Category Archives: Goals

Finding Comfort in My Own Skin!

Good evening!

I don’t know if you know this about me, but I very rarely watch live tv, but my girlfriends have been ranting and raving about this television show called The Voice. I happened to stumble upon it this evening, and mamma, I am in love!!

Kim Yarbrough

Need I say more??

When she first came out, with her plus-sized-glamorous-sassy-self I said,

“HOLY CRAP!! DO I HAVE TO WAIT UNTIL I AM IN MY 50’S BEFORE i FEEL THAT COMFORTABLE IN MY OWN SKIN???!”

She is my new hero, and I mean she is a diva with T-A-L-E-N-T!!!

You go, Kim!!!

I am going to have to take a lesson from this uber-talented-woman, and even if I have to fake it until I believe it to the very core of who I am, I am DETERMINED to feel comfortable in my own skin!!!

Here is to a FABULOUS evening!!

“If you want to have a different life, you have to live differently!”

Chunky Dunker’s Night!

Good evening!

I can’t believe that it has been a week since I last posted! I have been happily busy with a new online class that I have been taking for the past couple of weeks, but more on that with a different post. Tonight it is time for Chunky Dunker’s again! WHOO! HOO!!! ;-)

Chunky Dunkers is a group of friends who get together every week to cheer each other on as we all work towards our own personal health and fitness goals. Some of us want to lose weight, some want to become more flexible, some of us would love to be able to run a mile, and some of us would just be happy if we could just reach our long-lost toes!! ;-)

The name Chunky Dunker’s came from my sweetie and my two youngest sisters joking that we don’t skinny dip, we chunky dunk, and after all of the laughter finally died down, we realized that that would be the perfect name for our newly created support group!! We have been going for about 8 months now (if not longer), and it is still a group that I get excited about meeting with every week.

I try to post the Chunky Dunker’s post every Wednesday evening between 7 and 7:30, Pacific Coast time, and after I post, we “meet” in the comments section of this post where we can all share hints, tips, ideas, recipes, and encourage each other to keep on keepin’ on!

If you would like to join us, please feel free to do so by speaking up in the comments section, or feel free to be an anonymous reader – that is alright with us too!!

So, without further ado…

Tonight’s topic: Consistency!

I am always talking about taking baby steps to get from where we are to where we want to be, and baby steps is something that is very easy to do, however baby steps is not always enough! Consistency is something that, when paired with baby steps, can really move mountains! or so I am told! 😉

Baby steps are easy, but doing them with any kind of consistency is something that I really struggle with. I have a whole list of things I know I should be doing, all sorts of baby steps, but I have every kind of excuse under the sun to get myself out of doing most of them.

Is that just me? What are some healthy things that you know you should be doing, but you can talk yourself out of doing? Here are a few of mine:

  1. Eating healthy
  2. Exercising
  3. Meditating
  4. Taking stress breaks while working
  5. Taking multivitamins
  6. Flossing
  7. Stretching
  8. Getting to my doctor when I need to
  9. Avoiding the candy bowl at work
  10. Taking vacation days – ok, so that one I am pretty good at being consistent with!! 😉

Hmmmm…I wonder what would happen if I were to be more consistent with some of these? What would happen if i were more consistent with all of these?

Here’s to a week of baby steps AND consistency!! 😉

Have a FABULOUS evening! 😉

Chunky Dunker’s Night!

Good evening!

It is that time of week again, Chunky Dunkers!! WHOO! HOO!!! ;-)

Chunky Dunkers is a group of friends who get together every week to cheer each other on as we all work towards our own personal health and fitness goals. Some of us want to lose weight, some want to become more flexible, some of us would love to be able to run a mile, and some of us would just be happy if we could just reach our long-lost toes!! ;-)

The name Chunky Dunker’s came from my sweetie and my two youngest sisters joking that we don’t skinny dip, we chunky dunk, and after all of the laughter finally died down, we realized that that would be the perfect name for our newly created support group!! We have been going for about 8 months now (if not longer), and it is still a group that I get excited about meeting with every week.

