Writer’s block or writer’s butt?

Writer’s block or writer’s butt?

( I'm afraid I have both)

         It’s no secret. Sitting at a desk writing causes serious butt spread. Sitting at that same desk agonizing over writer’s block has the same consequence, not to mention time spent while blogging, e-mailing and social networking. None of these contribute to a narrow backside; and all the aforementioned are necessary to a writer’s success in selling his/her books. A heavy problem!

            I’ve devoted the last few month’s blogs to weight issues. This month I’m focusing on the writer’s dilemma—too much angst, too little exercise and too much food in the kitchen. How does the poor writer prevent a spreading fanny while finishing his necessary sedentary chores?

Some ways to avoid writer’s spread:

1.     If you’ve gotten into the habit of sharing your desk with food, break it. I can’t tell you not to have a cup of coffee at your side, but FYI, I sent a brand-new, Mac keyboard to an early grave with a mug of coffee. And the replacement keyboard has enough crud between the keys to run a garbage disposal. Two things to be gained from establishing a ‘no eating while writing’ habit; smaller butt and longer lasting (and more sanitary) keyboard.

2.     To prevent fanny-spread and keep your circulation going, set a timer to remind you to get up from the computer every half-hour and walk around for at least five minute. Vacuum your office, wash the dishes, or make the bed, anything to get your juices flowing.

3.     Take time for a daily walk. This is much easier if you have a dog. It’s just about impossible to resist the sad-eyed begging with glances toward the door or the leash. This also has a dual benefit; great for your health and the endorphins produced get your creative juices flowing! Carry a notebook or a digital recorder to capture any plot epiphanies that come to you on your journey through the neighborhood.

4.     A helpful exercise device is a small (fits under the desk)  stationary peddler. These are under $50, and you can find them in any of the gadget books that stuff your mailbox.

5.     While you’re sitting, keep you legs and/or feet moving. If you make a habit of this it won’t be distracting. Even something as simple as rotating your feet from the ankles will keep your leg circulation healthy.

Dear readers,

Thank you for following my blog. Please leave any commentary or addition to the tips I’ve included. They are things that I do daily and I’m sure you have some to add. (Of course, I’m not brave enough to measure my butt!)

See you next week,

Marla

Affirmations

Using affirmations

Repeat after me: Awareness is Everything.

You’ve probably forgotten all about your New Year’s goals.  Why is it so easy to forget goals? The answer is simple. Achieving a goal requires ongoing, active mental involvement. Changing demands that we step outside of our comfort zone and change means discomfort.

It’s been said (if anyone remembers her, I think Dr. Joyce Brothers said it first) that happiness is not found in the big things, e.g. more money, a bigger house, a better job. Happiness is found when you find comfort in your day-to-day routine. In other words, enjoying the small things; the life you have now.

The foods we love are one of those small things; giving them up is painful. No wonder it’s so difficult to stay on a diet. Don’t forget, the first four letters in diet spell “die”. We die inside when we make a change as rudimentary to our daily pleasure as our food choices. How, then, do we take off weight without sacrificing our mental well-being?

First and foremost, it is imperative to find a diet you can live with. Not the diet of the month in the women’s magazines, not the one on The Greatest Loser, not the one Oprah’s recommending this week, but one that over time becomes a way of life for you; a comfortable way of life.

Once you discover what that is for you, the next step is following it. And following any plan for change, whether it is to lose weight or achieve any other goal, demands that you stay aware of  that goal and the steps necessary to achieve it.

Affirmations are merely a tool to help you remain aware. Like finding the right diet, thinking of an affirmation that speaks to you and keeps you on track is well worth your time and effort. Having found one, repeat it to yourself like a mantra. Over and over. Anytime during the day your resolve may be tested. Any time you think of it! Post it on your refrigerator, the bathroom mirror, or your computer. Whatever it takes for you to remain focused on your goal.

Some examples:

            1.  Today, I’ll stay focused on my goals.

            2.  I enjoy eating foods that are healthy in the quantities that my body needs.

            3.  I’d rather feel great about my body. (This is my personal favorite.)

            4.  I’m satisfied with 1500 calories a day. (Fill in your own limit if you’re counting calories.)

            5.  I’m going to make this a wonderful day.

            6.  Today I will be good to myself in every way.

            You get the idea. Draft one that tweaks your resolve you and keeps you on the path to achieving your goals. If you come up with one for all of us, please share it!

