Quick update

Just to let my readers know...my husband and I are still going strong on our diets! Yes...he has hung in there for 49 and lost 25 pounds so far. He only has about 18 more to get to his goal of 190. I am on day 53. I still haven't weighed but I'm shrinking! lol! We've really done well doing this together. I'm proud of him and of us!

I hope you are making progress to your goals. There is no better feeling then of being in control of your choices and behaviors, then reaping the benefits of better health and knowing it shows.

DAY #1!

Hello blog readers! Today is the day I start getting myself back on track from my major holiday detour. I am now normally a very consistent and careful eater. Nothing like my days of the past when I ate mindlessly, not realizing how everything I was putting in my mouth was causing me so many health problems and serious limitations not to mention over 120 lbs of excess body fat. For some reason, I kind of went off the rails the past month with all the holiday foods. I can't believe how awful I feel! Bloated, sluggish, foggy headed, depressed. All of it. Blah!! So this morning I got on the scale and took a picture of the number without actually looking at it. I didn't want to start off my holiday recovery plan by feeling bad. I'll look at it in a few weeks after I've lost and then be happy at seeing what I've accomplished! Brilliant, right?

In a few more days it will be 2017. If you are wanting to set a goal of weight loss, why wait another 5 days to do it? Start now with me and we can go in to the New Year already feeling better then we do now. Go to www.cambridgediet.org and place your order. If you already have your supply ready to go, start now if you can. If you are obligated to New Year celebrating, then be ready to hit the ground running come Jan 1st. With commitment and consistency, you can reach your weight loss goal early in the year and then have the rest of it to enjoy the results.

Happy Halloween!

I know this is mostly a kids event, but it does signal the beginning of the Holiday season. The challenge for each of us is to get through the next 61 days (Jan 1st 2017) without backsliding in our weight loss and abandoning all hope of ever reaching our goals. Halloween is the first day of feeling obligated to have sugary treats in the house "for the kids" and the same in abundance at the workplace. Parties start being thrown and 2 months of celebrating with food, alcohol, and lots and lots of sugar is the hurdle.

I don't expect anyone to be perfect until 2017. If you can be, WOW~! I'm impressed! But it is likely you will have a slip here and there, or maybe even take a diet vacation for each actual holiday, but NEVER use this time of year as an excuse to abuse your body through unhealthy and harmful food choices, justifying it because it's tradition or expected of you by friends and family. No one has the right to challenge you about what you put in your mouth. They can chatter all they want trying to nag or influence you in to diving in, but you alone make that choice.

Each time you say "No" to a food temptation, don't dwell on it, lamenting how sad you feel or deprived. Instead, give yourself a mental "High Five" for being strong and in charge! Food is the catalyst of your obesity. If you don't abuse your body with it, your body has a fighting chance to restore health and balance and well being to you both physically and mentally.

Fall=Pumpkin!

This time of year it seems like everything is pumpkin flavored...and I'm ok with that! You don't need to feel left out if you are following your Cambridge Diet Plan. Just add 1 or 2 T of pure pumpkin puree (not pie filling) to your Cambridge shake along with some pumpkin pie spices and you will have a delicious festive Fall pumpkin shake! At only 5 cal per T, it is the perfect nutritive flavor enhancer. Try it in the FFL Eggnog or any of the Vanilla flavors. The Original 330 Horchatta with Tonalin CLA would be fantastic too! For something special, top with a T of fat free whipped topping and a sprinkle of cinnamon. SO GOOD!

We Are The Champions!

With the Olympics in full swing we are all impressed with the physical and mental strength of these exceptional athletes. They can seem super human, but we are all made out of the same stuff. The only difference is in the unwavering commitment and focus on a goal. We may not be aspiring to a gold medal and representing our country, but we are aspiring to something just as great in our own life and the lives of the people who love us. Committing to putting your health as your #1 priority can seem selfish when you have other people depending on you like family and friends, but in reality the most unselfish thing you could ever do for them is to be as healthy and happy as you can be. Just like being part of an Olympic team. If one member loses their drive, the whole team suffers. Don't let your team down! Start working towards your goal like it was your job!

Hello Future You!

