Sunday, January 20, 2008

So they call it the "Flatbelly Diet" - I call it Low Carb

There's an interesting article in Prevention Magazine this month.

It is called the "Flatbelly Diet". I happend to pick up the magazine in the grocery store on Saturday but you can read it here.

Daily staples on the diet are pretty much the same as mine...well, except for the chocolate...I eat that sparingly:

1. Avocados
2. Olives
3. Nuts and seeds
4. Chocolate
5. Oils

I love Prevention Magazine, but it's definitely always been biased against true low/no carb diets, from what I recall.

O'course you and I all know that Prevention can't double cross Weight Watchers (one of their biggest advertisers) and say, "Hey, that old man Atkins wasn't so far off after all with his low carb WOE! Sweets and starches won't cut it for everyone. Low carbohydrate eating shows excellent results. Up with Atkins!"

If you read their article on the Flatbelly Diet you'll see women saying that when they eat the recipes provided by Prevention for this diet that they aren't hungry (um, ketosis? satiety?)...that they feel more satisfied after eating this way. (We low carb dieters already knew that.) Upon a closer look you will find that almost all of their recipes also happen to be low carb meals and healthy by the low carber's standards.

Imagine that. High fat foods, low carb foods are killing hunger!

Prevention also claims that this diet is causing women to lose weight with fairly fast results. Better yet they are losing it especially around their middles, hence the name, "The Flatbelly Diet".

The type of fat that Prevention is promoting in this diet by recommending the foods in the above list is MUFA (also known as monounsaturated fatty acids). MUFA is purported to help attack problems women have when they age and grow their menopausal spare tire. (Well, heck yeah! If a middle aged woman cuts carbs way back and eats good food rich in monounsaturated fatty acids miracles happen!)

'Scuse me Prevention Magazine! That's not news to low carbers and the Atkins followers. Just one of many Atkins MUFA-related articles appears here: http://www.atkins.com/research-library/research-items/anresearchitem.2005-09-26.4871641671

Looking at the MUFA power food list I have to comment that during my 50 pound weight loss journey (only 20 more to lose!) this isn't news to me.

* I have at least one , maybe two, whole avocados a week.
* Almost every day I eat at least ten to twenty olives in my salad, diced up on top of my ground sirloin, or straight out of the jar.
* Low carb fans already know that nuts such as almonds, pecans, walnuts, and even peanuts are a great treat on the breakfast plate or in your desk drawer for an afternoon snack. They are one of my staples.
* We know as long as we have UNsweetened chocolate (no sugar)we aren't messing up. We just have to eat the chocolate without sweetener or add a non-sugar substitute to the recipe.
* We cook with olive oil and other healthy types all the time!

So now I say "Man up" Prevention Magazine. Admit it! You know this is really a high fat, low carb diet which shuns simple carbs readily accepted by Weight Watchers. You can call it The Flatbelly Diet if you want to, but a rose by any other name.. and all that jazz. (Oh yeah, and we know that chocolate and banana thing you mentioned in the article is just a cover so Weight Watchers won't start cryin'.)

All I'm sayin' is this isn't a revolutionary discovery...Dr. Atkins knew this years ago.

Thursday, January 17, 2008

The Inflammatory Way of the Media

I get frustrated with the media for their inflammatory way of presenting things so that it scares the pants off of less critical thinking people, for their targeting the senior citizens eating their tomato soup and tuna sandwiches while watching the news at noon.

The other day my own dear Mother Smith got mad at me because of a horror story from the news. "They said on the news today that the government is letting our social security numbers out. They [note: whoever the heck "they" is] found Colin Powell's social security number! It's rampant!"

Now, understand the insinuation by mainstream media in this particular case is that the dastardly Dubya and his minions are the root of all evil and are letting your SS numbers "out there". (See http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2008/01/02/government_websites_yield_personal_data/ for a sample.)

