I gots a "pink" mood for my walk...and if you're in E2E, remember your movement goals....(another VLOG...much shorter this time)

I gots a "pink" mood for my walk...and if you're in E2E, remember your movement goals....(another VLOG...much shorter this time)

Main Blog Updated: A Better Day Today: A "thank you" in VLOG form...(my first vlog, woohoo)A Better Day Today: A "thank you" in VLOG form...(my first vlog, woohoo)

A Better Day Today: A "thank you" in VLOG form...(my first vlog, woohoo)

If You Wish to Pray, Drop By and See (enter) Requests

Deb of One Weigh or Another has a prayer list up.
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Bible Bite for Today

"Forgetting what is behind, and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal..."

--Philippians 3:13b-14a

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Thanks for the Prayers and Kind Words & The Look Great in 2008 Challenge Oopsie

To all who are praying for my friend Y and her hubby L, I thank you, thank you, thank you. Having your good wishes and commisseration is a blessing. Really!

I've been feeling unwell, sleeping poorly, and I think it's just worry for them.

Even now, dinner didn't set well, and I feel nauseous.

With all the personal stuff and the Kimkins hoopla, I forgot to do my Tales from the Scales weigh-in, but I'm gonna try to go rest for some few hours and I'll post tomorrow for the nice folks at the challenge. And I want to catch up with my blogging pals.

Again, thanks. Prayers always welcome.
~

The Princess is...A BLOGGING STAR!

Well, that's not an egotistical decree from the royal throne here. That's Chubby Chick's assessment. And I am cheered to bits and honored to accept.

I get to pass along the honor--hey, paying it forward is alive and well in blogdom!--and so, herewith, her royal highness, The Princess Dieter, bestows the grand blessing and title of BLOGGING STAR to the following two bloggers:

Lady T, who is pretty, has cheekbones to die for, is sassy, has lost oodles of weight, and who has the good taste to like "Shackles" by Mary, Mary. Plus, hey, she made a frittata that made my mouth water. She's also very honest about her diet foibles and her life journey booboos and her addiction to sherbet. Honesty is a virtue much admired in the the blogdom of Once Upon a Diet. Lady T--who already has an aristocratic title, so I needn't endow her with one--is a Blogging Star of the Diet Domain. Everyone, bow and curtsey toward her direction, please.

Zanitta, who has a smile that lights up her bloggy world and who has bravely ventured forth into adventurous travels to lands far and full of sodium. She is not foiled by the inability to read labels. She forges on, cooking with courage and trying new foods with good cheer. I bet she can face down a platter of sea urchin without gagging. (urp) Not even laundry disasters can knock her off her mighty steed. Plus, she's lost more weight than me. (bow, bow) I hereby dub thee, Lady Z, fair maiden of Albion and dieting travel guide to the Far East.

And if you want to see some other Blogging Stars, just visit my sidebar for Diet Blog Royalty. There they are...some of my faves--Teale, Andrea, CCC, Lady Rose (hey, she's got a title and all!), Flabuless, Pasta Queen, Heather of Setting Her Free, Lisa of the Skinny Online, Lyn who's escaping obesity, and on and on and on. Click the links and meet them--if you haven't already.

We're all blogging stars, BABY. We're all PRINCESSES!

Well, except for the guys. Um. You're princes. :)

~~

The Triumph of Perseverance and the Glory of Never, Ever Quitting

You don't just hurriedly throw a couple rocks on top of each other and call it a castle. You don't just throw a wet paintbrush at a canvas and call it a masterpiece.

At her blog today, Chubby Chick features a great Calvin cartoon (dontcha love Calvin and Hobbes!?) It's an ironic one, and it fits her post topic of persevering in this weight loss journey.

It's funny, cause this time around, I'm out to lose SLOWLY. And that's exactly how it's going. Every other time, I've psyched myself to lose 2-4 pounds a week--really aiming at 3 or more. Haven't you done that? Said, "Oh, one to two pounds a week is great" but inside you were thinking, "No, I must lose it FASTER. This isn't good enough!" Then, once the initial phase (a week, two weeks) of fast fat loss passed, and it settled to the drudgery of the daily discipline and the minimal losses, I'd get dissatisfied, frustrated, negative, and "bored."

I'd give up. Too few immediate rewards.

That's what children do. That's not what mature people do. That's not what artists out to make something that last do. That's not what castle-builders out to save their lives behind those fortress walls did.

If it's worth it and if it's durable, it will require patience, discipline, and persistence.

Well, this time, I've told myself that I must see it differently. My daily mantra: I must be vigilant and eat smaller portions for the rest of my life.

We hear that a lot about weight loss, but it's revolutionary all the same when it registers in one's own brain.

For life. No going off. No, "This is just to get the weight off."

No, it's for life.

