You look fantastic!

denise

Oh...my... GOSH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Deb, your legs are SO MUCH SKINNIER! And way more defined, too! If these are "bad" pics, I wonder how much better you actually look!

I love your hair, too...

Thanks so much Denise and Lena. I still look too big, especially the bee-hind part of me...HOPEFULLY 125 lbs. will be nirvana.

Say What? I think your bee-hind looks perfect!!!

denise

Aw thanks Denise.

WOOOOOOOOOOoooooooooooW!!!! Debbie, you look amazing! If these are bad pictures in bad lighting, then you are even more awesome than this in real life?! Give yourself some credit girl!

WOW!! I want those legs. I've been working toward those arms but now I have leg envy!

Lisa

(Oh, and butt-wise....awesome...you could bounce a quarter off that butt )

Hi Seanna and Lisa, and thanks SO much for your kindness and encouragement.

Debbie.. you are so so so beautiful... inside and out I might add... not too bad for double nickels!!

Thank-you Cathy!!

Here is a little mental exercise to share that was gotten from a motivational/goal-striving workshop:

If I set out a 2X12 plank, 25 feet long, on the floor and asked you to walk from one end to the other, without stepping off, could you do it?
Of course you could. No problem, right?

Now, imagine that the same plank (stiff and straight) is suspended 20 feet over a tank of water with sharks in it. Could you walk the plank from one end to the other without falling off?

My guess is that you either said No! or are at least seriously doubting you're ability.

The truth is, your ability hasn't changed. The only thing that has changed is your level of belief and focus. It is zapped by the fear of falling off and the sharks getting you!

When you are working towards a goal in the face of fear, sometimes it seems impossible. The trick is - don't focus so much on the sharks, but stay focused on the goal - eye's riveted straight forward, focusing on and smiling at that which awaits you at the end of the plank.

What are our sharks? Unexpectedly small changes in weight, yo-yoing, eating the wrong thing, weight gain or stall due to TOM stuff or fiber/bloat issues... these things bring up fear that we might not achieve our goal. We have so much invested in it - time, money, effort... but the big thing is our emotional investment.

Sometimes we have a big emotional investment in being fat... frankly, there are subconscious ways in which fat can serve us... padding us from the outside world, from attention that might be uncomfortable due to past trauma or whatever...

I think it's good to know your sharks, and keep them in perspective - 'cause they might not be as big and nasty as we think.... AND then, take your eye's off of them and focus on the end result...

How it feels, smells, tastes and looks... Clean your closet out... imagine the new outfit or fitting into something you already have and love.
Hug yourself, a clearer version of YOU is what's waiting at the end of the plank... embrace that you, and let that future you, hug you back.

Poached from another forum:

I have done several cleanses along the way and what i have gathered is this.

KNOW WHAT YOU ARE WANTING TO DETOX.

Personally if i had it to do over I would have started with the digestive system. Colon cleans Kidney flush Liver detox all sounds really cool as a marketing ploy, however since you are a whole body you cant expect to flush your kidneys into an over loaded liver and lymph system and expect it to have any value. Sorry it just doesn't work that way.
When we think about clean we think about laundry and dishwasher and car washes. Grime is removed and you are left with a clean something or other. The body is not like that. The only time the body is totally sterile is as it is being build. We don't even roll off the assembly line squeaky clean.

What we want to achieve is balance.

The beauty is however how the body DOES work. Given the right tools and time the body will heal itself
So what do we need to know? What to put in the body. and what to remove from the body ( as in not introduce it in the first place)
Now we can go way overboard with this to the point of being people in bubbles, however for my purposes i will assume you actually plan to live on the planet.


Things go in one end and out the other, pretty simple. Along the way it passes by and thru several organs. each of which have a purpose.

Lets be simple.

Mouth - starts the digestion process by saliva and chewing. * fun fact Carbs are broken down in the mouth and not the stomach. the stomach is too acidic for that
Good questions. am I chewing? do i have saliva? so i have what goes in saliva?
Good Answers Yes I am chewing my food until it slides down of its own accord ( frak number of times i am not counting ). Yes I drink enough water to produce saliva. and the kicker. YES my electrolytes are in balance and I take a good digestive enzyme to replace what i use on a daily basis.

Stomach - continues the digestion process by dousing your food with a super strong hydrocloric acid. * Fun fact the stomach breaks down Proteins not carbs
Good questions. Did i drink enough water PRIOR to my meal to allow the hydrocloric acid to build up? Did I chew my food so that the acid has small enough bits to work quickly on? The answers are of course in the question. Stomach health is important and tons of things happen in there but the biggest part is drink first then eat, and chew chew chew

Pancreas - Enzymes again and hormone balance
Gall bladder - Bile salts
Duodenum - Enzymes again and hormone balance
Small intestine - Enzymes, Pro-biotics and Bile salts
Large intestine - Pro-biotics and Water.

Now that we know what to put in what do we need to take out. As many toxins as are reasonable. We all now know that ethanol and fructose are both toxins. we also know we have the choice to drink whiskey and orange juice regardless. just be aware that they both are not good for the liver. Other toxins we have reasonable control over

Parasites and Candida. When we eat parasite infested food they stubbornly hang on to our intestine walls. there are good natural remedies for that and they work best in an environment that has be pre treated per se in the above manner of intake.
things parasites hate :
Black Walnut Hulls
Yellow Dock
Garlic
Grapefruit Seed
Olive Leaf
Pumpkin Seed

There are tons of good products out there to destroy parasites

The thing candida hates the most.......

Enzymes, Pro-biotics ,Bile salts and a lack of sucrose/fructose.

Candida is a strange customer in that it tickles your hormones to make you feed it. Candida is an OVERGROWTH. it is supposed to be there just not supposed to the the boss . we call it bad bacteria because of what it does when it gangs up on you. There are great products out there to kill off an over grown colony but without new tenants in the form of good bacteria they are just going to regrow

ok this ends jonathans 0.02$ worth

Body weight work-out you can do at home. <click


Waist to Hip ratio <click
Hip to waist ratio is increasingly being used by doctors in preference to BMI as a better measurement of the risk of obesity and cardiovascular disease.

Ran across your journal today, definitely becoming a subscriber.

Aw thanks. I try to post some helpful or interesting things. For myself and others.

Have you been weight training for a while, or fixin' to start?