the weight loss papers

I recently found a very cool website that I couldn’t wait to share with you. It’s run by Rob Cooper of Canada - the Former Fat Guy - http://www.formerfatguyblog.com and there is so much good stuff. Incredible website.

One of the most incredible things is Rob’s story. He used to weigh 475 pounds! Today he’s fit and muscular and is at 240. I really can’t enough good things about his site. It’s *that* great.

Go check it out for yourself, read his story, peruse the recipes and have fun.

~ Annie

I apologize for being silent here this past week. My husband has been home on vacation, helping to paint the interior of the house and re-organize things. I spent a lot of time working on some of my other projects and totally neglected you! I am sorry!

But the good news is that I’ve decided to implement a new blogging schedule to help me stay on track and keep things organized over here. This is what I plan:

Monday - What I’m Doing - exercise, meals, and everything I’m doing to get in shape and stay healthy.

Tuesday - Tips. I’ll discuss healthy shopping ideas and other tips that I’ve found helpful and that I hope will be beneficial to you as well.

Wednesday - Fitness. This will be stuff I’ve learned over the years related to fitness and exercise, from how long one should exercise to general fits tips.

Thursday - Another shot of what I’m doing as well as what I plan to try.

Friday - Recipes and Cooking. I will post my favorite recipes, cooking tips, and thoughts on food, meal planning and all that good stuff.

Saturday/Sunday - General Stuff. I plan to change it up on weekends, maybe talk about some off-topic stuff.

So, that’s the plan for the blog. If there is something you would really like to see or have suggestions on what I should include, please feel free to post a comment. Like I said on my main blog, this isn’t just a site for me - it’s for you too and I care about what you think.

Get ready for tomorrow!

Speak soon!

I don’t talk stats and such very often but I do want to just quickly post that in recent weeks, I’ve lost about 7 inches, most notably in my thighs (something which has always been a trouble spot for me). I’m at about the same weight, though, and I’m sure it’s likely due to working out - converting to muscle! That’s a good thing!

It is a bit disappointing when the scale doesn’t move, though. Now that I’m well, I’ll be amping up the workout routine again. My plan is to hit that hard come Monday. The fact that the weather is getting nicer is a huge motivator for me. I love this time of year - the transition between winter and spring - when the days are getting longer, sun is coming out, birds begin chirping and the flowers are beginning to pop up in the garden. It’s that sense of renewal and that is so inspiring!

My goal is to lose 10 pounds in March and another 7 inches. I have no idea if it’ll happen or not but I’m sure willing to try. The only problem, is that my husband and I’s anniversary is this weekend and his birthday is next weekend which I’m sure is going to mean . . . CAKE! And I *love* cake, as any good girl should.

Anyway, I hope you’ve had a good, productive week and I’ll write again soon! I’ve got some interesting posts planned for next week -

• A couple of recipes
• Some of my favorite foods
• The importance of food labels

And several more.

Stay healthy!

~ Annie

Mindset plays such a huge part in the success of ones life in everything and maybe even more so in weight loss. So, let’s talk about a weight loss mindset.

Now, in the past year and a half, there has been A LOT of hype about the law of attraction due mostly to the documentary movie “The Secret.” While the movie has some good basis and merit (and I do like it), it’s not the end-all, be-all that some would claim.

Mindset is much bigger than just the law of attraction. It encompasses more than simply asking, believing and receiving. One must do some work. Take action. You can’t just sit on your rear end and expect change to occur. Certainly visualization and focus are imperative to the whole process, but they alone aren’t enough.

It’s a lifestyle I’m talking about. And includes healthy eating habits, healthy mind habits, healthy spiritual habits and more. All areas of your life must be in congruence, in alignment. Having one thing out whack will make your efforts lopsided. They’ll be hit or miss and inconsistent.

Your mindset is what helps bring everything else together. Just like you can’t eat junk food all the time and expect to be healthy, you can’t put garbage in your mind and expect your life to be the way you want it. You can’t not brush your teeth and expect them not to all fall out eventually. It simply doesn’t work that way.

I’ve done an experiment on myself and my results using LOA for the past 6 months or so. And I’ve come to the conclusion that it does matter. It does make a difference and it does work. However, there are some huge misconceptions and important pieces left out of “The Secret.” (That, however, is a post for another time and for my main blog.)

But I do believe one can use the law of the attraction to lose weight.

Yes, I do eat healthy. Yes, I do exercise. And yes, I do use The Secret. All of these things have helped me lose over 80 pounds in the past year. I still have 50 to go before I’m at the weight I really desire - which is about what I weighed at age 18 - 110 pounds.

Every day I visualize myself at the weight I want to be. I spend a few minutes imagining that and thinking about what it feels like to be so healthy and in alignment with myself.

I am not an LOA expert by any means but I do know it has worked for me. I highly recommend anything written by Esther Hicks and also by Bob Proctor if you want to learn more about it and put it to use in your own weight loss mission.

Until next time,
~ Annie