Ending One Cycle and Starting a New One!

Now that I am more firmly entrenched in ONE-derland, I feel it is time to make a few changes here on my blog. Don't panic! I won't be leaving the topic of weight loss, exercise, lifestyle changes, and all that I've done this past year and three months, I will just be changing the posts a little, as I ease into my personal maintenance lifestyle. I want to try to be a little more structured, while I still share my journey with you. I want to reach out and help others if they want my help too.


There are a few thoughts I would like to share:

• I am open to helping out anyone who asks, but I am not a trained professional. I also don't charge a fee.
• I am just a 'normal' person who has lost a lot of weight without gimmicks. 
• I will not chastise you for not doing what I suggest. It is YOUR life, not mine and YOU have to want to change in YOUR own way. 
• I would caution you to see your doctor before doing anything I suggest.
• I don't believe I have ALL the answers. What I do is really easy and is based on common sense, not miraculous quick-fix cures.
• I am not perfect. I still struggle with temptations, eating the wrong foods, skimping on exercising, and even, sometimes, recording what I've eaten so that it looks like I did better than I really did!
• Even though I am not perfect, I DO eat better and exercise more, than I did a year ago.
• I often say to "Live like the thinner person you want to be." I first heard this over at the Fat 2 Fit Radio guys' podcast. I believe in this!!!
• I believe in exercising like the thin person I want to be too.
• I believe I AM living the lifestyle of a thinner person right now!
• I still fear that I won't have enough calories left at the end of the day... and will feel hungry ... and will stuff myself with bad foods and gain at least 20 pounds overnight!
• I still wonder if I will stay at this weight or will gain it all back.
• I still feel fat. Really!

• I digress here but I just have to tell you this story before I forget it. A a few days ago I was walking down the hallway after yoga class at the center. I was carrying my yoga mat, gym bag, and purse. After I passed by someone coming in the opposite direction, I realized I had turned so as to allow for a lot more space for the person to get by me. I then realized, in that same instant, that there was no need for me to do that! I hope that person didn't think I was treating them like they had the plague or something! I was so used to having to turn to make way for my (formerly) wide berth that I was still doing that move, subconsciously.

On the other hand, I also:

• am thrilled that I HAVE lost all this weight!
• am astonished when I see my reflection in the mirror...is that really ME?
• love shopping for clothes now!
• want others to figure this out for themselves and to be as  happy as I am!
• still have more to learn.
• hate lose-weight-quick schemes because of the money they steal from folks and because they DON'T WORK!!!

I am sure I have more to say. (Don't I always?) I hope to update this blog, once a week. What would you like me to write about more? In each posting I would like to include a discussion topic, a tip or hint, a recipe or food, and a quote. What do you think, gentle readers?

QUOTE FOR TODAY: "You can have it all; you just can’t have it all, all at once."
(Taken from the Daily Spark)