In August, I was approached twice by women in regards to “modeling”. The first time, I thought, “How flattering.” The second time, I thought, “Maybe there is something here.” Well, there is something there. I did a model shoot for La Grande Dame. I was invited back to shoot with them again this weekend.

I’ve received great feedback from the photographer, my family and friends. It has been a wonderful experience and major boost to my body image.

Who would have thought that I (me) would be celebrated for her curves. For all these years, I have fought them. Dieted and exercised to rid myself of them.  Now, I am being ‘rewarded’ for them. (Yes, I get paid!)

Here are some test shots for another designer: IGIGI. I am a HUGE fan of her designs. They work so well for my body.

This is a post from Michael Neill. I used his 30-day program to do the majority of my weight loss during my 10-week challenge. He has some great gems to offer. Here’s one that I enjoyed. Be sure to sign up for his FREE daily tips on being the best you.

Genius Catalyst Tip of the Day
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Living Deliberately

Why are you reading this tip?

If you assume the question is not rhetorical (and if you do continue reading the tip after you come up with an answer! , you will probably wind up with some variation on the following themes:

• To learn something new
• To improve myself, my relationship, my work, or my life
• To look for insight into a challenge I’m facing
• To look for inspiration or motivation
• To put off working for a few more minutes (!)

Whatever your answer, bringing that purpose in to your awareness is the first step in making reading this tip a deliberate act. If you decide your purpose is a worthy one, it will assist you in not only achieving it but also in having a wonderful experience along the way.

There are essentially three paths to living deliberately:

1. Living Intentionally

In Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi’s extensive study of optimal experience, one factor that came out as absolutely critical to the experience of “flow” is having a clear goal, purpose, or intention. The goal, purpose, or intention acts as a sort of an organizing principle for our attention, filtering our experience down from a world of infinite possibilities to a selective collection of experiences which allow us to focus, feel in control, “make sense” of what is happening to us, and respond deliberately.

Therefore the simplest way to transform any task into a potential flow experience is to set ourselves and intention, purpose, or goal in relation to that task.

In cases where the task is mundane, repetetive, or simply not interesting to us, our intention need not be directly related to the actual task. For instance, living the intention of ‘being fully present’ can make a ‘boring’ drive into a zen meditation; living the intention of performing with energy, enthusiasm, and as if it’s the most important thing in the world can make washing the dishes into the high point of your day!

Here’s a mini-experiment in living intentionally:

1. Choose a relatively mundane activity for which you would like to create an intention or purpose.

Example: going to the shops

2. Now choose an intention, context, or purpose to focus on while participating in that activity.

Examples:
To stay present
To send love to everyone I see
To notice beauty

3. When it comes time to do the activity, remind yourself of your intention. You can do this by repeating it silently to yourself, by writing yourself little notes, or even by asking a friend to come with you and help you stay on track.

Note:
Dr. Steve Levinson, author of the book Following Through, has invented a fun little device called ‘The MotivAider’ which is designed to remind you of your intention throughout the day. You can order one with free shipping anywhere in the world
via this link!

2. Living by a Creed or Code of Conduct

Main Entry: creed
Pronunciation: ‘krEd
Function: noun
Etymology: Middle English crede, from Old English crEda, from Latin credo (first word of the Apostles’ and Nicene Creeds), from credere to believe, trust, entrust; akin to Old Irish cretid he believes, Sanskrit s´rad-dadhAti
Date: before 12th century
1 : a brief authoritative formula of religious belief
2 : a set of fundamental beliefs; also : a guiding principle
- creed·al or cre.dal adjective

One of my favorite creeds comes from John Wooden, the most successful basketball coach in college history. He credits his daily effort to live up to this creed, given to him by his father at an early age, with much of his success in basketball and in life:

1. Be true to yourself.
2. Make each day your masterpiece.
3. Help others.
4. Drink deeply from good books.
5. Make friendship a fine art.
6. Build a shelter agains a rainy day.
7. Pray for guidance and give thanks for your blessings every day.

Ask yourself the following questions as you explore what elements might make up your own creed or code of conduct:

• What’s the best of what you know?
• How different would your life be if you actually lived each day to the best of your ability in accordance with the highest and best that you know?
• If you already do try and live your life in by a creed or code of conduct, what can you do today to make it more likely that you will succeed?
• What reminders, applications, and interruptions can you set up in your day to make it inevitable that at least some of your attention today will be spent on the highest and best within you?

