Build me up Buttercup

It's time again to hop on the scale. Yipeee....If you could see how bad I have been. You would know why I am so happy. I haven't gained anything back. Life has been full of celebration after celebration so far this year. Food fit for a king has been spread out in front of me. Me with no will power. You know how that is??

Temptation, it's such a bad word isn't it?? Especially when we are in charge of ourselves. Remember when we could rely on our parents to tell us "NO!"?? It was so much easier. Now if someone says no, it only makes us mad at them. Even when we know they are right.

I was pondering temptation when I decided to see if there was a lesson in there. It brought to mind this story. Since I have my own business, I make my own hours, my own rules of conducting business each day and it can be really easy to say, I will just watch some TV with my husband tonight. Make up some cockamame story to myself and go sit on the couch contently. I have to tell myself why it's ok (the cockamame story) or I would not be content. It's easy to fool myself. I am really good at it. I know exactly what it takes...LOL
So the temptation to slack off for the night won out. But....many the time I have had a temptation and have resisted. I have stuck to my plan to work an hour or two. To help someone else with an aspect of their business and the feeling of empowerment that it has given me has actually been a better feeling than giving in to the temptation. Especially now that I am reitiring, I am grateful I have learned what feels better.

We all want to feel good. Don't you want feel good each day?? Resisting temptation is going to be something I have to really focus on in April. I have a wedding to look good for and well, not feeling good quite yet. But I know that if I resist the temptations in April, I will be rewarded with the outcome I am looking for.

It's easy to backslide. So, I need your help. Invite one friend to read my blog each week and help me build up my friends so that I will see others care. It will give me encouragement and strength!

Thanks for the friendship!!

          Sandra

The Attack of the Green Booger

It's all about staying well these days. The reason? People like you and I don't have money to spend at the doctors office (even with a co-pay) if you are on a fixed budget, which many of us are going to be, you have to make a lot of adjustments that month. If I could be bold enough to say, that if the economy is not affecting your lifestyle, look around you and help someone else because it's affecting them. It's good to keep one foot grounded in a less fortunate individuals life at all times. It makes us appreciate what we have and hopefully improves the life of another. Getting back to wellness. If you were to invest in something right now that I guarantee would give you the best return for your money during your lifetime....it would be investing in yourself.

Let's look at investing in yourself. What do I mean by that? Here is a scenario you may recognize. You are standing in the grocery store at the check out reviewing in your head if you got everything you  came after.
Into your head pops...oh shoot...forgot the orange juice and it's cold and flu season. You waiver about getting out of line because for once it's not 3 people deep. Maybe next time. It doesn't seem that important after all. In an instant you have decided your future health risk and you may not have even realized it. Why? Because your focus is not on your health. You need some basics to stay healthy and your body can not store vitamin C so it needs it every day. Skipping it can open that window of opportunity that the awaiting germ will take.

Here is the real reason I started talking about wellness today. You have to realize that even well individuals will get sick. You can take all the precautions you want to. You can even get out of line to get that orange juice that you know you need every day. (I love it when I can get right back in a short line though don't you?)
A virus will find it's way in if it can. A virus is difficult to avoid even if you are in the best of health. If you are high risk (diabetic, heart disease, immune compromised, frail, elderly, stressed out) in the winter months is the season to pass things along. No I'm not talking about gifts:) Using precautions in groups of people where handles, door knobs, pens etc are used by many people, it's good to carry a little bottle of that alcohol cleaner.(They have some without alcohol as well) or use the wipes provided everywhere these days. But, just the same you and i can get sick. So you ask what is the benefit of trying to stay healthy and still getting sick? It's simple! The severity of your sickness will not be as bad as an unhealthy person. So if you see a green boogie, you know you are sick. Make that trip to the doctor and get an evaluation.

Stay Healthy!

Need help with getting healthy? I can give you an assessment with nutritional recommendations to get you on your way. email me at sandrabullard11@gmail.com with Health Assessment in the subject line

MAKE MY DAY!!

Well, you think it's about time to get on those scales again don't you? You want to hear how much I lost don't you? Well...here goes nothin..............  oh, that can't be right..........no, that couldn't be......is there a battery in this?  Shake it a little and try it again.  Well....3 pounds. Not so bad....I mean very good!!

That positive self talk really works. If I could just remember to say the positive before I say the negative.
I feel really good about this. I have not been a saint, although that was not a goal. Now if I only had someone to join me in my struggle. Not one taker so far. Imagine in a world where people can be friends, can help a girl whenever they want...It's a free country...not even one hand stretched out in my direction. Huh....

Well, not to be discouraged, I will continue on my way alone...sad, lonely and alllllllllll alone. Unless by chance you could find it in your heart to say you would be a wellness partner of mine today. Just say Yes!!
You and I can just talk once in awhile and see how things are going. Not so hard. Just say Yes!!

