Tools for Life

Hi everyone, if you are just joining us, WELCOME to the Take Your Body Back in 6 weeks Body Make Over Challenge and if you have been with us, How are you doing so far?

Well in order to fully engage ourselves in our challenge, we need a few tools:

1. A diary/journal: To keep track of our eatings and feelings

2. A workout buddy/accountability partner

3. A weekly grocery list

4. A "Before" picture of yourself  

5. A scale or your dream size dress/pants
6. A work out video, or gym membership, or work out plan
7. Measuring cups and scale


Weekly we would post the grocery list for the following week that way you can print and shop in advance for your food.  It is better to prepare your food in advance and store in the fridge.  It prevents eating out and "falling off the wagon" lol!!


Here is our 7 Day Cleanse starting on Thursday, Dec 1st and end on Wednesday December  7th. This does not look like your typical cleanse, however if we are talking about a lifestyle change, it must be something doable and realistic.   It took great lengths to find this cleanse.  Most of the ones I found are the ones you are already familiar with, Master Cleanse, Grapefruit Diet, All Juice etc  These again are not realistic given what our goals are.  My suggestion is that cleansers like that can be taken on an individual level. but as a group this is what we would be doing.

Breakfast
• 8 oz water with a squeeze of fresh lemon juice
• Scrambled egg whites with chopped fresh herbs (such as basil or oregano), topped with a dollop of salsa, and 1 slice whole-wheat toast, dry
or 1 cup cooked oats or cooked oatmeal topped with ½ cup berries or 2 Tbsp nuts
• 8 oz decaffeinated green or herbal tea

Snack: 
• Sliced apple with 1 Tbsp natural peanut butter 
or 1/3 cup natural trail mix


Lunch
• 1 cup fresh spinach or lightly sautéed spinach or kale, squeezed with fresh lemon or orange juice 
or 1 cup asparagus with 1 tsp olive oil, garlic, and lemon juice
• 4 oz grilled, baked, or broiled salmon, chicken, or pork tenderloin, seasoned with spices such as lemon pepper
• 1/2 cup edamame beans, steamed
• 8 oz water or decaffeinated green or herbal tea
• 8 pecan halves 

Snack:
• 1/2 sweet potato or one citrus fruit (orange or grapefruit)
• 4 oz low-fat yogurt


Dinner
• Large spinach or romaine salad with vegetables. Dress with 1 tsp extra-virgin olive oil mixed with lemon juice or vinegar (any variety) 
• ½ cup to 1 cup asparagus or artichoke hearts, steamed 
• 4 oz lean chicken with spices, baked or grilled
• ½ cup brown rice, barley, bulgur, or quinoa
• 8 oz water or decaffeinated green or herbal tea

Snack:
• ¾ cup to 1 cup blueberries 
or ½ cup pomegranate seeds
• 4 oz nonfat Greek yogurt 
or low-fat organic yogurt or low-fat cottage cheese 

6 Week Body Make Over Contract

This is an excerpt that I found on Sparkpeople ( A weightloss community)  
You know that keeping yourself accountable is a key to weightloss success. Even with all the information in the world and all the right intentions, you won’t get very far if you let yourself off the hook when it’s time to actually do what you should. 

There are two very effective ways to increase your accountability. The first is to get other people involved. You can “go public” with your goals and plans, letting friends and family know what you’re trying to do and how you're planning to do it. This method allows you to ask for support or the occasional friendly push if they see you backsliding. Better yet, you can join group or Team challenges with other people who are trying to accomplish the same things you are. It’s a lot harder to let your team down than it is to slack off when you’re the only one who will know (or care) about it. You’ll find lots of great challenges, supportive groups, and Teams here on SparkPeople. 

The second approach involves directly challenging the excuses you choose not to stick to your plan. We all have our favorite excuses: I'm too busy. I can’t find time for myself. I'm just not motivated. I'm too stressed out right now. I'll do it later. I can’t control myself. You may even view these as legitimate reasons instead of the excuses that they really are, and have probably persuaded yourself that this is the way things are, and that you can’t do much about it. 

But no matter how difficult your circumstances may be, this is the hard truth: The only way to succeed is to take personal responsibility for making things work out the way you want them to. And that starts with owning your own decisions and not using excuses to let yourself off the hook. 

One good way to avoid rationalizing and increase your accountability to boot is to make a contract with yourself that identifies the excuses you use most often, and specifies what you will do instead of giving in to them. When you put this on paper, in the form of a written contract, you create an effective tool that you can use whenever you catch yourself making excuses. Here's how to start. 

Step 1: Identify Your Favorite Excuses
The first step to becoming more accountable is to spend a few days observing your inner self—what goes on in your mind, especially when you don't want to do something that you know you should. Write some notes about your thoughts. What are you saying to yourself in that moment when you decide to skip an exercise session or eat something that you’re going to wish you hadn’t eaten? 

Some excuses are a lot easier to identify than others, simply because they don’t really make much sense when you think about them. For example, deciding that one poor food choice means  you’ve blown your diet and might as well keep on eating—that's 100 percent pure rationalization (and you know it!). The notion that someone else or some situation is responsible for your behavior comes in a close second. 

Other excuses are a little less obvious, like the idea that there aren’t enough hours in your day to fit in some exercise or prepare a healthy meal. That might be true on some days, but most likely isn't true all the time. If it is, then you’re probably not putting enough effort into time management, or you’re taking on responsibilities you don’t really have to take on, or putting yourself too low on your own list of priorities. 