I got fat for assorted reasons, but mostly cause I had bad habits in terms of portions and sedentary living.

I am working on the portions and calorie limits. I am still stuck in sedentary.

It's a work in progress. But, unlike Calvin, I can't afford to get bored.


I can't see this as a sprint. It's a marathon. A marathon that may last decades, depending on how long I live. And I've no doubt my bad habits and obesity robbed me of life. Things of value--like fitness, good health, weight loss--take time to do right, to do so it lasts. Anything that stands the test of time takes hard work and time: Castles, Cathedrals, raising kids, creating the Sistine Chapel...

We're works of art.

While I was in the bathroom after waking up, reaching for the t.p., I was telling myself, "It's for life."

While I got on the scale, I told myself, "It's for life, not just this week or today."

So, it was cool to see Chubby Chick's post. And her small, shimmering motto: "It's not a diet. It's a life-changing commitment."

I can't go back to huge portions of Italian food. Of emptying bread baskets in restaurants. Or eating half a pizza. Of snarfing down a slice of chocolate cake that could easily feed two. Of eating a foot-long sub. Of eating several ounces of cheese at a pop. Of generously dousing salads with dressing. Of eating the whole chocolate bar. Of having three tacos instead of one or two. Of having humongous bowls of cereal instead of measuring out a sound, sane portion. Of drinking 16 ounces of OJ instead of 6 or, at most, 8. Of forgetting to count the calories in the sides, like cranberry sauce. Of double portions of fatty gravy. Of thinking that if I share that oversized, American restaurant portion, that it's suddenly a virtuous, low-calorie entree. Half of a triple portion is still half a portion too much.

I can't just follow my appetite, cause it leads to destruction.

No. I gotta keep working at that work of art that will be called "The Triumph of Perseverance" when the labor delivers its fruit. That will be renamed "The Continued Triumph of Perseverance" when the loss is maintained.

It's for life.

And we gotta keep telling ourselves that. We don't get to go off the diet. The diet is a lifestyle, must be a lifestyle, or we will fail, cause we won't persevere.

I'm only in the earliest phase of this artwork. It's gonna be a while here, with the dust and chiseling and sketching and all those fumblings of the brush and the hammer. Inspiration is variable. The muse is often out doing errands. Still, the work goes on: If it's a pound a week, or a half-pound, then I'll say goodbye to 26 or 52 pounds next Columbus day. The scale is my friend. The scale lets me know it's ups and downs, but there's progress in the big picture.

Art takes time. Put on some music to help you keep going. We're all of us dancing and drawing and painting and sculpting our way to a better day, and we're not dancing alone. The smells of marble dust and colorful oils and metals shaped in the fire fill the air. Smell it? Nice to have company, yes?

For more on perseverance--though she might tag it "never, never, never give up-ing"--visit the terrific blog Escape from Obesity.

Queenly Quotes: "Slow and Steady Wins"

"No one expects you to make changes all at once or to drop ten pounds in a week. That would just be unrealistic! So don't be discouraged if you don't see changes overnight. Challenge yourself to keep up your spirits no matter how you are doing. As long as you continue doing your program, exercising, and eating right, you will see changes. Remember: When you change your habits day by day and lose weight at a slow, healthy rate, you are more likely to maintain the changes and keep the weight off."

--Harley Pasternak, author of THE FIVE FACTOR DIET, in "Harley's Daily Challenge"

Encourage a Dieting Friend: An E-Card

Our Lady of Weight Loss--an art-oriented, humor-filled, motivational site for those on the journey to fat loss--has e-cards you can send.

Know a pal online who needs a dose of motivational art and humor?

There's a great e-card at left. It's the "Love Thyself" card, and the little scribblngs say:

"Exercise is my middle name."
"Yes, I can."
"Fruit over cake."
"No matter what, I'll stay the course."
"Love Thyself."

~~and my fave of all:

"I do not accept delivery of my ancestors' fat genes."

While the e-card is free, there are cool greeting cards and motivational objects for sale, and I just bought a bunch of them.

I especially am wild about the one at right. It's not ARTISTICALLY the neatest one. But the message is spot on. When you make a mistake. When you eat that bit of crap food. When you go over your calorie count. Sit, take a breath, assess the whys of it. Think of strategies for future avoidance and triumph. But, most of all, remember to say:

"All is Forgiven. MOVE ON."

Don't get ovewhelmed. Don't get depressed. Don't beat yourself into a bloody psychological pulp. "All is forgiven." You are human. You are complex. You have to struggle and strive. "Move on."

I am human. I am complex. I must struggle. And I must strive.

And I must move on.

Love that. Good to remember. Always, keep moving on. Leave the guilt and shame behind and MOVE ON and tackle the next snack, the next meal, the next hour, the next day, the next weigh in.

ALL IS FORGIVEN...Move on.