3. Living Purpose-fully

One of the most frequently repeated pieces of uncommon wisdom to appear in personal development and business success manuals is the value of having a higher purpose, vision, or ‘mission’ in life.

For me, this is a natural extension of living intentionally. If having a clear intention, goal, or purpose in any moment enhances and heightens our experience of that moment, then setting ourselves (or seizing upon) a vision, purpose, or mission gives us the opportunity to heighten our experience of every moment.

If that vision, purpose, or mission is one that truly inspires us, then we put ourselves on track for a satisfying, fulfilling life.

As you contemplate what kind of a vision, purpose, or mission would get you jumping out of bed in the morning and forcing yourself to get back in at night, enjoy these final thoughts by playwrite and social activist George Bernard Shaw:

“This is the true joy in life – to be used for a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one; the being thoroughly worn out before you are thrown on the scrap heap; the being a force of Nature instead of a feverish selfish little clod of ailments and grievances complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you happy.

I am of the opinion that my life belongs to the whole community
and as long as I can live it is my privilege to do for it what I can. I want to be thoroughly used up when I die, for the harder I work the more I live. I rejoice in life for its own sake.

Life is no “brief candle” to me. It is a sort of splendid torch which I have got hold of for the moment, and I want to make it burn as brightly as possible before handing it on to future generations.”

Have fun, learn heaps, and live deliberately!

So much for the 2 weeks of the last challenge weight shedding. I went into a “food fest”. I should know myself by now. As soon as I put myself on a restrictive plan, I rebel. I’ve been shedding weight this whole summer by portion control and working out. I’ve eaten the foods that I’ve wanted, not what I “should” eat. Well, as soon as I went into “should”, I went nuts.

The great news is that I went to the weigh-in and shed 19 pounds! The audience applauded. It felt great! I felt great. My teammate lost 13 pounds. I hadn’t heard from her so I wasn’t sure if she was still in the challenge. I was so happy when she called and wanted to walk over with me.

We will hear the final results later this week. I can’t wait to find out where I stand individually.

Now, I’ve started a personal, 60-day fitness challenge.  It’s a very simple plan: work out 60 days by 11/15. I’ve worked out 3 out of 3 days so far. Woo hoo. My official start date is September 10, 2009.  I have 80 days to complete 60 workouts. This is very doable.

This is what I sent to my Biggest Loser Challenge Team here at work.

• Journal food (I haven’t done this at all in the challenge and have had great success)
• Double up sessions 4 times a week
• Eliminate alcohol
• Blog the progress!!

These are techniques that I’ve employed in the past with great success. I am excited to see what results I can create in these 2 short weeks! Stay tuned!!

Progress Photos

June 2009 &  August 2009

I am down 23 pounds since the middle of June.  I feel great. I’ve dropped a clothing size.

What I’ve found that is working is cutting my dinner to the smallest meal of the day. I use a very small plate or tiny bowl and eat the meal I choose. It’s amazing how this simple exercise in portion control has made such a difference!

I’ve also added two nights of Zumba to my regular workout sessions. It’s such a blast. I plan on buying the at-home series for my 30-pound reward!

This is crazy. Check this video out.

http://abcnews.go.com/video/playerIndex?id=8291573

How long do you think this trainer will need to lose the weight he intentionally packed on?

This week, I did 2 days of Zumba, softball practice, walked over 14500 steps in one day, and worked out at the gym 4 days (on top of Zumba days). This weekend, I have a 2-day (5 game) softball tournament. I feel that I earned my activity points this week.

As far as food goes, I feel that I am a little more snacky that I’ve been in the last few weeks. My calories/points have been a little higher. I suspect that it’s due to the increased workouts. I am going to start journaling my food intake this next week to see the actual calories consumed.

I am enjoying steady weight loss and can’t wait to see Onederland soon!

If you had to give up one of your five sense for 12 months, which one would you give up?

I think that loss of taste for 12 months would be a “dieter’s dream.” Imagine all those foods that left you weak in the knees now having absolutely no ability to tantalize your taste buds. No need to season food. No need to have special items. No need to pre-plan your meals. You can actually eat for the sake of your health and not worry about the taste.

Make sure to share your sense deprivation and why!

CONTEST NEWS!!!!

Luckily, you won’t have to give up taste just yet! You’ll want to use it to try out the new cookbook offered at Prior Fat Girl.

Do you like contests? Check out Jen’s contest today for a chance to win a copy of Eating Well Cookbook!