The reality is that local county governments have taken property records online and are still not completely error proof in redacting social security numbers from days gone by when ID theft wasn't rampant...and, it's a bad thing...I don't disagree with that. In fact, I feel that property records should not be online...only the index of the records. I feel that anyone who looks at property records should be required to be registered with the county by proper ID so that abstractors can go about their abstracting business book by book...not so that anyone can peruse the records on a whim.

However, the way it is presented all Mother Smith hears is "The world is going to hell in a handbasket and I better go to the bank and get all my money and bury it in the back yard."

Mother Smith was gravely disappointed when I explained how the numbers came to be online.

Somehow I think my mother must have enjoyed ghost tales when she was a child...there's just something kind of exciting about being scared out of your wits.

This Weekend's To Do List:

Update: Jan. 21 - this list has moved over to my other blog.

1-Finish unpacking my suitcase from last weekend's end of my vacation.
2-Clean up my car.
3-Make real progress on getting all the window treatments replaced in my house.
4-Organize my closet...for real this time.
5-Finish my taxes.
6-Do the regular chores.
7-Balance my checkbook.
8-Get rid of the excess crap in my makeup basket.
9-Finish the HOA minutes.
10-Work on my budget.
11-Buy more thank you notes.
12-Have coffee at Starbuck's at least once.
13-Groom at least one dog.
14-Make a Master List of All the Things I need to do (and move some of these things onto it).
15-Work on the website I am currently engaged in.
16-Dream at least three times about things that are important for me to achieve.

I'll keep you guys posted!

The People Who Hang On to KK

The buzz is that the finger-licking-burger-smacking lying liar known as Kimmer will be exposed on national tv. This from the blog known as "Pinch of..."

Will even this national exposure by a network contender be enough? (See 2Big4MySize's Weblog.)

Let me tell you about a few folks I know who are still h*ll bent for Monday on sticking with that site...I'd like to know why you think this is happening.

--My email friend in Florida has lost 61 pounds. She is an active poster at the site of Scammer Diaz. She's a good person, she is a smart woman. She hasn't been sick...but she's not been doing KK as written. I love this gal...thank goodness she's got some sense! She's really doing Atkins, hallelujah...but she hangs on to that site because she's desperate to lose another 60 pounds and finds the forum to be great support.

--My email friend in North Carolina is a KK devotee. She's a smart woman, she owns her own business and yet she parrots the KK poop like it is the gospel. It's probably the nightly wine and buttered bread she cannot say no from time to time that keeps her well.

--Another gal is from Ohio...a friend...she quotes KK chapter and verse. Ms. Ohio owns the yahoo group I belong to - - it is a private email support group based on KK. We came together years ago on another forum. We have been colleagues of sorts for a good while. It was through Ms. North Carolina I heard about KK. The day that the news broke with Hidey's pictures on Slamboard.com I delivered the news to them. I was immediately warned not to say anything further negative because it wasn't helpful.

None of these women are ill (yet). And, the reason they aren't (yet) in my opinion is because they cheat ... a lot. They go off the diet and have wine, bread, chips, etc. I don't worry about them much any more. They aren't holding fast to the diet. For them, it is a means to an end. I think that means they'll eventually go back to their old way of eating. In reality, these woman are actually losing because they are on a low calorie diet. They are eating less than they used to.

[I haven't cheated on Atkins intermittently. (Check my cruise posts to know when I did go off the plan for the first time in months and why.) I don't intend to go back to eating my old way. It's not a means to the end. It is a way of life. It is permanent.]

Getting back to the subject, the thing is that I don't understand my friends. I do NOT understand why they will continue to be a party to a lying scamming liar's success. Before I educated myself on KK I was taken in by the b*llsh*t Russian Bride pictures. I was. I admit it. What turned me off of the diet was the research I did which revealed that such a low fat diet was almost a dead solid perfect road to gall bladder problems. Then, I realized that it was a starvation diet.

My friends are a small sampling of the legion which continues to support the KK death site. They don't even care that she's a lying slob who preys on people. I can't even say negative things about her in our little email group. I have been warned!