I try to post the Chunky Dunker’s post every Wednesday evening between 7 and 7:30, Pacific Coast time, and after I post, we “meet” in the comments section of this post where we can all share hints, tips, ideas, recipes, and encourage each other to keep on keepin’ on!

If you would like to join us, please feel free to do so by speaking up in the comments section, or feel free to be an anonymous reader – that is alright with us too!!

So, without further ado…

Tonight’s topic: You Don’t Have to Like It, You Just Have to Eat It!

This is an ongoing theme in my house, “You don’t have to like it, you just have to eat it.” Sometimes eating healthy can be rough, bland, boring, expensive, inconvenient, time consuming, and just plain not fun. So when I am eating something healthy and I would really rather be having, say… I don’t know, fried chicken? pizza? a massive steak? My sweetie will remind me that, I don’t have to like it, I just have to eat it. What he means is that the nutrients, and good for me vitamins outweigh my grouching and complaining about something that I may not be in the mood for. Kind of like choosing to take that 1/2 hour walk you have been dreading, instead of spending another half hour wasted watching yet another television show! The benefits of the walk far outweighs the temporary discomfort of actually taking the action!

Now, if I can only remember that on a daily basis, I would be doing a lot more of the things I know I should be doing in my life!! So, how about you?? What is something that you should be doing, but really don’t want to?? Could this statement be applied to your situation?

“You don’t have to like it, you just have to eat it!”

I look forward to seeing you all in the comments section!!

Here’s to a FABULOUS evening!! ;-)

“If you want to have a different life, you have to live differently!”

 

Chunky Dunker’s Night!

Good evening!

It is that time of week again, Chunky Dunkers!! WHOO! HOO!!! ;-)

Chunky Dunkers is a group of friends who get together every week to cheer each other on as we all work towards our own personal health and fitness goals. Some of us want to lose weight, some want to become more flexible, some of us would love to be able to run a mile, and some of us would just be happy if we could just reach our long-lost toes!! ;-)

The name Chunky Dunker’s came from my sweetie and my two youngest sisters joking that we don’t skinny dip, we chunky dunk, and after all of the laughter finally died down, we realized that that would be the perfect name for our newly created support group!! We have been going for about 8 months now (if not longer), and it is still a group that I get excited about meeting with every week.

I try to post the Chunky Dunker’s post every Wednesday evening between 7 and 7:30, Pacific Coast time, and after I post, we “meet” in the comments section of this post where we can all share hints, tips, ideas, recipes, and encourage each other to keep on keepin’ on!

If you would like to join us, please feel free to do so by speaking up in the comments section, or feel free to be an anonymous reader – that is alright with us too!!

So, without further ado…

Tonight’s topic: Shaking Things Up in the Kitchen

I have been spending some time this evening on Pinterest, and looking at all of the different food recipes that people have posted. I am very inspired to get into my kitchen and start shaking up the ho-hum, and turn it into OH-YUM!!

(Do you see what I did just there??? LOL!) 😉

There are so many different kinds of meals out there that for some reason seemed to not be on my radar, until now that is!! I am going to take a few of these recipe ideas, and give them a shot. Even if they are a complete and utter failure, I will have flexed my bravery muscles, which will make it easier to keep my kitchen repertoire a little looser, funner, and a lot more varied!

When was the last time that you tried something new in the kitchen?? Tried a new recipe, bought a new and different fruit, vegetable, or other food item, or put things together in a way that you hadn’t before? Shaking things up this way in your food habits could get you out of cooking slump, and turn your everyday mundane cooking chore into a gift of untapped creativity.

My challenge to all of us this week is to do a little pre-planning and get into your kitchen and shake things up a bit!! Come back and tell me what you were able to come up with!! I LOVE hearing your stories!!!

I can’t wait to hear how all o f you have been doing! I will “see” you in the comments section!! GO CHUNKY DUNKERS!!!

Here’s to a FABULOUS evening!!! ;-)

“If you want to have a different life, you have to live differently!”

 

Chunky Dunker’s Night!

Good evening!

