Good Morning,

What if:

•    trans fat was good for us
•    cheese cake had the same calories as celery
•    we needed to drink 8 glasses of wine a day (just kidding, hiccup)
•    the food guide recommended 6 – 8 servings of chocolate a day…
•    deep fried foods were heart healthy
•    all those chemicals in our food were essential

What if belly fat was a good thing?

Wouldn’t that be just grand?

Hee-hee-hee

Joyce

The only time to eat diet food is while you’re waiting for the steak to cook. ~ Julia Child

As we age, many of us are finding that mid life comes with assorted mid life and body bulges… someone called the little roll on top of our jeans a muffin top… funny and sad and true at the same time…

There is history of high blood pressure, heart disease and diabetes on both sides of my family… When I was younger, I didn’t give it much thought… I was focused on the little picture of my life, but each year brought a broader focus and some reality checks…

I finally accepted that my lifestyle was pointing me in the same direction as my family members with compromised health issues.  I was substantially overweight, making regular unhealthy food choices and I smoked.

Had I kept moving in the direction I was pointed… I was inviting the diabetes, high blood pressure and heart disease so common in my family

Thankfully, I have found my own path to health and I am interested and openly share what may be of relevance and benefit to anyone who is open to talking about it…

Tip: Eyes Open!

What is your take on this? Please take a moment to leave your thoughts.

The older you get, the tougher it is to lose weight, because by then your body and your fat are really good friends.  ~Author Unknown

I could fill a page with the dates and names of the fad diets I went on in hope of having the perfect body.  I’ve know many a ‘Diet Monday.’

In fact, I think the numerous ones I went on in my long dieting career actually helped mess with my head and contribute to a very unhealthy relationship with food.

I subjected myself to:

Shame:  stepping on the scale and being weighed by a woman with a clipboard
Insanity: actually thinking that I can eat cabbage soup every day for the rest of my life
Blind Hope: maybe having my food mailed to me will really work
Desperation: I have to look good for my high school class reunion, here’s my $2500.00, sign me up!

What I want to know is who invents the fad diet anyway?  Is there a demographic?

Now that I am older and wiser (I hope), I chuckle at the infomercials promoting the latest and greatest fad…  I prefer the turtle approach: slow and steady wins the race…

What do you think?

When we lose twenty pounds… we may be losing the twenty best pounds we have!  We may be losing the pounds that contain our genius, our humanity, our love and honesty.  ~Woody Allen

I don’t claim to be a guru about food, but I do know this… everyone may be different and need to fine-tune their plan to fit them… but… there are some basic principles that are the same for everyone:

~ You are indeed what you eat.
~ Processed food is the last thing you should be eating.
~ Everyone needs to drink enough water
~ You need to take supplements.
~ You will benefit from eating by eating breakfast.
~ A healthy relationship with simple foods feels great!
~ A long healthy life requires eating for optimum health.
~ A fast-food, drive-thru lifestyle can wreak havoc with your body/temple.
~ Everything catches up with you as you age.

So… I simplified my whole outlook on food.  I swept through my pantry like a tornado and threw out the low quality processed stuff and started filling the crisper in the fridge with real food.

I think I even save money in the end…

What about you?

Brightest Blessings

Joyce

Inside some of us is a thin person struggling to get out, but they can usually be sedated with a few pieces of chocolate cake.  ~Author Unknown

Good Morning,

I think the bathroom is a sanctuary, a place to be completely undressed and safe and warm.  A place to be alone with your real self.

Its where the transformation from private self to public self often begins.  It’s a golden time and place to do our affirmations.

Before you apply your makeup, and cover your self with layers of clothing, take a moment to look at your reflection and practice acceptance.

