Well, the time came to get a new computer after having spent hours and a few too many dollars wrestling with detecting the problem, virus scanning and ultimately installing a new hard drive during the holiday at the end of 2009. Kept me out of the fridge though!

So here I am in February and the same things start showing up: slowing of the system, “not responding” messages and just plain freezing up! The truth reveals itself to me louder than ever: “Lisa, it’s time to stop spending time and money on fixing it and just buy a brand new computer!”

So I did and I am absolutely elated!

My curiosity is, why does it sometimes take getting hit over the head or another such profound awakening metaphor to make us move in the direction that is ultimately forward? Why are we so quick to fall back into complacency and futility?

Of course I am relating this to weight and health, you know that right?

I was talking with my wonderful partner of 10 years last night and we were pondering why it is so difficult for people to change their behaviours that no longer work for them and adopt new behaviors that are better suited for the current situation including their new dreams and desires for their life. In talking about it I realized that most people just want to stop one thing and begin another the next day. It just doesn’t happen that way!

I'm no good at this game! I can't even hit the ball! This game is no fun and frankly... I quit!

(more…)

We are about to ring out the old and in with the new year and along with that comes our resolutions to do better, be healthier, make more money, be kinder, exercise regularly and more. Why is it that we decide to fall into the trap of making resolutions or commitments at the beginning of every year that rarely get kept? Is the whole idea of New Years resolutions becoming a continuous set up for failure and disappointment?

When you look at the top 2 resolutions that occur throughout the world every year it is consistently: make more money and get in shape/lose weight. Over and over again, people decide that this is the year they are going to finally live the life they really want to live. Get healthy, take off that excess weight, eat better, exercise often and all the benefits that this healthy lifestyle affords will be theirs. We see a huge increase in the activity at local gyms, YMCA’s, walking/running paths and sales of exercise equipment soar after the new year. Only to be brought right back to the normal flow around Feb 15th as statistics seem to show.

So what is it that makes people 1) make the resolution in the first place over and over again and not really wake up to the fact that they keep making the same commitment and keep failing? 2) why do people quit? Why do people give up and why is it easier to go back to the old unhealthy lifestyle when getting and being healthy has so many rewards? I am perplexed.

I welcome your insight and comments.

Here’s to a happy holiday season to all!

My plunge into brutal, naked honesty caused one astronomical change. For the first time, I took responsibility, total and complete responsibility, for my weight and the control that only I had over it. When I did, I suddenly and finally saw that change was really possible! Now, that revelation didn’t come to me very easily. It took a lot of soul searching and more than a little restraint to keep myself from falling back on the same old excuses to come to that conclusion. There was no one to blame for my weight or for my life, for that matter, except for one person: ME.

I started with the obvious. I was fat. That was a given and something I could and had readily admitted. Then came the next truth, which was probably more important—I was miserable being fat. Then the truths began to fly: I am lazy. I give up too soon. I set unrealistic, unattainable goals. I eat for the wrong reasons. I use food to interrupt my feelings. I use food to numb whatever I’m feeling. I used food to fix whatever is happening at that moment. I eat for comfort. I eat when I’m bored. The list goes on and on.

No revelation was too small or insignificant to write down. Each statement of truth fed right into another. It was like somebody popped a balloon and let it all out. I went through it all and discovered some amazing things about me and who I really was. Seeing myself for my truths was like a breath of fresh air. It was like being freed from the prison I’d trapped myself into so long ago! As a result, I felt what it was like to really accept myself more than I ever had at any point in my entire life. The truth really does set you free!

You can free yourself the same way. Being fat carries with it more than pounds. It burdens your life with limiting and sometimes degrading internal thoughts and beliefs that effect your actions, decisions, and attitude. It weighs you down in more ways than one. In order to free yourself from it, though, you have to internally assess what it is you’re feeling and why.

Start by writing down everything you struggle with. Don’t leave anything out. Full disclosure is very important. Don’t keep any nuggets hidden. After you’ve documented your struggles, move on. What do you dislike, or even think you might hate, about yourself, your life, and your body? Don’t limit it to weight issues, include all your self truths. Be honest to the core of your being. How do you truly feel about where you are in your life? How do you really feel about your body and your health? Do you like the things you do and the way you do things? Why or why not? How do you feel about the things you say to yourself? Do you like your inner voice? Dig deeper and delve into your values and beliefs. Leave no holes barred. Now is the time for you to expose the whole enchilada!

Okay, so that probably wasn’t the best phrase. After all, we’re trying to make food less important in your life. But right now, lighten up. This is the time to free yourself up, not beat yourself up! Make this exercise fun. It can be, you know. Believe me, being honest with yourself can be a very freeing experience. Think about how much your life is burdened by the past and the “stories” we’ve told ourselves that hold us back from becoming the person we truly want to be. Then think about how awesome it will be to release all of that! What a load that will take off!

Begin every sentence with “I feel”, “I am” or “I will no longer.” These are just a few examples. Use whatever works for you and let the pages flow as you document the truth about who you are, where you are, and why. You will always have the option of throwing away or destroying these pages at a later date if you feel it’s necessary, so give yourself carte blanche to let the feelings pour out of you onto the page.

Hello!

Because when you hear someone say “ex”-husband or “ex”-lover or “ex”-roommate… do you think they are coming back?  No!  It’s done, it’ over, bye-bye!

If I say, I used to be fat, or I lost weight… that even sounds like it’s temporary.  When you lose something you long for it’s return… right?  When you used to be something, it’s usually something you value, like I used to be a marathon runner, but I can’t do that anymore… but you would love to return to that time in life… right?
Well, can I be perfectly honest with you? I never, ever, EVER want to be FAT again!!

The pain associated with being fat is something I do not want to experience in my life ever again.  The shame, the self loathing… and it’s not just when I was topping the scales at 200 lbs!  When I was 30 lbs overweight, I still looked at myself in the mirror with  judgment and disgust.  Hard as I tried to accept myself… I was always trying to cover up my fatness with clothing or being funny to be liked or just not going to events so I wouldn’t have to be seen or even worse, have to find clothes that don’t make me look fat!

Now, I am an ex-fat person…  Big X!

My mission in life is to create a whole network of ex-fat people who walk, talk and act like people who refuse to return to a life of pain, sadness, and shame. People who are no longer willing to be quiet about the huge problem fat is in a person’s life and in the lives of everyone they know and love!

In our society here in the US, we are conditioned to sugar coat the truth about health problems, money problems and even relationship problems.  We don’t want people to know we have problems or to upset them for fear they will think badly of us.  Am I right?

NO! In this country obesity is on the rise and no one is screaming about it… I am here today to scream about it.  Fat is not in!  Fat is ugly!  Fat is unhealthy!

It is so much easier to stay skinny than anything being fat ever was!!!

All adults:  133.6 million  (66%)
Women:  65 million  (61.6%)
Men:  68.3 million  (70.5%)

My mission is to bring FATness out in the open as a permanently reversible situation and form a strong, reality based group of people who want to become ex-fat people also!  In that process, introduce, mentor, coach and assist people who want to be thin and healthy to add the nutritional cleansing and replenishing program into their life to allow them to experience the unbelievably carefree, fun, confident, healthy lifestyle that goes along with losing the weight and maintaining it for a lifetime!

To learn more, enter your information below and you will be emailed a link to a website that will tell you more about it and help you decide if you are finally ready to make a permanent change and enjoy the benefits of being healthy both physically and mentally.

My intention in writing this book is to help people start talking honestly and frankly about the many ways being fat is killing our people emotionally, physically and psychologically!!!