Back on UK soil

Hi

Well, I am back from Portugal.

Having spent so much time with 2 beautiful girls over there (Kristina and Tatiana), daughters of friends: Victor and Emma, I just read Barack Obama's letter to his two girls and it really is beautiful.

I hope the wishes for a better future that we all send to him, spur him on to achieve everything we hope he will. I know one man can't be Superman, but anything is an improvement on George Bush, and Barack Obama is so much more than just change for changes sake. I have faith he will do some great things while at the helm.

With that in mind, I hope I do some great things with my weight loss - back on the wagon tomorrow :-) Holiday over. That is the trick I guess... to focus as if a nation is depending on me.... :-) To be accountable and responsible. Set objectives and targets, and steer back on track if the ship is going off track.

So I am off this computer soon, to unpack, make a very healthy dinner of salmon and veg for hubby and I, and generally get ready for work tomorrow. Bit of input, and the output is always better :-)

Bye for now
Liska Life x

Scales can lie?

I was convinced I had lost some weight in Portugal as my tummy feels flatter :-)
But Emma just leant me her scales and I was heavier than at my heaviest....... so rather than think it is the consequence of holiday eating, we have decided that the scales must be faulty :-)
So I will go on my trusty scales in my funny socks, when I return tomorrow.
Shame to leave this lovely place and my friends, and the 2 gorgeous little girls.

Bye for now, Liska Life x

A great blog

I just love this post.

Basically, writing a "Dear John" letter to food. What a great idea.

If I did that though, I would have to find a new friend. Hee hee.

Bye for now, Liska Life x

Barack Obama's Inaugural Address

I was probably one of the few people on the planet who did not watch the inauguration today, but I have just read the beautiful Inaugural address at:
http://my.barackobama.com/page/community/post/stateupdates/gGxHZR

Quite an interesting article from the Telegraph here.

George W. Bush left his office with an approval rating of only 22 per cent, making him the most unpopular outgoing president since polls began......... So for Barack, the only way is up...

... and we are all behind him, cheering him on. Right now, I think he is exactly what the world needs.

Here's a toast to the 44th President

Liska Life xxx

Worth a read - Chronic Malaise and the "cure"

This post from Dr Robert O Young is really worth a read.

Liska Life (still happy in Portugal) x

Our funny lives - where we are today

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jIG2NM-EieI&feature=channel_page

This video says a lot about where we are today. The economy of now. Worth watching.

Liska Life x

In the Algarve - Portugal today

On holiday in Portugal now to see Victor, Emma, Kristina and Tatiana.

Lovely weather today, but very very early start.

Liska x

ooooooooooh so tired

Ooooooh I have been up since 5.30 a.m. and am absolutely shattered. So off to bed. Got a horrible head cold. Can't wait to have a rest at the weekend. I ate alot of naughty things today if I am honest - but here is the place to declare it, to incentivise myself to get back on the wagon
:-)

Lost 3 pounds and very happy

Got on the scales very late last night and was delighted to discover, now that I am alkaline and on the right track, I have lost 3 pounds.

So very happy about that.

Yiiipppppeeee

Target weight and Google

Google's fitness tip of the day is:
Set a target weight for a specific occasion such as a vacation or family reunion.

Well the date I choose is 6th April and the target weight is 10.5 stone, meaning a loss of 42 pounds.
Note I haven't said a year - hee hee.

Oh go on then - let's make it 2009 :-)

Liska Life x

On the right track and ever so happy

I just wanted to pop on here and say for the last 3 days, I feel really happy and really feel like I am on the "right track".

A couple of posts ago I mentioned being inspired by Metro 15 and NyceNoelle. I continue to be so, and the ripple effects from Sunday's inspiration are still there, i.e. the housework led to Xmas decs being boxed up, beautifully, which led to hubby putting them ever so promptly in the attic.

All that made the flat look beautiful so we had a lovely dinner in a lovely flat last night.

And because I had been food shopping it was of course beautiful fresh salmon and fresh vegetables.

I have drunk about 4 litres today so far - half water - half Super Greens and had porridge with rice milk for breakfast and a huge salad for lunch.

I feel gggggggrrrrrrrrreeeeeeeat and I cannot wait to report some weight loss.

Liska Life xxxx

Google's Fitness Tip of the Day - spooky

I was just about to turn the computer off - I promise, when I scrolled down and noticed Google's fitness tip of the day is:

Surround yourself with people and things that remind you to live a healthy lifestyle.

