Day 6 of Week 9 Defining Your Dream

Weight today: lost 1 pound

Total lost: 16 pounds in over 8 1/2 weeks

vanilla protein shake:110
3 1/2 oz banana:87
1/2 cup of oatmeal: 150
2 tsp of sugar:30
1/3 cup of skim milk: 30
total: 407

Four energy gels during run:400
Espresso bean
Strawberry banana
Chocolate Outrage
Blueberry Pomegranate
Post Run-3 1/2 banana:87
total:487
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running total:894

2 large eggs:140
1 lefse: 30
1/2 cup of fat free cottage cheese:80
3 1/2 oz of strawberries: 31
1 tsp of sugar:15
1 tbl of powder creamer for coffee:30
with sweet-n-low:0
total: 326
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running total:1220

4 oz potato:88
1 tsp of Smart Balance light butter:15
3 1/2 oz chicken breast:123
1 tsp of Bacon Ranch dressing:23
1 tbl of powder creamer with coffee:30
with Sweet-n-low:0
Blue Bunny Bomb Pop: 40
total: 319
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total: 1539

Today's challenge: Keeping hydrated. I think I'll count how many glasses of water I drink to stay on track.

Planned fitness: 11 mile run. My abdominal routine twice today

Note on picture: Water:0 calories, and the diet secret that we underestimate. Drinking lots of water keeps you hydrated which makes your body functions at its best. When you don't drink enough water, your body starts to retain fluids because it thinks its in a crisis situation. And we all know that water retention equals weight gain or no weight gain.

Defining Your Dream

When I wrote my post yesterday, I wasn't fishing for compliments about my spectacularity. (I was leaning more toward the humorous) But I should have known better. My lovely blogger friends are supportive and full of the kind of encouragement that makes this diet blogging community a fun place to be. So, thank you guys.

But this whole spectacular thing got me thinking about me and what I believe about myself. And since I've been writing a lot about goals this week, this seems like the perfect time to bring this up.

Besides a having a weight loss goal, and a fitness goal to reach for, it's critical that you also have a vision in your mind of how you want to look.

Before I began this diet, I had a vision in my mind of exactly how I wanted to look. In fact, I've had this vision for several years. I first met my vision when I was pregnant with baby number three. I met this gal who who had long beautiful hair. She was lithe, muscular and had petite looking body. After I had our third child, I began to reach towards that vision. Each time I began to get close, I'd either get pregnant or well...get pregnant...or life and its stresses would happen and my vision wouldn't turn into reality.

But one of the things that helps sharpen our focus and spurs us towards our goals, starts with a dream. And the clearer that picture is in your head, the more defined your work-outs will be.

When you know what you want, you will do what you need to do to get there.

That's why when I first began writing this blog, I stressed the importance of putting in your food diary, pictures of what you want to look like, or pictures of yourself looking the way you want to look. The more that you can see pictures of yourself looking how you want to look, the more you will find yourself reaching towards those goals. This is a side issue, but also the more you see those photos, the more you will believe that you can look like that way.

It's kind of like making a three pointer with your eyes closed.

You stand there and first size up the hoop, then you close your eyes... shutting out all outside distraction. Balancing the ball in your hands, with the vision of that hoop still in your head, you aim and then shoot. If you have ever tried this, you will notice that your entire body will follow in line. Your aim will straighten; your arms, shoulders and stance will all move together as if drawn like bees to honey to that basket.

It's the most amazing thing.

Your body will actually compensate in unconscious ways to make that shot happen. It doesn't know that you can't actually see it. All it knows is that it still sees the basket in your mind. And sometimes reaching for that picture in your mind, will produce more accurate results than actually seeing it with your physical eyes.

There is such a phenomena known as a mind to body connection...When you visualize in your mind the goal that have set, your body will follow suit.

The only thing stopping you from reaching your goal is you.

For you to look spectacular, you must first visualize it happening in your mind.

So, how do you envision yourself?