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Dotti's Newsletter |
August 22, 2008 |
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Issue #054 |
Welcome
Good afternoon my friends. How are all of you this fine August day? I am feeling wonderful! Can you believe how soon fall will be here? I've even heard on our Message Board about some kids already going back to school.
Journaling By Dotti Journaling is a very important part of your Journey for many reasons. Today I'd like to discuss a few of them and what you can expect from honest journaling. I'd also like to discuss how you can make your journal a right fit for you. How many of you journal? How many of you journal on a regular, daily basis? How many of you want to journal but don't know where to start? For those that do journal, what exactly do you journal? Your food? Exercise? Goals? Feelings? Most of us track what we eat and what activity/exercise we accomplished each day. I call that a food and exercise journal. Some even have a separate journal for food and one for exercise. I prefer to write down my food and exercise together in one journal. You need to decide what is best for you. We all know that it is very important to track your food intake when on your Journey. Why is it important? Well, let's start with this question, "How many of you can remember everything you ate today, including licks, bites and tastes?" I'll bet most of you cannot remember. I know I can't most days. When you don't remember what you've eaten, or the amount, you will tend to overeat for the day. Being aware at all times of what is going into your mouth is very important. Please remember that when you start your food journal you must be honest with yourself. You cannot eat 4 cookies and only log 2 of them. This is defeating your purpose of getting your food intake under control. This behavior is also not going to give you happy results on the scale. Being honest with yourself is the only way to find out what, and how much, food you are eating on any given day. You can then take that information and work with it. What happens when you are eating out and you have no idea of what the calories are? Use your knowledge of calories/points/serving sizes to make the best choices possible and always estimate high. For a typical food journal I would include the following: ✓ Day of week and date ✓ Vitamins? Meds? ✓ Time of day you've eaten ✓ Food you've eaten and serving size (breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks) ✓ Mealtime feelings (hungry, tired, upset, etc) ✓ Nutritionals or Points (Weight Watchers) ✓ Water—how many 8 oz glasses? ✓ Exercise/activity ✓ Sleep—how many hours did you sleep last night? By including some of the ideas above in your journal you are able to look at yourself in a new light. You will be able to see where you are on your Journey and what you have to change to be the best you can be on your Journey. Maybe you need more sleep. Sleep is an important component to losing weight and being healthy. Maybe you did not get in enough water for the day. Water is also another important component on this Journey. Water cleanses your system and helps in your weight loss efforts. Do you see what I'm talking about here? The more you include in your daily Journal, the easier your Journey will be. You will have honest data to work with. You will see your strong points and your weak points. You will know where you need some improvement or changes and where you are doing awesome and nothing needs to be changed because it's working for you. I include exercise in my journal because I like my info all in one place. I usually just write ✓ Gym, elliptical 30 minutes; 1 hour water aerobics ✓ Gym, 1 hour with trainer ✓ Walk 3.1 miles with Al Please don't judge your journal by someone else's. Your journal is your Journey and what works for you might not work for someone else. There is no right or wrong journal. Each person should have a journal that works for them. If you have extra space on your journal pages it's always nice to add some positive affirmations. A few of my favorites are: ✓ Do you like it enough to wear it? ✓ If you always do what you always did, you'll always get what you always got. ✓ Learn from the past, live in the present, dream of the future. They are very helpful when you are having a down day and especially when your willpower to eat that donut has just flown out of that open window! Okay, how many of you who have not been journaling are now thinking about journaling? Great! Good for you! Try it. You might just find you like it. I guarantee it will definitely be an eye-opening experience for you. Take care until we meet again. Have an awesome OP (on Program) couple of weeks. 
Dotti
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Dotti's Update I thought it was about time I updated you all on how I'm doing. I haven't updated my journey on the webpage yet but I will (maybe by the time you get this  ).