Have a wonderful, healthy week,

Marla

Talk to Yourself!

                       

Talk to Yourself!

            Ever tell yourself you’re fat? Hopeless? You’ll never get the body you want?You’re powerless to stop overeating?

The first step in using self-talk to help you achieve a goal, whether it is a weight loss goal or any other, is to kill negative self-talk. Impossible, you say? It’s no secret that anything worth having is worth working for.  And getting negative imagery out of your mind won’t be easy, but will be well worth your efforts.

Whatever you focus on becomes more and more real to you. Focus on the good things in your life; picture your successes, and picture yourself achieving your goals. If you think it, you will become it.

            There are two ways to approach reprogramming your thinking. One is to develop your own internal monitor. When you catch yourself thinking something negative about yourself, imagine screaming, “stop”!  If that seems impossible, (it did to me) another way is to build on positive thoughts about yourself. Make it a habit to focus on the good things about you and your life. Use positive words and thoughts, until they replace your negative thinking.

            Many years ago, I met a prominent woman who told me the secret of her success. Before she went to sleep every night, she made a list of all the good things that had happened during the day, no matter how small or how trivial. She fell asleep thinking of them.  She slept well, and when she woke, she built on the successes of the previous day.

            Change requires awareness! You can be the person you want if you want it bad enough to develop a new way of thinking.

            Here are some ways to make positive self-talk work for you

           

1.     Pay attention to what you say about yourself in private and in public.

2.     Yell a loud, mental “No” or “Stop” when you catch yourself having negative thoughts about yourself.

3.     Replacing negative thoughts with positive ones will take time. Don’t expect to change overnight.

4.     Use a positive affirmation that you’ll repeat to yourself throughout the day like a mantra, either aloud or to yourself. Try a few until you find one that works for you.

5.     Some affirmation examples:

a.     I’d rather feel great about my body. (My personal favorite!)

b.     I have everything I need to help me achieve my goals.

c.      I enjoy eating foods that are healthy.

d.     I am the master of my life.

e.     I will always be radiantly healthy.

f.      Exercise makes me feel good. (Exercising is a great time for repeating your affirmations!)

Dear readers,

You’ve helped make it possible for me to make it through the holidays with only a ½ pound weight gain. For that I am grateful. I hope you stayed with me for the Ten Pounds of Christmas and managed to keep your weight from skyrocketing like mine used to. If not, be kind to yourself. It happens. Today is a new day.

I have a personal goal to lose twenty pounds this year, slowly, with a monthly goal of two pounds. I welcome you to follow along and I’ll share with you any thoughts I have on making our journey easier.

Please leave any comments or tips you may have, or contact me at mam887@yahoo.com.

Marla

Week Ten

The holidays are over. Now what?

The Ten Pounds of Christmas was a blog designed to help myself and others like me get through the holidays without gaining weight—or at least only gaining a pound or two. With your help, I managed to stay focused on that goal and only gain one pound! Blogging about it kept the goal alive for me. Since most of us have a goal to lose weight in 2012, I thought looking ahead to accomplishing that goal would be an excellent way to wrap up this ten-week blog.

            Whenever I set a weight-loss goal, I tend to spend a lot of time thinking about the pot at the end of the rainbow. There I am, wearing skinny jeans, looking svelte and happy. Life is good at the end of the rainbow.           

But an accomplished goal does not happen by throwing a coin into a fountain and making a wish. One of the best ways to achieve a goal is to use creative visualization. Athletes use it to get in the zone by picturing a winning season. And you’ve all heard of biofeedback, used by the medical community for dealing with pain and disease. So that picture of myself in those skinny jeans? Not so ridiculous.

What you focus on becomes more and more real to you. If you tuck those goals you wrote on New Year’s Day into the pile of detritus on the top of your desk, that’s most likely where they‘ll stay—buried.

Whatever your goal, keep it in sight and take a first step toward its completion. If you want to lose weight, join a support group, begin an exercise plan, start a food diary–anything that will get you started toward your goal. Make a list of the steps involved in reaching your goal. If I’ve learned one thing about losing weight, it’s this—no one method works for everyone. Part of realizing your goal will be to find a plan that works for you.