That is so so so so so in the theme of my post, that I just wrote. So it was "in the air" to have that frame of mind.

This is the point of having a community of bloggers that touch base with each other.

The universe is with us :-)

Liska Life - over and out - for today x

Getting on with it, being inspired and getting out of that Egyptian river called Denial

3 blogs have inspired me.

During the week I could tell that where I had gone wrong was my lack of planning.

Reading a post from the final 15 made me realise my mistake. Metro 15 started planning her cupboards back on Saturday 3rd: http://metrofinal15.blogspot.com/2009/01/plan.html


That day (3rd Jan), I got up early to go to the hairdressers, as one of my new year's resolutions was to use a Toni & Guy voucher I got for Xmas last year. Then when I came back home I took my Mum to a local hairdressers so she'd look nice for going back to Ireland and then we ended up having our nails done :-) Anyway, next day was taking her to the airport, and doing loads of housework once back, but I continue to be inspired by Metro 15.

Then yesterday, I went to "blogs of note" and stumbled across:
http://lifesfreetreats.blogspot.com/2009/01/letters.html
I immediately felt my heart open to leave a comment, about the fact that I felt inspired to write a letter to my Mum. Then today, I thought, yes.........later......

but here comes the 3rd bit of inspiration:

I was reading Nyce Noelle's blog at http://nycenoelle.blogspot.com/, when I discovered that she said:

I really appreciated the blog about letter writing. It gave me the courage
to finish a letter that I was wanting to send...

I thought Liska, get on with it, write that letter, so today, I finally wrote the letter to my Mum, as during weekdays, I am not very good at getting anything done, as I tend to do long hours at work. So it was today or never.

That wasn't the end of Noelle inspiring me though, as in the same post:
http://nycenoelle.blogspot.com/2009/01/i-can-do-this.html

She said:
I feel a little bad because I meant to Blog however I have been so busy
accomplishing my goals I set out to do I did not have time!!!

This made me realise that I got fat because I was in denial, and I do nothing about it because I use avoidance tactics and I realised that my blog has BECOME another of life's avoidance tactics, so at just after 12 o'clock this afternoon I turned the computer off and organised things, so that me and hubby could go food shopping and since I got in, I have done loads of housework, which is such good exercise. So Noelle, thank you for inspiring me to get off my butt; it's meant I can eat healthy this week with all the right food in.

Hubby took me food shopping this afternoon, so I would have the right food in (that was my mistake last week) and the cupboards are finally clear of remnants of Xmas. So this afternoon I spent £80 on veg, more veg, brown rice, buckwheat, lemons, limes, salad etc........

In the last 3 hours I have drunk 3 litres of water. First litre and a half was with fresh lemon juice squeezed in and 2nd was with Innerlight Super Greens in. Trying to make sure I am a little alkaline ready to start big style tomorrow.

To put the above in perspective I will type a bit from "The PH Miracle for Weight Loss":

You must commit to getting all the water your body needs to be healthy, and at a
healthy weight. To that end, take a minute right now to figure out how much water you need, and plan how you're going to get it... Every day you need 1 litre of alkaline water for every 30 pounds you weigh. Thus a 210 pound person needs 7 litres a day.........

For anyone who has the book that is from page 191.

Last time I did it my skin felt fabulous, so I can't wait to be healthy again, and as I am on a strict time-frame, I think this is the healthiest and quickest option for me. Plus when I am being "green" I have alot more energy which could really come in handy. I have spent the last few months tired all the time. In September and October there was 5 weekends in a row where I spent at least one day (sometimes 2) completely vegging in pjamas.

Bye for now, I am going to turn the computer off soon and make myself a very healthy dinner.

Liska Life x

PH balance, alkaline, lose weight

I just read, that if you follow Dr. Robert O. Young's program (I have all his books), you can lose your weight in # of days where # is 2 times the weight you want to lose.

That means, as I want to lose 42 pounds, it will take me 84 days. So if I were to start again, but strictly this time, I could start on Monday 12th January, and be done by 6th April.

That would be *super* and may just have given me the incentive I need.

His plan is tough though, but maybe I just need to cut the mustard and get on with it.

Means digging out my supergreens which I haven't drunk in months, and eating an alkalarian diet.

Dr. Robert O. Young's New Biology, most simply stated, is that the
over-acidification of the body is the single underlying cause of all disease. In
contrast, the old biology, based on the work of Louis Pasteur in the late 1800s,
stems from the idea that disease comes from germs which invade the body from the
outside. Dr. Young has found that when the body is in healthy alkaline balance,
germs are unable to get a foothold.