I've had a very busy year with my share of ups and downs. On the downside, I've been experiencing left knee and lower back problems, along with serious restless leg syndrome ~ to the point of not sleeping. I finally saw my doctor a couple of weeks ago and was diagnosed with a herniated disc in my back. I had an MRI on my left knee to pinpoint the problem there. I will be seeing the Doctor in a couple of days, to discuss the results. I was put on an anti-inflammatory, which is helping a bit with the pain. On the upside this has been a year of spending time with good friends and family. Our son, Glenn II (Chief in the US Navy, stationed in Japan) and grandson, Kai Anthony, have just returned home to Japan after visiting with us for 18 days! What a great time we had. Our younger son, LeRoy, flew in from Spokane to spend a couple of days with us while they were here. Some of our friends from the boards met up with us in 2008 for a great time; Joan (aka Joan); Kathy (aka Chatty) & Jim; Karen (aka KCalla), Rick & daughter, Katie; Sharon (aka Harmony), Dave (aka Frenzy) & son, Brian (the boys climbed Mt. Hood!). In a couple of days, our good friend Vikki (aka Purplenorsemen) will be coming in for a visit. As for my Journey, I'm back on track and feeling great. I've been working out at the gym five days a week and it's not been bothering my back or knee much (the pain usually appears AFTER the workout when I want to relax—go figure). I am staying within my Points, listening to my "Enjoying Weight Loss" Hypnosis CDs a couple times a week to keep my head straight and I'm enjoying life again.
I would like to thank all of you who have sent me emails of support. They mean so much to me and are greatly appreciated.
Dotti
Come Join the Fun!  Do you want some extra support during your Journey? Would you like to have a place you can call "home," where you can be yourself? Our Message Board is just the place. It's home to all our Zonie friends who share their Journey experiences and are always willing and ready to offer support, laughs, friendship and ~ 24/7. Our DWLZ Message Board is at: http://www.dwlz2.com/forum/. Don't forget to register if you haven't already done so.
Food Finds Have you tried some different foods this last couple of weeks? I tried a couple that I would like to share with you.
Chili Cornbread Pie Makes 6 servings Ingredients—
Preparation—
Per serving: 435 Cal, 4g Fat, 11.5g Fiber, 80g Carbs, 675mg Sodium, 18.5g Protein *7 (8.5) ~Lickety-Split Meals by Nutrition Expert Zonya Foco, RD Weight Loss is 90% Mental I use Dr. Roberta's Enjoying Weight Loss Hypnosis CDs as an important help on my lifelong Journey to a healthier me:
Want to know more?
— I honestly believe this is an answer to a dilemma that we all face. Come and read about it. Motivation The Gift of Many Happy Returns New Journeys await you. Decisions lie ahead, wondering what you will do, where you will go, how you will choose when the choices are yours. Remember that good decisions come back to bless you, over and over again. Work for the ability to choose wisely, to prosper, to succeed. Listen with your heart as well as your head, to the glimmers of truth that provide advice and inspiration to the hours of your days. And let those truths take you to beautiful places. Touch the sky, and in your reach, believe, achieve, and aspire. I hope your tomorrows take you to the summit of your goals, and your joys take you even higher. ~~~Douglas Pagels ~I'd Love to Give These Gifts to You, Blue Mountain Arts Baja Bob's Cocktail Mixes ~ Home of the Original Sugar-Free Margarita Mix Note from Baja Bob's Try some Baja Bob's Sugar Free Cocktail Mixes today - What a great way to enjoy an occasional cocktail without any guilt! Enjoy and stay on your program! Enter Code dotti10 when ordering and receive a 10% discount...
Enjoy a cocktail and stay
on your Program
Super-Foods to Help You Stay Healthy You can help beat stress by eating…
Software You Can Use! — And Now Available Online! Weight CommanderThe Weight Commander is an awesome program for your Journey. I highly recommend it to all those who are on a Journey of their own. It is a wonderful program to track your progress on any weight loss program you are using. You can read My Review of the Weight Commander or go straight to the source and check out this great software by following this link to Weight Commander. He has many tips and ideas throughout his program which will help you to be successful on your Journey. And for those who don't feel comfortable downloading software, or who cringe when Windows gives them another unnecessary warning about running perfectly safe software, Michael has created a wonderful online version of Weight Commander, where you can always access your information with privacy, with no worry about trying to transfer it from computer to computer when you switch. You can of course still get the software version (which continues to work very well, even on my Windows Vista computer), but the online version of Weight Commander is a wonderful new option! You make the choice, but you win either way.
Fruits & Veggies in Season ~ August Here is a list of the fruits and veggies that are in season during August. Don't forget to put them on your grocery list!