Using visualization:

1.                    Twice a day, assume a relaxed position and picture what you and your life will look like when you’ve accomplished your goal.

2.                    Make sure part of this process is a mental picture of you making the steps necessary for success.

3.                    Visualize yourself overcoming the obstacles that are sure to fall into the path to achieving your goal.

4.                    Incorporate as much sensual data into the picture as possible.

5.                    Remember awareness is half the battle. Again, what you focus on becomes more and more real to you. Rerun those snapshots of your goal in your mind throughout the day.

Dear readers,

Thank you for following me for the ten weeks of The Ten Pounds of Christmas. This tenth week concludes the series.

I am an author of suspense novels, and a woman who has battled with my weight since I was a child. This blog will continue to reach out to others like me who struggle to keep food from making their lives uncontrollable.

            I think those of us that love to read and write books have an even more difficult time, as our favorite pastime does not burn calories! Next week I’ll talk about affirmations and positive self-talk as an aid to accomplishing goals.

Wishing you a happy, healthy and successful new year,

Marla

Week 9, The Ten Pounds of Christmas

Resolutions, NO, Goals, YES

A resolution, from the word resolve, is defined as an intended, firm determination. Like the old advice of practicing “self-control,” a resolution sounds to me like something I’d have to do with a whip held over my head. Goals? Not so much. For me, a goal is something positive that I want to achieve, not a restriction. Positive is good. It’s a new year, right?

The holidays, along with all the food temptations that come with them, are over. It’s time to throw out the leftover goodies and resume normal eating. Normal? That might be defined differently for each of us, I suspect. For me, when it comes to food, there is no “normal”. I’m either closely watching my calorie intake or overeating; seldom anything in between.

An important piece of expert advice about good eating habits has always eluded me; that biggest no-no of all, eating while doing something else: reading, watching TV, or even playing spider solitaire. Why are those combinations so wonderfully delicious? I would defend the practice as doing two things I enjoy at the same time. The experts would tell me I’m trying to maintain an unconscious state in my journey with junk food. (You didn’t think those were carrot sticks and celery stalks, did you?) They would also tell me those activities become linked with eating, and like Pavlov’s dogs, they turn into unconscious triggers for my recreational eating addiction! One of my goals this year will be to work on my compulsive behaviors.

In previous years, my resolutions were predominantly those that were diet related. The good news is, this year I only have two “new” pounds to deal with. No ten pounds of holiday fat for this girl. Unfortunately, I do have more than those two nasty pounds of holiday fat to get rid of, so onward to goals.

A goal can be as simple as a mental picture of something you want to accomplish or it can be a formal outline for the goal’s completion. The most important thing is to choose goals you are excited about achieving in order to motivate you to finish them. If you’re a writer like me, you might want to have a separate list for your writing goals for the week, month, and year.

Some goal guidelines:

1.     Write them down. While you’re at it, give them the added formality of typing them and printing them out. Anthony Robbins advocates a five year plan! That’s a tough one—think about what you’d like your life to look like in five years—it’s an eye opener!

2.     Have your goal sheet somewhere you will see it every day.

3.     Again, make sure each goal is something you are excited about accomplishing.

4.     Don’t try to do too many at once. Pick two or three, or even only one if it is something important to you.

5.     The more difficult the goal, the more necessary it is to have a list of action steps you will do in order to achieve it. Divide the steps into long and short-term solutions.

6.     Procrastination can be overwhelming. Thus emphasizing the need to have increments toward the achievement of your goal. Begin with that baby step—but begin! Many years ago, I was stuck in a job I found unfulfilling and my goal for the year was to take advantage of the tuition reimbursement plan it offered and go back to school for my Master’s degree, a huge task that involved a lot of work just to get started. I took an immediate first step and contacted a university for information about the programs. I began classes that spring and graduated three years later.

Make that first step a small one and make it today. You’ll be surprised how it inspires you to keep going.

I wish all of you dear readers a healthy and amazing 2012! Thank you for following this blog series, The Ten Pounds of Christmas. Next week, week ten will be the last of the series; more on goals and how to make sure we reach them.

