12-13-2010.....Cold, Snowy Monday

Have any of you ever noticed that when you began to make a more healthy lifestyle change it seemed to become threatening to those around us? Especially this time of year we are all hearing...on just this one time won't hurt. And, as a rule, we do give in due to we do not want to hurt anyone's feelings. We even tolerate rude comments, which by the people voicing the comment may not deem the rude at all, but here is one of my favorite one...she can't eat that, she's still on that diet kick.

We continue to spread ourselves too thin, agreeing to do things that we really and truly just do not want to do. Why are we afraid to say, ''no, just cannot fit that into my schedule today or tomorrow." Are we afraid people won't like us? We tend to always have that feeling of being overextended and running on empty. And we begin to take things as a personal attack. We all have at least one or two manipulators in our lives, could be an aging parent, could be a sibling, hey it could very well be our spouse, but we won't go there today.

And God forbid if we ever put our needs first. The few occasions we have done that, I would bet money the guilt came rolling in, so we could not enjoy the time.

If any of the things I have mentioned ring a bell, or the ole light bulb comes one, then you know what we have to do? Draw a line in the sand. We have to not only understand our own limits, but we have to let others know that , enough is enough.

A boundary is a limit we set. We have to do this to protect our relationships, our time, our health everything about ourselves. They are not brick walls to isolate us or alienate other, but messages that keep the unwelcome behaviors of other from invading our space.

So during this stressful time, maybe it is time to think about setting some boundaries just to act as a filter, permitting what's acceptable into our lives and keeping what's not out. Just remember, the first step to setting boundaries, is we must accept the idea that our wants and needs are not only important enough to define and defend, but are essential to our happiness.

We all need some boundaries, and its not something that can happen overnight, but I do believe it is something worth working on.

December 12, 2010.....Sunday

Our Christmas party/open house was a great success...or at least in my eyes it was. Bob was able to see lots of his family and lots of my friends from WW showed up, even if it was just for a short while. I will admit I did eat lots of stuff that was not the best choices yesterday, but that is okay too. Everyone seemed to have a great time, its over and now back to doing what I am suppose to and that is taking care of myself.

December 9, 2010.....Thursday

"Give yourself Praise."

Why is it we find it so hard to give ourselves a little praise. We have no problem giving others a high five and a pat on the back when they have had a good week, but when it comes to ourselves, we seem to be much more reserved.

Were we trained to be modest? I know our Mom always told us not to brag on ourselves, but with this weight loss journey, I think Mom may have been wrong. We need to give ourselves that praise for our achievements.

Oh the new WW program if you are now eating fruit instead of all those 100 calorie packs, then you need a pat on the back. If you are giving this new program a real ''college try'' then pat yourself on the back. Self-praise is important, more important than praise from others. Others are not always dependable. But we can always count on ourselves.

So how about today, maybe as soon as you finish reading this you begin your journey of self-commendation. Praise yourself for each pound lost, each time you made a more healthy food choice, each time you decided to park a little further away from the store doors. Praise yourself, watch yourself achieving as you go about your day. And give yourself a pat on the back ---you deserve it.

other half of our little front porch. The wicker rocker will be brought in for the guest bedroom. We have a guest coming and they will need a place to ''rock."

Enjoy the pictures.

Merry Christmas

half of our front porch, other half is next.

Santa in the kitchen.

Santa is guarding the Gin bottles in the kitchen. Had to move him to another spot due to his eyes were ''twinkling'' way too much. :)

December 5, 2010....Sunday

I cannot believe how long its been since the last time I made a Blog entry. So here goes.

Things are moving right alone here at the McAdams household. We are preparing for our annual Christmas Open house which will be next Saturday the 11th of December. Looking both forward and dreading it, which I think is pretty natural. But, I know it will all be fine.

Last Sunday Weight Watchers unveiled its new program. To me it makes more sense than anything they have done in a long time. Its how we should have been eating all alone, as one of my dear friends pointed out. Some people are taking to it fine, there are some still over thinking it, but I think if those ones trying to over think it will just sit back, read the material they will catch on.

The difference in the new program is now we take carbs into the mix and drop the calories. Now we figure our points by counting protein grams, carb grams, fat grams and fiber grams, with no cap on the fiber anymore. Oh a biggie as well...fruit is free as long as it fresh fruit. Some canned fruit only if its packed in its own juice or water.

I think if people just give it a chance they will like it.