Poised

Poise in the face of frustration

Patience is the key to paradise.- Turkish proverb

Whether waiting to see a change on the scale, dealing with your coworkers, or diligently putting in work and feeling unappreciated, losing your patience is very easy to do. By exercising patience with all people, you are allowing them to become better and to learn on their own through gentle guidance. One healthy byproduct of self control in the face of frustration is that it usually leads to encouragement and enhancement of your relationships. Happy families and friendships thrive on patience and learning. It may take time to learn, but the results are well worth it!

Say Yes!

Track Your Successes, Not Failures
http://www.shrinkyourself.com/

Change will not come or if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for. We are the change we seek.~Barack Obama 44th U.S President

Track your successes, not your failures. Most people that are trying to eat well and adopt a practice of regular exercise are very quick to point out their failings. They often report ending their day with a mental record of the things they shouldn't have eaten and the exercise they could've done but didn't.

This doesn't lead to success. In fact, it usually just leads to feeling of failure and defeat. If this doesn't work, what does? While it's important to be aware of your weak spots, it doesn't help you to keep track of them. What is far more beneficial is finding the places where you succeeded and then building on those successes.

For example, it's great to develop an awareness that you're more likely to exercise if you make a date to meet someone at the gym. That's something you can build on. You can then make a standing date to meet a friend to exercise instead of attempting to go alone. It's great to develop an awareness that when you avoid television at night, you also avoid binges. That's something you can build on.

You can incorporate more nighttime activities that don't include TV (and subsequently don't include binges). It's great to develop an awareness that you eat better when the kitchen is clean and you aren't overwhelmed with chores. That's something you can build on. By staying on top of chores and responsibilities you'll find yourself eating less.

What success (small or big) did you have today and how can you build on it tomorrow

Talk 2 it

Talk Yourself into Reaching Your Goals

How Self-Talk Can Help (or Hinder) Your Progress

By Dean Anderson, Behavioral Psychology Expert
www.sparkspeople.com
Article created on: 4/24/2007

We all know that getting support and encouragement is crucial to losing weight and becoming healthier. But getting support from others is only one part of the formula for success.

Equally important is your ability to support yourself. In fact, if you’re not the loudest and most active member of your own fan club, your chances for long-term success will be pretty low. Other people may help you get started or keep you going on those inevitable bad days. But you are the one who has to be there for yourself each day when it’s time to make the right decisions to reach your goals.

Unfortunately, many of us don’t know how to "be there" for ourselves in an effective way.

I sure didn’t. I always started my numerous weight loss campaigns with a lot of negative feelings towards myself. I wanted to lose weight because I felt disgusted every time I saw myself in the mirror or a photo, and was convinced that others saw me the same way. Every time I messed up, I mercilessly beat myself up for not having the willpower or character to simply say no to a candy bar or a second helping of dinner. And I told myself that nothing good would come my way as long as I stayed fat. All I got in return was a long history of losing a little weight and gaining back even more.

This “tougher than tough love” kind of self-talk is a prescription for failure.

Mostly, it increases feelings of resentment, deprivation, and helplessness until they erupt in a self-defeating binge or a collapse into depression and hopelessness. And it definitely keeps you from focusing your attention and energy where it can actually do you some good. At the same time, your self-talk can’t just switch to the other extreme, where it’s full of sweetness and abstract fluff about how wonderful you are and how you can accomplish anything you set your mind to.

That may help you turn off the negative thoughts that keep you stuck in the same old patterns, but that’s just the beginning. Like any good coach, you need to recognize your real strengths and weaknesses, learn to work with them, keep yourself focused on the positive in every situation, and put your best efforts forward. Here's how you can to turn your self-talk into a powerful tool that will help you reach your goals:

1. Don't say anything to yourself that you wouldn’t say to someone else.

It’s pretty amazing how we think it’s appropriate to treat ourselves in ways that we wouldn’t dream of treating a friend, or even a stranger. Whenever you find that you are verbally beating yourself up or telling yourself things are hopeless, stop and ask yourself if you’d say this to someone who came to you for help with the same problem. Recognize that what you say to yourself has the same emotional effect that it would have on another person. If you wouldn’t say this to others, don’t say it to yourself.

2. Look at the whole picture. No matter how persistent a problem seems to be, it is never the whole story. There will be times when you avoid a negative behavior and accomplish what you set out to do. Often, you can find the keys to successful behavior change by asking yourself what went right when you were successful (instead of asking what went wrong when you failed).

Don't spend a lot of time thinking about what went wrong, and avoid using words like always and never when you are talking about your behaviors or their results. Think back to the last time things went the way you wanted, figure out what was different then, and ask yourself how you can make that happen more often.