To Have and to Hold

So it's time for that dreaded "weight in". I sneak over to the scale like i don't want to scare it...remove everything but my fingernails, gingerly step on the scale and...what do I see? Nothing new. Not a pound.
This is discouraging I tell myself. I thought I had been fairly consistent with my cookies. Oh...wait a minute. Yeah I guess maybe mid week I kid of slacked on the cookies. It was fudge from Mary Jane, Cookies from Cheryl, Breakfast pizza on Tuesday that we were dying for, brownies and donuts for Valentine's day. Wow!! How did I think I did well at all. I am thinking maybe, just maybe, that we should do away with food at work. What would you say?? Or maybe change to healthy? Or something more meaningful like lunch each day together from a crock pot? I'm open to suggestions. Can you help a gal out?? Email me your suggestions. sandrabullard11@gmail.com. Also let me hear your stories. Can you share with me and give me a little encouragement?? Things that maybe have worked for you in the past. I will share them if you let me.
Till next week...Keep looking up:) If you can look up you can get up...get up and get going:)
~Sandy

Me Want Cookie

Who doesn’t love Cookie Monster? No counting, no singing, no politics, no angst……..just pure, unadulterated gluttony. Cookie Monster speaks to that monster inside all of us who, when the tray of tiny passed appetizers comes our way at a crowded party, would love to messily devour all of them in one fell swoop “OM NOM NOM NOM!” 

Yesterday was officially the day I started eating cookies to loose weight. Seriously, I have heard of it before. I hate diets, I have a library of diet books and am an expert on how they work until you go off the diet. You have to change your entire lifestyle just to loose.

Well, the cookies go along with my hard to satisfy sweet tooth. Everybody knows cookies are great tasting. How could I go wrong? There is an old saying ...to know one is to love one:) So I am loving this way to loose weight and it's easy as 1,2,3.

1-open cookie wrapper.

2- munch contently on delicious oatmeal raisin or chocolate chip cookie.

3- smile and say ahhhh.... that was one good cookie.

Stay tuned and I will weigh in next week for you to see how it is working. If you want to join me on this adventure in cookie munching...I am eating them twice a day between meals. Go get some and we can race to the scale every week to see who lost the most.

http://www.diamondhealthstore.com/

Here is what they look like on the website

Oh NO...Please Don't Blow

Ever feel like you are having that kind of a week? You know, the kind that you never want to have again for quite awhile. It feels like an endurance test. You find yourself running up and down stairs  and can't remember walking them in years. You find yourself eating fast food on a regular basis. You ate nothing but organic prior to this week. You discover that sugar free stuff makes you burp and you left your beano in your other coat pocket. I guess you have the picture in your mind by now. You may even be laughing because you can relate. You learn one thing at least this week from hell. That is ....you thought you were tough. NOT. You thought you could keep up a good profile through it all. NOT. You find yourself wishing you could lay down, sit down and curl up and ask everyone to leave you alone.  When you are having a week like that. Take it easy on yourself. Cut out all the unnecessary tasks, Yes all of them that you can cut out. You have to eat sleep and dress, but otherwise take it easy. Ask someone else to fill in for you, take over for you, call in all those favors you never wanted to ask for. NOW IS THE TIME. You need to hold onto your hat or your head will blow!! Be healthy as you can this week. If you have a week like this very often you may need assistance to find out why and how to survive and still be healthy. Email me at sandrabullard11@gmail.com. I will help you.

Have a great week:)
Sandra

Keep your eye on the Sapsucker

Don't you hate it when you feel taken advantage of? You know darn well you did it again. You gave before you got. You figure that you should be considered the local sap. The doormat. The dingledorf. The dumb bunny.

Funny, years ago, I actually thought others were waiting to take advantage of me. I hung onto everything like it really was going to be mine forever and help the person who took it away. Or tried to even borrow it. And if you didn't return something, it went down in the book of records I kept in my head. It never forgot anything. Funny how we learn and grow isn't it??

The first thing I leaned was, we didn't come into this world with anything but our birthday suit and we are going out the same way. So keep it pressed and wrinkle free:) So does anything really "belong" to you?? I think we are just the temorary keeper of it. Not that we should take that responsibility lightly. I think because of that, we really should do something to help the next generation. The depression kids didn't leave much behind for us but they did teach us how to save for a rainy day. I remember hearing...Oh, you're not going to throw that out are you?

The second thing I learned is that being stingy really keeps you poor. You have what you have and everyone around you has what they have. No one is giving anything away. Don't expect a gift...it's not coming. Not now, not ever. Finders keepers, loosers weepers. Tie it down and lock it up or you know who will have it.

The third thing I learned was the most important. If you learn to give without expecting anything in return, you will get more back than you could ever imagine. The key is to really give without wanting anything back. Do it because you want to. Not need to, or have to, to get something. Because you would still, in the back of your mind, be expecting something in return. It takes practice.

Remember ,you may come across a real sapsucker from time to time, but as Jim Rohn used to say "There's only a few of them in the whole world" and "I can handle that". Don't believe one bad apple can spoil the whole bunch.

~Sandra