Let's get accountable ... 1) calories / menu - What did you eat today ? 2) Exercise - calories burned - What was your workout today? 3) Did you take all of your vitamins / supplements? 4) How much H2o did you drink? 5) Success / challenges that you want to share? 6) This weeks mini goal / focus? 7) Your BIG goal. 8) notes -

Ok, here's another one that's tough for some of us (Yes, Shawn, I'm pointing at you and ME!) - GIVING OURSELVES CREDIT. Oh, boy, we are good at feeling guilty over what we've done "wrong" but we have to learn to give ourselves credit for what we do that's good. If we dwell on the negatives, they built into brick walls that we keep bumping up against. We give our so-called failures ALL the power. Our motivation melts under the weight of that brick wall that we ourselves built BRICK BY BRICK. Well, giving ourselves credit will help us build a BRIDGE over that brick wall. Hey, that's what successful people do, right? They see an obstacle and they find a way around it, over it or through it. Britt realized that her coffee creamer was an obstacle to her reaching her goal. She found a solution - she'll switch to tea. I'll bet the tea will taste really good too and she'll feel good about switching when she thinks about how many calories she will save. Now, she might also feel frustrated that she can't have the coffee creamer and start thinking a few sabotaging thoughts. "It's not FAIR I can't have my coffee creamer every day." If she "negotiates" with herself, she'll remind herself she's choosing to let the coffee creamer go to help her reach her goal and when she's successful in avoiding it, she should give herself credit and a pat on the back. If she did it one day, she can do it another. And, the credits build up and motivate us to keep up the good work. The other evening, I started listing a few things I could give myself credit for over that day. Here's a few: 1. I developed a thorough training session plan for my Strength class so I felt confident about what we would do in class that day. 2. I had a back-up CD to play when my iPod set up didn't work - it turns out the boss that messed with the stereo cabinet and had put things back together wrong! 3. I resisted buying a bagel at the coffee shop when I was tempted 4. I didn't buy anything expensive in Ulta when I was there. 5. I resisted buying fresh bread (oh, it smelled good) and a candy bar at the supermarket when I was oh, so tempted! 6. After the supermarket, I was very tempted to grab lunch out but I negotiated with myself and decided the lunch I could prepare at home would be healthier and better than what I would buy. I was very happy that I avoided that temptation. In just a minute or two I came up with those 6 things. We need to stop dwelling on the negatives and give ourselves credit for the good. Now, give me a list of things you deserve credit for today! CeCe

I have been out of action. We were on vacation with no internet and then back to utter chaos at work first time I've been on the boards since before the 4th. I will definately start posting and join in in the chat on Wednesday. I didn't gain anything on vacation which was good. My exercise has not been good and my eating so so Deb

Let's get accountable ... 1) calories / menu - What did you eat today ? 2) Exercise - calories burned - What was your workout today? 3) Did you take all of your vitamins / supplements? 4) How much H2o did you drink? 5) Success / challenges that you want to share? 6) This weeks mini goal / focus? 7) Your BIG goal. 8) notes -

Britt, I know what you mean about coffee creamer. It adds up QUICK!! But I can't drink my coffee with out some kind of milk. Since regular milk is pretty high in carbs I've had to find other stuff besides half & half which might be low carb but has a ton of calories. I'm not super fond of soy milk unless I'm using it with my protien powder so not a great choice but then I found almond milk. Low calorie (40 for a cup) and LOW carb, 1 gram. And it takes pretty darn good. Just thought I'd pass along my find in case you miss the creaminess of creamer Corinna Q