I actually respect these women I am blogging about. I like them, but I cannot understand the cult-like adulation that these people have for a scum bag.

God bless you all ye anti-kk bloggers. Here's a list of them. Scroll down past them to see the rest of my article. 2BIG4MYSIZE on blogger 2BIG4MYSIZE ON VOX 3fatchicks All about Kimkins antikimkins bamagal becky/littlebit’s blog Cathy low carb transformations
Christin/Kimkins covergirl Cleochatra Deni desertthorn Diary of a Mad Housewife Doggygirl’s Dog House Drivethruonly fear and lothing in the kitchen Grill Cheese with Pickles HoneyBee2
HoneyBee’s Blog HoneyBee’s Blog info on kimkins information for transitioning to healthy eating
Itscloudyinhere’s Weblog jerseyshore Jimmy Moore Julia Harvey katOD KIMKIN DIET links Kimkin Survivors kimkindangers kimkins affiliates message Kimkins And Other Affiliate arketing Nightmares Kimkins class action lawsuit Kimkins Controversy-Kimkins Scam Kimkins Diet review Kimkins disaster Kimkins Exhausted Kimkins Exposed kimkins on shopping enabler
Kimkins Scam kimkins scam KIMKINS UNSAFE KIMKINS wikizine Kimkins” Diet Fraud nmasked Kimkins: Dying to Lose! kimkinscircus kimkinsnightmares Kimmer Libre Kimmers reen braclette kimorexia KKatastrophe KTLA 1 KTLA 2 KTLA 3 KTLA 4 livinlocarb Mamma’s don’t let your baby’s do kimkins Mariasol Medusa Morgan MacLeoid NO KIMKINS one fit mom
princess dieter Regandy review of Kimkins diet robin scam.com size8jeans kimkins expose slamboard The Art of Toad Swallowing the PI the truth Vickie’sVoice willa woofy ZIMBIO

Cheers to all of you who write tirelessly to agencies and government offices telling them to shut down the site.

The place is a cult gathering place. Dangedest thing I have ever seen. I am sickened by those who KNOW this woman is a big fat fake and yet still patronize her site.

Why ARE people still hanging on to KK?

-1-They are freaking brainwashed. Skimmer has attacked and taken captive a very vulnerable section of people...people who will do anything not to be fat any more. That's just plain evil. It never ends!

-2-They don't care enough about their own health to research the subject and find out that they are screwing with their own body...big time. (They probably also didn't read the fine print on those sub-prime loans with adjustable rates which have now adjusted and caused said parties a heck of a lot of financial trouble.)

-3-They subscribe to some 1963 ideology that if it's in writing it has to be true. "They" would not let "them" say those things if it wasn't safe! (Who the h*ll is they and them?)

Those are my reasons...anyone else got an idea?

My parting thought is it is like 2Big said, "Battling Kimkins is like fighting a forest fire."

Focused, Action Oriented People ("FAOP")

Today I met two interesting people. Both are focused and action oriented people. For the purpose of this entry we'll just say they were both "FAOPs" One was a gentleman about 38 years old. The other, also a man, was 27...if you can call 27 being a man. Heck that's just one year older than my son!

Mr. 38 was about 6'8" and had played professional football. Once he got his belly full of that he invested in real estate. Mr. 27 was his partner.

These two individuals are both very wealthy, very focused, very polite, yet demanding. They know what they want and they go after it. I happened on them during a brief encounter wherein they were purchasing a small ($25 Million) hotel in a resort area in Texas.

Something tells me that they knew the power of dreaming and visualizing their desires early on. I can also tell that they knew how to crystalize their dreams into visual images which drove them to where they wanted to go. I suspect that once they knew the direction they wanted to take (toward their imagery) they were action oriented and took steps to make their dreams come to fruition.

