Friday, August 5, 2011

AUG 5th Just Be Yourself


Hello to Journal & Friends,

(taken in April 2011)

Joey is building her vocabulary. She's about 7 months old now, and here is a list of the words she is learning so far (Huh? What does this have to do with weight loss? Gimme a minute and I'll tell you):

Jim (her hero)
Daddy (aka Jim)
go potty
sit
stay
come
okay
wait
move
food
treat
water
bed
duck (her favorite stuffed toy)
shark (her favorite squeaky toy)
bear
toy
outside
inside
up
ball
stick
wanna go?
Vevie (her kitty playmate)
Butterfly (the kitty who will NOT play with her)

Oh yeah... and No. ;-)


Some, she knows better than others. And when a Treat is involved, miraculously she gets very smart!! The little twerp certainly has her own preferences. The trick is teaching her that some of these are NOT negotiable. :-)

(these in the yard taken April 2011)

Did you notice that the word FETCH is not on the list?? That's because Joey, who is a Miniature Schnauzer, has told us in no uncertain terms I. Am. Not. A. Retriever. 

Oh, she will race out in ecstasy when Daddy throws a ball, a stick, or a frisbee in the back yard. And she races right by it and races with equal ecstasy right back to Daddy, eager to do it again! 





We've raised a Springer Spaniel and Chesapeake Bay Retriever. They both LOVED to fetch. Joey... nope, nada, nyet. Not for treats, not for praise, not for any amount of teaching, training or coaxing.



It dawned on me recently, after yet another failed attempt to help her "exercise" by playing fetch... that she has made another point very clear to me...


LESSONS FROM A PUPPY #8


Play to your strengths, 
not your weaknesses. 

Be yourself, the Authentic you. 

Find who YOU really are, 
and nurture that.


In the last few years I've spent a lot of time working to find out the Authentic Me. Who I am, my purpose, my hopes and dreams.

One thing I am still working on is just what Joey reminded me: to play to my strengths. To celebrate who I AM, and not get all caught up in who I am NOT. 

Sure, there are things I need to change or work on... like not procrastinating. Like not feeling sorry for myself, or comparing myself to other people.

But some things are just the way I've been all my life, and guess what? I've decided that maybe it's alright that I don't WANT to change it, and that's okay. For instance:

I. HATE. EATING. BREAKFAST.

Always have, probably always will. Over the years I've heard so many so-called "experts" give their opinion on the subject. And I would try to be "good". And would resent it and rebel. 

I tried all kinds of breakfasts... didn't matter. 

I tried to not eat after such and such a time the night before. Didn't matter. 

You name it, I tried it. Didn't matter. 

For years I've felt guilty or wrong or frustrated or annoyed... I finally stopped following like a lemming, and decided to go with my OWN preference: FORGET BREAKFAST!

Oh, I might have a bite or two when I make Jim's 2 meals to take to work... or not. I always have a big mug of flavored coffee with real cream in it. And that is totally satisfying to me till lunch. I am happy with that. I don't resent that. It's working for me.

Then lo and behold, while recently listening to some podcasts from Jimmy Moore at Livin La Vida LowCarb. I learned there is a whole OTHER school of thought that says this whole idea of "three squares a day" is a relatively recent phenomenon. That over the eons, our ancestors didn't eat that way. And that our human body is designed to function quite well with ups and down of daily intake. I'm not talking about someone with a medical condition... I'm just talking about a regular healthy person. Anyway, I didn't need anyone's "permission" to do my own thing. But it did make me smile to find that I'm not the only one!

Right now for a few weeks, I'm eating a protein rich breakfast a la the Dr Kruse program to regain leptin sensitivity. But after that's done... I doubt if I will continue. I won't force it... we'll see. 

Anyway, I've read blogs that say THEIR way is THE way. Such HUBRIS!! Ha ha ha, I recently learned the official definition of that word, and loved it. Describes perfectly the people that feel superior and won't allow for differences: excessive pride or self-confidence, arrogance, egotism, pomposity, superiority, cockiness.

It felt weird to be looking at myself in search of "strengths". At first it was a little embarrassing... sort of like bragging. But we ALL have them. And it's been fun to start discovering them, and nurturing them. 

Joey doesn't do fetch. I don't usually do breakfast. But we both DO have strengths. So there. :-)

(taken June 2011)

From Dr Phil's book: "Never tell yourself beforehand that something is impossible, nor set limits on your efforts."

My verse for today: "Not to us, O Lord, not to us but to your name be the glory, because of your love and faithfulness."

My quote for today: Two dogs meet and one says to the other: "Hi, my name is NoNoBadDog, what's yours?"

Enjoy the Journey,

Loretta
=^..^=

DAY 719



18 comments:

Anonymous said...

You always come through with such wise and timely posts. Joey teaches you and you teach me.

I love this relationship!!!

Anonymous said...

haha. Love that pup! I didn't realize that she was still so tiny. Such a cute little face. :)

Re: fetch. LOL. My dogs Loved "go fetch", they just refused to do the "Bring it back" part until they were good and ready.

They'd run for the stick or toy, get it--and play with it out there--leaving me standing and waiting. chuckle. They had much more fun with that than I did.