Week Eight - The Party's Over

The Party’s Over – Back to writing and sensible eating.

When all the company left, my first thought was, “time to get back to sensible eating and to my writing!”

I’m feeling bloated and my waistbands are pinching. But what do I do with all the remains—the fudge, cookies, potato chips, cheese spread and crackers, truffles, chocolate turtles, sour cream mashed potatoes, pineapple casserole and those other tempting goodies that I didn’t manage to send home with my company?

            All these treats are a real dilemma for me since Terry announced that as of now, he is back on his no-carb diet! This leaves me with two choices; freeze it, or toss it. Or possibly, option three, have Terry hide the candy from me (so at least I can ration my indulgences). 

Time for a plan!

Tips for the day after the binge.

1.     Nix the guilt! You enjoyed the holiday and being with your loved ones. Remember all the wonderful moments and move on.

2.     Don’t weigh yourself immediately. Give your body a day or two to stabilize first!

3.     New Year’s is nearing. Forget resolutions. Resolutions are nothing but hidden forms of punishment and we just agreed to leave guilt behind.

4.     Instead, make goals for the year. These can be weekly goals, monthly goals or just an outline of where you want to be in your life at this time next year. Most important—make them realistic!

5.     Keep your goal list in a place where you will see it and review it regularly.

6.     Be sure some of your goals are fun things. Avoid anything you dread doing. If you want to lose weight, find a food plan you can live with. If regular exercise is one of your goals, make it something your enjoy. For writers, walking is wonderful for creative thinking. One of my goals is to buy a mini-recorder so I can save my walking ideas.

7.     Freeze all the leftovers for later or give them to a family in need.

8.     Prevent post-holiday letdown by making one of your goals something you’ve wanted to do but been putting off: writing that new book, taking the cooking class you’ve always wanted, joining a yoga class, visiting a friend in another state. Take one step toward that goal in order to be sure 2012 includes something new to look forward to.

I hope all of you had a happy and healthy Christmas! I’m wishing you the very best for the New Year. Thank you for following the Ten Pounds of Christmas and helping me to make this year only a three-pound Christmas season!

Marla

Week Seven - Eek! It's Christmas week.

 Eek! It’s Christmas Week. (And I’m feeling fat already.)

Where are we in the fight to keep from gaining weight over the holidays? For me, the good news is I’ve only gained ½ a pound so far. And everyone knows that is only a daily fluctuation, right?

            As Christmas day approaches, my battle becomes more difficult. Trying to follow my own tips, I’m fighting to eat less on the days there are no parties, company, or dinners out. And during those eating events, I’m savoring the things I really love without (almost without) overindulging.  I’ve managed to pass up the things I can live without and eating desserts when I’m already stuffed. Doesn’t seem like much, you say?

            Then you most likely have never had a serious weight problem and shouldn’t be reading this blog! But seriously, it is the small changes that make a big difference.

            I’m having company this week for Christmas. Guess I’d better review my tips for serving guests. Or better yet, I’ll revisit them all. In this case, repetition is my friend.

1.     If possible, put prepared treats far out of sight and reach.

2.     Don’t give up the things you love. Give yourself permission to indulge, but only on the things you enjoy the most. Pass up foods you can live without.

3.     As host or hostess, serve things that are not your favorites.

4.     When entertaining, have holiday containers and wrap on hand. Send leftover temptations home with your guests.

5.     At a party, fill yourself one plate of the things you enjoy the most and savor every bite. Don't stand at the buffet and nibble.

6.     Pass up the public goodie trays by imagining the unsanitary conditions surrounding them. Use your imagination.

7.     Always have a mental plan before a food event. Then stick to it. This battle is all about awareness.

8.     Remember it’s okay to have your favorite things. If you overdo them and have a bad day or two, forgive yourself and follow up with two good days.Eat lean on days having no food events.

9.     A pound or two is easy to get rid of. Ten pounds means endless months of cabin fever while on a diet. Who wants that?

10. Have a happy, healthy and wonderful Christmas!

Please feel free to comment and leave any additional tips that work for you!

The Ten Pounds of Christmas - Week Six - Sugar's Slippery Slope

 Sugar’s Slippery Slope

On my annual Christmas visit to Iowa, a friend gave me a box of cookies she’d baked. They were delicious. Don’t ask me how many I consumed on my drive back home; I’m afraid I lost count after six!

