Laughter Can be a Key to Success

In exercising and eating healthy, it is known that there are going to be successes and setbacks as with everything in life, but I believe that it's how you deal with the setbacks that will help you to continue your track to success.

In previous years, if I wasn't progressing in my fitness goals as I thought I should be, then I would start cursing and give up, like I didn't have the rest of the day to accomplish my tasks or tomorrow wasn't right around the corner. Then even when the next day came, I was still thinking about what I hadn't accomplished yesterday which would sabotage my goals for the present day. I was turning a minor setback into something huge.

I knew that I had to come up with some way to turn my setbacks around into something that would work for me instead of work against me. I noticed that any time I ate too late at night or grabbed a soda when I should have grabbed the water standing beside of it, that I would get really angry and disappointed with myself.

It wasn't until I decided to give myself a break and realize that setbacks are going to occur that I found a much needed tool to my success - laughter. Instead of getting mad for breaking down and eating a second helping of dinner, I'm going to laugh because I didn't get a third, which probably would have happened in the past. Instead of getting mad because I missed exercising for one day, I'm going to laugh because I use to not exercise at all, and missing one day is better than how I use to be. I've learned from laughing at my setbacks that they are not really that bad, especially compared to what they use to be, which only helps keep me moving forward toward my fitness goals.

Throw the Scale Away

I don't care if you toss your scale out the window, throw it down the stairs, or give it to your neighbor's dog to play with, just whatever you do, get it out of your house for you and your family's sanity and to successfully accomplish your weight loss goals. I made a critical decision at the beginning of my journey to avoid looking at the scale. I threw out my scale a long time ago and decided not to buy another one.

In the past, my attempts to get into shape failed because I would weigh in on a daily basis, like I was miraculously going to lose 20 lbs in two days. When the scale didn't read what I wanted it to, I would get frustrated and just quit working out althogether. It became evident that I didn't need a scale in my life when I started to constantly think about watching it rock back and forth from one number to the next as if it were playing games with me until it would stop on a number it knew I didn't want it to land on.

Since I've thrown my scale away, I've been happier and gained all of my sanity back. Instead of measuring my success by what the scale says, I decided to measure it by what I seen throughout my journey. I didn't need a scale to let me know that I was making progress. I knew it by my energy level rising and my clothes fitting better. I know that I would not have made it this far if I were glaring at the scale every day.

I do often wonder what the scale would say today, but then I think, do I really want all the drama that comes with having a scale in my life. I happily concluded that I do not.

The "If I Ever" List

Sometimes I'll think to myself am I working out enough or am I doing too much. There are times that I wonder if I am exercising myself to death, and then I think 15 minutes on the bike isn't actually killing me. To ensure that I don't ever over exercise, I developed a list of things that if I ever caught myself doing, then I know it's time to turn it down a notch and reevaluate my mindset and my exercise goals.

As far as under exercising goes, I believe that as long as I'm getting some type of workout in throughout the week that I'm right on the track to achieving the healthy goals that I set for myself. So, here goes my "If I Ever" list.

1. If I ever go workout at the gym on a Monday and my family finds me at that same gym on Friday because I never came home to sleep, eat, or go to work, then I might be overdoing it.

2. If my feet ever become entwined with the pedals on my exercise bike, then I might be overdoing it.

3. If I ever answer my home phone, "Ketwan's Gym, can I help you," then I might be overdoing it.

4. If I ever start dreaming about exercising every night and constantly think about it at work, then I might be overdoing it.

5. If I ever arrive at the gym two hours before it opens and leave two hours after it has closed, then I might be overdoing it.

6. If I ever turn down going to eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner to go workout, then I might be overdoing it.

7. And if I ever get a portable potty to sit in the living room beside my exercise bike, then I just might be overdoing it.

I know that it can be really easy to slip into a mindset of I have to exercise all the time for as long as I possibly can. I have realized that time away from thinking about exercise and working out is important to my success so that my mind stays refreshed and my body functioning properly. Besides, since I'm just getting started in my fitness journey, I highly doubt you'll ever catch me doing something from my "If I Ever" list.

Taking Time to Celebrate

You know, you can’t expect to eat healthy 24 hours a day. Sometimes it’s nice to have something sweet every once in a while. I have to remember just not to overdo it, which was my problem before. So, that being said, yesterday was Valentine’s Day and with it came the temptations to gobble down a box of chocolates or a bag of candy. I decided early in the week that I was going to maintain control and that I would just stray away a little from my usual fruit and vegetable snacks.