3. Ditch the drama. If you are upset about something you ate, or the exercise you didn’t do, ask yourself how much this really matters, in the grand scheme of things. In the course of your lifetime, you’ll probably eat about 50 million calories. How much does it really matter that you ate a few hundred of them a little sooner than scheduled? Is it really going to ruin your life if it takes you an extra day or two to reach your goal weight?

The one thing that can really cause problems is blowing things so out of proportion that you regularly turn small problems into major crises. The more often you do that, the more power you give to those problems, which will become reasons for giving up on yourself. You don’t have to let that happen if you don’t want to.


4. Reward yourself for right thinking. Most people reward themselves for things that are far less important than changing how they think and talk to themselves. You reward yourself when the scale hits a certain number, or when you maintain a healthy habit for a certain number of days. There’s nothing wrong with this. It works—which is why you should also reward yourself for changes in your attitude and thinking.

Establish goals (streaks) for verbally treating yourself with the same respect and care you offer to other people; for staying focused on positive solutions; for keeping things in perspective; and for acknowledging your successes.

Come up with some meaningful rewards for meeting these goals. You can even reward yourself for cutting a negative rant short, or for recognizing that your last slip was just that, or for taking the time today to find one thing you did well. The important thing is to start where you are right now, and keep moving in the direction you want to go.

When you take responsibility for becoming your own best friend, supporter, and coach, a whole new world of possibilities will open up for you.

25 Ways to Get Back on Track Today

25 Ways to Get Back on Track Today
Don't Give Up on Your Goals!

By Nicole Nichols, Fitness Instructor & Health Educator


Not long ago, you were energetic and determined to start your healthy lifestyle. Starting with enthusiasm and hope, you watched your food intake diligently, exercised like it was going out of style, and even avoided the temptation that seemed to lurk around every corner. You were confident that you were going to reach your goals once and for all!

Then certain tragedy struck!

You ate an extra piece of birthday cake. Realizing you had “blown” your diet, you ate another and another and couldn’t get it together the next day either. Or worse, you missed one workout, and that turned into a whole week away from the gym. After that, your momentum to start over again was gone, and your gym bag hasn’t left the closet since.

Every time you misstep on your healthy journey, you have two choices: to keep walking backwards, which will surely take you even further away from your goals; or to accept your lack of perfection as normal and forgivable, and take not one, but two positive steps down the path that brings your closer to the future you want.

If you’re reading this, you might have been walking backwards for a while. But instead of waiting for the next day, week, month or even year to overhaul your habits, start TODAY. And start small. You can’t go from the recliner to running or from burgers to Brussels sprouts in an afternoon.

But you can do one, two or even a handful of small things that will help you regain your momentum for healthy living. When you feel like getting back on track is overwhelming, try one (or more) of these small steps each day.

1. Try a short workout. Even five minutes is better than nothing.

2. Try a new recipe. Cooking healthy foods can be fun and it never has to be bland.

3. Eat a healthy breakfast. Your morning meal sets the stage for the rest of your day, so start if off right!

4. Drink your water. Try to aim for 8 cups each day and you’ll feel the difference!

5. Seeing how others overcome similar struggles and obstacles can be a great source of motivation.

6. Track your food today. No matter how it adds up, you’ll learn from it. 7. Update your SparkPage. It’s a visual way to track your ups and downs, but also your progress.

8. Share your goals. Whether you post them on the Message Boards or share them with a friend, you’ll be more accountable.

9. Exercise for 10 minutes. Jump rope, march in place, or do some crunches. Small amounts do add up to something big!

10. Find a buddy. Get support from friends, whether you need someone to listen or a mentor to give you ideas and encouragement.

11. Take a walk. Don’t worry about how long or far you go—just get out there!

12. Create a motivational collage. Include pictures of your goal and reasons why you want to get there.

13. Go shopping for some healthy foods.

14. Check the nutrition facts before you go out to eat. That way, you can make an informed choice.

15. Ride your bike. Even a leisurely ride has benefits for your body and mind.

16. Work in the yard. Gardening and yard work is a great way to add activity to your day.

17. Take the stairs. Even if this is the only thing you do all day, you’ll feel stronger for it.

18. Rack up those SparkPoints! You earn them for every healthy task you do on the site—talk about motivating! Aim for a certain milestone, such as 100 points, and then reward yourself with a SparkGoodie!

19. Listen to an inspirational song. Better yet, make a playlist of them so you can turn to it whenever you need a boost.

20. Re-start your SparkPeople program. Sometimes it’s easier to get back on track when you have a clean slate.

21. Measure your portions. It’s a simple way to learn how much you’re eating.

22. Eat a piece of fruit. Even if 5-9 servings of fruit and vegetables sounds impossible to you, one is doable.

23. Slow down during meals. You’ll be less likely to overeat and more likely to enjoy your meal.

24. Play! What kids call “play,” we often call “exercise.” Play a sport, a game, or use the playground equipment to bring the fun back into fitness.

