I'm Sick Of Just Words Words Words, Talk Talk Talk!

So, I am currently sitting in an undisclosed location (Borders, 21st and Lewis) observing the habits of overweight, prematurely aged people.  The main characteristics among this particular subset are Denial and Complaining.  Now, I enjoy denial as much as the next person... but I use it to make my world a better place... I like to deny things like the naysayers who contend that Britney Spears is a no-talent trainwreck or that Paris Hilton is a waste of perfectly good internal organs that would be better suited in someone else.

The people I am sitting next to are eating cinnamon rolls and drinking giant cups of frothy, creamy, sugar based coffee drinks that contain more calories than they should consume in one day and in between bites and slurps are trying their hardest to convince themselves and the other enablers at the table that, 

" I always eat pretty good, I mean once in a while I have a special treat but overall my diet is good I don't know why I can't seem to lose weight."  

A special treat huh....  Ummm it's 4:30 p.m. on a wednesday and you're at a bookstore.  I suppose if that is your idea of a "special treat" then by all MEANS continue eating and drinking with that reckless abandon that makes me worry how close I am to actually watching someone bite off their own finger!

But meanwhile... back here on earth... I can look at them and can tell that this is NOT a "special treat" but a daily habit.  I can see it in the way the waistband of their too-tight pants are BEGGING for them to have mercy and unbutton them.  I can also hear it in everything they are saying.  I listen to them saying how much they want to lose weight and I listen to them saying how they don't "feel good" and blah blah blah... but I HEAR them saying what they ate last night... how much they drank last night... how much they're GOING to drink toNIGHT because tonight is 

"FILL IN THE BLANK WITH WHATEVER IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN THEIR HEALTH OR REACHING THEIR GOALS"

Honestly... ALL the TALK about wanting to change or WANTING to lose weight is absolutely WORTHLESS without taking some ACTION.  I wish it wasn't that way... I would LOVE for talking about something to be worth some sort of credit towards reaching a goal....but it's not.  If just TALKING about something made things happen I would be in a deeply intellectual and emotionally satisfying relationship with Juan Luz and Madonna would have turned to dust when she fell off her horse... but guess what... I'm sitting in Borders listening to people TALK about what they want to change while taking NO action towards it.  

What are YOU talking about wanting to change or do but not applying any action towards making it happen?

Today... We Laugh

Cha Cha Cha Changes...

How well are your excuses serving you?  I would ask if they were holding you back...but really that's a question that doesn't need to be asked does it?  Everyday I hear people saying how much they want to change something, whether it's their physical appearance, career, whatever.  Most everyone wants to change SOMEthing... the other thing that most people have in common is...they all have excuses as to why they won't change, can't change, aren't changing.

So they the stay...stuck. Stuck in the same body, the same job, the same unhappy relationship.  

Change can be a frightening prospect. It forces us out of our comfort zone... we don't like that!  We are afraid we might fail at whatever it is we would LIKE to do and that thought scares the hell out of us.  We're afraid of putting ourselves to the test and not getting that A+.   Chances are though, if we really took a hard look at the obstacles we think are standing in our way, they are most often self-imposed, internal limitations that have to basis in reality.  Just imaginary movies playing on a constant loop in our head.  Do you want to know what real failure is?  It's wanting to do something but being too afraid to do anything about it.  That's an automatic FAIL.

1)  I want you to get a sheet of paper and write down 3-5 REALLY important things that you have been WANTING to do but have been too afraid to do and have been avoiding.

2)   Now, take a look at what you've written down and start writing down the reasons why you have been avoiding doing them!

How many of the excuses/reasons that you've written down are truly legitimate and how many of them are imaginary?

Most likely they are only figments of your imagination that serve you NO PURPOSE in the here and now.   It's okay to LEARN from things we've done in the past....that's how we grow.  However, we can't let things we've done in the past paralyze us from trying to achieve things now.  You've probably at some point in your life burned the hell out of your mouth taking a bite of food that was too hot... have you let that stop you from eating now? NO!  See, we tried something... it didn't work the way we wanted it to so we modified, adapted and now we are successful at eating without burning ourselves. (well, MOSTLY...sometimes pizza STILL proves to be too tempting for me to wait to cool sufficiently.)