It is that time of week again, Chunky Dunkers!! WHOO! HOO!!! 😉

Chunky Dunkers is a group of friends who get together every week to cheer each other on as we all work towards our own personal health and fitness goals. Some of us want to lose weight, some want to become more flexible, some of us would love to be able to run a mile, and some of us would just be happy if we could just reach our long-lost toes!! 😉

The name Chunky Dunker’s came from my sweetie and my two youngest sisters joking that we don’t skinny dip, we chunky dunk, and after all of the laughter finally died down, we realized that that would be the perfect name for our newly created support group!! We have been going for about 8 months now (if not longer), and it is still a group that I get excited about meeting with every week.

I try to post the Chunky Dunker’s post every Wednesday evening between 7 and 7:30, Pacific Coast time, and after I post, we “meet” in the comments section of this post where we can all share hints, tips, ideas, recipes, and encourage each other to keep on keepin’ on!

If you would like to join us, please feel free to do so by speaking up in the comments section, or feel free to be an anonymous reader – that is alright with us too!!

So, without further ado…

Tonight’s topic: Heart Health!

I am not sure if all of you knew this, but this past Friday was National Wear Red Day, for Heart Health. I, of course, wore red that day, and unbeknownst to me, I would become a celebrity. Ok, that might be an overstatement, but I did make the cut on our hospital’s Wear Red video that they put out on the web. I honestly didn’t know anything about it, except that one of the multimedia guys stopped me as I was eating a piece of celery (thank you, I was being very good!!), and asked if he could take my picture. So, being the ham that I am, OF COURSE I SAID YES!!! Well, little did I know that he was actually taking a video. So without any further explanation, here is the Salem Hospital’s video on Wearing Red for National Wear Red Day for Heart Health!! BTW, I am near the end of the video, and don’t you dare blink, because you will seriously miss me!!!

Well, there you have it!! My nano-second of fame is officially up *SIGH!*

I can’t wait to hear how all o f you have been doing! I will “see” you in the comments section!! GO CHUNKY DUNKERS!!!

Here’s to a FABULOUS evening!!! ;-)

“If you want to have a different life, you have to live differently!”

Chunky Dunker’s Night!

Good evening!

Welcome to Chunky Dunker’s Night here at Christinaville! Chunky Dunker’s night is a casual, but fun group for people from all walks of life to get together online to support one another in their health and fitness goals, whether it be to lose a few pounds, or to do one situp; I am very happy to welcome you here every Wednesday evening, where we “meet” in the comments section to catch up, share hints, tips, and ideas and to just encourage each other as we go through our health &  fitness path together!!

Well, this week…ok, let’s face it, I am not doing so hot on my consistency, so I am sure my weight is not quite heading down in the right direction yet. I do great throughout my workday, where I have pre-packed lunch box ready for my healthy breakfast, snack, lunch, and snack to get me through my day. I have always had an easy time drinking my water, it is generally about the only thing I drink, so that is not a problem. The places where I am really struggling is dinner, and the weekends, and not getting enough exercise, hardly any, matter of fact!

Dinner is hard, by the time I get home, I am hungry, and if I’ve had a bad day I want to comfort myself with food, if I have had a good day, I want to celebrate with food. We are doing better at cooking healthy meals for dinner, but I am sure that our portions are still much too large. As for the weekends, I find that I do not enough structure in my days to make sure that I am eating regularly – I have a very bad habit of skipping snacks and meals, and ending up so hungry that I don’t care what I eat as long as it is yummy, and if it is a comfort food, all the better. At least in the moment – not so much for trying to lose weight!

As for the exercising??? Well, in all honesty I am so sore all the time. I know this can’t be a new story for everyone, there has to be others out there who feel the same way, but my knees, ankles, feet, and now my lower back seem to almost constantly hurt. It really is a problem. You know the ironic thing is that I have an indoor pool at my house. I could swim every evening – if I WANTED to!!! Maybe that is the problem, I haven’t gotten sick enough of being overweight to really take some serious action on getting it taken care of!!

But, I am recommitting myself to get back on my own wagon, and to get moving, even if it is just for single digit minutes at a time!!! I am worth it, and I really can do it – with patience and CONSISTENCY!!!

