148.0 Fitness and Confidence

 I love several things about this photo, but mostly I love how confidently I am standing: shoulders back, chin up, feet moving forward. Looking at this, I see that it is so true that confidence draws people to you, like moths to a flame. I feel drawn to myself, here.

Confidence came to me through setting a goal for myself and accomplishing that goal. I wanted to be healthy; that was my ultimate goal. Clothing sizes and weight numbers were benchmarks along the way.

I remember being a teen and having no goals for myself beyond surviving through high school and getting a boyfriend. Yes, I went to city college and eventually made it to Berkeley, but that came later. I was sort of dead inside when I was a teen. I didn't have any goals. I was drifting. I had very little confidence in myself. Realizing this, next year whenever I substitute teach I am going to encourage high-school students to set goals for themselves in life.

Part of what makes video games so fun for me is the frequency with which I set and meet goals in them. "Oh! I've got to clear this level! Oh! This sim needs to meet that sim! Oh! I have to GM tailoring tonight!" Video games are all about setting goals and meeting them. They give you an addicting sense of confidence, which is awful, because then your confidence is all about your ability to play a stupid game. This keeps you on the couch, getting fat.

Fitness is so great for building confidence that is real and not limited to a game. Even if you get in shape by playing basketball, your fitness carries over into everything physical that you do. It doesn't only make you good at playing basketball.

Anyone can become more fit than they are now, so anyone can build confidence through taking on a more active lifestyle and learning what foods are healthy. Just set realistic goals, and your confidence will grow as you meet them.

The aggravating part is that too many people are out there lying to folks, telling them they can't lose weight because their hormones are out of balance, or they are big boned, or they are too old. BS. Join with me and fight all that BS whenever you hear it.

I gained .2 pounds yesterday, but that is OK as I am inside my goal of weighing 145 to 149.9. I walked our dogs a mile in the park, and then Scott and I took them to the dog park. We ran around with them there. We also shopped at Wal-mart for their flea and tic treatment, and applied that to their skin. Here is everything I ate yesterday:

Sliced Fuji apple candied with 4 tablespoons chunky peanut butter and 36 dark chocolate chips
Beef and bean burrito with salsa
Half a can of Cattle Drive chili and three slices of American cheese eaten with a cup of corn tortilla chips
Child-size chocolate shake from the McDonald's inside our Wal-mart

147.8 Lost a Pound Without Trying

I lost a pound yesterday, without even trying. My new lifestyle is working. It is maintaining my weight for me, with really little effort on my part. And no drugs. I barely even take Tylenol any more.

So, what is this new lifestyle? An active one. I go outside and walk as fast as I can for at least 20 minutes every day, come rain, shine, snow or hail. I actually like walking on the cool overcast days the best. I don't mind the rain. I have a raincoat and waterproof boots.

In addition to walking, I do all my own housework. Yes, housework is exercise. We used to belong to a country club, but I actually get more exercise now. They published my 'housecleaning as exercise' story on Yahoo! Finance. I get a little kickback if you read it there.


Yesterday, I walked each dog for 15 minutes, for a total of 30 minutes of brisk walking. I cut weeds by hand, out in this yard you see me pictured in. I also shopped at Wal-mart, which is some walking, too, especially because I always park as far away from the front of the store as I need to in order to avoid all those fender benders that try to happen near the entrance. In addition, I did laundry, which means going up and down the basement stairs, and generally scrubbed, picked up, and straightened. I often forget to mention here the exercise I get from housework and yardwork.

Exercise is most of the secret to my weight loss. New eating habits are part of it, too.

Cookies are only for Christmas. Cake and ice cream are only for birthdays. I think I'm going to dub the 4th of July for pie. :) The point is, I don't keep cookies, cake, or ice cream in the house for everyday consumption. Instead, I eat fruit when I want a treat (OK, and a little candy). Lately, I have been on an apple kick. Before that, it was blueberries. Strawberries had their turn, as well. I have a little chocolate or peanut butter or Special K with my fruit, to dress it up. But the fruit is the main treat. The other things just jazz it up a bit. Here is what I ate yesterday:

Sliced Fuji apple candied with 4 tablespoons chunky peanut butter and 36 dark chocolate chips
4 mini York peppermint patties
2 slices of Costco combo pizza
Half a can of Amy's organic lentil soup over steamed broccoli (yum!)
Sliced Fuji apple candied with 4 tablespoons chunky peanut butter and 36 dark chocolate chips

148.8 First Book Editor Credit

My first credit as book editor shows up just inside Craig Halloran's novella, Zombie Day Care, available at Amazon.com. You can see my editor credit by just clicking to look inside and sampling the book. The Kindle version of the book is only $1.99, if you want to read the whole story. He is a good storyteller! You can download a free Kindle app for your computer, your smart phone, or pretty much anything that has a screen.

If you do read the whole story and like it, then please post a favorable review at Amazon.com. Favorable reviews help my client sell more books. The more books he sells, the more projects he can afford to hire me to do! Actually, I am currently editing his novel, The Darkslayer. The Darkslayer 2 had already been edited when we met, but I will also be editing The Darkslayer 3 and all the rest of the Darkslayer novels he plans to write, as well as two sequels to Zombie Day Care. Woo hoo!

I lost .4 pounds yesterday. We walked the dogs a mile in the park. I did lots of housework, which counts as exercise, too, especially climbing up and down the basement stairs to do the laundry! Here is what I ate:

Small bowl of Special K and organic soy milk
El Monterey beef and bean burrito with salsa
Sliced Fuji apple candied with 4 tablespoons chunky peanut butter and 36 dark chocolate chips
6 mini York peppermint patties
2 slices of Costco combo pizza (Yes, Mom, that has veggies on it!)
Sliced Fuji apple candied with 4 tablespoons chunky peanut butter and 36 dark chocolate chips
2 mini York peppermint patties