Now it's time to start to moving beyond those fears... going past those excuses and reasons you have for not going after what you want.

Just keep in mind... you also do not have to reach your goal immediately.  Again, to make another reference to pizza (can you tell I am writing this during dinner and that I'm hungry) you don't eat an entire pizza in one bite.  You break it down into several smaller, more manageable bites and you just keep after it. Same things for your goals... try to break them down into smaller, more manageable steps that don't leave you overwhelmed but individually add up to YOU achieving what it is you want to DO!  Pay attention to the journey along the way and have fun... you'll achieve your goals before you know it... if you just keep doing things that take you a little bit closer!

The Sweet Life...

For all of you who are still addicted to either your sugary drinks or your drinks that are sweetened with artificial sweeteners... HERE is a new one with some thoughts and concerns.

Maybe we should just drink more WATER and not worry about all of this stuff!?!?

THIS WAS ME!!!

Top 10 Reasons NOT To Exercise

10.  You see nothing wrong with taking up part of someone else's seat on an airplane... shoot, it's not like they PAID for it or anything!

9.  Apparently it's now TRENDY to be big... you wouldn't want to be thought of as unhip would you?

8.  If you're going to pay the same price for a piece of clothing you may as well get the one with the most fabric!  It only makes fiscal sense in this day and age.

7.  Toes? What toes?  If you Can't SEE 'em ya certainly don't need to TOUCH 'em!

6.  If you were busy exercising, how would you POSSIBLY be able to squeeze in enough time to sit in front of your TV?

5.  There's always liposuction... that's safe and easy right?

4.  You always eat healthy... even when you have the occasional fast food meal.

3.   You think gym people are CRAZY and you would much rather prefer being the fatty on the moving sidewalk than the crazy person on the treadmill thank you very much!

2.  Exercise hurts... you get sore and you sweat.  When your joints give out because they are not supposed to carry so much excess weight around, you can just get them replaced... like rotating the tires on your car!

1.  And the number ONE reason NOT to exercise is.... DAMN IT, i would TOTALLY finish this but my Pop Tarts are ready and American Idol is starting.... gotta run, well.. not run actually. You know what I mean!

Doctors Agree With Me

I know pills can be FUN to take, trust me... I like pills just as much as the junkie down the street.  Pills make great "rocks" for certain mixed drinks and can also be used as substitutes for some higher calorie ingredients in some of your favorite dishes.

And in the world we live in, it seems like there is a pill for EVERYthing.  We are obsessed with pharmaceuticals and their ability to magically cure whatever it is that is bothering us.

However... sometimes the solution to a problem, much like Dorothy discovered in the Wizard of Oz, has been with us the whole time.  It's the healing power of laughter! (The University Of Maryland Medical Center)

"Laughter, along with an active sense of humor, may help protect you against a heart attack, according to a new study by cardiologists at the University of Maryland Medical Center in Baltimore. 

The researchers found that people with heart disease were 40 percent less likely to laugh in a variety of situations compared to people of the same age without heart disease."

According to WebMd we change physiologically when we laugh. We stretch muscles throughout our face, we increase our pulse and breathe faster which sends more oxygen to our tissues.  They even say that laughter can produce some of the benefits of a mild workout.  (NO, that DOESN'T mean you can skip your workout today if you watched an episode of The Office.)

"We could perhaps read something humorous or watch a funny video and try to find ways to take ourselves less seriously," Dr. Miller says. "The recommendation for a healthy heart may one day be -- exercise, eat right and laugh a few times a day."

Think about the last time you had a GOOD laugh either from reading something, watching something or hanging out with those friends of yours that you can't HELP but laugh with.  How did you feel?  Lighter? Happier?  A little less like the world was conspiring against you?  I know if I don't laugh regularly I feel stale and even a little sad... but after a couple of good laughing sessions, I start to find the humor in everything again and nothing seems so bad anymore.

There you have it... PROOF that all you really need to do is sweat. laugh. live.