The difference between a FAOP and a regular Joe is that Joe might dream a little bit, but Joe argues with his desires and finds every excuse in the world why things won't go well for him A FAOP dreams, makes a list of action items and gets started on succeeding, unwilling to listen to excuses or reasons why something won't work. When they reach a dead end a FAOP will simply cut their own road to their destination.

I've been a Joe most of my life. I have been held back by my Negative Nancy thinking, I have been crippled by ignoring my ability to dream and create my own destiny. I have put all that aside and now I am on of the FAOPs.

It's great to be a focused, action oriented person. (Hear me talking to myself?) Sure, I still have the negative garbage in my head but when it starts talking to me, I just talk back. When I hear:

It's useless to try to lose weight. You are too old. You're post-menopausal...you are toast, over the hill, forget it sister!

I say back to the negative thoughts: I can do anything I want to do badly enough! Even if I was over the proverbial hill I could still move a mountain or two!

Messrs. 38 and 27 were an inspiration to me today. Had I been in my "Joe" mode I might have perceived them as a couple of stuck-up snots. But having engaged myself fully into a positive, powerful woman who had a weight and health problem and took steps to resolve it I know that I have the power to do whatever I want badly enough and I looked at them as subjects to study. I studied their politeness rather than their "demanding" behavior. They weren't rude in any way. They just pushed for what they wanted and how they wanted it to happen and they got it. When they left my presence they both thanked me profusely for my time, even though it wasn't necessary. I wasn't dazzled by their attentions (though I would suggest that many women might be taken in by their charms), I was captivated by their proven success and examined them as specimens of success; I took note of their words, their behaviors and mannerisms of being polite and dignifying a worker bee's efforts by gentlemanly behavior.

Lessons learned today from proven experts on success:
-Expect things to work out the way you want them to.
-Getting your way can be achieved through firm, polite, consistent behavior; being an ass is not required.
-Ask for input from experts when you need it.
-Don't fret over minutia.

Signing off from this segment of the World of Willa.

Willa Smith

I'll still be a year older...might as well be better

I have finally learned not to say "what's the use?" and to stop mourning how late in life I am getting started on doing things which I wanted when I was younger...which my husband's death interrupted...which "life" pushed me away from.

It doesn't matter where I am in life in age, if I push against the tide of ease and work to improve myself, next year at this time I will be more satisfied with the state of my affairs than I would if I just bumped along going where the wind blows.

This is kind of a stream of consciousness but important to me because I need to "dream" about improvement again in the upcoming year. This is a reflection on last year and a precursor to writing up a fabulous dream about next year.

2007 came and went with good progress. I am uh "stoked" friends! I am empowered by my ability to change. Middle age has hit and I am more energetic and optimistic than I have been in my entire life. I can do this!

25 more pounds off by May:
I set a goal to lose a total of 70 pounds in 2007. I am almost there. I have about 25 more to lose. May is the magic month to finish that up. There's a party I want to look good for so that's the dream I will harness to get me there.

Get rid of the storage unit:
I have a goal to discontinue having a storage unit this year and pocket that $50 a month. Will do. Let's say I will finish that task by May. Started the action list on that yesterday.

Improved Salary and Business Reputation:
-Once I reach my weight goals I want to re-do my wardrobe to become more polished and business-like. Yesterday I bought a great pin-stripe suit on clearance for a total of $36.00 (!) which will take me into the spring along with another navy blue and green suit I purchased to take on the cruise which will do likewise. I will get out my sewing machine and take up the slacks of both as they get too large. I expect that to happen by late February. (Now that I am closer to my goal, sizes decrease faster!)

-Another goal I had was to never arrive at work later than 30 minutes before the day started. Such effort and attitude garnered me $7,000 in bonuses last year. Seriously. The man who hired me in September of '06 (when I was at 206 and in 18Ws/20Ws) sees a middle-aged employee who may be a little bit slow on the uptake but who will work all the extra hours necessary to get the job done. I was ill on the clock exactly 2.5 hours. I missed three days when my daddy died, but it's likely that my extra arrival times gave back my employer every missed hour plus some over the past year. My weight loss has also proven that I am a "can do" person who can achieve goals and make changes for improvement.