When you visualize your future self, say..1 year from now..what do you see? Do you see yourself as you are now, or do you see the healthier, slimmer, happier version of you? The you that is more active and engaged in life. The you that feels good in your clothes. The you that feels limitless in your choices and opportunities. What do you see? You first need to believe in your ability to change and transform yourself and your life before it can become your reality. Visualize the person you want to be and keep it forefront in your mind. We tend to gravitate towards what we focus our attention on. Stop dwelling on regrets and guilt and start putting your energy and focus towards positive progressive action! Cambridge Diet can be your stepping stone to your future self. Contact me today and let's get started!

Changes And Challenges

If there's one thing that life teaches us.. it's that it happens while we are busy making plans.

We come to the beginning of our Cambridge journey with a common plan, to lose the weight and get healthy. We have no way of knowing what twists and turns our life may take along the way, and it can get pretty twisted at times! When you consider all that is required of us to succeed at this, it is not unlike a master juggler keeping all his objects in the air, even if the floor tilts or someone tosses in a few more items to the mix. It's no small task and requires a whole new collection of skills and practice.

Typically, when faced with challenges, we would self medicate with food and ignore a lot of the emotional and physical issues we are dealing with. "Drug of choice" and all that. Being stripped of that coping tool can cause some panic with the realization of how dependent we have become on comfort eating, or how much in denial we may be about our personal struggles. While you may have been prepared for the physical demands of being on a restricted diet, you probably were caught unprepared for the emotional ones.

As you begin, (or continue) your Cambridge experience, go in to it knowing that at times you will be required to face emotions you may want to pacify with food, or you may suddenly be faced with a health crisis that you will want to escape from temporarily by self medicating in the same way. These old habits and behaviors need to be removed from your arsenal of coping tools. Finding their replacement is part of the goal when changes and challenges come your way.

Which Comes First?

It always interests me how the same person can have very different experiences doing the exact same diet at different times. The only thing that changes is the person's mind.

Typically, when we begin any diet, the first thing we do is clean out all the food that may distract us or tempt us. We purge the kitchen (as much as the family will allow) and try to clear the calendar of events where food will be the center focus. We plan our necessary grocery shopping trips and try to avoid those places we may have previously stopped for fast food etc. We structure our environment as best as we can to set ourselves up for success, but we completely forget that while purging the external world of distractions, it is our mind that is the control room of our behavior.

Just as a person purges their living space of distractions, replacing them with healthy alternatives, we need to purge our minds of negative distracting thoughts, replacing them with positive, forward thinking, progressively determined thoughts.

We can't always control our environment, but we can control our reaction to it and that is one of the keys to a successful weight loss, and just as important, a successful maintenance.

Wow! I've Been A Bad Blogger!

I didn't realize it's been so long since I posted to my blog. I've been focusing more on my Cambridge Facebook page, (link below) and my Support Board you can find on my website. Sorry for neglecting my readers here!

I'm actually SSing again at the moment. I typically do this whenever I find that a few pounds have crept back on and this is one of those times. My husband just retired and the month leading up to it was a stressful one getting finances in order, etc. We both did a little stress eating, (well..me a little, him a LOT!) and we made a mutual commitment to get back to healthy eating.  His job has been extremely stressful, but especially this past year and he probably put on 20 pounds. Not good for someone who already had a triple bypass 5 years ago. He's doing low carb and I am on my much loved Cambridge, day 3.

I'm feeling great and already feel like my body is rewarding me for no longer eating carelessly. My energy is up and my clothes are already fitting better. Got to get back in to my swimsuits soon! The weather is warming up and so is the pool!

Cambridge Diet Face Book Page

Anniversary and Birthday

Today is my 4th anniversary of marriage to my loving husband, Andy. I will be forever grateful for when this old cowboy viewed my profile on Match.com. We ended up meeting when we never would have otherwise. He began proposing to me on our first date. Either he was crazy, or insightful.

This month I also turn 57. The same age my sister turned right before her death 2 years ago. I can't comprehend being at the end of my life as she was the month of her 57th birthday. I'm just getting started! But as we know, none of us are guaranteed another day or hour.

