Motivational sayings and/or affirmations.

"Like the sky opens after a rainy day
we must open to ourselves....
Learn to love yourself for who you are
and open so the world can see you shine."
~James Poland​
 
"The most beautiful people I’ve known are those who have known trials, have known struggles, have known loss, and have found their way out of the depths."
? Elisabeth Kübler-Ross
No matter what you’re going through in life, other people just like you have gone through the same or worse and come out stronger on the other side. It’s times like these you need to be strong and never give up.
 
"You can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something - your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life."
~Steve Jobs
 
A Christmas Story

"'Twas the night before Christmas--Old Santa was pissed.
He cussed out the elves and threw down his list.
Miserable little brats, ungrateful little jerks.
I have a good mind to scrap the whole works!
I've busted my a** for damn near a year,
Instead of "Thanks Santa"--what do I hear?
The old lady b**ches cause I work late at night.
The elves want more money--The reindeer all fight.
Rudolph got drunk and goosed all the maids.
Donner is pregnant and Vixen has AIDS.
And just when I thought that things would get better
Those ***holes from the IRS sent me a letter,
They say I owe taxes--if that ain't damn funny
Who the hell ever sent Santa Claus any money?
And the kids these days--they all are the pits
They want the impossible--Those mean little s**ts
I spent a whole year making wagons and sleds
Assembling dolls...Their arms, legs and heads
I made a ton of yo yo's--No request for them,
They want computers and robots...they think - I'm IBM!
Flying through the air...dodging the trees
Falling down chimneys and skinning my knees
I'm quitting this job there's just no enjoyment
I'll sit on my fat a** and draw unemployment.
There's no Christmas this year now you know the reason,
I found me a blonde. I'm going SOUTH for the season."
 
Some tips for festive eating

Don’t over fill your plate. It’s easy to get excited when you see your favourite dishes, but remember the festive season is much longer than one meal, so you have plenty of time to enjoy.
If you mistakenly overfill your plate, don’t feel compelled to eat everything. It’s ok to leave something. That’s why the term leftovers was created!
Choose a mix of light and heavy dishes. You will not only experience a range of textures, smells and tastes, but you will also help your waistline.
Get up early and get active. After eating a big lunch or dinner, the last thing you will feel like doing is being active, so do it before you eat.
Plan your week. Understand the days you are eating heavier and plan to include meals on the other days that are lighter and will give your digestive system a rest.
Practice the words ‘no thank you’. Sometimes we can find ourselves in situations where we feel compelled to say ‘yes’, but saying ‘no’ politely is okay.
If you often find yourself going in for seconds, halve your initial portion size. That way, even if you go back for more, hopefully you will still be eating less
 
New Year can be a time for people to reflect on their past year’s behavior and promise to make positive lifestyle changes. By making your resolutions realistic, there is a greater chance that you will keep them throughout the year, incorporating healthy behavior into your everyday life.

Start small-

Make resolutions that you think you can keep. If, for example, your aim is to exercise more frequently, schedule three or four days a week at the gym instead of seven. If you would like to eat healthier, try replacing dessert with something else you enjoy, like fruit or yogurt, instead of seeing your diet as a form of punishment.

Change one behavior at a time-

Unhealthy behaviors develop over the course of time. Thus, replacing unhealthy behaviors with healthy ones requires time. Don’t get overwhelmed and think that you have to reassess everything in your life. Instead, work toward changing one thing at a time.

Talk about it-

Share your experiences with family and friends. Consider joining a support group to reach your goals, such as a workout class at your gym or a group of coworkers quitting smoking. Having someone to share your struggles and successes with makes your journey to a healthier lifestyle that much easier and less intimidating. (Share your goals & experiences with others on this forum. If you don't have a diary, start one.)

Don’t beat yourself up-

Perfection is unattainable. Remember that minor glitches when reaching your goals are completely normal and OK. Don’t give up completely because you ate something you shouldn't have and broke your diet, or skipped the gym for a week because you were busy. Everyone has ups and downs; resolve to recover from your mistakes and get back on track.

Ask for support-

Accepting help from those who care about you and will listen strengthens your resilience and ability to manage stress caused by your resolution. If you feel absolutely overwhelmed or unable to meet your goals on your own, consider seeking professional help. Psychologists are uniquely trained to understand the connection between the mind and body. They can offer strategies as to how to adjust your goals so that they are attainable, as well as help you change unhealthy behaviors and address emotional issues.

