Motivational Musings
Accentuate the Positive
The most important relationship you have is the one with yourself. Yet, some of us engage in some pretty heavy-duty negative self-talk. How do you think this barrage of negativity effects you and your relationship with yourself?
Self-talk (also known as mind chatter) goes on at an incredibly rapid rate. We speak between 4,000 and 6,000 words to ourselves each minute. Of these thousands of words, somewhere around 300-500 words are spoken aloud.
Self-talk creates a self-fulfilling prophecy. Our actions follow our thoughts. Our actions create our reality and our destiny. (See how creative you are?)
How many of those uncensored thoughts are negative? Somewhere between 60 to 90%! When you say things won’t work out, they won’t. When you say you can’t do it, you can’t. Chances are you won’t even try!
Negative self-talk can increase stress levels, induce headaches, stomach problems and worse. Positive self-talk has the opposite effect. It can leave you feeling confident with increased levels of energy and in general, optimistic. (Yahoo! Life is great.)
Positive self-talk requires awareness and practice. Simply pay attention to your thoughts and when negative, turn them around. It's like building a muscle. The more often you do it, the stronger your positive energy will be.
Here are a few tips to help you accentuate the positive!
Pay ATTENTION. Once you hear your negative thought, you need to turn it into a positive one. (I can't do this. Oh, YES I CAN.)
Make your positive self-talk PERSONAL. Start each declaration with “I.”
Keep your statement in the NOW. Not someday.
Avoid using words like will, should or could. I AM is much more empowering.
Adhere to the principles of K.I.S.S. (Keep it simple smiley!) Powerful, short sentences are best for programming new behaviors into your subconscious. No long pontifications, please.
Make your positive self-talk believable – to you! (I am going to walk two miles today vs. twenty miles – knowing full well that twenty miles won’t be happening).
Believe in your heart and mind. The positive possibilities are endless and yours for the taking. You've just got to believe in yourself.
I am in the groove!
LINKS:
Accentuate the Positive, Lyric by Johnny Mercer, Music by Harold Arlen
Top Ten Tips for Self-Esteem
Dance tip of the week from Empire Dance :
Every dance starts with the first step!
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Righteous Recipe - Spinach & Tomato Love Pie (Gets those mojo juices flowin' and is known to attract a partner. Caution: Be careful who you share this with!)
LOVE POTION: Orris Root is the premier love root. Just a slight amount of the powder applied to the fingers and touched to the 'object' of your desires is usually all it takes. Orris root mixed with cinnamon is all the more powerful. There is no need to use a large amount of this. Just a small pinch applied to both hands and touched to the 'object' of your desire.
Ingredients:
1 10-oz. refrigerated pizza crust (Pillsbury makes one that rolls right out)
1 10-oz. bag of fresh spinach
1 teaspoon safflower oil
1/3 cup low-fat sour cream
1 small shallot, minced
1 5 oz. can of fat free evaporated milk
2 large egg whites
1 large egg
3 ripe medium sized tomatoes
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 cup shredded low-fat Monterey Jack Cheese |
Directions:
Preheat
oven to 350F.
Coat baking pan with cooking spray.
Shape dough into pan, pulling up along the sides (to form something that resembles a deep dish pizza pie).
Heat safflower oil in iron skillet and
sauté spinach until wilted.
Mix spinach, shallots and sour cream in one bowl. In separate bowl, white together milk, salt, pepper, egg whites and egg. Stir 1/3 cup milk mixture into spinach mixture. Spoon into bottom of baking dish (on top of pizza crust.) Add layer of tomatoes and then top with cheese. Pour remaining milk mixture over cheese.
Place pie in oven.
Bake 45 minutes, or until set (light brown color).
Let stand 10 or 15 minutes before serving.