Why is it, that being given a wonderful treat like home baked cookies, I eat them like they’re the last ones I’ll ever enjoy? If any of you readers have a good suggestion on how to put the brakes on grazing, please share it!

Last week I was on the edge, and now I’m at the bottom of the goodie barrel, fluffy as a marshmallow snowman. It is not a pleasant feeling. I’ve slid down the slippery slope for three days; now it’s time to follow my own advice and return to sensible eating until the next “event”. With two weeks to go before the big day, there are many more temptations ahead.

I’m also pondering why it’s so impossibly difficult to get back on track after three days of free-reign eating. The mouth wants what the mouth wants, hard to control as a cat! I must accept the inevitable truth—in order to keep from gaining ten pounds this season, I have to eat less than normal on days when there are no parties or other eating occasions luring me to overindulge.

And meanwhile, thank goodness for stretch jeans!

Tips for the week.

1 Don’t let a few out of control days become a week of binging. Accept it, forgive yourself, and eat lean whenever possible.

2 Put gift treats out of sight. (Or in the trunk!) Allow yourself a few each day as a reward for your resolve.

Week Five - I'm On The Edge of Fatness

I’M ON THE EDGE OF FATNESS

I made it through Thanksgiving week without gaining weight! But now the parties and treat trays have begun their tempting display. The lure of high-calorie temptation beckons and I feel myself weakening. It’s time to renew my vow of stability over the holidays.

            Lady Gaga sings, “I’m On The Edge of Glory,” wearing next to nothing with every lean inch of her looking great, her inspiring message nudging me to remember my vow. These are the days that put me on the edge of fatness. I need to remain aware.

            Complacency is that little devil inside me that keeps saying, “Go ahead. This is the season to enjoy. Worry about it later.”

It’s easy for me to get caught up in all the good cheer and good food that surrounds me. Every day it’s getting harder not to fall into the sedated state of overeating. I keep telling myself I’d rather feel good about my body than overindulge. Staying aware is half the battle.

            Here come my tips for the week. Excuse me if some are repetitive, but those may be worth reviewing—or tacking on the bathroom mirror.

            1 Join a conversation as far from the food table as possible.

2 I’ve been watching thin people and noticed that they don’t nibble. They take a small cocktail plate, fill it with offerings from the display, and DON’T go back. 

3 Only eat the things you really want. The hostess won’t notice you’ve passed up one or two items.

4 On non-party days, eat sensibly!

5 Box and wrap all home made goodies.

Christmas Treats--Yeeks!

Week Four

Christmas Treats—Yeeks!

Thanksgiving is behind me. I’ve indulged, bulged, and now I’m back on track. Until I start my holiday baking, that is. Making treats to give as gifts is a holiday tradition, which once started, is as difficult to get rid of as a yeast infection.

            For more than twenty years I’ve made candy to box up and give as gifts to friends and relatives. Everyone loves my fudge. Unfortunately, so does the cook. Over the years I’ve at least cut down to making only two varieties. But two or twenty, the dilemma is the same; how do I keep from stuffing my wares into my greedy mouth?

            When Terry and I each had our own houses, I shipped it to his garage in sealed containers until I was ready to box it up and pass the candy on. Keeping it in my attached garage now, makes it just too darn accessible.

            And everywhere I go, the goodies are out, even at the library and the bank. A few bites here and there, and I’ve upped my daily calorie allotment to code red. I’ve had to wrack my sugar-drenched brain to come up with a few useful suggestions.

Here goes.

1.     Pass up public goody trays by forming a mental picture of the unsanitary conditions surrounding them. Think about people sneezing on them, children handling each one before deciding, and how long they sit out, exposed to who knows how many dastardly germs and menacing viruses.

2.     No one has the time or the inclination to write out a food plan for every day, but have a mental plan and stick to it. Plan to allow yourself two or three of your homemade treats after supper, and keep that in mind when you walk past the cookie trays on display wherever you go.

3.     If you are making treats, box them for gift giving as quickly as possible. This includes a gift tag with the receiver’s name. I find that if I do this, it keeps my fingers out of them. Then store them with a neighbor!