Fat is an Acid Problem!Perhaps one of Dr. Young's most well known discoveries is his theory of the cause of overweight. He has shown that fat is actually an over-acidification problem. What does that mean? The body creates fat cells to carry acids away from your vital organs, so these acids literally don't choke your organs to death. Fat is saving your life! Fat is actually a response from the body to an alarming over-acidic condition.The solution? Alkalize and Energize™ beginning with SuperGreens and Prime pH.

Source of the above text: http://www.greensandlean.com/RobertYoung/Alkalarian.htm

Liska Life x

The Amazing Adventures of Diet Girl

My book arrived Thursday and I am sitting on the sofa today reading it. It is a very good read and you feel like you are reading a novel, rather than a weight loss journal. Really enjoying it so far.

Liska x

Maintenance and weight loss

Diet Girl continues to be an inspiration and now about maintenance. I have lost alot of weight on 2 ocassions, so maintenance is important, as it would have avoided my need to lose weight once again.

This time... once I lose it, I must keep it off :-)

Liska Life

Great book

I am reading a great book at the moment - Skinny Bitch. They seem to share alot of my philosophies, some of which I took from Anthony Robbins, and they do acknowledge him. So they have similar opinions about our over consumption of protein, and the evils of dairy consumption. It's a great book, (what I have read so far). I am also reading The Spend Less Handbook and waiting for The Amazing Adventures of Diet Girl to arrive.

Liska x

Today, Thursday 8th January 2009

Exercise today:
Nia class. WOW it was truly amazing. I have blogged in the past about my experience of the workshop at the Yoga Show. Even though that was months ago, I today kept my promise to myself to find a class and try a class. I booked it in my diary before Xmas, and invited some colleagues. I told them I would shout them to the class as their Xmas present (I didn't do much Xmas shopping this year). Anyway, we went tonight and it was SUCH good exercise. Really gentle (i.e. you don't jump up and down like 1980s aerobics) but wow, you use those deep muscles, and you use your core muscles, and you feel so graceful and so feminine, you don't even realise you are working so hard. And the movements are so mindful, you concentrate so hard, that you feel like you are in a meditation, and breathing correctly feels more important than looking at a colleague. I think it was 20 mins into the class before I looked over at anyone.

Meditation:
None

Meals today:
Breakfast again was Hot Granola from Pret a Manger.
Lunch was at Boots (for those not in UK, it is a chemist), where I got a browm bread sandwich with tofu, rocket etc... in it plus a small packet of vegetarian sushi.
After Nia one of my colleagues wanted to chat about something so we went to a Tapas bar. I ordered tapas and a pineapple juice, as the one thing I really have stuck to this week is no alcohol, as well as no coffee. THEN her sangria arrived and I have never seen anything like it. The minute I saw it I said I am having one of those. So as I knew I had so many deviations this week (even today, sandwich! I don't eat bread when on a true detox), I ordered the Sangria and enjoyed every delicious mouthful.
I was just posting this post and remembered, on the way to Nia, my 3 colleagues wanted to stop at a sweetshop and I got a bar of chocolate. I ate it and it gave me a headrush - NOT a nice feeling at all. That told me 2 things. (1) it will be easier to resist the next temptation of chocolate as I now (in NLP style) associate it with a BAD memory (good) and (2) it means my body is already a little cleaner as it is only when I am detoxing that chocolate gives me a headrush. That's probably the benefit of a few days without caffeine.

Weight today:
Didn't weight

Gratitude journal:
For the Nia. Was special and great exercise,

Fit Bug steps (in MBTs):
Lots of MBT steps but the Fit Bug still not set up.

Learning point:
That I will not beat myself up for doing this half and half this week. I will get there. I know I will.

Confirmation of nil consumption of latte or cappuccino:
Proudly I can confirm this. And feel better for it too. I actually feel tired when I should as I am NOT wired on caffeine.

Liska Life x

Wednesday 7th January 2009

The Daily Declaration

Exercise today:
None I am afraid

Meditation:
None

Meals today:
Porridge, take away, from a cafe near work again. (I know, I must start getting up early enough to make it at home).
Lunch (okay this WAS naughty). Me, our Bookkeeper and our Credit Controller went on a kind of team lunch, to celebrate something and we ended up in Wagamamas. BUT I had the vegetarian Katsu curry, and a raw juice (includes carrot juice etc...). So it wasn't the unhealthiest of lunches.
Then I promised hubby I would come straight home to have a lovely evening together, now that we have the flat to ourselves again. He has had Wednesday, since he was little as "chips day". His Mum's idea. SO he arrived home with chicken and chips for me and I ate it............
So I think I can safely say I am starting this detox properly next week.

