New Year, New You

Happy 2013! Yet again, I've slacked off on blogging, and yet again, I'm getting back on track with my  health. I'm actually super excited to be off white flour and sugar again, as of today. I did really well for about four months, not even cheating a little bit, but then in early December I fell off the wagon. Jumped off, is a more accurate description. (Had a to die for It's It ice cream sandwich, then continued to eat sugar for the entire month. I've got five whole pounds to show for it!)

I wanted to share some of my tips for the multitudes of people who have made resolutions for the new year to eat healthily and get in shape. Since my brain injury I've been very "on again/off again" with my commitment to eating supremely well, and I'd like to get on again and stay there. I want this to be a lifelong commitment. No cheating and definitely no divorce.

All of these tips are things I'm sure I've gone over in various posts on the blog, but wanted to consolidate them as a New Year reference point:

1. Baby Steps - make realistic goals and give yourself a reasonable amount of time to reach each one. I always advise people to change one thing at a time and give it time to stick before you add in something new. So, if you are trying to improve your diet and get into the habit of exercising regularly, focus only on one or the other for the first 6-8 weeks. That may seem like a really long time, but that's how long it can take to make new habits stick.

For instance, since I am quite familiar with the process of going off sugar and white flour, I do it cold turkey. However, I know from experience that I need to get through five days of cravings and withdrawal symptoms in order to be fully on the road to success. So for those first few days I don't count carbs, I don't judge my eating choices, and I don't worry about exercise. I just get through the five days and don't eat any white flour or sugar. Anything else is fair game, in any amount. (I just had a huge portion of whole wheat spaghetti for dinner.)

2. Don't Beat Yourself Up - Ate something you shouldn't have? Oh well. As Anne Shirley once said, "Tomorrow is always fresh with no mistakes in it." As a matter of fact, your next meal is always fresh with no mistakes in it. Rather than throwing in the towel or even wallowing in guilt, just make a firm commitment to make a better choice next time, and in no time the "bad stuff" won't even look good any more.

3. Distract Yourself - Keep yourself busy and you'll have less time to fall into emotional or mindless eating. If you find yourself staring into an open refrigerator, close the door, get a nice big glass of water, sit down somewhere and slowly sip the entire thing. My other distractions that keep me from eating when I know I'm not really hungry anyway are chewing gum and exercising. Reading a book with a glass of water or cup of tea at hand would work well too.

4. Have a Plan - Know how long you're going to give yourself to reach a goal, and have a plan in place for moving towards the next goal. I knew I was going to be going off sugar and white flour today, so in the few days prior to starting I made an inventory of what food is available to me and went to the grocery store to make sure I had plenty of healthy choices. I'm giving myself five days to adjust to no sugar or white flour, then my next phase will be giving myself a daily allotment of carbs and sticking to it. Since I've done this before I'll likely stay in that phase until the end of January and then start focusing on exercise, using these same guidelines.

I know I usually do a New Year Resolutions/Goals post, but this year it's quite simple:

Eat well, exercise, be present, love myself and others, and DANCE.

Happy New Year, and good luck in reaching those goals, whatever they may be!

P.S. I'm also setting a goal of NOT indulging in sugar or white flour next holiday season. I know there are lots of delicious goodies out there that I can make to substitute for all the bad for me stuff I ate in the last month. Hey Becki - can you set a reminder on your phone for the end of November that says, "Tell Beth to start looking up healthy treat recipes?" ;)

Fall Fashion Challenge Wrap-up!

Here are pics from the rest of the month of October:

And October 28th we had a Disney Themed Halloween Party. I was Arrietty from The Secret World of Arrietty. (A Miyazaki film released by Disney in the U.S.) 

My hubby rocks the photo editing! :) 

I told my almost 8-year-old that she could pick my outfits for the next five days, so I'll be sharing those outfits on Twitter. I must be crazy. 

More Catching Up!

October 10-23. A couple of days are missing when I was feeling awful and just wore sweats or pajamas. I unfortunately whacked my head with a cabinet door two weeks ago and have been battling head injury symptoms such as extreme fatigue, horrible headaches, dizziness and nausea. 

At least one item and sometimes entire outfits are from Goodwill! I'm usually hesitant to buy shoes at Goodwill, but I couldn't pass up the boots (pumpkin patch picture.) Cute boots in my (huge) size for $11? Yes, please. One of my other faves is the Calvin Klein red sweater that I paired with cowboy boots. It was $12 at Goodwill, which I think is steep, but it was brand new with the tags still on. I got so many compliments on that sweater. 

The mini skirt outfit is almost all Goodwill. The tank under the sweater is from Target. The sweater is Eddie Bauer Sport; I think the skirt is a Target brand as well. If/when I buy clothes new, it's generally from Target, Gap (clearance section), TJMaxx, Ross, and occasionally Old Navy. The brands I find and tend to like at Goodwill are Ann Taylor, Anne Klein, Calvin Klein, Seven for all Mankind, Banana Republic, Gap, J. Crew. What are your favorite brands?

Catching Up!

I've been so busy lately! I need to post my outfits from the last week or so. As usual I always intend to take nice pictures with my camera and only end up with a blurry phone pic. Sorry!

Oct. 5 - Express black leggings, Banana Republic sweater from Goodwill, gray camisole underneath, turquoise scarf that was a gift, Ugg knockoffs that were also a gift, Target knee socks.

Oct. 6 - Navy leggings from Goodwill (don't know brand), Eddie Bauer henley also from Goodwill, light brown Gap cami underneath, Target knee socks, and my favorite brown boots wit da fur.

Oct. 7 - a much warmer day! Bleu skinny jeans that a friend gave me, Express top that was a gift, lavender cami under that I believe was purchased at Forever 21, Puma black flats.

Oct. 8 - Awesome Tommy Hilfiger sweater that I found at Goodwill, gray Gap tank under, Old Navy black leggings, Target knee socks, Ugg knockoffs.

Oct. 9 - Lucky Brand jeans found at Goodwill, Old Navy sequin tank, blue pullover hoodie found at Goodwill (not sure of brand), Puma sneakers.

Today my phone doesn't want to send tweets, so I'll take some pictures with my camera.

October 3 & 4

So, remember what I was saying about Denver weather in October? Yesterday it got up to around 80 degrees...today it was in the 30's when I woke up and is now 43. A cold front blew in last night, fast and furious, and now it feels a little more like winter than fall. Personally I love it, but it can be hard to adjust to such a sudden change.

Yesterday I ended up wearing yoga clothes all day as I went to a therapeutic yoga class in the morning and then never changed. It's rather boring:

Top is The North Face, but I found it at Goodwill. Pants are navy yoga capris, not sure where I got them. Hoodie from Target. Puma bag that I got a killer deal on at the outlet store.

Today I spent the majority of the day in my pajamas, comfy cozy ones from Target:

But then I had to go meet a friend for coffee so I actually got dressed:

Lucky Brand jeans from Goodwil ($6!), Target long sleeve top, probably around $10, Banana Republic short sleeve pullover with hood, found at Goodwill, probably $5.

Tomorrow you likely get two outfits because I'm going out tomorrow night.