Go Chunky Dunkers!!!

🙂

Have a FABULOUS evening!!! ;-)

 “If you want to have a different life, live differently!”

Getting My Financial House In Order!

Good evening!

I have spent the past couple of hours getting my financial house in order! Budgets, bills, filing, scheduling, etc, etc, etc. WHEW!!! It is exhausting work, but work that makes all the difference in the world when it comes to knowing where my money is going!!

My sweetie and I are having a really good week! Ok I realize it is only Monday, but really our last two weeks seemed to have been running much smoother than they have lately! We have been working on our communication skills, and with a little help, my sweetie is learning how to get his business life organized, and tonight we even sat down and wrote out goals for 2012 TOGETHER!!! I mean, really, this man has NEVER had any kind of ambition to join me in any of my goal setting, and I mean like, EVER!!! It has literally made my evening!! LOL! 😉

Anyway, on a different note, my sweetie and I are having a Cosby Show marathon this evening! We LOVE this show!! It reminds me of my childhood when my parents and I used to watch every week. I remember all of us laughing sooo hard, especially my dad! He is the one who introduced us to the clean but uber-funny comedy of Bill Cosby! My sweetie and I also love the messages in every episode, and I find that we are laughing , and then crying, and then talking seriously about what lessons we would impart on our child if we were ever so blessed to have one. It is a great show! Well, we watch this show from NetFlix live streaming, and The Cosby Show actually leaves the queue tonight at midnight, which means we are watching as many as we can fit in before we have to go to bed this evening!! BTW, bedtime is in 5 minutes, UGH! 😉

Anyway, I think that this is a series that I am seriously considering purchasing and adding to our collection, which takes me back to my starting topic of getting my financial house in order – I am just going to have to add The Cosby Show to our someday fund! Financial freedom is just too important of a goal right now, and we have got some serious work to do in that aread!! (but, then again, don’t we all!?!?!?)  😉

Well, I am going to call it a night!

Have a FABULOUS evening!!! ;-)

 “If you want to have a different life, live differently!”

Chunky Dunker’s Night!

Good evening!!

I know, I’m late, late, late!!!

Chunky Dunker’s night is a casual, but fun group for people from all walks of life to get together online to support one another in their health and fitness goals, whether it be to lose a few pounds, or to do one situp; I am very happy to welcome you here every Wednesday evening, where we “meet” in the comments section to catch up, share hints, tips, and ideas and to just encourage each other as we go through our health &  fitness path together!!

I have had an alright kind of week health-wise, but I still managed to gain .8 pounds. Oh bother!!! Very Eeyore of me, I know!! But, I just had an EXTREMELY healthy, and yummy dinner that my sweetie cooked for us, thank you, Love!!! Now I am eating a sweet treat of a dumb-dumb, you know those little suckers that have all different kinds of flavors? Those are a big hit at my place with the kiddos!

I am sorry this post is so short, but I am running late this evening and I want to make sure that I am able to get into the chat room and start chatting!!!

See you there!! 😉

Have a FABULOUS evening! :-)

“If you want to have a different life, live differently!”

Getting Over Overwhelm!

Good morning!
I know that I do not normally post in the morning, but I had some free time this morning, and decided to not procrastinate any longer! I know that I have been MIA for a few days, and I have to confess I have just really let myself get overwhelmed with my normal daily life.

Let me back up a little bit:

The other day when I was so worried that I was going to have our place flooded, I sat at work with that thought in my head for almost 8 hours. Over and over, I kept making a mental note of what things I HAD to have saved from the first floor of the house. What both surprised, and disturbed me to know is that there isn’t much that I care about losing down here. Besides my sweetie and my two dogs, I have a chest that belonged to my grandpa – he was an artist, and it is where he kept his art pens, that I would want saved, and the other thing would be my books that live downstairs. Not all of those, but a few that I consider “friends”, I would feel sick if I lost those too.

What does that mean in the big scheme of things???