Some people say, Eat, drink, and be merry for tomorrow we die. But what they don't think about is how much quality of life is lost by living irresponsibly. Life in an unhealthy struggling body is not ideal. I know. I lived in one for 20 years. I told my self it was bad genes, but that was a lie. For some people the option of a healthy body is not in their hands. But for most it is completely a matter of choice. We can be mindful of the choices we make that impact our health and that offer us an active fulfilled experience during our turn on Earth, or we can be careless and pay the price.

Day 16 of Sole Source (SS)

I decided back on the 15th to get back on SS to lose some weight that I had been accumulating since my vacation back in Oct. My husband and I went down south to the Florida Keys and I was in vacation mode. I pretty much ate whatever he did and while that has no effect on him, for me it was probably more then twice what I would normally consume.  With that and the holidays, I got kind of lax in my dietary habits and some weight had crept on while I was looking the other way. My pants were tight and that's my signal for getting my act together. So, along with a great group of people on my Support Board, ( http://members5.boardhost.com/pam140/ ) I jumped on the SS train and I've been going strong!

I made the decision not to weigh when I started. I didn't want a number to mess with my head and I figured it really didn't matter anyway. In fact, I have not weighed at all! Yes, 16 days and I have absolutely no idea how much I've lost or what I weigh. I'm feeling kind of free because of it! No judge and jury staring up at me from the scale every morning. No number in my head telling me how I should feel about myself and if I was going to have a good day or a bad one. I am stresslessly going about my days knowing that I am doing everything I can possibly do to allow my body to lose the weight. It's a different approach, especially for me since I tend to be a meticulous chart keeper.

About a  year and a half ago I had set a goal to get back to my high school weight by my 56th birthday. Well..I didn't get there.  Now my 57th is just 19 days away. I won't make that goal in 19 days, but I'm determined I will be on my way there!

All Or Nothing

I think "all or nothing" thinking is something most of us can relate to. Trying to figure out what's at the core of it may be different for each person, but it will be the reason for failure for all. No one can be perfect and fortunately,no one needs to be. I learned that the key to succeeding was to get honest with myself and acknowledge the fact that my "all or nothing" thinking was self sabotage. On some level, I was looking for a reason to judge myself and then give up. Instead of taking responsibility for my actions and working to overcome my weaknesses, I used them as an excuse to not keep going.

It went against a lifetime of negative self talk and low self esteem for me to not give up on myself and my diet. I had a few episodes during my weight loss where I lost all control and had a full out binge. I hated myself for it and it fueled my belief that I was hopeless. I recognized the truth that this was my pattern, trying, self sabotaging, hating myself, and giving up. Not too productive! No wonder I never got anywhere.

This time I was determined not to repeat old behaviors. This is what I did when I went off track. Once I became aware of what I was doing, and sometimes that happened after a few bites, or sometimes it didn't happen until the kitchen was empty, I would take a moment and make an effort NOT to begin the emotional self flogging, I would forgive myself, brush off the crumbs, tell myself it never happened and then continue on as if it hadn't. I would have my next scheduled Cambridge meal and continue on. Some may call this denial, but in reality it was a method of healing for me. I was gradually breaking those dysfunctional behaviors and habits, my "all or nothing" thinking.

You are on a journey and it will have twists and turns. Just keep moving forward and see everything as a positive learning experience. No successful person ever practiced perfectionism or "all or nothing" thinking. They practice resiliency.

What Is Your Normal?

Being a person who has struggled with being overweight since toddler-hood, my sense of self was that I was an obese person, like I was made this way. Obese was my "normal". My identity. My destiny. My attempts at weight loss were frequent and varied, but the results were always temporary. The times I spent close to my healthy weight never changed my personal identity. I always knew that all those pounds of fat were waiting in the wings, ready to slam back on me. I was never safe from it, like I was being stalked.

The emotional chaos of never feeling at peace with my body took it's toll in many ways. Every choice and decision I made in life, somehow pivoted from my low self esteem and my knowledge that I would never be good enough.

I could never figure out how other people maneuvered through their lives, seemingly free from the constant anxiety I had with food and body image. Did other people go to school with a burning empty stomach in their attempt to be normal? I would watch my thin friends and try to figure out how they ate so much, so freely, without any guilt or shame. Why weren't my siblings fat? What was wrong with me? Why was I different? Oh..right...obesity is me.. my normal.

