Happy Monday kids!Where oh where do I start in today’s Monday Musings edition?Let’s start with one of my fav topics…. snake oil offerings…. aka health and wellness companies looking for those desperate to lose weight, along with their cash.When it comes to health and nutrition there are some guaranteed buzz words that will send me head on into the other direction. If you come at me with words like “cleanses “, “detoxes”, “fat burners”, telling me I need to get toxins out of my body, and that I need to spend my days drinking shakes or mystery drinks, I’m gone.Like yesterday, gone.I like to eat my food, not drink it.I get it. With the weirdness of the last few months people are stuck at home alot more.Feeling emotionally strung out they reach for the ice cream cartons and chocolate.”Quarantine 15″ is a reality for many people. Well, hopefully not that much. Life has been crazy and food, for alot of us, can be entertainment, comfort, or simply boredom eating. Being home extra time gives more opportunities to graze when we usually wouldn’t.No matter what your current weight situation, you don’t need to be cleansed or detoxed from your affair with ice cream or fries.
Just incase you don’t know, cleanse and detox are buzz words for “starvation and being miserable “. I’ve never met an honest person who wasn’t ready to finish and get back to normal life from being “cleansed”. And the weight loss from it? Nothing but water loss, not fat.And I’ll say it again for the kids on the back row…..there is no such thing as a fat burner! If that stuff actually worked, everyone would use it and we wouldn’t have an obesity epidemic.So what would I recommend? I’ll put it as succinctly as possible.Eating! Eat good nutrionally dense foods with adequate protein that satisfies you.Feed and nourish your body with good foods, don’t deprive it or eliminate foods it needs.And don’t forget to allow treats because life is good and you shouldn’t live deprived.You don’t have to starve to lose weight or feel constantly hungry.Movement!If there is one thing under used for our wellness, mental and physical, it’s exercise. Exercise makes us feel strong and can clear our minds. I do my most creative thinking during exercise.Don’t get caught up in thinking you “have” to do it to lose weight. Take the weight loss out of the equation.You can build strength, gain energy, develop more muscle mass, develop your cardiovascular system, and flex your creative mental energy without actually losing weight. ( do it often and frequently with my suggestions on healthy eating and it will happen) you should exercise no matter your body size because it benefits you in so many waysBut please, don’t get on the cleanse and detox hype bus in a quest to get to lose weight.Speaking of building strength….I have been making strength training a part of my physical discipline for awhile. This week I tossed a little more weight on my bar moving from 155 to 185lbs on my dead lift. I did 3 sets of 3 for a starting place. I was pleasantly surprised when I did it again yesterday, it didn’t feel as hard as I was preparing for. I look back to several years ago when I got 8 lbs dumb bells and they were a little work for me ha it seems crazy now since I use 25lb for alot of my arm work. Consistency does pay off.
You… no matter where you are… have a starting place for your health and fitness. You just need to find it.Speaking of all things health I’m excited to be reading this book, Give Yourself More. I’m also excited to finish so I can write a review on it. This book takes women past “just” losing weight to learning more of themselves to giving themselves “more” in life. I previously did a book review on Georgie’s “Lean Habits For Weight Loss” ( find both reviews in my posts) which focuses on building healthy, sustainable habits for life long weight loss. You’ll find my review here on my page when I finish this book .
Oh…..and if you never had a black Nitro brew coffee, you need to. 😉No how about some fun stuff? I’ve shared with you before that I have a little vintage furniture business. Of the many positives I ponder in this weird time we are in, is how it has continued to grow. I moved into a larger space in the shop,and became a retailer for a well known chalk paint company. It took off so fast I made the move to become a premier retailer (lots of perks with it) all within a few months. I put together my website and launched it. I’ve gained alot of followers and picked up lots of custom orders with new customers.My little hobby, this fun little side gig, has turned more and more into a thriving business.All during a time things were closed and nothing was moving.I used that down time to be productive, to work and accomplish new things. I firmly believed that things would get moving again and I wanted to be heading that way, ready.Guess you can say I never let grass grow under my feet.I’d challenge you in this time to find something new to learn, build a hobby or craft. Take care of yourself and maybe get into some type of exercise. Use this time as an opportunity of personal growth. Read, write, reflect.Ok you wanna see some of the things I’ve dragged home recently, don’t you? I love showing you pieces from days gone by 😊
Harp media holder
I transformed this cute telephone bench. She sold this weekend 😊
Just a little snap shot of some of my projects, my many, many projects 😱So I guess I’ll leave you with this thought. Are you using this time to be productive in new ways? A lot of our lives and schedules may feel perhaps, a bit disjointed right now. We can look at it all in a negative way, or a way of accomplishing new things we haven’t done before.Tell me…. have you used this time to try new things or to learn something new? Are you focusing on caring for yourself in how you eat and move ?
Tag: diet gimmicks
Monday Musings
So who stole the weekend already? Sunday night has shown up with the stealth of a cat ready to take down the dinner mouse.
I’m pondering the wisdom of coffee but it seems like a warm, delicious hug after a busy day and I’m close to losing the battle on making it.
Ah yes, I think that’s exactly what’s needed while I let my random Musings outta my head.
Let the monkeys loose
I wondered again today, how I can possibly squeeze more out of myself. Besides the usual life stuff, taking care of myself,family, housekeeping and all that, there’s my little vintage business that is growing.
I’m all happy over that but gosh…I need more time for projects. Besides pieces I do for my shop, I’ve been blessed with repeat customers and custom orders.