25. Learn something new. Sometimes simply taking a quiz or reading an article about nutrition, fitness, or health can change your mindset and get you back on track.

In tennis, losing one point isn’t the end of the world. It happens to the best of them. In fact, if you can consistently win a few more points that you lose, you may end up in the hall of fame. With healthy eating and exercising, as long as you’re consistently out-stepping your steps back, you’re ahead of the game.

If you expect perfection (and many of us do), you’re setting yourself up for disappointment and guilt. You CAN get back on track today. Even if you’re moving slowly, you’ll be moving in the right direction! Article created on: 3/25/2008 www.sparkspeople.com

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Something I never do..

Believe or not I actually watch a program on the Food Channel. I've never watch the Food Channel. I was simply in bed not ready to get up and flipped around and this program I believe was called Cooking with the Neely's and it was actually watching this husband/wife team interacting that made me watch.

Well the were demostrating a flavorful roasted chicken which made me scramble to find paper & pen to write down what they were saying.

In a nutshell they took 1 onion sliced and layered the bottom of a cast iron skillet then took a but of fresh rosemary,thyme,1/2 sliced lemon and 3 smashed pieces of garlic in the cavity of the chicken. Next using herbed butter(rosmary, thyme & sage 1/2 stick of butter) and "buvtered up the outside including under the skin, tied the legs together. Baked at 475 degrees for 1.5 hours and Voila! Now my understanding for tying the legs together was so the chicken evenly baked same temp finishing at the same time.

I am going to try it & see.

Now I came upon this today:

20-Minute Chicken Creole
Serves: 4

This quick Southern dish contains no added fat and very little added salt in a spicy tomato sauce.

INGREDIENTS

Nonstick cooking spray as needed

4 medium chicken breast halves, skinned, boned, and cut into 1" strips

1 (14 oz.) can diced tomatoes

1 cup low-sodium chili sauce

1 large green pepper,

chopped 1/2 cup celery,

chopped 1/4 cup onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 tablespoon fresh basil, or 1 teaspoon dried

1 tablespoon fresh parsley, or 1 teaspoon dried

1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper

1/4 teaspoon salt

DIRECTIONS

1. Spray a deep skillet with nonstick cooking spray. Preheat pan over high heat.

2. Cook chicken in hot skillet, stirring for 3-5 minutes, or until no longer pink. Reduce heat.

3. Add tomatoes and their juice, low-sodium chili sauce, green pepper, celery, onion, garlic, basil, parsley, crushed red pepper, and salt.

4. Bring to boil; reduce heat and simmer, covered, for 10 minutes.

5. Serve over hot cooked rice or whole wheat pasta.

NUTRITION INFO (per 1.5-cup serving)

Calories: 255.4

Fat: 4.5 g

Carbohydrates: 20.7 g

Protein: 33.3 g

Black Eye Peas Stew

Black Eyed Pea Salsa
Serves: 10


Tired of the same old stews? Full of fiber and whole grains, this vegetarian version will warm your belly!

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup brown rice

2 cups water 2 (15.5 oz each) cans black-eyed peas, drained and rinsed

1 (10 oz) can diced tomatoes with green chili peppers

DIRECTIONS:

1. Bring a small pot of rice and water to a boil.

2. Cover pot, reduce heat to simmer and let cook 20 minutes or until rice is tender.

3. In a large saucepan, combine rice, peas, tomatoes and chili.

4. Stir the mixture over a medium heat until it is heated through.

NUTRITION INFO (per serving)

Calories: 95.1

Fat: 0.5 g

Carbohydrates: 20.0 g

Protein: 2.6 g

Now we are cookin'

Portobello Burgers
Serves: 4

Serve in place of a steak or with lettuce and tomato on toasted whole-grain buns.

INGREDIENTS

4 large Portobello mushrooms

2 cloves garlic, sliced into very thin slivers

1 tsp. fresh rosemary or 1/2 tsp. dried, (optional)

1 tsp. fresh thyme or 1/2 tsp. dried, (optional)

1-1/2 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil

3 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar

Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat broiler or grill.

2. Wipe mushrooms with damp cloth. Remove stems.

3. With paring knife, make slits in tops of caps. Stuff slivers of garlic and herbs (if using) into slits.

4. In small bowl, whisk together oil and vinegar with salt and pepper to taste. Brush mushrooms with oil mixture.

5. Place mushrooms, cap-side down, on pan and broil or grill until soft and brown, about 3 to 5 minutes per side.

NUTRITION INFO (per serving)

Calories: 71.6

Fat: 5.5 g

Carbohydrates: 4.5 g

Protein: 3.2 g