More friends:
Another goal was to become active in a church. Check, done. I go to church every Sunday including Sunday School where I have made good friends and have a wonderful support system. My son will be taking a job with Exxon when he finishes his grad degree. I have no family in this area and only lived here in this town to get him through college. He is leaving. I'm staying.

More gratitude in my attitude:
Another goal was to say "thank you" to the many people who have helped me become a better me. Waking up each day and thinking about who has helped me along this path gives me a great outlook. It's humbling...it's inspiring.

I will take these goals, improve the focus of them and add a few to my list.

Gotta hit that hot shower right now. Can't be late to work!

Love and gratitude from Willa in Texas to every person who pauses to read this blog!

Wednesday, January 16, 2008

Dream and be thin...

I know people think I am crazy for saying that you can dream your way to being thin.

However, I challenge anyone who desires to make a significant change in their life to make a real, daily, long-lasting effort at dreaming of what you desire and see if it doesn't have some positive influence on your life.

How to do it.

Here is the short version:

Determine to spend ten to thirty minutes for each and every day for a span of 60 days with "thin" in your mind.

Here is the longer version:

Sit down in front of your computer at the same time every day and open a document you can type paragraphs into. I prefer MS Word, but there is a free word processing program located at StarOffice.

Type the date. Aw heck, I'll just show you how to do it.

January 15, 2008
I'm just waking up and it's time to face the day. Before my feet hit the floor I like to consider what I'll be wearing to work. I am going to choose the black linen suit today. It The jacket has three quarter length sleeves and the pants zip on the side. The zipper slides up effortlessly when I put it on.

Underneath the jacket I will wear a raw silk creamy pink sleeveless scoop neck top. It zips on the side. I feel pleased because my arms look nice before I put on the jacket. I can see the slacks and matching jacket both have tags in them which say "Talbot's" and beneath that is a little red number six. I'll put on a pair of pantihose which are fresh out of the wrapper. Hanes. Size A. I see the size written on the package. The hose are black. I feel extremely happy because I know these will glide on with little or no effort. I am so empowered by the feeling of control over my body. I have made healthy choices minute by minute, hour by hour to create the new me.

I will wear my favorite leather black pumps. The ones that show "toe cleavage".

My hair is in a shorter, stylish cut. Now that I am thin my face it angular and any style looks good on me.

I don't feel my age, I feel energetic and younger. I can't wait to get up and get dressed. Today will be a wonderful day!

Being thin makes me feel empowered, it makes me tingle with energy. It gives me a feeling of "everything I want is possible."

=======

Another day I might dream about wearing shorts for the first time in years. Another day I might dream about doing things that I normally wouldn't because the effort was just too much with all the extra weight. Another dream might be about being involved in an athletic activity.

Don't laugh at this dreaming technique until you've done it with a full-hearted effort for 60 days. You will find yourself seeking ways to do little things to change your health and weight.

Beware. Once you begin to dream you will find yourself pushing your own limits to reach the goals you desire!

A parting thought. If you are overweight, you might have lost your dreams in the folds of your XXXL wardrobe...depression might have robbed you of your willingness to dream. Whatever the case, take back the power of dreaming about what you desire. A dream costs nothing. If you can make yourself dream of the change you desire you will slowly build the kind of mental muscles you need to redesign your eating. Making time to dream will not come easily...but if you can make yourself into a dreamer by changing the habit of being a non-dreamer into being a dreamer you are exercising the mental muscles which will create willpower and better decision making.

Try it...for 60 days...write it, think it...love the feelings you enjoy while you are dreaming and then slowly create methods to change into what you dream about.

Oh yeah...one more thing...have a lot of love for yourself while you dream...don't put yourself down, build yourself up and cheer yourself on.

Take good care of yourself in your dreams...pretty soon you'll start living the love...and things will change for you.