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Introduction Text 1/2/2021 - Happy New Year! I gained the COVID-19, so my 2021 plan is to peel back the lockdown pounds! I’m confident that I can. It all happens one choice at a time. 8/29/20 - 2020, what a Twilight Zone kinda year! Despite it all, I've seen a lot of success stories come out of the Corona shutdown. Lots of people were able to execute on some big goals. I did not do that...yet. In fact, I did some backsliding in terms of my health. But 2020 isn't over! I'm planning to end 2020 better than I started it. What does that mean? 1. Low carb and daily intentional fitness 2. Meditating, reading, writing ------------------ #elevate 2019 is about elevating the things that are important to me: 1. My husband. I love him and want him to wake every day to that truth. 2. My compassion. I want to bring a kinder version of myself. I want to lose the cynicism and be more open in all my interactions with the world. 3. My mind. I choose to be selective about what I expose my mind to. From music to news to the social media feeds, if it doesn’t serve me in some meaningful way, I’m making more room for what does. 4. My body. Every day that goes by, I’m more acutely aware of this gift. It’s getting older, for sure, which is all the more reason to honor it with exceptional fuel and meaningful movement. I'm grateful for the strength of my body and my ability to change. What happens TO me happens FOR me. I welcome challenges as opportunities. I create what I want. Just for today... I'm eating food that loves me back by making me feel amazing. ---------------- 08/13/17 In the last few months, my weight has hovered closer to 180 than 170. Time to get back to basics. I’ve relaxed my eating and fitness habits and the results are written all over the scale. The nice thing now is that I’m confident I can correct course. My body responds to just a few days of low carb meals. One of my new affirmations is “I eat for health and energy.” I measure my choices against that mantra. I’m still kicking around my book idea on Project Management. I’m also encouraging my husband to work on his fiction series. I’m reading the 4-Hour Workweek by Tim Ferriss. It fits well in my latest project #gettothebeach. My goal is to expedite my retirement and get a beach house large enough for my family to visit frequently. 12/29/17 I'm now 18 months post op. They say the first year is a honeymoon phase. You can't help but lose weight. Within three months, my body settled into the 170s. I definitely have more fat to lose and lean muscle mass to regain. But being in the 170s is a tremendous relief. I'm no longer obsessed and pre-occupied with weight loss. Losing the weight helped me with that mental shift, but I've also learned a lot by reading and "forgetting what I think I know." I picked this nugget up from the Little Book of Big Change by Amy Johnson. When you leave your personal, opinionated, judgmental thinking behind, and "show up dumb", you get to discover life as it truly is. This notion of discovery versus confirmation of what I already know has been a game changer in many areas of my life. 06/15/16 I made a decision in February to explore bariatric surgery. I attended a seminar in April and had surgery in June. A deciding factor was my age. After struggling with weight my entire adult life, I decided I didn't want the next 25 years to be the same struggle. I feel good knowing I'm moving forward. 11/29/15 I continued to lose ground up until last week, creeping back into the 220s. I've renewed my commitments to health and wellness, trying some tricks from the Beck Diet Solution. I want success! 8/10/15 Struggling a little bit as I cope with the loss of a friend to cancer. It sucks, no doubt about it. July just wasn't good for me. I'm digging my way out of a hole after experiencing all time lows in June. Phooey. I just started the Cize Beachbody dance program. It's fun, a big calorie burner! 7/27/15 I tried the 21 Day Fix Extreme, my first experience with a Beach Body program. I like the portion controlled meal planning and most of the workouts are good, but they are workouts, so it's not something to get excited about! Each workout is only 30 minutes, so they're over before you can throw in the towel...most days anyway! I'm missing my Zumba for cardio. 6/29/15 I weighed in at an all time low again today. I'm doing this! 6/1/15 Okay, I'm ready to get out of the 210's already! I can do this. I need to buckle down on the evening calories and stick to my fitness streak. I'm going for 13k steps a day and doing Level 3 of the 30 Day Shred three days a week in June. Huzzah! 3/18/15 I'm out of the 210s! I'm 208.2 today. ONEderland is once again in sight. 3/3/15 6 months. That's how long it took me to firmly get out of the 220s. That's also how long I've been bumbling around in the 210s. Time for a change of scenery! 11/6/14 I had a cumulative loss of 1.8 pounds in October. What's not in that number is all the dedication and determination. Despite getting sick at the beginning of November, I plan to lose at least 4 pounds in November, which will bring me to 40 pounds overall...a new milestone achievement! 10/17/14 I'm struggling to break 220 for good. I've been hovering between 218 and 220 for some weeks now. Eating a sensible number of calories in the evening remains my greatest challenge. I did the Tame Your Sweet Tooth Challenge and it worked! I don't know how, but something clicked and I no longer add natural or artificial sweeteners to my food or drinks. I need to find/create a challenge that fixes my evening eating. 8/1/14 I'm still learning, are you? I learned that I'm a green smoothie Rawkstar! I've been doing a 10 day smoothie cleanse and it's amazing. I also recently started DDP Yoga. I can't wait to take some after shots of my contortionist skills! Look out! 6/11/14 I discovered that I always lose weight when I travel. Why is that? Because I make healthy choices, even when no one is looking. So, that's my new motivation and motto: Be the model! 