I lost my weight on Cambridge 14 years ago. The amount of effort to lose the weight, was nothing compared to the mental work I had to do to change everything I believed about myself and who I was. Instead of seeing my obesity as normal and moments of thinness as temporary, I had to flip that and force myself to believe that my obesity was what had been the deviation from normal. My body had spent 42 years trying to deal with my physical and emotional demands. It hadn't failed me, I had failed it. I may or may not be more prone to weight gain then someone else with different DNA, but that is my reality to accept and to be responsible for.

We all come in to this world with different challenges. There is no standard "normal". Just your own personal story. My story is that for most of my life, I believed a lie. A lie I convinced myself was true. Obesity is not my identity, my destiny, or my curse. I spent my life justifying my poor health and not ever really taking responsibility for it.  I am not that person anymore.

Starting Sole Source Today

I made the decision to jump back on SS for a while to lose the extra pounds I've gained since Oct. We went on vacation and then we had the holidays...well...no explanation needed. My pants are tight and fortunately I have my beloved Cambridge to come to my rescue once again! I just had my first shake for the day, the one I call my "Favorite Blend". I take one full container of 330 Rich Chocolate and mix it in a big Tupperware bowel with a container of 330 Original Dutch Chocolate. This gives me the creamy thick texture of the Rich shake along with the deeper chocolate taste of the Dutch. I add about 1/4 cup of cocoa powder and mix it all together. Voila! Perfection! To make it even more dreamy, I keep a jar of brewed decaf coffee in the fridge and use that along with a couple of ice cubes in place of the water. Now we're talkin'!

So I figure I'm going to give it a couple of weeks and then decide if I want to start adding food back to my diet. I'm looking forward to that wonderful feeling of lightness and clarity that being in ketosis gives. This will be fun!
Cheers!

Welcome to 2017!

Just imagine, one year in to the future. It's Jan 5th, 2017. You wake up and your first thought is, "Wow! Another day in my new life in my slim healthy body that I worked so hard for in 2016!". You know that every sacrifice you made was not a sacrifice at all! it was a gift you gave to yourself. Each time you stumbled, you dragged yourself back up and continued on. Every time you resisted a craving and denied and turned away from all those old behaviors and habits  that kept you imprisoned in your overweight body, it was worth more then you ever could have imagined.

You look back at the choices you made in 2016 and if you could, you would go back and give yourself a big hug and a high five! It was all worth it! Now you are free to move in your body without limitation. You can feel comfortable in the world and not feel as if you don't fit. You can accept those invitations and not stress about what to wear or if you will be able to squeeze in the booth. All those aches and pains you thought were just normal aging are gone. You can shop and buy clothes that flatter and look cute on you, not just because it's the only thing that fit. You can see your actual face, the shape and structure like you may not have seen in a good while...or ever. You can cross your legs and sit in a theater seat with enough room to tuck your purse next to you. You can graciously receive compliments without immediately doubting their sincerity. You can go try new things that you never would have before. You feel attractive and sexy and strong and full of energy.

The only question you ask yourself now is why did you wait so long? Why did you give all your happiness and your vitality for so many years to food? How did you remain lost for so long and so completely unaware of how much of your life you had missed out on? You shake your head and know that while you may regret all that time you could have done better, it is 2017 and that old life is behind you. You look back at 2016 as the year you changed your life.

Did You Know I Have A Facebook Page?

I've posted the link to my Support Board on here before (I think?) but here is is again just in case.

 http://members5.boardhost.com/pam140/ . Please feel free to join in on the conversations there or start one of your own.

What I haven't mentioned is that I also have a Facebook page where I share interesting articles, thoughts, insights, success stories, all sorts of fun facebooky kind of stuff. So go check it out at

 https://www.facebook.com/PamTurnerCambridge/ .

Comment or just post and say "Hi". Be sure to share my page.

Maintenance?

Like most, I have lost and gained the same weight so many times over my life that I could never put a number to it. The gaining part took no effort what so ever. The losing part seemed like endless sacrifice. Maintenance? Hmm...now that was an interesting concept. From childhood on I was either losing or gaining...never maintaining. My body didn't do maintenance. Dieting=weight loss. Eating=weight gain. Those were the two options. 