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Dear OLofWL, I wanted to tell you about a recipe that I created, and it came out delicious. I was in the mood for pork chops. I didn't want to bread and fry, so I
sautéed /pan broiled in a wok with Sugar Free Blackberry Jam.(I used Smuckers.) Couple of spoonfuls of the jelly coated the pan and the pork chop was very tender. Just thought I'd share recipe with you in case you wanted to pass it on. It really was delicious! ~ Holly from Babylon
Dear Holly from Babylon, Thanks for sharing your recipe. It sounds yummy. Be sure to weigh and measure your pork chops and sugar-free blackberry jam. One ounce of pork is approximately 60 calories (3 or 4 ounces is considered a serving size), and the jelly should have the calorie count on the label! ~ OLofWL
PORK OUT: The National Pork Council sponsors a site called pork4kids. They offer games such as Pork Jumble and Pick the Pork. There's even a pork show n' tell!
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Fruitful Contest - Famous Lovers.
Anthony & Cleopatra were famous lovers who were played by a pair of famous lovers in the 1963 classic movie, Cleopatra.
Who were these actors?
The first to enlighten Our Lady wins an Our Lady of Weight Loss prize!
Write Our Lady.
Last week's Fruitful query: Fill in the blank: People who can not smell have a condition called _______.
The answer is ANOSMIA. Congratulations to both Maureen E., Charlotte, NC.
Hyposmia: A reduced ability to smell and to detect odors. Some people have anosmia and can detect no odors.
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Chewing the Fat - How you doin'? Write Our Lady.
I went to the dollar store, and they actually had something for sale that was only one dollar. It was a bag of ten Milky Way miniature bars.
So you can see why I had to buy it, can't you?
And eat all ten when I got home?
After all, they were miniatures.
All is Forgiven * Move On.
Send your confession to info@ourladyofweightloss.com.
No Names - Strictly Anonymous |
Dear OLofWL, I love your web site. I started losing weight in January 2004 and have lost 112 lbs. (78 more to go). But I've gotten stuck. I think I found your site at just the right time.
I've got my I can do this attitude back!
I was thinking, "God, I've got to do something." I live in the Greater New Orleans area and Mardi Gras was Tuesday. Mardi Gras is a killer when trying to eat healthy. I did more than "fall off the wagon." Thank God Lent follows. Thursday night, I saw the write up in Family Circle about your site. As I looked at each piece of art work, I started feeling better and better. And was laughing like crazy!
I teach, and when I went to school today I showed the site to several teacher friends. In South Louisiana, there is a strong Roman Catholic population. I had the whole hall laughing with your site.
Our attitude was that Our Lady has visited often. OLofWL is just another form/vision. I'm sure she's up there laughing with us and thinking, "Whatever helps my children is fine with Me."
Some suggestions would be to make a journal using your artwork as thumbnails on several pages of the book or publishing them in a book with your prayers. I'd buy it in a heartbeat. ~ Divine Inspiration, New Orleans
Dear Divine Inspiration, WOW! You sure are Divine Inspiration! Congratulations on your 112 lb. loss and for your renewed attitude. As we all know, a good food plan is important, but without the right attitude, you're sunk! And getting back on the wagon seems to be one of the biggest challenges along the Road to Sveltesville. One misstep and we're off and running.
A special thanks for sharing the site with your fellow teachers. I am so happy that everyone laughed. Laughter is good! And thanks too for your suggestions. I'm working on it! We're rootin' big time for you. Please keep us in the loop! ~OLofWL
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Dear OLofWL,
As I was sitting here eating my lunch, I thought I'd cruise the internet for a little entertainment and typed in my name. Lo and behold, up you popped!
Having just turned 50 and working on losing 40, I thoroughly enjoyed looking at your website. You look fabulous and I'm inspired. I've signed up for you newsletter.
While it's neat to find out what someone with the same name is doing with her life, it was even more amusing to find you too have a cousin named Lesley with the same spelling. (That's where the similarities end!)