 
Make Today The First Day Of The Rest Of Your Life

If you are telling yourself you will never lose weight or that it is too hard, or that you have no self control and you accept these thoughts, you will only sabotage your efforts to manage your weight. What you tell yourself can make you feel stressed, anxious, worried, depressed and more apt to binge or overeat. You need to change your thinking!

Recognise that there will be events which you will not have control over. Suppose you have had a good week you have been motivated and eaten according to your plan but the scales say otherwise. Getting mad at yourself would be a mistake, since other factors may be responsible such as water retention or if you are exercising additional muscle (remember muscle weighs more than fat). Be realistic about what you can control and what you can't, pay attention to how good you feel, or how loose your clothes are. These are the hallmarks of real progress.

Your thoughts powerfully program you. Realistically assess what you can control and what you can't and take action to make a difference in your life. You may find it hard to see yourself being able to enjoy a party, go on a vacation, eat what other people are eating. You then start feeling sorry for yourself. You start saying "It's not fair other people can eat what they like", "I hate depriving myself", "I shouldn't have to work this hard", "I can't go to any parties". This type of thinking is highly destructive.

Feeling sorry for yourself you start eating to make yourself feel better. What you fail to realise is you can still go to parties, you can still go on vacation and you can still do what you want. You need to focus on the scenery, the activities, the "battery recharge", rather than focussing on food. Think about deprivation in another way: by overeating, you are depriving yourself of a healthy weight, an attractive appearance, self-regard and peace of mind.

You are creating the situations you are in and you are creating the thoughts and emotions that flow from these situations. You must embrace the fact that you own your own problems and take action to solve them.

Does this sound familiar?? "I can't help binging when I'm alone". Is this really true? Is there nothing else, nothing at all that you can do when you are alone? Isn't there some activity or something that doesn't involve food that you could rather do?

Is your goal to achieve permanent weight loss, and experience the physical and emotional health that stems from it? If you want to look and feel better how does repeating "This won't work" or "It's too hard", help you achieve your goal? Tell yourself "I'm not powerless over my behaviour. I'm in charge of myself. I have to choose what's more important: reactive overeating or taking care of my health. It's my choice, and I can do something about it! You can only control what happens now. You have no control over what has happened in the past.
 
A Common Problem When Changing Your Lifestyle

One of the biggest problems people have is that they never take much action at all. Perhaps the second biggest problem is that they do not take consistent action over a longer time period.

Consistency is not really the most exciting word in personal development. However, with time it is what will give you real results in your life. Sticking with your personal eating plan and doing it consistently, not just when you feel inspired is very powerful.

Here are a few things that may help you with this:

Remind yourself every day why you are taking action
Find your top priorities and reasons for why you are changing your eating habits and lifestyle permanently. It could be that you are putting yourself first, to feel better about yourself, improve your health or have more energy to enjoy life.

To make sure you do not lose track of why you are taking action and to stay focused, take a few minutes and write down your top reasons and put that note where you can see it every day.

Do it for yourself
When you disappoint yourself and do not think and do as you really deep down want to, you lower your self-esteem. Whatever you do in your day sends signals back to yourself about what kind of person you are. Do the right thing like being effective, kind, preparing your meals in advance or simply take time out to rest and you will feel good.

If you get lazy, negative or just plain mean, you will feel worse after a while. You cannot get away, there is no escaping yourself! There is always a price to pay, so this is a powerful motivator to become a better person so you can be positive and stay on track.

Take smaller steps if you need to
Some days getting started with everything that needs to be organised and prepared may seem daunting and you start to procrastinate. When that happens, nudge yourself forward rather than beating yourself up.

First focus on doing some of the small and simple preparations you can do. Or make a deal with yourself, just do 15 minutes of organisation and preparation for your first few meals. This will sometimes result in a few dents put into a big task and a couple of smaller things being completed for the day. Sometimes the easy start or restart to the day is all you need to get going again and to have a good and very productive time. Either way, move forward instead of standing still.
 
Excellent! I like the following:

"Fear melts when you take action towards a goal you really want!" Robert G Allen
 
What Do We Worry About?

When it comes to worry, studies have shown the following statistics:

40% never happens – so in essence we are wasting our time by worrying.

30% of what we worry about has already happened. Learn to “let go” and forgive yourself and others. You cannot change the past – no one can. Accept it for what it is and go on.

12% are needless worries, such as what someone else thinks about us.