The day before Valentine’s Day, I decided to try strawberries dipped in chocolate to celebrate the occasion of course. I figured that nothing was wrong with having a little chocolate with my fruit, besides, I was still eating healthy. So, I headed down to Edible Arrangements and ordered 4 strawberries dipped in chocolate. I barely made it to the car before I tried one.

On paper, I can’t describe the sensation that ran through my body when the mixture of strawberries and chocolate hit my tongue, because there are no words to describe. That was probably about the best 4 strawberries I have ever had, and I didn't feel guilty afterwards. That's the point that I was trying to make it to, where I could eat sweets in moderation and be happy while I'm doing it, and I had made it, so this was definitely not just a Valentine's Day celebration to me, but it was a time to celebrate tackling one of my goals.

A Household Affair

One great thing that came out of exercising and eating more healthy is that I found some willing participants in my kids. Had I known beforehand that my kids would follow my example, then I would have started exercising and eating better years ago.

Sometimes when I start riding my exercise bike, my son will see me and automatically start running in place beside of me or get his 5 lb weights that we got him in Christmas 2007 that he hadn't touched since the day after Christmas and start lifting them. My daughter will get on the floor and attempt to do push ups. Seeing them exercising and having fun makes me want to try even harder at accomplishing my goals.

I've also found that my kids started following some of my healthy eating habits. On occasion, instead of asking for candy and chips for snacks, they'll ask for grapes, apples, or a yogurt. At times my daughter and I even end up battling for the last yogurt, in which she always looks at me with those big brown eyes and gets me to give in.

I know I can't hope for my kids to want fruits and vegetables on a daily basis or exercise every night, but I sure am glad that they see me making a good change and want to join in and make it a household affair.

Being Bored is Not a Good Reason to Run to the Refrigerator

Sometimes I'll just be sitting at home relaxing and just start thinking about food; what I can eat, how can my husband can cook it, and how it will taste once it's done. I'll catch myself and try to get my attention elsewhere. If I don't feel like running the streets, then I'll exercise, try to find a good movie on TV, clean the house, start washing clothes or doing the dishes to keep my mind busy and away from food thoughts, because I know I'm not hungry, I'm just bored. If I have errands to run outside of the house, then I'll make it a point to leave right when my mind starts combining thoughts of food and boredom.

I found out that sometimes I have to keep my mind busy in addition to my body, because when it slows down for too long, it becomes bored and susceptible to being overcomed by prohibited food thoughts. My prohibited foods are all those foods that I use to eat in excess that I vowed to cut back on in my daily eating because they weren't benefitting me in any way.

I finally figured out that eating simply because I'm bored is not a good reason to eat, so I decided why not try eating for the right reasons, because I'm hungry, starving, or about to pass out from the lack of food. This way, not only will I benefit physically from this change, but mentally as well because my mind is being worked out. And then there are the financial benefits of saving money from not having to go to the grocery store as often. If you didn't know, bored eating can be really expensive.

So now when I'm bored, you won't find me breaking my neck to get to the refrigerator, but you might just see me walking in the park or catching a movie at the cinema.

The Day I Knew I Had Definitely Made a Change

Do you ever get those days where temptation to go back to who you use to be comes back with full force? Well, I had one of those days. You know one of those days when the one thing you have been trying to get away from jumps on your shoulders, laughing, for a piggy back ride.

Since my weakness is sweets (any and every kind imaginable), I should have known that this day would come; the day that my sweets weakness would be challenged. It was the day a co-worker brought in a container of brownies. To my amazement, when I saw those brownies, even though I wanted to dive into them, I didn't touch not one of them. Now I did touch the shiny silver pan that contained all of those chocolate square brownies, but my lips tasted not a morsel of their chewy goodness.

I had heard about their greatness from co-workers who had no idea of my secret battle to resist taking down half the pan. Had this been a couple of weeks before, I probably would have had no problem giving in to my sweet tooth and at least consuming two or three brownies by noon. But what was different about this day and me, I thought.

Well, it wasn't what was different, but it was what would remain the same if I gave in to my temptation. If I would have eaten those brownies in insane numbers, then I'd be the same person I was in 2003, making a resolution that I didn't keep, and that wasn't what I was about anymore. Today I was about my future and leaving my past behind me. Besides, I wasn't about to let a pan of brownies take me down.