You are who you are today, and you are beautiful and you matter.
~ smile with understanding for the journey that brought you here
~ smile with knowing that you do your best in each moment
~ smile with hope that you can keep or change anything you want
~ smile with faith that the universe/creator/higher power/source energy of your understanding wants you to be happy, to be joyful
~ smile because you are a beautiful woman from the inside out
~ smile because you get to take great care of your self today
~ smile because you get to create a lovely day
~ smile because smiling feeeeeeeels good

If you want peace for the world, start with peace in you heart for the woman you see reflected in the mirror… from there your outer peace will radiate…

In truth and light

Joyce

“It doesn’t happen all at once,” said the Skin Horse. “You become. It takes a long time. That’s why it doesn’t happen often to people who break easily, or have sharp edges, or who have to be carefully kept.  Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in your joints and very shabby. But these things don’t matter at all, because once you are Real you can’t be ugly, except to people who don’t understand.”
Velveteen Rabbit

As always, I invite your thoughts and feedback.

Please help me know in my heart that I can change any circumstance by putting my focus on potentiality and love and self-care.. Please help me know that I am beautiful and powerful just as I am and that by loving myself and being my own best cheerleader, I can be, do and have anything I want.

I ask to release any fear and doubt that I hold about my potential.  Help me open my heart and walk forward fearlessly.

Help me hold positive thoughts always.

Blessed be.

Ever get scared? We all do…  we think scary thoughts and our body responds by flooding us with stress hormones… or fear hormones…

So, what do you do… when your heart is racing and you feel a tightness in your chest… and you are scared or stressed?

Fist of all… breathe… breathe… breathe… then practice some self-power talk… affirm your ability to walk through this… whatever ‘this’ is… keep breathing… keep talking to your self…

…think of what you would say to someone you love that is stressed/scared… say those same things to your self.

Then, reach out to a person in your life who does not judge, does not fix, has a positive energy, will support you and remind you of your strength… there is much healing in allowing someone in and allowing your self to be vulnerable in a healthy way…

Honor your feelings… let them out…share them… often the boogey man in the closet turns out to be an old fur coat once you turn the light on…

Make sure you plant your flag in the intention of re-balancing, finding center again… don’t stay stuck in stress… talk it through… get to the other side of it… get to your power…

Wishing you an easy energy day…

Ohm…
JOYce <3 <3 <3

Make sure you sign up to get my blog delivered to your inbox… this is more reliable than facebook…

Some computer technology glitches cost me a whole day’s creative work and I spent hours and hours on the phone trying to sort it all out with satellite providers and other service providers…

I was put on hold for 40 mins at a time and had to stay there or lose my place in line… (don’t you just loooove that?)

I crawled around under my desk on my hands and knees with my toosh in the air time after time, disconnecting modems and routers and power sources… more waiting… listening to irritating elevator music…

I had to explain my problem to at least half a dozen different levels (tiers) of service technicians…

All that and no resolution… I had a mess to clean up and I was beyond frustrated…  An hour past my bedtime, I was actually reduced to tears at the prospect of starting all over again the next day…

Now… I have pretty good skills when it comes to maintaining my balance, finding my center and all that… but… wow!  I was soooo frustrated!  I wanted to throw something, to break something, to yell at someone, to yell at anyone… (of course I didn’t do any of these things…lol) but I sure felt like it…

I did my best to remain calm… (hard to do when elevator music is slaying Neil Diamonds ‘Sweet Caroline’, and I have to turn off my Lorenna McKennitt to pay attention…) yikes!

What frustrates you?

I would love to hear about it…

Joyce

Here is a list of behaviors you may want to be mindful of:

1. Develop and nourish your personal spiritual relationship
2. Consistently affirm your intention to embrace your power, health, well-th and beauty
3. Be so strong inside that nothing can unbalance you or take you away from center
4. Be grateful, give thank, appreciate everything
5. Celebrate the success of others
6. Trust that you deserve a happy life, that happiness is your natural state
7. Have a mindfully cheerful face… smile a lot, laugh out loud, look for the humor
8. Surround your self with optimistic friends
9. Talk about what is right in your world, in the world
10. Practice talking about yourself in a positive manner
11. Intend to express the real you, the wonderful you

You know… I think I do all these things on a fairly consistent basis at this stage of my life.  Little by little, step by step…

What about you?