So needless to say, these past 15 years of figuring out how to not gain the 120+ pounds I had lost back.. has been as labor intensive as anything I did to get here. My body is so prone to weight gain that for me, maintenance requires vigilance and effort. I wish I could say that my body was "healed" from being a fat storing machine, but that wouldn't be true. If I deviate from my normal controlled eating plan for more then an occasional meal now and then, I will gain. If I take a break for a week and  eat like everyone else around me is eating, including people who are not overweight, I will gain. And it's not necessarily the calorie count that is the issue, but the food itself that will cause the weight gain. 

Grain based foods and sugar are the welcome mat in front of my fat cells. My insulin spikes and every calorie gets locked away like squirrels storing nuts for the winter.  On top of that, eating them also awakens the sleeping beast that is appetite and hunger. Uncontrolled type 2 diabetics can have a voracious appetite that is beyond anything imaginable. As far as you body is concerned, it is starving, no matter how much you consume. Obesity is the natural result.  

It is my JOB to be mindful of the food I consume and I know that each choice comes with consequence for me, good or bad. Because I am diabetic, I have a built in alarm system that fires if I go astray for more then the occasional deviation from my normal diet. I will feel like crap! I keep my blood sugar and insulin levels under control with lifestyle choices, but when I choose something different, BAM! Diabetic Pam!  

It frustrates me to accept the fact that I will never be"normal", whatever that is. I'm still not sure how "normal" people go about their lives. Do they just naturally run checks and balances in their heads constantly to keep their weight and health on track? I know that's how I live now. I generally know the caloric and nutritional value of everything I put in my mouth and I keep a running tally in my head. I see other people eating breads and sugary deserts and know that I can't have it. Let me rephrase that, I choose not to have it. Do I want it? You know I do, but if I want to stay on this planet with all my original parts and be healthy, I have to say "No". That is maintenance for me.

Standing Strong

So here we are at the gates of the annual "Binge Eating Ball". Everywhere you look from now until New Years it is nonstop over-indulgence in food and drink. We feel entitled to join in and for the next month,  we want to be part of the party. We want our traditional foods and we don't want to be the one standing against the wall while everyone else is mindlessly celebrating without a care. For people in the process of weight loss, it can be a complete derailment and an undoing of all your hard work.

I dread this time of year, every year. Not for myself, but for all my clients that will be struggling with the frustration of wanting to stay on their plan, but feeling overwhelmed and overpowered with all the pressure to eat, drink, and be merry. You may not be diabetic or have some other known health issue that influences the choices you make like I do, but we all desire quality of life. That means different things to different people. For some, it means doing whatever you want and paying the consequences which can be poor health, pain, or even death. For others like me, it means doing my best to support my body and accept it's special requirements and not feel deprived, but empowered by my choices. We each have our own reality to deal with and choices to be made. Stand strong and make yours based on your own best interests, not on the influences of others.

Staying Loyal To Our Commitments

When we are dealing with food addictions, we tend to make all kinds of commitments to change while in a heightened motivated state of mind, only to abandon those promises once the  emotions have died down and the daily grind of sticking to a diet overwhelms us. Saying what you are going to do is completely different from actually doing it. Staying loyal is the only way to get to goal. Beginning is the easy part. The true test is not how you begin or end, but the work you do in the middle when the emotional high has faded and the goal seems so far away. Successful people keep going while others are making excuses to quit.

Letting Go

Facebook has this interesting feature where each day they send you several postings from your own timeline on that date from years past. Today's entry included this post that I had composed on Sept 12th 2012. I don't recall the motivation behind it, but I thought it was worth putting here for anyone that may find it worth reading.

                                            ********************************

If you never got rid of anything you ever owned, and I mean anything...where would you be? Probably on an episode of "Hoarders". Life demands that we learn how to let go of possessions, ideas, lost opportunities, and even people. No one gets through life without having to let go. The thing to remember is that when you lose something, it just makes room for something new to enter your life. Some people miss the chance to learn and heal and move forward. They stay trapped in the past and revisit it over and over again. It makes as much sense as running back into a burning building to see what started the fire. Moving on is what we human beings do. I've always told my kids, "You can get over pretty much anything". Getting over is not the same as forgetting. Getting over means not staying stuck in your grief. When it comes, embrace it and squeeze the life out of it... and then leave it behind.