TIP OF THE DAY
Celebrate the little triumphs.

I made the mistake of stepping on the scale this morning. Once again, I had been feeling great -- my body looks good to me, my clothes are really loose -- until I saw those numbers. I was at 138, and of course I always have to add on a few pounds since the numbers on my scale are always less than any other scale (i.e., weight watchers, doctors offices, etc.). But I didn't hold a grudge long. I know that I have been doing really well and I can see the results. Maybe it was water weight, maybe it's muscle ... I don't know, but what I do know is that it didn't reflect how I feel about my body and that is what is most important. That's triumph number one today.

Triumph number two is enduring an hour and 15 minutes of kickboxing, followed by 15 minutes of abs and push ups. UGH! I may not be able to keep up the entire time, but I know that I did the best I could and next time I'll be able to do more.

Triumph number three came at lunch time. My house is being painted and so I had to get out for lunch. My daughter and I went to Ruby Tuesday's for lunch ... major danger zone! I usually get the soup and salad bar which is nowhere near as healthy as it sounds. I do load up on veggies, but I cannot resist their pumpernickel croutons, and I am sure that their light Ranch is still loaded with calories. Anyway, since I had my daughter with me - who is only 18 months old - I couldn't get the salad bar because I didn't want to leave her alone at the table. So I did my best trying to order something moderately (I think that might even be too strong a word) healthy and ordered the turkey and jack (Monterey, that is) club - no mayo - with the goal of only eating half the sandwich and half the fries.

Well, the sandwich came, and of course, it was on a huge french bread (or something like that) bun with butter smeared all over it. So I took the top half of the bun off of one half of the sandwich (since I wasn't going to eat the other half anyway) and set it aside. Then I started eating my sandwich with a knife and fork, and in the end, only ate half of the other side of bread. As for the french fries, I gave some to my daughter and still came home with half of the french fries. This is a small miracle for me. Chocolate I can live with out ... sweets .... eh ... take em or leave em ... but french fries! They are my utter weakness, along with any other salty, bad-for-you junk food.

So, I feel like I have a lot to celebrate today, even if the scales didn't show what I was hoping they were. Try and find something for you to celebrate each day and it will help you more easily achieve your long-term goals and really be happy with yourself.

TIP OF THE DAY
Start each day with a self-affirming mantra.

The mind is a powerful tool and having the keys to reprogram at it will is essential to becoming a better you. Each day, I repeat to myself, "I control food. Food does not control me." The more I repeat this, the more I believe it, and the more control I have over my eating habits. Other mantras I use are simple but effective:

I am beautiful.
I am strong and healthy.
Food is fuel.

Even though you may not actually believe what you are saying initially, it is important to keep repeating it and eventually your mind will believe what you are saying. So you may not think you are beautiful, but believing that you are (no matter what you look like or how much you weigh) is essential in achieving happiness and maintaining success in your weight-loss/fitness goals. And of course, the mantras don't have to be related just to food and exercise. If you want to become more organized, repeat "I AM organized." Anyway, you get the idea. Sometimes it might also help to write your mantras and/or goals down. Every day in my food journal, the first thing I write is my mantra about food so I see it every time I make an entry.

So take control of your mind AND body! Taking care of one benefits the other.

TIP OF THE DAY
If you are starting to get bored with your workout routine, try changing some or all of it for a while. Try something new.

For about a month and a half, I have been doing the exact same thing every Monday, Wednesday and Friday at the gym. Warm up for 5 minutes, stretch, weight-training for about 20 minutes, then 45 minutes on the elliptical trainer, and finally, stretch again. I really enjoy being on the elliptical trainer, but after about 30 minutes, I am downright bored, even with the TVs hanging overhead. So last Friday, instead of my normal workout routine, I did a kickboxing class for an hour and 15 minutes followed by a 15 minute abs class. I was definitely sore the next day, but the variation in my workout gave me a much needed lift.

Getting bored with your workout routine can be dangerous. You may eventually lose the motivation to continue with it. Also, if you are constantly doing the same thing over a longer period of time, you are no longer challenging your body as much and therefore your workouts are going to become less effective. So use the opportunity to shake things up a bit and try something new. Perhaps martial arts, or a spin class, or even yoga. Good luck and keep with it!