4.     When baking cookies, make everyone else’s favorites and avoid your own.  If that’s impossible, then allot yourself a few after dinner. I find that allowing myself that small indulgence keeps me from pilfering the gift boxes every time I walk into the garage.

Celebrate the season!

Preparing for Thanksgiving

Week Three – Preparing for Thanksgiving

            Unless you’re stranded on a desert island, being held prisoner in Myanmar, or have accidently locked yourself in your storage locker, you’ll be stuffing yourself on the big day. The trick is to give yourself permission to do that without eating more and more every day leading up to it as if you were training for an Olympic event. Not as simple as it sounds. What is simple is your devious brain telling you, “Go ahead. You’ll be overeating on Thursday anyway, may as well eat whatever you want until then.

Sound familiar?

            Use your brain to help you, not sabotage you. Try to remain aware of your eating habits. Don’t starve yourself. Eat sensibly. And get enough sleep! Sound strange? Then you’ve never noticed how much more susceptible you are to food urges on days that you’re exhausted. Someone asked me last week what I meant when I said be gentle with yourself—getting enough sleep is one of the ways to be good to yourself

I came back from my trip to Iowa having overindulged. I must thank you for letting me digress on my own weight problem; the process of writing about it is helping me to stay on track.

My tips for this week are for those of you, and myself, who are going to be doing the cooking on Thanksgiving, not only for the guests. Cooking is an enormous task, requiring more that one tip!

1.                    If your family and friends are used to having appetizers, prepare the kind you can pass up. For me, that means putting out herring, a shrimp plate and stuffed mushroom. I know, it’s really weird not to like those things, but I’m a picky eater except when it comes to junk food. So no chips, cheese, or mixed nuts on my coffee table.

2.                    Have on hand a supply of disposable plastic containers for leftovers. Send the tempting, high-calorie items home with your guests and don’t take no for an answer. This will require determined assertiveness on your part when they all protest. (And they will.) Be firm.

3.                    Again, indulge only in your favorites and pass up the other dozen side dishes. I’ve practiced this one for a couple years now, and believe me, I’ve never been reprimanded by the hostess since I so obviously am enjoying what I’m eating.

Remember, Thanksgiving is one day out of three hundred sixty-five. The free pass you give yourself to eat the things you love on that day is good for one day only.

 Enjoy!

           

The Ten Pounds of Christmas - Week Two

It’s ten days before Thanksgiving, the Halloween candy is gone, and my good jeans are already snug. Yikes! I even have pre-holiday expansion! I need a plan if I’m going to avoid the “Ten Pounds of Christmas” this year.

            I’m going to be the one cooking Thanksgiving dinner. Does that mean I control the menu? Hilarious. No, you know how it goes. The cook is always obligated to produce everyone’s favorites, including at least two different kinds of pie for dessert.

            And before I even get to the holiday hurdle, I have a trip to Iowa this week—which means eating out, eating on the road, and a long boring drive. Why is it I can never stop at a convenience store for gas without leaving with a bag of chips in my hand or a doughnut or two to go with my coffee?

            I’ve developed a strategy: I’ll pack a cooler with sensible snacks, like yogurt and granola bars. No guarantee with this method of subterfuge, but sometimes it works! If I can stick to it it’ll allow me to indulge when I go out to dinner. And why is it, when we dine out, we ingest every morsel, even when the food we’re served isn’t something we are truly enjoying? I vow right now, that I’ll only eat the things I’m served that are excellent. I’ve never bought into the whole theory of leaving a bite of everything on your plate. But leaving half or more of something that is so-so? Should be doable.

            It’s really all about awareness, choices, and stopping when I’m comfortably full, instead of gasping for air!

Tip #2

Pre-Thanksgiving. Don’t try to program yourself to eat less on the big day—it won’t work. Your subconscious will rebel and you’ll stuff yourself every day leading up to Turkey Day.

Instead, tell yourself you’ll enjoy eating whatever you want that day, but will pass up anything on the buffet that doesn’t appeal to you. The hostess can enjoy the leftovers. Once you give yourself that mental green light, you’ll be able to eat lightly (not fasting or dieting) the week before the holiday.

Be gentle with yourself.