Finally Getting Fit

I do this sort of thing on Fiction Scribe when there are a lot of interesting things I’ve read lately that I want to point to. I haven’t really had a need to do so here until things piled up on me this week.

So here we go!

Hanlie at Fertile Healthy has caught the Blah Bug that I’ve been dealing with the past few days. Head over and show her some love.

Cammy at Tippy Toe Diet has a giveaway going on for folks in the US. That doesn’t include me, so I figured I would promote it instead of entering. A copy of Eric R. Braverman’s Younger (Thinner) You Diet is up for grabs.

Foodie McBody at FoodFoodBodyBody put up a post last week that I have been itching to comment on here ever since I read it. Be Mindful, and Don’t Suffer is a post about Foodie’s ‘body philosophy’ for lack of better words. She talks about being mindful, being thankful, paying attention to what you eat and more. All points that I think most - if not all - of the diet plans, systems, etc miss completely. Definitely worth a read.

Why Health Advice on Oprah Could Make You Sick - Yes, there actually is someone out there who isn’t a fan of Oprah. This is a long article on how Oprah apparently doesn’t realize just how much she influences people and how she ‘innocently’ gears her shows to ‘innocently’ support causes she sometimes later denies. All up, it’s a reminder that we’re all different, so no one can be a true, infallible expert.

And there you have it! All the bits and bobs I’ve been wanting to point out over the past week or so.

Or is it round three? I can’t quite remember.

I was roaming the weight loss part of the blogsphere yesterday and read on Irish Mom’s blog that one of her goals for this week is to keep a food diary. “If I bite it, I’ll write it,” as she says. (I love that little saying.) It got me thinking that maybe it’s time I get back into keeping a food diary.

When I first started on the ‘I’m in Australia now’ leg of my weight loss journey, it was a big kick in the head. I couldn’t believe how much food I would shove in my mouth (or rather, would have shoved in my mouth without the food diary) on any random day. Keeping the food diary made me think about what I was eating.

But I sort of grew out of it. I was more aware, more careful and all the better for it. I could easily recall everything I had eaten in a given day and I thought before I ate.

Now, as I skip the scale, it will be all too easy for me to fall back in to bad habits. Having a food diary would help me out at least a little in that area because it would at least keep me aware and away from ‘mindless munching’. Mindless munching is a bad, bad habit for me that I definitely don’t want to get back into.

So I’m thinking about taking it up again.

Do you use a food diary? Do you find it useful?

My dear friend Jenera has awarded me with the Great Blog Friend award. While I know a lot of people get annoyed with memes, tags, and awards, I like them a lot and am happy to have Jenera award me with one.

At this point I get to name people I would like to pass the award on to. I love giving awards out to people and would like to give them to everyone I know, but I have narrowed the list down to five lovely ladies who have been good friends and have the wonderful ability to make me smile.

Randi of If You Can’t Say Something Nice
Elisa of Watching Dr. Who
Jummy of Getting Crafty
Emma of Treehouse Jukebox
Lyndsey of Lez Keep It Real

These five ladies have been great friends to me with help in abundance whenever I needed it and a lot of great conversations.

Randi and I bond a lot over our shared condition PCOS and our having divorced certain family members.

Elisa has trusted me with the care of The Book Stacks after writing for it for a long time. She also sent me my first care package after I arrived in Australia.

Jummy is a craft goddess in my eyes and I love getting ideas from her site. She’s always cheerful and enthusiastic.

Emma has been a good friend for a long time and never fails to have strangely awesome timing at saying or doing something that makes me smile.

Lyndsey is a lovely lady who has been a great friend to me from the start. We have a lot of fun when we talk.

And there you have it! Feel free to take this award and pass it out on your blog.

Let me know if you do in the comments section. I always like to cruise around new blogs.

With that, I hope all of you have a lovely weekend filled with laughter, bonding, and good food. I’ll see you back here on Monday with the next weigh in. (Fun, fun. )

Today I was having fun exploring what is turning into a massive blog roll list over at the Healthy You Challenge. (Looking for some support? Your guaranteed to find it there!) I had a lot of lovely people stop by and comment on my last post, so I figured I’d pay some of the weight loss blogger love forward.

I was reading on Irish Mom’s blog – Little Boy Blue and a Redhead Too – where she wrote:

“I just saw a commercial (not sure for what) where people comment on how life would change if I lost the weight….

What would you do?? Or what did you do when lost significant weight??”

That got me thinking as well.

While Irish Mom has pretty much said it all as far as what I would do, I got to thinking about a few things of my own I would add on.

~I would start planning for having a baby. (I’m currently saving money, but nothing else.)
~I would be able to keep up with my husband.
~I would finally find and buy ‘the little black dress.

So what would you do?

When it comes to weight loss, having people there who can support you and know what you are going through can make the difference between weight loss success and falling back into old habits. That’s why I’m very happy to point you to the Healthy You Challenge.

I don’t think I can put it much better than the site itself, so… What is the Healthy You Challenge?

The Healthy You Challenge is just that, a challenge to become a healthier version of who you are right now. It doesn’t matter if you need to lose a little or a lot or even if you just want to maintain and make a healthier version of who you are right now you’ve come to the right place.

This is not a quick fix diet, if you are looking for a fad diet that promises quick and easy results, this is NOT the place for you. You won’t find advice on diet or nutrition because I am not an expert in diet or nutrition. I’m the first person to admit that what works for one person, just might not work for someone else. We all have to find the best path to walk. Each journey is as unique as each of us.

What I encourage and celebrate:

• Pounds lost
• Exercise - according to your limitations and doctors recommendations
• Stay on YOUR healthy eating plan
• Non Scale Victories
• Goal setting
• Rewarding yourself
• Challenging yourself
• Supporting other bloggers with similar goals, even if they aren’t a part of the challenge
• Asking for help when you feel discouraged

I am one woman who has a lot of weight to lose and wants to give and receive support along the way.

Do you want to know more? Go here to check out the Healthy you Challenge frequently asked questions.

This is a success story from earlier this month, but I don’t think a few weeks of dust on the story will make it lose anything.

Many people who go on the journey to lose weight blog about their stories not only to have somewhere to talk about things but also to find people who are going through the same experiences. Support has always been an important part of weight loss and blogging has made it easier than ever to get in touch with other weight loss bloggers.

In addition to featuring people who are on their weight loss journeys, I would also like to feature success stories I come across.

Yes, I know; success stories sometimes only serve to make you feel grumpy about what is going on in your life. However, they can also serve as a big motivation. Other people are doing it and so can you.

Thus it is my pleasure to feature the first success story here at Finally Getting Fit.

From the headlines of CNN.com comes a story of a woman who was nearing the 300 pound mark in 2004 and stepped back from that line to lose 168 pounds and thirteen dress sizes.

Writer Lynn Bering was like many of us before we started losing weight – no self-esteem and increasingly avoiding situations where we would get attention.

But Lynn is living a lovely life now and is happy to be able to pick up her granddaughter. She even has a blog where she has been keeping track of her journey. You can visit that site by clicking here.