Comic Relief The Class Reunion —by a nearly 50 year old woman I had prepared for it like any "intelligent" woman would. I went on a starvation diet the day before, knowing that all the extra weight would just melt off in 24-hours, leaving me with my sleek, trim, high school-girl body. The last many years of careful cellulite collection would just be gone with a snap of a finger. I knew if I didn't eat a morsel on Friday, that I could probably fit into my senior formal on Saturday. Trotting up to the attic, I pulled the gown out of the garment bag, carried it lovingly downstairs, ran my hand over the fabric, and hung it on the door. I stripped naked, looked in the mirror, sighed, and thought, "Well, okay, maybe if I shift it all to the back." Bodies never have pockets where you need them. Bravely, I took the gown off the hanger, unzipped the shimmering dress and stepped gingerly into it. I struggled, twisted, turned, and pulled. I got the formal all the way up to my knees before the zipper gave out. I was disappointed. I wanted to wear that dress with those silver platform sandals again and dance the night away. Okay, one setback was not going to spoil my mood for this affair. No way! Rolling the dress into a ball and tossing it into the corner, I turned to Plan B—the black velvet caftan. I gathered up all the goodies that I had purchased at the drug store—the scented shower gel, the body building and highlighting shampoo & conditioner, and the split end killer and shine enhancer. Soon my hair would look like that girl's in the Pantene ads. Then the makeup—the under eye "ain't no lines here" firming cream; the all day face-lifting gravity-fighting moisturizer, with wrinkle filler spackle; the all day "kiss me till my lips bleed, and see if this gloss will come off" lipstick, the bronzing face powder for that special glow—but first, the roll-on facial hair remover. I could feel the wrinkles shuddering in fear. Okay, time to get ready. I jumped into the steaming shower, soaped, lathered, rinsed, shaved, tweezed, buffed, scrubbed, and scoured my body to a tingling pink. I plastered my freshly scrubbed face with the anti-wrinkle, gravity fighting, face cream. I set my hair on the hot rollers. I felt wonderful. Ready to take on the world, or, in this instance, my underwear. With the towel firmly wrapped around my glistening body, I pulled out the black, lacy, tummy-tucking, cellulite-pushing, ham hock-rounding girdle, and the matching "lifting those bosoms like they're filled with helium" bra. I greased my body with the scented body lotion and began the plunge. I pulled, stretched, tugged, hiked, folded, tucked, twisted, shimmied, hopped, pushed, wiggled, snapped, shook, caterpillar crawled, and kicked. Sweat poured off my forehead, but I was done. And it didn't look bad. So I rested. A well-deserved rest, too. Okay, so I had to take baby steps, and walk sideways, and I couldn't move from my waist to my knees. But I was firm! Oh no…I had to go to the bathroom. And there wasn't a snap crotch. From now on undies gotta have a snap crotch. I was ready to rip it open and re-stitch the crotch with Velcro. But the pain factor from past experiments was still fresh in my mind. I quickly side stepped to the bathroom. An hour later, I had answered nature's call and repeated the struggle into the girdle. I was ready for the bra. Back straight, slightly arched, I turned and faced the mirror, turning front, and then sideways. I smiled. Yes, Houston, we have lift up! My breasts were high, firm and there was cleavage! I was happy until I tried to look down. I had a chinrest. And I couldn't see my feet. I still had to put on my pantyhose, and shoes. Why did I buy heels with buckles? And then I had to pee again. Think I'll go fix myself a drink and skip the %#$@! reunion! —Anonymous Positive Affirmations Over the next 2 weeks, take one of these 14 items each of the days, and make it yours. Read it. Believe it. Dwell upon it until it feels a part of you. You have these things inside of you already—all you have to do is draw them out. You CAN do this!
