Baby steps...

The Chinese have a saying"The journey of a thousand miles begins with a step". I can remember my choice to start walking on March 17th 1996. I was racked with mental torment about exercising...at 300 pounds I was extremely self conscious about my weight. I thought that people were thinking "As if she thinks walking will help her shed that massive weight" or "Wow is she ever huge". So in this tormented stated of mind deciding to walk that first block was monumental. I had to in spite of my intense fear of what I thought others were thinking of me get myself out the door. You know the acronym for FEAR F=false E=events A=appear R=real. That first door is the toughest to push yourself through...but what an amazing adventure awaited me on the other side of that door. One block became two,three, four,...ten... and then miles. I came to know that I had every right to be out in public exercising and more importantly I worked on myself mentally saying that everyone I passed were cheering me on not leering at me.

Exercise...the key to vitality!

Physical benefits:
· Lowers blood pressure
· Reduces your risk for diabetes, osteoporosis
· Strengthens your heart, lungs
· Boosts your immune system
· Relieves stress
· Helps your circulation
· Burns fat
· Curbs your appetite
· Gives you more energy
· Reduces your risk for a heart attack
· Helps with the digestion and elimination system
· Can prevent some cancers or reduce risk
· Promotes sleep
· Reduces depression and anxiety
· Enhances your love life

Mental benefits:
· Enables us to think better, to focus
· Cleans out the cobwebs in our minds

Emotional benefits:
· Releases serotonin the feel good chemical our body produces
· Creates an overall feeling of wellness - endorphins

Spiritual benefits of walking in nature:
· It connects us to our Creator and the beauty of this Earth
· I believe that we absorb spiritual and physical energy from nature


I am not talking about doing the Disney stroll. Start with a 5-7 minute warm up and then pick up the pace and start swinging your arms. You should start to sweat in a few minutes. This is a good thing. Keep this going for 20-40 minutes and then end with a 5-10 minute cool down walk and a few stretches. Awesome!! Remember to log your exercise sessions -I put a star on the calender for each day I exercise and end my exercise session by saying "Awesome" out loud.


“The Power is within me to lead a Healthy and Vibrant Life”

Recovering Sugarholic

I think of myself as a recovering sugarholic. Probably not in the dictionary but none the less this is my truth. I was driven to eat sugar based products in spite of the devastating effect on my body and the tormented emotional state that it caused. This is addiction. Like the alcoholic, drug addict, smoker etc... we are driven by our addiction. When we deny that we are addicted to a substance, we continue in our addiction. It is by opening up our eyes to the devastation that our additions have caused that we can begin to start the process of recovery. I can't count the days that I lost to my addiction because of the physical and mental torment it caused me. This is so sad...time is precious...life is precious

I remember a few years ago Oprah said "I finally got it" referring to that her lifestyle was fixed in a way that she was connected with. As a recovering sugar addict, I have come to know that you never get it!! That's because I am always in a state of recovery and daily renewal. I must keep in my mind that today I am keeping my addiction at bay.That's it TODAY only.

I have a good friend Armand a recovering alcoholic who shared this wise statement with me "One drink is too much and a thousand is never enough". I adapted this to my sugar addition "One bite is too much and a thousand is never enough".

Definition of an addict: addiction - an abnormally strong craving
addiction - (Roman law) a formal award by a magistrate of a thing or person to another person (as the award of a debtor to his creditor); a surrender to a master; "under Roman law addiction was the justification for slavery"

I was a slave to my addiction! Now I am Sugar Free and Loving It!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Literally falling apart

This is me in 1995. The building behind me is a log cabin suffering from neglect. How ironic that I too in this picture am suffering from neglect. Daily renewal would of prevented this building from the fallen state that it is in. Like wise, daily renewal will keep me from falling apart and derailed from my healthy lifestyle.

I had been taught how important it was to look after our possessions by my parents. My mother was a very meticulous housekeeper. The nut doesn't fall from the tree. I enjoy an organized and attractive home. I look after our possessions because I value the work that bought them and I want them to last.

One day it occurred to me that I valued my possessions more than I valued my health. I pondered that even when I was morbidly obese, I cleaned the house every day. However in the same state I didn't have the energy to look after myself. How come?

I had to learn to value myself. In the beginning of my transformation way back in 1996, I knew that I had to value myself right now...at 300 pounds. How, could I do this when for years I berated myself for being so fat. That's all I thought about when I thought of myself. Fat equaled failure...that's all. I learnt about affirmations and created my own "I am a person of value regardless of what I weigh...I make a difference! I still keep this in my heart to this day. We are here by design and we are here to make a difference.

Check out the effects of sugar on our bodies!

I am always searching for ways to renew and support my commitment to be sugar free. This is an interesting article to read.
http://www.healingdaily.com/detoxification-diet/sugar.htm

Giving up Diet pop

I hydrate myself primarily with water which is really liquid gold for our bodies. On March 1st 2005 I gave up my addiction to diet Pepsi. At that time I was probably drinking up to 5 -6 cans a day. In fact I would drink a can of pop early in the morning. The reason was not caloric as there are no calories to speak of in diet Pepsi. My choice was a result of nagging stomach problems. I reviewed my diet and thought that the pop with all its additives including sugar substitute might be the cause. As well, the caffeine in the pop was probably dehydrating me. This was a toughie to for me give up as a I have drank pop for over 25 years but when you leverage that benefits of not drinking pop against effects on the body of the toxins and chemicals...it became a no brainer. Last year when there was nothing else to drink,I took a sip and was worried that I might like it enough to go back to drinking it, not so I hated it and didn't know how I was so addicted to it before.
There are articles to suggest that even when we reach for a sugary substitute product we still set ourselves up for real sugar cravings. I had read that I would lose weight by giving up the diet pop...this didn't happen for me. I am satisfied in knowing that by eliminating as many chemicals from my diet as possible that I am honouring the health of my body...this is reason enough for me. Live the word!

Are you Sugar Sensitive?

Do you have any of these symptoms? You might be sugar sensitive.

• Fatigue
• Antisocial behaviour
• drowsiness
• forgetfulness
• overemotional and sensitive
• headaches
• depression
• nervousness
• unbearable cravings for sugary starchy foods
• obesity

I jokingly say I am allergic to sugar instead of breaking out in hives I break out in fat! But it is the truth for me nonetheless.