on your armor and spar against a guy who will thoroughly toast your rear in kendo.

• Remember!
• You cannot change your past….but….
• You can alter your future.

You can choose to succeed. Be warned – it can be a very scary journey indeed, as your delusions are often stripped away, leaving the stark naked truth staring straight at you. But if you muster the courage to face them down and take control…the results are beyond phenomenal.

Honor yourself. You deserve it.

Enjoy,

Barbara

ps – one diet plan that folks enjoy trying is Weight Watchers. Here are some goodies from there:

One of the most difficult challenges folks who have yo-yo dieted face is that horribly annoying inner voice that chants, you failed 6 times before to lose weight, why on earth do you think you can succeed now?

As someone who once possessed the personality and self-confidence of a stale graham cracker cookie, I can really relate to the Inner Voice Hell. It took me many many years of, well actually, doing nothing and enduring it until I was fed up, before I looked at myself and said,

“Okay self, you have a choice. Since the only person creating that annoying icky inner voice is you, you can proactive choose to EITHER:

• Endure it and feel lousy
• Tell it to shut the hell up!

What’s it going to be?”

The ability of people to delude themselves is utterly amazing, I think….right up there with the wonder of electro-magnetism or how Lewis and Clark survived the frozen BitterRoot Mountains back in the 1800s….or even how my kids know unerringly the exact moment in time when Mommy has finally relaxed in her hot bath (and then get an insane desire to pop in and start discoursing on school, Naruto and other life-changing events).

So. Who the hell ARE you to think you can succeed this time in losing weight…when it’s failed miserably before?

Well?

I think the difference only happens when you’re reached rock-bottom in your own personal evaluation of yourself….and then bravely decree, that’s IT! I WILL CHANGE! It can’t be a half-assed attempt; that’s almost always the culprit behind prior yoyo dieting tries. You really have to WANT IT and WANT IT BAD…to the extent you’re willing to pit yourself against your own personal weaknesses.

Personally, I think this is a great, wonderful and very humbling experience. When you give yourself permission to succeed, you start to uncover the boundaries of your own personal inner strength. Stay at it longer, and those boundaries start to expand and encompass more and more steadiness and self-confidence.

That by itself…helps contribute towards your personal success. It’s like a rolling stone that gathers force and drive…and never lets you give up until the goal has been attained.

Don’t you agree?

Barbara

ps – need some ideas about self-confidence? Check out:

Morning,

Finally, after years and decades and eons and epochs and … you get the idea … I finally uncovered a picture of me doubling as a Macy’s Day Balloon (the before picture), and one a few days ago of me looking rather buff (the after!).

Here they are:

Now, that picture is admittedly photoshopped – the original was taken from the first Garfield Convention I attended. Garfield was next to me, as was a bunch of kids (and as I don’t have permission to post their pictures, I simply removed myself from the picture and threw myself into a park).

Here’s my current photo:

While it’s obvious I still have a ways to go, I will admit, I like the current “me” much more so than the former “me!”

I’m wearing my favorite karate shirt in the above picture. Because my karate gi is sleeveless, I always wear tank tops/sleeveless shirts (I’m insanely proud of my deltoids/biceps – it’s my only vanity). That was the shirt I was wearing the very first time I realized, omigosh, I have a waist! And and and … it’s smaller than my top! My bottom! And dare I say it…I no longer look like a hugely-rounded eggplant!

Witnessing the magic – ’tis quite a good thing, indeed.

Barbara

ps – there are lots of great workout things you can find online. Consider: