How to Run Like a Tortoise and Beat the Hare

If you already have a copy of my book Stop Overeating Today!, you know that my first chapter/tip talks about the tortoise and the hare and advises people to not try to revamp their entire eating and exercise routines overnight. I want people to be excited when they read the book and be zealous, but I also want them to be realistic. Have you ever heard anyone say anything similar to the following:

- "I made a goal today to run for 30 minutes every day!" (This person never goes running)

- "I am going to bike for 10 miles 3 days per week." (This person has no habit of bike riding)

- "I made a goal to never eat cake again!"

I'm all for ambitious goals, but I want people to also feel a sense of accomplishment and success by setting smaller and realistic goals, especially when they're starting out. That's key to maintenance. Lots of people can lose a bunch of weight by doing something drastic like a juice fast, but six months later, did they keep the weight off? Let's revise the above goals:

- "I made a goal to go running tomorrow for 30 minutes!"

-"I am going to bike for 10 miles this week."

- "I made a goal to only have a small slice of cake at the birthday part this weekend and to not go back for seconds."

After achieving success with your first small goal, you are now on your way to setting more small, simple, and reachable goals. The feeling of success with propel you forward and help you grow into setting even bigger and more exciting goals. Leave me a comment and let me know how your goal setting is going!

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To find out more about the book Stop Overeating Today, visit: http://www.stopovereatingtips.com

I Just Want to Say "Thanks"

I just wanted to send a short and simple thank you to everyone who reads my blog and who finds its tips helpful for their lives. I am writing this blog for you and I am so grateful for the many subscribers and followers who come here for daily or weekly inspiration, rejuvenation, and ideas to live healthier and happier lives. It's no fun to write a blog that no one follows or subscribes to (trust me, I did it for the first few months) and so now that I have a lot of people to share my posts with, I am grateful for each and every one of you.

That's all. Good night. :)

How's your body image? Take the quiz.

In her amazing book, DEALING WITH THE STUFF THAT MAKES LIFE TOUGH, our friend, Jill Zimmerman Rutledge, M.S.W., LCSW wrote some cool stuff about body image. For over 20 years Jill has been counseling adolescent girls and young women who have eating disorders and she knows what she's talking about.

Here is an excerpt from her book:

Some people define body image as how we think and feel about our bodies, but that's only part of it. Body image is also created by what we think and feel about ourselves, how we behave, who we choose for friends, and the culture we live in. If you feel bad about yourself, you probably feel bad about your body too. Or if all your friends are dieting, you may begin to think you need to lose weight too. You may dislike your body for lots of other reasons. For one thing, magazines and other media can have a negative impact on your body image. When we look at pictures of very thin models, many of us want to lose weight immediately so we can look like them. Feeling bad about our bodies interferes with our lives. Your poor body image may make you feel awkward and self-conscious with guys. As 16-year-old Tina put it, "No guy wants a fat girl and I'm fat. I know if I start liking a guy, I'll just get rejected so why bother?" You may feel so uncomfortable about your body that you go to the beach in long shorts and a baggy T-shirt, instead of a bathing suit. When you feel dissatisfied with your body, it's important to look at your life as a whole. What else could you be unhappy about. Do you have low self-esteem? Do you exercise moderately but regularly? (Moderate-not obsessive-exercise helps you develop positive feelings about6 your body.) Are you having problems with family or friends? Are you eating healthily or loading up on junk food? Poor body image feels like it has everything to do with your body but in fact, it also has to do with how you're coping with life.

It is important to be realistic about your body compared to your body image. Here is a quiz Jill posted in her book. Let us know how you did on it and remember to love yourself and get healthy.

Do you have poor body image? Take this short quiz to see:

1. How do you feel about how you look?
a. Very good
b. OK
c. Mixed feelings
d. Bad, ashamed

2. Are you happy with your current weight?
a. Very happy
b. Happy enough
c. Somewhat unhappy
d. Very unhappy

3. Have you ever felt too fat after reading an article that reveals the body weight of a model or actress?
a. Yes
b. No

4. If you gained five pounds, you'd
a. Be OK with that-five pounds isn't a big deal
b. Feel neutral-not good or bad
c. Feel somewhat unahppy
d. Feel very upset

5. When someone says you look nice, you think:
a. I'm looking good.
b. They don't have anything else to say.
c. They're trying to make me feel good.
d. They're lying-they really think I'm gross.

Scoring: For questions 1, 2, 4 and 5, give yourself 1 point or a, 2 points for b, 3 points for c, and 4 points for d. For question 3, give yourself 1 point for a and 2 points for b. If you have a total score of 5-9, you're on the road to a good body image. Keep it up! If you scored 10-15, you may have some body image issues to work out. If you scored more than 16, you may have a poor body image.

