Adopt a Skinny Thinking Routine to Help Your Weight Loss

I recently re-joined my local Slimming World class to help me shift the extra pounds that crept on last year. Aside from the weight loss goal there is another reason for going back to group and that’s the social aspect. I love the camaraderie at the meetings, and the support at weigh in.

I spent a huge portion of 2016 climbing on my scales only to find that needle kept getting higher. I would then spiral into doom and gloom and end up attacking the biscuit tin. Why we choose to abuse ourselves by adding to the problem can probably be explained by using the techniques I wrote about in last week’s post – avoiding self-sabotage, which you can read HERE.

There have been plenty of articles and books written about the benefits and pitfalls of slimming groups. I fully believe that

Project You! Self-Love Starts On The Inside

Project You!

Week 4: Self-love starts on the inside.

Last week we looked at abandoning our to-do list, you can read that post HERE.

Today, I want to talk about self-love. It’s a phrase that many of us struggle with and one that I’ve pondered over many times. Last year I joined a slimming group in the hope of shedding the two stone in weight that crept on during the initial months of my ill health. I thought that by losing the weight, I would start to feel better about myself.

Losing weight and feeling fitter and healthier, slimmer and more energetic is a worthy goal but it doesn’t change the essence of who we are. I look in the mirror and still see the dark circles under my eyes, the stretch marks and ‘laughter lines.' Losing weight won’t change that. I just need to embrace everything as a whole – inside and out.

Positive Thinking Series - You Don't Have to be Perfect!

Last week I talked about taking things one step at a time, you can read that post HERE. 

It’s a wise idea to break any goal down into smaller chunks, but this doesn’t automatically make us exempt from sabotaging ourselves further along the path.

To succeed, we not only need a plan, or structure, but we need to be attentive to our needs.  If we don’t nourish our ideas, and indeed ourselves, then we can trip up at the first hurdle.

Being diligent and planning ahead, or putting in the effort when it’s needed, can be the difference between success and failure.

However, being determined could be mistaken as perfectionism.  Could you cope with a setback?  Would you fall apart when faced with a failure?  If you can’t accept that it’s okay not to be perfect, then you may risk creating a huge barrier to achieving your goals.

Positive Thinking Series - Taking it one step at a time

When I started this blog, it was to record the weekly activities of my yearlong challenge.  Fifty two challenges in fact; from weight loss to de-cluttering, and zip wires to novel writing competitions. 

 

Setting such a challenge would make anyone feel overwhelmed, I know I was!  Coping with any change in our life can also feel overpowering, such as quitting smoking, losing weight, redundancy or health issues. They all set up a mammoth task that can feel like it’s too much to handle.

To enable me to succeed in my fifty two challenges, I had to break this huge goal into small chunks.  I took it one month at a time.  January was all about weight loss.  In February, I concentrated on fitness.  March was a creative month, and so on.  Adopting this principle helped me see my goal as more achievable.

How to Stay on Track with Your Goals by Using a Daily Practice.

The majority of our New Year Resolutions, goals and aspirations fail because of a number of reasons; a lack of planning, not being fully committed or setting ourselves unattainable challenges.

It’s like we purposefully set ourselves up for a fall.  We don’t have to operate in this way.  Setting a challenge that may test us can be liberating and life changing.  Writing my book, How I Changed My Life in a Year taught me that.

Yes, we all scribble down a list of changes we want to make each year, and yes, be the end of the third week many of us have abandoned them.  I heard on the news this morning that today is the day our weight loss ambitions are discarded and we attack the biscuit tin!  If we looked at that list for a moment, we might see the reason:

Could You Do The Water Challenge?

During a normal working day I say 'drink more water' a hundred times over.  As a reflexologist it is plainly evident when a client is suffering from dehydration, however, many people are still unaware of just how beneficial drinking water can be.

I remember reading an article in the Daily Mail back in 2013.  Sarah Smith, a 42 year old mother, had taken on a challenge to increase her water intake for four weeks and written up her findings.  The article was eye-opening - you can read it here.

The before and after photographs were what initially attracted me to the article, I had to check she hadn't been photo shopped! I was intrigued to discover how she had succeeded. 

Trek to the Top Challenge

All my friends appear to be taking part in a fitness regime these days.  The hugely popular Facebook craze '30 Day Abs Challenge', created by mum of eight, Robyn Mendenhall Gardner, has changed my sedentary pals into crunchers, plankers and leg lifters.  If I knew how to crunch I may have joined them!

Not to be outdone by my toned up, trimmed down friends, I decided that action needed to be taken if I wanted to get the beach fit body I craved.

I may have hung up my running shoes after completing my half marathon back in 2012, but there is nothing stopping me from dusting them off and putting them to good use once more.  Running is out of the question as my knees creak louder than my floorboards these days, so I wanted to keep it simple-ish!

Walking up stairs/steps is a wonderful way to tone your bum and legs but instead of looking at my flight of stairs as just a means to get to the first floor, I'm going to turn it into a challenge of lofty proportions!

What a Difference a Year Can Make

When I started this blog I had a clear objective, to record the highs and lows of the fifty-two challenges I set myself on New Year's Eve in 2012.


Lose weight, get fit, be happy, do something new...the list was as varied as it was long.

It was a personal journey of self discovery but I felt it important enough to share with anyone who may be interested.  365 days later and the blog had received over 15,000 visits, two blogger award nominations and was attracting followers from across the globe.

The year came to an end but my journey continued, in fact it picked up speed!

Seventeen months later I am now able to take the next big step towards achieving my goals and ticking off another very big item on my to-do list. 

From 'blog' to 'book', the story of how my year of challenges changed my life is out now as e-book and paperback.