Re: breakfast. Well. I've never been a breakfast eater either--mostly because I was always a night eater. But the other part is that I am NOT a morning peerson. I may be up, but I am not functioning on all cylinders. Think robot...robot with a scowl.

But since I've quit eating at night (for all intents and purposes) I am hungry in the morning. Sort of. And I have to eat to get the insulin cranked up.

My breakfast now that I'm hungry? One egg (microwave) and a cup of coffee. If REALLY, REALLY hungry? One egg w/ one frozen turkey sausage cut up in it. And the coffee.

shrug. It's as much progess as I'm willing to make with that.

Do whatever floats your boat.

Deb

Retta said...

KIMBERLEY: Thanks, I'm glad you enjoy her, too.

DEB: Oops! Sorry, I didn't date the photos. All but the last one were taken in April, and the last one was on June 10th. Gotta get some updated pics, so you can see her summer cut... Um... I was learning, is my only defense, LOL!

WWSuzi said...

We all need to do whatever works for us! I love breakfast but lunch? Not so much :)

Joey is absolutely adorable!!

Princess Dieter aka Mir said...

I agree with what finding is best for one. It's fine to TRY the stuff that's recommended, but it may not be the best for the individual.

I've always LOVED breakfasts...big ones. I'd get up and want to just eat right away. I woke up ravenous.

When I got down to a lower weight and was reading about how to improve one's diet, and was less swayed by starches, I found I wasn't as hungry in the AM, so I decided to experiment with Intermittent Fasting (as I heard it improved insulin sensitivity). It helped me continue losing after I'd slowed down. I found it worked for me by "feel". Now, I will eat my first meal HOURS, sometimes up to 5 or 6 hours, after I wake up. Usually only 3 hours, but it varies. I try to wait until I feel hunger, and that's not always right off. I find when I eat sooner, I lose slower than if I wait and do a good 17 hours of fasting and eat in a smaller window (say a 5 to 7 hours window).

But that's me. I was prediabetic and getting more insulin sensitive amttered a lot. This helped ME. Others may be too ravenous and overeat if they wait that long.

We have to find our individual way....

Retta said...

MIR: I really appreciate hearing about your IF experiences. I read all about it last year, and did some experimenting, and found that I really did well exactly the way you did, simply delaying the first meal of the day. But I recently read on Dr Kruse's site about regaining leptin sensitivity, and he strongly advised to wait on intermittent fasting, til AFTER one becomes leptin sensitive again.

So... that's what I plan to do. I actually LIKED doing IF... less cooking and clean up... less always having to mess with and be around food so often. I liked it!

Anonymous said...

I agree, don't eat if you aren't hungry. I have two healthy kids and sometimes they eat breakfast and sometimes they don't. They always do good in school regardless so that whole breakfast is necessaryy thing doesnt seem to get proven at my house.

Sheilagh said...

WoW Loretta I needed the lessons from your puppy today, Thank You:)

She is so cute, my Titch (Jack Russell) will race for a ball, but pick it up? No way..

Thanks for todays post, not been around much but must have been meant to be here today.

Hugs

Sheilagh
xxx

Anonymous said...

I don't do breakfast either, unless I'm hungry. Fasting for periods of time does do a body good. at least that's what I believe. Eating late at night - probably not so good.

The important factor is quality of food plus quantity. You know your body better than anyone else!
Jan

Millie said...

You cocky, pompous, egoist! LOL This was great. Thanks for posting. :)

Retta said...

Oh noes... I dun bin exposed!!

Ha ha ha ha... you know me too well, Millie. ;-)

financecupcake said...

Wow, I don't know what I love more: the pup pictures or the pup lessons! She is such a cutie. I'm glad that you decided to go against the grain and not have breakfast because it doesn't work for you. Keep playing to your strengths! :)

financecupcake said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Suzie_B said...

Loretta,
Give your puppy time - we had a boarder collie who did not fetch either - who like to chase the ball and then wait for the next one. We got tired of fetching the ball ourselves, so he was outta luck. It did not take him long to learn all by himself to bring the ball after that!

'Yellow Rose' Jasmine said...

My Boston Terrier didn't learn to fetch until he was 2 years old. We tried & tried and he would never do it. He had been with his 'pack' until he was 6 months old and always just grabbed the ball when another of the pups would bring it back! Then when we finally gave up and took him on a long vacation with us it seemed that he learned that he would do anything to get our undivided attention after that. I have to say that once he learned to fetch there were times that we wished he never had! He still drives us nuts with his ball to this day at times.
About the breakfast thing- love it! I love that you are open to testing theories even on things that are accepted as just the way you 'must' do things. You are definitely on the right track. I too don't do everything I am 'supposed' to and have had great success with weight loss.

carla said...

none of this (from life to fitness) is about fitting in to a mold.
just do what works for LORETTA and ignore every and all else.

xo

MizFit

M Pax said...

Your way is THE WAY. So, it is for each of us - we must find our own paths using our preferences and selves as a guidepost. I hate running. I ain't going to run. Nope.

Joey looks so much tinier next to Jim.

Unknown said...

Very nice blog!! Doggy is so cute! I hate breakfast too. All the breakfast foods either don't taste good to me or they make my stomach sick. This morning I ate salad for breakfast.

:-) Marion

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