Still other excuses are so subtle that you may have trouble seeing them for what they really are. You may identify them as psychological problems that control your thinking and behavior: I have no will power. My motivation has disappeared. I have cravings that are truly irresistible. These are just stories you tell yourself when you don’t want (or don’t know how) to do what you should. 

Step 2: Identify Appropriate Countermeasures
The solution to these problems is to begin telling yourself a different kind of story—one that puts you in charge. For each excuse or rationalization you use, think of an effective countermeasure. This could be an opposing thought, a way to break out of a negative thought pattern, or something that helps you avoid the problem before it happens. 

For example, if you find that your schedule is often so busy that you end up skipping your workouts, your countermeasure might be to spend a few minutes each morning planning what really has to be done, what can be postponed (other than exercising), what might save some time, and who might be able to help you get things done. 

Step 3: Write Up Your Contract for Success
This is the simplest step, but it's the most important one. Write down your excuse-busters in the form of a contract with yourself. This contract is a visible reminder of the commitment you are making to yourself, as well as a handy tool for remembering both the problems and the solutions you are trying to focus on. If you take this seriously, you'll find it more difficult to break the contract than to simply forget a vague decision you’ve made to try harder or do better next time. 

Remember to listen to your own self-talk, identify the thoughts, attitudes or behaviors that are getting in the way of your success, and make a written contract with yourself to do things differently. Be as specific and practical as you can, and be sure to come back to your contract when you are having problems. You'll see an increase in your accountability in no time and you WILL succeed at reaching your goals.


This should give us a good starting point.  Having said that see our contract below:

I,                                                       , hereby agree and commit to take the following steps  within the next 6 weeks to improve my accountability to myself and increase my chances for weight loss success:

1. I will commit to following the diet program on a daily basis as a way to get back to a healthy eating and living lifestyle.
2. I will work out 4-5 times a week with my gym buddy with at least 3 days of Cardiovascular activity for an hr and 2 days of light weight training ; 45 minutes sessions,1-2 days a week.
3. I will not let one small slip-up convince me that I'm stupid, worthless, or a lost cause. I will respect myself by refusing to engage in verbal self-abuse, and I will find positive ways to comfort and support myself when I’m having a hard time. Specifically, I will pray daily concerning my weight loss goals, I will check in daily with my group and accountability buddy.  I will write daily in my journal whether or not I had a good day.
4. I will not sacrifice my own needs to make other people happy, or do for them what they can and should be doing for themselves. When there is a conflict between my exercise and eating plans and what other people want me to do, I will negotiate to find a reasonable solution that allows me to do what I need to do for myself.
5. I choose to be in charge of my own decisions and behavior. I will not talk, think, or act as if my partner, child, spouse, cravings, work, life or subconscious made me do it. I will ask myself what’s most important to me at that moment and make my decision. If I don’t like the consequences, I will try something different the next time.
6. Regardless of how hard it gets I will stay committed to this program for the full 6weeks.

Signed: ________________________________________________

Accountability Partner: ___________________________________




Please sign this and read it to your accountability partner and keep this in your journal.  Look at it whenever you are about to quit.  Remember you made this promise to yourself.  Do NOT let yourself down.

WELCOME!!!!

Hello everyone!!!! I want to welcome you all to the Take Your Body Back 6 week Body Make Over Challenge.  That's a mouthful huhn? I know!!! Just bear with me as I try to explain the reason for this.  Truly this body make over is as a result of a long standing battle with my weight.  I am so tired of going round this mountain as I am sure most of you are.  For as long as I've been aware, my weight has always been an issue and I've lost it, gained it, lost and gained it back too many times.  


So sitting here after baby and thinking of the saying, "If you want to get different results, try something that you never have before" I started thinking of a way to motivate myself to not only lose this weight but develop a healthy lifestyle that would help me keep it off for good and I had my "Aha" moment.  If I pray about things in my life asking God for change, why not my weight?  That was Aha numero uno.  Aha #2: why not get a group of people together to encourage, support and pray each other into this new body and lifestyle that we we all yearn for.  So voila ici.  A Blackberry Messenger Group was formed to see how many people would be interested and needless to say the very 1st day we already reached the group's max. (Yikes!!!).  I always planned to do a blog to document not a weight loss process but a life changing event, well this counts for me as a life changing event, because it is my hope that after this my life, as well as many of yours would never be the same again.  That you would look upon this experience as the turning point where your body no longer determined how you would look and feel, but you decided what your body would look and feel like.  Please see this not only as a place for you to come and get encouraged, but be prepared to give and share of yourself.  


The majority of you are women and when galvanized in the right way and for the right cause, we form a formidable force to be reckoned with.  Please let us build each other up, celebrate ourselves, our accomplishments and triumphs through this process.  One person's success is collectively our success, because it means they have overcome and crossed over to the other side and if they could do it, so can we.  So join me as I invoke the Obama chant "Yes We Can! Yes We Can!! Yes We Can!!!" and to add to that "Yes We Shall! Yes We Shall!! Yes We Shall!!!"


Well, over the next few weeks, the blog is going to arm us with the tools we need to make this happen.  I believe 2012 is going to be a greater year than any of the years we have experieneced thus far and we need to be prepared, spiritually, mentally, emotionally, psychologically and PHYSICALLY.  So be on the look out, also share the blog with your friends, sisters, mothers, aunties, cousins, whoever you know could do with a lifestyle change.  


I leave you with a scripture that I want to see manifested in my life; an abundant full life, John 10:10 " The enemy comes only to steal, kill and destroy; I (Jesus Christ) come that they (us) may have life; and have it to the full" .  Let us live our lives to the fullest.  


Welcome aboard! And I cant wait to see what we would all look like after 6 weeks.