10% are petty and unimportant such as we worry about what’s for dinner, we worry about being late, we worry about what to wear.

8% of what we worry about actually happens. Of this percentage…

4% of our worries that happen are beyond our control. We cannot change the outcome. These worries may include our health, the death of a loved one or an impending natural disaster. Often times the reality of these events are more bearable than the worry.

4% of what we worry about we have some if not all control over the results. Basically I think this is the consequences of our actions or inaction on the problems and challenges we face.

Given these statistics, you may find it worthwhile asking the following questions:

How many times do we work ourselves into frenzy over a situation that is beyond our control?
Why do we allow worry to stress us out so much that we become ill?
Why do we waste our mental energy with worry?

How Can You Stop or Reduce Your Worries?

“Worry a little bit every day and in a lifetime you will lose a couple of years. If something is wrong, fix it if you can. But train yourself not to worry. Worry never fixes anything.” – Mary Hemingway

1. Prepare for the worst – Hope for the best. This comes right from the advice of Dale Carnegie in “How to Stop Worrying and Start Living”. Accept the worst possible outcome and then take action to improve upon the worst.

2. Get Busy. When you find yourself beginning to worry – get busy on your to-do list. If you don’t have a list – then write one. List your goals and the action steps required to meet them. One of the benefits of your to-do list is you will stop worrying about forgetting something important.

3. Distract Yourself. Call a friend. Read a good book. Watch a funny movie. Go for a walk. Take a walk. There’s dozens of things you can do.

4. Get Support. Friends and family can be an excellent source of support. Especially if they will tell you how they see things. Sometimes just talking things out, reduces the worry.

5. Make a Decision. If you’re worrying about an unresolved personal or business issue – then it’s time to make a decision. Once you decide what to do, you can begin taking steps for the best possible outcome.

6. Confront the Problem Head-On. It’s usually not the problem itself that is causing your worry. It’s usually the anticipation of the problem. How will others be affected or react? Deal with the problem as soon as possible.

7. Practice Relaxing. It is important that you take time to totally relax. Close your eyes take long deep breaths in through your nose and out through your mouth. With each breath tell yourself to relax.

8. Listen to CDs. This can be your favorite music, brainwave CDs or behavior modification tapes that are designed to dissolve worry and anxiety. (These do not have to be self-hypnotizing or subliminal – but of course you can choose these types of tapes.)

9. Journal. After writing down everything they are worried about in a journal, most people feel a sense of relief. In writing you may have discovered what you are really afraid of, and then you can objectively work on improving the situation.

10. Take Care of Yourself. Get plenty of rest. Eat a healthy diet and exercise. When you nurture your body and mind, it’s easier to put things in perspective. It’s easier to cope with the unexpected.

11. Count Your Blessings. You have a lot to be thankful for. Look around you … We live in a beautiful world. You can be thankful for your health, your family, your mind, your country, your house, your job, or even your TV!

12. Monitor Your Thoughts. Be aware of your thoughts and be ready to replace worries with positive thoughts. Be prepared with a positive thought or quote. "Note to self:everything is going to be OK."

There are many techniques you can use to stop worrying. The important thing is to consistently use them until the new behavior becomes a habit.

If all of these fail make an appointment to see a general practitioner & seek referral to a counsellor.

"Worry never robs tomorrow of its sorrow, it only saps today of its joy."
Leo Buscaglia

 
3 STEPS TO INCREASE YOUR HAPPINESS AND SELF ESTEEM
Be Realistic

Don't keep falling into the very common trap of trying to live up to perfect standards. If you slip up with your new lifestyle, accept that you are human and so is everyone else. Everything and everyone has flaws and things don't always go as planned. You can still improve things but they may never be perfect. You won't be rejected if things or you aren't perfect. At least not by reasonably well-balanced human beings, like most people actually are in reality.

Don’t Compare

One very common and destructive daily habit is to constantly compare your life and yourself to other people and their lives. You compare cars, houses, jobs, shoes, weight, money, relationships, social popularity and so on. And at the end of the day you pummel your self-esteem to the ground and you create a lot of negative feelings within.

Be Your Own Best Friend

When you stumble or fall don't treat yourself like a bad friend or a horrible boss would. Instead, ask yourself how your best friend/parent would support and help you in this situation and do that. This simple shift in perspective can do a whole lot of good.

By doing these three simple things, you will be happier and feel better about yourself which makes it a lot easier to follow your program and be successful!

 
"This is the beginning, of anything you want." - Unknown
 
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