It is funny, I have STUCK to the no lattes, just because of that picture I did on the blog of "my last latte" so between now and next Monday I need to publicly list on here what I am not allowed, so I feel some accountability to stick to it. Years ago, I was soooooooooo good at detoxing. One of the reasons I have put on so much weight, is because I haven't done a proper detox since Summer 2006.

Weight today:
Didn't weigh.

Gratitude journal:
The lovely lunch we had at Wagamamas. I am grateful for some wonderful colleagues :-)

Fit Bug steps (in MBTs):
I go everywhere in my MBTs but still haven't sorted out the Fit Bug.

Learning point:
That I will be up and running next week and that this week is a dry run.

Confirmation of nil consumption of latte or cappuccino:
With great delight I can confirm that I have stuck to this every day.

Byeee, Liska Life x

Tuesday 06th January 2009

The Daily Declaration.

Exercise today:
Walking to and from station on way to and from work. That's a total of 34 minutes walking, and in MBTs.
But the highlight is that Catherine and I went to AQUA AEROBICS in our lunch break. It was truly awesome and amazing. A 45 minute session in Virgin Active. We expected the regular aqua aerobics like I did in Malta, but this was full on. Our arms hurt, our bingo wings hurt, our legs hurt, tummy muscles hurt, AND we were out of breath. This was hardcore and I am aching today, which means tomorrow I will be more sore........ but we LOVED it, and aim to go again. It is so so so good and the instructor uses load of props including these foam dumbells that look like liquorice allsorts which is not good when you are trying to take your mind off food :-)


Meditation:
Again none :-(

Meals today:
I had a scone before I left the house - there was one left that my Mum did not eat - oooops.
I add the following sentence on 8th Jan: I have just remembered that when I got to work I bout hot Granola (with soya milk) from Pret a Manger.

Due to doing aqua aerobics in my lunch break, I did not have lunch. Lack of prep meant I did not have lunch with me (ooops). So at 4.40 I could not take it anymore and was so hungry I had to dash out to Pret a Manger. The only thing that had kept me going till then was a yoghurt from a colleague and a satsuma from another colleague - thanks mates. At Pret I was supposed to get a salad but hunger meant I fell off the wagon and got a swedish meatballs wrap. I knew I was so hungry it would not fill me up, so I also got popcorn. Now this was funny. I wanted crisps but thought NO! I am meant to be on a detox, so I told myself popcorn is healthier. I looked at the sweet one and thought sugar is more deadly than salt, so got the salt flavoured one and fair play to Pret it did not taste greasy at all so I would think it is very low in calories.

Then I met my husband and friend from University at 8.15 p.m. that night and we ended up in Momos (London, just off Regent Street). I always drink alot with that friend so I thought THIS is the true test. I could not find alcohol free cocktails on the menu, so tentatively asked the waitress. Yes, we do Virgin cocktails she said, and I was delighted. I had 2 and can't remember what they were called, but they looked as green as a Mohito, but weren't limey like that. Truly delicious and it meant I didn't look like the odd one out drinking water, orange juice or coke. BUT we had mezze, and it included little sausages and pitta bread, but I made sure I ordered falafel also. Anyway, I am normally hardcore when I am on a detox, but I have not done a decent one since 2006 and it SHOWS. I do not eat meat when on detoxes, so I am clearly not in the zone yet.......... Preparation is the key and I think that's been what has been lacking..... so I have to get rubbish out of my cupboards and get some good things IN.

Weight today: N/A as did not get near a scales.

Gratitude journal: Thankful for the aqua aerobics and Catherine's HUGE smile every time I looked over at her. We had so much fun. Oh and the instructor was thoughtful, helpful, fun and fab.

Fit Bug steps (in MBTs):
STILL haven't charged the FitBug yet - sorry.

Learning point:
That I clearly needed to build into this. Which is VERY ironic, given that I bought Holland & Barret's magazine Healthy on Saturday, and there was a bit about spending 2 weeks gradually giving up things in the build up to a full detox. I read it with arrogance and thought that's not me. I will start on Monday 5th Jan full steam ahead.......... hhhhhhhhmmmmmmm life is NOT always THAT straight forward :-)

To those reading, good luck. If you have found me, you are probably on the same journey.

Liska Life xxxxxx