I love you career change. I've done business coaching on the side and I've seen many, many successful businesses from people following their passion. (I want to be a princess or a goddess but there's no openings at the moment so I'm working on Plan B.)
Best wishes from your Canadian 'sister'! - Janice Taylor
Dear Janice, How funny is that?! I'm so glad you joined the KICK in the TUSH Club. I've always wanted a Canadian sister! You can be a Princess and/or Goddess at any time. It's purely a state of mind. Here's to the Goddess in all of us! . ~ OLofWL
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Dear OLofWL, Hello! I joined your site yesterday and was reading about eating yogurt and drinking green tea three times a day to help lose weight. I was wondering is there a health difference between decaffeinated green tea and regular green tea. I always drink decaffeinated coffee and most of the time tea also. Thank you. ~ Kathy
Dear Kathy, Welcome! We are happy to have you as a member of the KICK in the TUSH Club. Here's what I know about caffeine: Caffeine is a stimulant and can make you jumpy if consumed in large quantities, but most believe if consumed in moderation, it does not put your health at risk. However, caffeine is a diuretic, so if you are counting your tea in your daily water totals, it needs to be decaffeinated. Celestial Seasonings carries a decaffeinated green tea, and they also offer free e-postcards that are quite beautiful! ~ OLofWL
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The Art of Weight Loss Workshop
Interested in joining the next Six Week Workshop?
Gain insight into your inner Weight Loss Artist ™while steadily shedding pounds.
From weight loss mantras to songs to sacrificial Twinkies. When it comes to permanent fat removal, thinking outside of the donut box is key!
What's Your Weight Loss Mantra?
You need to insert a pause somewhere between seeing the donut and eating the donut. A few meaningful words that give you a moment to think this donut thing through may give an opportunity to make another choice. My Weight Loss Mantra is "STOP! In the name of love."
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The Art of Weight Loss is a six-week workshop that is dedicated to approaching weight loss from a creative place. We will share weight-loss thoughts, frustrations, successes, recipes, and find creative ways, both literally and figuratively, to redirect our feeding frenzies. You need not have an artistic bone in your body - just the desire to have some fun.
Here's what one participant had to say!
" As I was walking along 3rd Avenue this morning, passing all those yummy bakeries and thinking that I really need to take a different route for my daily walks,"my song" popped into my head. I started humming "HELP" by the Beatles. By the time my walk was completed I was singing it out loud and chuckling to myself. It worked!!! I didn't buy even one crumb. Hooray for me! ~ Leslie J-M."
IF YOU ARE NOT able to attend group meetings but wish to be a part of it, please read on.
There will be a weekly goodie bag filled with some very cool handouts that can be snail-mailed to you.
For more info... click here or
contact: info@ourladyofweightloss.com
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The KICK in the TUSH Club provides a weekly reminder in the form of an Art-KICK for those who wish to anchor themselves to their weight loss and/or health goals (or for those who need to satisfy their craving for a quirky kick). It's fun, fab and fat-free. Sign-up now (there's no charge). Click here! Our Lady. (Or send an email to: info@OurLadyofWeightLoss.com) and say, "YES! I need a KICK in the TUSH.
 
Sign up now!
It's fun, fab and fat-free -
no charge either.
This way to the boutique!
Volume II, KICK #7™©
Janice Taylor
www.OurLadyofWeightLoss.com™®
a Division of Oy-Caramba, Ltd!
Interested in reprinting the KICK in the TUSH or licensing the art?
Contact: info@ourladyofweightloss.com
Our Lady of Weight Loss has been recommended by:
The New York Daily News,
The Arizona Republic Newspaper,
SKIRT! Magazine,
Energy Express, Tribune Media Co., Herbs for Health,
Good Housekeeping and more...
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Disclaimer: This column is for information only and no part of its contents should be construed as medical advice, diagnosis, recommendation or endorsement by Our Lady of Weight Loss, Oy-Caramba, Ltd! or Ms. Taylor.
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