Did you know...? Our Journey is not just about weight loss; it's about constantly learning new things... In Search of Heavenly Bodies… Just Neighbors… Here on Earth we are slightly closer to the Canis Major Dwarf Galaxy than we are to the center of our own Milky Way Galaxy! (These galaxies are so close to each other that our much larger galaxy is pulling stars out of the smaller galaxy, and may completely consume it, as it has with other galaxies in the past. Now that is overeating! )
Like a bat out of… On January 19, 2006, New Horizons was launched on an Atlas V rocket, and traveling at over 36,260 miles-per-hour it left earth for its 2015 rendezvous with Pluto, making it the fastest spacecraft ever launched from Earth. Moving that fast, this vehicle can cover over 317 million miles in a year! Even so, it took it 9 hours to reach the orbit of the moon, and will take 9 years to reach Pluto, the defrocked—and quite embarrassed by it, and sure to appeal the decision—former planet. Alas, in the great arena of our universe, we are still just learning to crawl, because if it were heading that way, New Horizons, even traveling at its record-breaking speed, it would take about 78 thousand years to reach Proxima Centauri, the nearest star to our own sun! Some things really are too big… The star VY Canis Majoris is over 1.6 billion miles across, making it the largest known star in the universe! If it were placed where our sun is, it would engulf Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn. Our 7th—and now next to last—planet, Uranus, at 19 AU from the sun (that's 1.7 billion miles, or 19 times our distance from the sun), would have a front row seat from which to view VY Canis Majoris' surface. ~A few stellar facts researched by Al Al's Essays on Weight Loss and Maintenance Al has written many in depth essays on Weight Loss and Maintenance and they are now available on the website! You can find Al's Essays on Weight Loss and Maintenance at: DWLZ Cookbooks One and Two Have you ordered your DWLZ Cookbooks yet? These cookbooks are filled with recipes that are Zonies' favorites, dishes that are delicious but on program, with nutritional information listed. This is two books in one package: DWLZ Cookbooks Volumes One and Two. The recipes are easy to make and don't use hard-to-find items. They are together in one PDF file, viewable in your free Acrobat Reader (Version 5 and higher). These also make wonderful gifts. Philly Swirl
Every day is a good day to stock up on some great tasting Philly Swirl's Sugar-Free, Fat-Free Swirl Pops! They are delicious and only 10 calories. Keep your freezer stocked with these great 10 calorie pops which can be enjoyed anytime throughout the year. If you are interested in learning more about the Philly Swirl products please visit them at http://www.phillyswirl.com/ and drop them a line. They would love to hear from you. Psst...don’t forget to pass the word! We want to see these awesome Sugar-Free, Fat-Free Swirl Pops remain available to all of us on our Journey. Let's take the power we have to make a difference by passing the word about these awesome pops and keeping them available to us in the future. DWLZ Website Updates Keeping Dotti's Weight Loss Zone current is a full time job and then some. Anytime you would like to find my latest updates you can find them at these links:
Goodbye Until our next visit, always keep in mind you are never alone on this Journey. We are all here with you, right beside you, rooting you on. Take care until next time... Dotti
Newsletter Sign Up If this newsletter was forwarded to you, you can sign up for it yourself at:
Dotti's Newsletter Subscription Page -
http://www.dwlz.com/eletter.html (You can also unsubscribe from Dotti's Newsletter there.) Dotti's Weight Loss Zone And please don't forget to come and visit DWLZ!  If you are not already a regular visitor, it is time for you to come and make yourself at home at my web page, where you will find lots of tips on losing weight, and help in picking out good things to eat at your favorite restaurants, while still remaining on program. We have motivation, success stories, and much more. It is a lot like Disneyland: you'll have lots of fun, and you could never see it all in just one day! However, unlike Disneyland, Dotti's [ http://www.dwlz.com ] is open 24 hours a day, every day. Copyright and Disclaimer Copyright © DWLZ, Inc. - 2008, all rights reserved. This document may be reproduced freely as long as it is always reproduced in its entirety, including this copyright message, and the disclaimer below, and as long as it is always distributed free of charge. Disclaimer - This newsletter is not meant to be a substitute for any professional advice, guidance, or counseling. We are not doctors. Any information contained in this email reflects our own opinions and experiences. It is not intended in any way to serve as or take the place of medical advice from a physician. *Whenever possible, I calculate ALL my Points on my Offline Points Calculator in the Half Points Mode, which rounds UP to the nearest Half Point. This keeps my site consistent. All point values shown in BLACK are calculated with the 10-gram fiber cap [Original 123 Success Points]. When there is a difference with the 4 gram fiber cap calculation, I show the points value for that in RED. Note: Points® is a registered trademark of Weight Watchers International, Inc. The Points® values displayed are not intended in any way to show an endorsement or sponsorship of any product or organization by Weight Watchers International, Inc. |
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