If you're spending time worrying about how you look instead of having fun, you'll want to read PICTURE PERFECT another cool book written by Jill S. Zimmerman Rutledge. It will definitely help you feel better about your body. You can purchase PICTURE PERFECT at HeyUGLY.org for $14.95.

Don't Let Your Box Define You

I was at church the other day and the speaker said something that reminded me of what a life coach would say. He said, "Don't let the box of your life define you. Be whatever you need to be in the moment." As I was listening I grabbed for a pen and wrote those profound words down on a scrap of paper.

His words remind me of one of the tips in my book Stop Overeating Today! The tip is all about how to play an empowering role. I blogged about it back in September: http://stopovereatingtips.blogspot.com/search/label/self-identity

If you are battling with your thoughts and emotions to stop overeating, "don't let your box define you" is a very important thing to remember. Take a break from your identity as someone with an overeating problem. Take a break from focusing on your weaknesses around food. Don't tell yourself who you are if your description is negative. Just be what you need to be in the moment, reinvent yourself, don't let negative thoughts about who you are keep you stuck in old patterns that never end.

I Want Your Feedback

Hey, if you have a minute, can you take a look at my new website: http://www.stopovereatingtips.com and let me know if you have any suggestions, comments, or ideas to make the website better and more interactive? I'd really appreciate your input. I am going to eventually transfer this blog to the new website.

Thanks and have a great day!

Going Overboard and Getting Back on Track

Ever had a day when you overate and thought, "What the heck, I've already gone off track, I might as well eat as much a I want?" I can definitely relate to this because this thought appealed to me sometimes when I was overcoming my overeating challenges.

But the logic in that statement is totally skewed. That's like saying, "Well, if I can't be perfect, I might as well become a hellion." Or, "If I get a speeding ticket today, I might as well drive 90 MPH the rest of the day because I've already screwed up." Not only is that all or nothing thinking not rational, but it can be costly.

So, what to do next time you do overeat and get off track? How can you keep yourself from that all or nothing thinking?

Come up with a phrase or mantra to counter the thought telling you it's okay to overeat because you've already gone off track. It could be: "Because I've already gone off track, I'm going to stop and get back on track!" Or it could be, "I'm already off my plan, so I'm going to quit feeling guilty and start being proactive and healthy again." It's your mantra, you come up with what works and feels genuine for you.

Readers, I'd love to hear some of the skewed rationalization you have used to overeat and what mantra you come up with to get back on track - thanks!

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For 33 tips to help you get back on track, check out my book's website: www.stopovereatingtips.com

Self-Nurturing is Critical to Weight Loss Success - Do You Love Yourself Enough?

A lot of women who struggle with weight loss do not treat themselves with self-nurturing. They think thoughts about themselves like: I don't deserve to take better care of myself and I am disgusting. Just to prove to themselves how impossible weight loss is, they go overeat. Often overeating is out of self-hatred or despair. Sound familiar?

When women learn how to develop a nurturing attitude towards themselves, which is usually obtained by one on one life coaching, they start to take care of themselves by choosing thoughts and actions that are elevating and kind. The more they can start to believe that they are worth the effort and that they are a beautiful person on the inside, the less they will overeat out of spite or self-hatred or despair.

One might ask, "How do I begin to nurture myself better?" The first step is to not allow thoughts like, "I'm ugly, I'm not worth anything, or I am a mess" to penetrate their minds. They may have thoughts like that, but they can dismiss them by asking themselves the question, "is it really true?" Is it really true you are not worth it? As they ask themselves that question, it's important to not focus on the negative feelings of the moment, but to think about it logically. They can ask themselves, "Can I absolutely know that it's true?" to help them think more rationally.

Another thing they can do to start nurturing themselves more is to take time for themselves to do something special, like spending time every day to meditate or to go get that pedicure they've been wanting or to free up some time for a rewarding hobby. As they take care of themselves, they will start to feel more valued and worthwhile.

That's just a start. This topic of nurture will come up again and again in my blogs. What are ways that women can find time to nurture themselves even if they have a crazy schedule? Do you have any ideas?

If weight loss is truly a goal, the more nurturing that occurs, the more likely that weight loss goal is to be taken seriously and worked on consistently. I like that make-up commercial tagline: "You're worth it!"

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To request a complimentary coaching session or to read free chapters from the book Stop Overeating Today!, please visit: http://www.stopovereatingtips.com