5/31/14 Another month comes to a close. Where am I? I maintained my weight this month, but I made progress on many fronts, including working out every day and adding strength back into my routine. Night time eating continues to be the monkey on my back. 4/25/14 Operation Lean Body, Kind Heart: Lose weight and retain/build lean mass while losing weight. Be a better spouse and friend. Time for an update! Still maintaining in the 230s, working hard to move the needle. Another Boeing on the Move Challenge starts next month. It's nice because my Fitbit is already synced with the website they use to track our fitness. I added a new elliptical and rowing machine to my home gym. And that, my friends, is the last I need to spend on fitness. My focus now is to use the tools I've got and pay attention to the foods I eat. We know how this works. Time to put it all together! 11/29/13 I managed to maintain my weight this year. Thanks to planking, I also improved my ability to do real push ups. I got my PMP this year and my daughter got engaged. 9/2/13 Operation Bifurcate Brenda - it's on! Mission: Distinguish between the old and the new. Lift up the new Brenda with the great attitude and passion to excel. Put passive, couch potato Brenda in her rightful place in the backseat. Life is no longer a spectator sport! 6/15/13 I'm back in the 220s and determined not to retread this path again. What's changed? It's hard to explain. I know I can do it, so I'm doing it. I'm on a trajectory of about 1.5 pounds lost per week since May. My Facebook group started a weekly weigh in challenge and it's motivated me to lose. We also have a fitness challenge that kicked off at work last week. It's the perfect storm to lose, lose, lose! 3/3/13 Week 105 I turned the page on a decade last week. I'm starting Year 40 off right. I lost 4 pounds the first week. I'm doing my best to eat fresh and move often. 1/5/13 Week 97 I sort of checked out after Addee graduated from bootcamp. I regained half of what I had lost. But I have a plan and I'm working the plan *wink and a nod to Irish* 10/15/2012 Week 85 I'm still here! Still maintaining the 30. I took up a push up challenge today. I completed 72...working my way up to 100 consecutive push ups. 8/21/2012 Week 77 After being buried by an overwhelming workload, I've dug my way out and am doing fairly well! Despite being MIA for most of June, I managed to maintain my 30 pound loss. I should get something for that, right? That's a pretty big deal considering all the stress and lack of fitness. *generous back patting here* Awesome job maintaining! Now it's time to focus on that next 30..or the next 5, if breaking it down is more manageable. 4/21/2012 Week 60 Woo Hoo! I lost 30 pounds! ONEderland is in my sights! 3/31/2012 Week 57 I'm losing again, albeit slowly. 1/2 pound per week since the beginning of January. I'm back to my pre-holiday weight! After 19 weeks of purgatory, I'm ready to make this train move a little faster! 2/25/2012 Week 52 What I've found in my first year of Sparking: a pervasive healthy attitude. 2/12/2012 Week 50 "To trudge: the slow, weary, depressing yet determined walk of a man who has nothing left in life except the impulse to simply soldier on. " ~Chaucer, A Knight's Tale 12/31/11 Week 44 Good grief! What a set back the holidays have been. Oh well, this is life! I'm still taking credit for the 20 pounds I kept off. If I do that five years in a row, I'll be at my optimum weight :) 11/19/11 Week 38 Still figuring things out and maintaining a 25 pound loss. Whew! The gym was a bust. It's just not my thing right now, maybe not ever. I lost 10 pounds during the 16 week Inspire Challenge. I'm not dropping weight like mad, but I'm trending in the right direction. 11/8/11 - Week 36 I'm still rockin' the Zumba..trying some new things at LA Fitness. I'm down 29 pounds from February. 10/1/11 - Week 32 I discovered Zumba in September. I go twice a week and am already noticing an increase in my stamina and flexibility! 8/26/11 - Week 26 Oh my gosh! I achieved my 20 pounds lost goal PLUS I made my August goal one week early! 8/14/11 - Week 25 I'm amazing myself! I've lost 2 pounds in two consecutive weeks. One more pound and I claim the 20 Pounds Lost Trophy. Woot! 7/29/11 - Week 22 Getting it DONE! I'm down 15 pounds. I hope to have a big breakthrough in August. I'm back to 45-60 minutes of cardio every day and being more disciplined with the food tracking. 7/4/11 - Week 19 I've kept off 13 pounds, a little under a pound a week. by biking at least 30 minutes, participating in a fitness challenge at work through the end of July, and half-heartedly tracking food. Still figuring out a fix for evenings. 6/2/11 - Week 14 Update I recalculated when I started this odyssey and figure I've lost 15 pounds so far, a little over a pound a week.

Align myself to my values of living with vitality, being authentic, putting marriage/family first

Mindset 1.Daily Miracle Morning Life S.A.V.E.R.S. (Meditation, Affirmations, Visualization, Exercise, Reading, Scribing) Fitness 1. Host monthly challenges that have a physical and mindset focus (e.g squats and affirmations) 2. 10k steps 3. 20-30 active Fitbit minutes <em>301</em> Nutrition 1. Tracking 2. Eat a fat loss friendly breakfast (protein, healthy fat, cruciferous veg) 3. Plan meals, especially dinner 4. Eat Slowly 5. Insert the pause - good, better, best. No choice can be a good choice.

I'm 5' 4.5", 43 and live in Seattle with my loving husband. We have three grown daughters, a cat, and three grandkids.

"Whether you think you can, or think you cannot, you are right." ~Henry Ford "What you do today reinforces what you will do tomorrow." ~Elizabeth Benton "You become what you think about." ~Earl Nightingale

Add a Link ~Brenda Lake Mary, FL Affirmations I love: I am my own mood maker. My choices reflect the life I want and deserve. I honor my commitments. I practice impeccable self care. I am relentlessly positive with unyielding determination. <link>https://www.fitbit.com/user/2228KJ</link>
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