To be or not to be.... Fat

Photo courtesy of harmonyharbor.com

The other day I went to the store to get a pair of jeans and they didn't have a single pair in my size. Not one! Now, I know that I am overweight and it is something I am making a conscious effort to fix, but I think it’s silly that stores don’t carry anything larger than a 12. It’s embarrassing. I walked out of the store in tears, tired of being fat.

I have been reading a lot of blogs today about weight loss success stories and tips people have for sticking with it. I have wondered for a while what the difference is between the person who is able to succeed and the person who doesn't.

It can’t be that one person just has better luck. We all have crappy things that happen to us and often the people who lose a lot of weight have suffered far worse than those who can’t seem to hack it.

It certainly isn't money. A lot of people lose weight using nothing more than an outdoor track and their own body weight.

I had a wake-up moment yesterday, in which I think I figured out the major difference between the people who successfully get healthy and those who keep failing. My husband and I hit the gym yesterday for the first time in a while. I was pretty pumped up about my work out until I came home to shower. I stripped and was standing in front of the mirror and it just hit me: Losing the weight I need to is going to take forever, and wham! Just like that my excitement and adrenaline rush dropped through the floor.

It didn't seem to matter that I figured out how many pounds per month I needed to lose to meet my goal (or that the goal was pretty doable), it didn't matter that I’d busted my arse on the elliptical and it didn't matter that I’d given up soda. I was fat and the weight was not coming off easy.

When I told my husband that going to the gym made me feel even fatter, he responded that I was “looking at it the wrong way.” He told me, instead of focusing on how far I still have to go, that I should be focusing on what I already accomplished. I went to the gym-for the first time in six weeks and I didn't die. I haven’t had soda in 53 days. We haven’t eaten out in 36 days.

What I think the difference is between people who successfully lose weight and those who keep failing is that those who finally succeed do so because they start focusing on the right things. Instead of focusing on what they “can’t have” or how much longer it’s going to take, they really focus on what they are going to get in the end.

No, I can’t have my Dr. P. No I can’t snarf down pizza for late night snacks and no, I can’t sit on the couch for hours on end and expect to lose weight. Yes, it hurts like mad to work out. Yes, I cry because I’m an emotional eater and I am no longer eating to get rid of my stress and it’s an embarrassingly emotional issue for me. Yes, it’s going to take a full year for me to lose the weight I want while maintaining a lifestyle that is doable for me.

I know that I am capable of a lot more. I just never finish anything because it gets to hard or too stressful. I know if I can just lose this weight I’ll know that I can do anything, and my hope is that boost of self-confidence will help me make improvements in other areas of my life.

So my goal this week is to stop the self-sabotage. Stop quitting before I really get going. Stop making excuses to avoid the long journey and just do it. Like I tell my girls: Suck it up Buttercup! It’s time to put my big-girl pants on so I can fit into little girl pants!

In what ways do you find yourself sabotaging yourself when it comes to finishing a goal?

Giveaway Winners

Wohoo!! Happy Valentine's Day. Hope you all had a great day (and at least treated yourself to something special!). I am so excited to announce the winners of the Skin Care 1 gift certificate giveaway. The following names were chosen at random. There are several alternate winners as well. I have sent an email to the five winners, if I don't hear back from you within 48 hours I'll have to award the gift certificate to an alternate winner.

Drum Roll............. And the winners are:

Karrie Millheim
Katy Narchi
Bahjet Yousif
Darlene Carbajal
Billsn Beaks

Congrats to all the winners. Remember to keep coming back for more giveaways in the future, and to keep up on the blog! I love reading your comments, it  lets me know I'm not just talking to thin air! (0=

Lots of love!

Facial Freebie!

First: quick apology for being away so long. The flu bug hit this family like a ton of bricks. We're finally recovering and life is getting back to normal. Phew.

This last month I was asked if I wanted to test out Collin Intensive Exfoliating Gel for Skin 1 and review it for my readers. As a former reporter, it's pretty ingrained in me to disclose pertinent details so my readers don't get the wrong impression. feel like I'm being sneaky. I received the product free for my review. My review is an honest as possible. I'm not a professional makeup artist or skin care person, so it's pretty much just what I thought of it.

I have been using Collin Intensive Exfoliating Gel for the last month and I really like it for the most part. There were a few things I wasn't super psyched about and a few things I really liked.

Cons:

The smell was a little odd. It doesn't smell bad, just sterile. I'm admittedly a wierdo about smells so most people probably won't care. 

This is not a con so much as trial and error/lack of following directions on my part: The directions say you should use it one to three times per week. I opted for three times, which worked great for me. However, I do not suggest using it two days in a row. It burns a little bit if you do. 

Directions were a little confusing to me. I'm not hip with facial techniques and I still am not sure if I was using it right. 

The directions read:  "Use after the cleanser (used it after my own), apply a generous layer. For optimal exfoliation, let the product work for 10 minutes.. For toning affects allow to dry. Humidify with fingers, massage and rinse.

Now, I have no clue how to humidify anything with my fingers so I just put it on and rubbed it around a bit. It worked okay, but I think the instructions are a little odd.

Pros:

It was super gentle. Aside for the time I accidentally used it two days in a row, it was super gentle on my skin. I was actually a little worried it wasn't going to work because it wasn't scratchy like other exfoliates I have used.

It worked. As I mentioned above I was pretty convinced it wasn't going to make my skin look any better because it wasn't sandy and scratchy. Despite my ineptness at the directions I noticed that my skin felt much softer after the first use. After the second use my skin was visibly smoother. I always feel like I look dull... maybe because I don't have a very good skin regimen but I felt like the Colin Intensive Exfoliating Gel actually cleaned my skin. 

It was super easy to use. So, the directions are a little confusing, but I put the gel on as soon as I got out of the shower, massaged it a bit and then just let it set while I put my clothes on and fixed my hair. Then I just rinsed it off and finished my makeup. It didn't add much time to my morning routine which was nice 

Overall, I would use it again. I have a hard time finding products that don't kill my face, so I appreciated that it was so gentle on my skin and that it worked. 

Would you like to try it out? I have five free gift certificates worth the value of the product ($38) to give away.  If you are interested, check out the contest form at the bottom of the page for more information. Rafflecopter will monitor the contest to help choose five winners.The contest runs all week.  Winners will be announced on Valentine's Day.