Well, what kept going through my mind as I was thinking of these “HAD TO HAVE” items, is that maybe I have surrounded myself with things that I thought were bringing me happiness, when in reality, they might just be taking up space in both my home and in my life. I don’t want things that just take up space, I want things that add joy and value to my life. Even in saying that I know that things will never really do that, only people and experiences will bring me joy and value, but I live here. This is the place that should rise up to meet me when I get home. I started to wonder if that was what was making me feel run down and overwhelmed in my life.

I literally spent all weekend wallowing about this, and pining for the life I might have been if I would have not been focusing on unimportant “things” (yes, it was a very deep weekend for me!)  This morning I woke up and decided I was done wallowing. Today is that day that I start taking some kind of action to clean it all out, clear it all out, and decide what I am going to surround myself with from now on. No more unconscious living for me, thank you very much.

So, this morning as I sit in my living room, writing all of this down, I am surrounded by all of our Christmas containers, both old and new. I am working on getting all of the Christmas decorations cleaned out and re-organized into new, un-mangled bins/drawers  so that I can help make Christmas decorating more fun, less chore. It may take me all week to get this all put away, but as in all things baby steps, baby steps.

In the meantime, I have also created a daily chore list for my sweetie and I, so we can get make the cleaning of this place a little more manageable as well. No ladies, chore charts are not just for your children any longer!! 😉 Before I zip off to work this morning, I just thought I would share this new chore chart with you!! 😉

Daily:

  • Make the bed
  • Cycle the dishes through the dishwasher
  • Wipe down stove top, counters, and microwave, if needed
  • Take the garbage out, if needed
  • Wipe down the dining room table
  • Straighten the sofa
  • Clean the dog’s water bowl, if needed
  • Fill the dog’s water bowl
  • Pack lunches
  • Empty lunch bags as soon as get home so it is ready for next days’ lunch
  • Cycle laundry, if needed
  • Remove garbage from car if needed
  • 15 minutes picking up after ourselves before heading up to bed

Whew!! between the two of us, we should be able to manage that pretty well!! and I bet it will make a nice difference on how well this place looks. I will keep you posted!!! 😉

Have a FABULOUS day! :-)

Chunky Dunker’s Night!

Good evening!

It is that time of week again, Chunky Dunker’s night!! A casual, but fun group for people from all walks of life to get together online to support one another in their health and fitness goals, whether it be to lose a few pounds, or to do one situp; I am very happy to welcome you here every Wednesday evening, where we “meet” in the comments section to catch up, share hints, tips, and ideas and to just encourage each other as we go through our health &  fitness path together!!

I don’t really have too much to report this evening! This is officially my second weigh-in day since on Weight Watchers online. I have to admit I didn’t lose any weight this week, but I didn’t gain any either, so I am going to call it a good week!! I did have quite the splurge on Monday evening, going to a Chinese restaurant, and then making a beeline to Cold Stone Creamery. UGH!! It was yummy, and I would probably do it again, if I had the points for it, which I did! Dinner, I didn’t do so hot choice-wise, but instead of having my own ice cream at Cold Stone, my sweetie and I shared one, so it could have been much MUCH worse!! 😉

Anyway, I got my camera back from the repair service place!! YEAH!! It took a couple of weeks to get back and I have just been going crazy waiting for it to get here! I am happy to report that it seems to be in working order, and I will be back to taking a ton of pictures of anything and everything starting tomorrow morning, I have even warned my co-workers!! MWA-HA-HAAAAAA!!! I have noticed that my blog posts have been looking a little sad without their pictures, so I will be fixing that SOON!! 😉

Oh, and a slight explanation about tonight’s pic. This is how I look right now, as I post this evening. I am in my jammies, and ready for bed. I know I look tired in this pic, and that is because I AM!!! I have been keeping myself pretty busy!!!  I just love talking to all of you for as long as possible, but being someone who habitually goes to bed early, I thought tonight I would just be  little proactive, and get all my ablutions done BEFORE I get online to to chat this evening!!! So, my apologies if my pic scared anyone!! LOL!! 😉 Now you know what my sweetie gets to look forward to every night!!! I love you, Babe!! 😉

Anyway, I look forward to seeing you all in the comments section!!

Have a FABULOUS evening! :-)

“If you want to have a different life, live differently!”