Ya know, in the beginning, that terrified me a wee bit. It’s one thing to dive into one of my needy, fixer upper pieces and a whole lot different working on a piece my client tells me has been in her family for over 100 years 😱
I got over it.
I will admit there’s a huge amount of vulnerability putting my work out there.
No one is tougher on me than me.
It all vanishes as soon as my customer sees their refinished piece and is thrilled over it.
I just wrapped up this little curio cabinet for a customer this weekend.. check out its before condition….
And now with it’s cool new look. I’m obsessed with these colors..
I’m pondering what piece I have that I can use this look on.
Maybe this little vintage table/magazine rack? I had a customer bring it to me….she was like…here I want you to have it. It was in an old rent house we’re cleaning out and I know you love stuff like this.. I happily took it..dust, cobwebs and all 🤣
Not to mention hubby and I went out hunting items this weekend and got some cool pieces for the shop. With the approaching holiday season I want it packed out.
Snake oil and magic potions
Ok if you’ve been with me for awhile you know one of my favorite soap box topics is the modern day snake oil of the diet/health industry.
It definitely makes for plentiful writing topics.
Kinda like shooting fish in a barrel.
I’ve been researching/watching/ learning about one company that seems to have quite a cultic following.
I have more than one problem with this (company that shall remain nameless…for now at least)
For instance, nothing is discussed online. Not the name of company or what they are about…other than miraculous weight loss concoctions. However yours truly picked enough keywords from comments to figure it out. 😛
You do have to wait to receive a message from someone about it after you ask then I guess you get the secret info
Well. Ok.
I get it. The idea is so people like me don’t show up and ruin their party calling out the nonsense and drivel.
Doing things like informing them of the junk that’s in those fat burning, toxin cleansing, appetite suppressing, fat blocking miracle supplements they are shoving down their throat.
I think one of the biggest things that got me was a comment from a supporter of this and she said.. I quote…
“Diet and exercise backfire”.
Help. Me.
What kind of thinking IS this???
Yes, a restrictive, depriving diet won’t last.
Learning to have a healthy daily balanced diet will last.
Combining it with purposeful exercise will go a long way to keeping you fit and healthy.
Of course that doesn’t sound as dramatic and exciting as the miracle potions Karen is trying to sell me on.
But more disturbingly kids, smart people really buy into all this.
In the past I’ve been a Guinea pig with various things so I could write on them from an informed way.
Everything from foods, to diets ( hello whole 30 and Paleo) to exercise trends (crossfit showed me how capable I am to lift heavy stuff) to more harmless things like athletic wear and shoes.
I love doing it because I can write from a really informed place.
I…briefly…contemplated being a lab rat for a short time.
However…one…I’m not up for paying the equivalent of a car payment for a month of fat burning supplies…( yes for real) and I don’t mean a cheap car payment….
Two….I don’t dig starving and being hungry for the sake of losing weight…especially since I know you don’t have to for success.
Oh and three…I really don’t wanna put all the crap in my body.
So I will continue my fact gathering and may present a post on this…this company…. who shall be nameless cause I’m not giving them advertising time 🤣
Oh a final tidbit…their revenue was listed at 103 million dollars.
In fitness news
I’m doing some time in physical therapy. Mostly we’re working out hips and legs and an IT band that is really giving me fits…horrible fits some days.
Last week they wanted to do some assessments on my strength. They put me on a machine and calculated how much weight I should do with one leg.
165 lbs. For a single leg press.
I was told to just start and do as many as I could. I got to 20, felt like I could do a few more but decided to finish strong and leave it there.
After doing it on the other side I got a brief rest and then had to knock out 2 more sets of 10.
My PT guy comes back and was like…wow you’re pretty strong.. yay for the old lady hahaha
I will admit…it felt pretty cool. It’s one thing to know I’m strong and another to be put through a test and knock it out of the park.
The goal is to get me loose so I can be 100% on the road again doing what I love.
Time will tell I suppose.
I’d still rather play hard, hitting hard goals an challenging myself than watching life from the sidelines. I understand doing that might involve injuries.. it’s a part of the game.
Fall is coming… I think
We’ve had a cool morning or two and its hard not to think of those comfort foods that always seem so enjoyable once the weather changes.
I whipped up a chicken casserole that’s a family favorite this week. Find it below😊
And what about an easy chicken and dumpling recipe? you’re welcome
I’ve got lots of amazing recipes saved on Pinterest, be sure to check them out!
Your turn. How’s the week been kids? What’s on your plate for this Monday?
Saturday Snippets
Happy Saturday lovely people!
So it’s been a red hot minute since I ranted about some snake oil diet and “health” program.
You’ve been forewarned 🤣
If someone offers you pie in the sky promises of ridiculous weight loss in a week ( largely done by starvation) and then tells you ( the victim) you will also have to pay 100’s of your hard earned dollars a month to buy all of their fabulous starvation….um….weight loss products… may I make a suggestion?
Take your 100plus dollars, buy some good running shoes, and run far, far away from it.
You’re welcome 😉
I’ve seen one particular product circulating through and it’s just so unrealistic in what it offers.
I’m sorry, but losing big amounts of weight in 8 days is not only unrealistic, it’s also unhealthy. And the reality is all you’ve done is shed a whole lotta water in those days.
I’ve read enough on it to know you basically starve yourself most days of the “program” in that first week.
I don’t exaggerate.
On top of that you spend a good amount of money to be involved in this particular diet cult.
I know it’s super old school but really, if you want to lose weight, and keep it off you’ve got to manage what goes in your mouth, eat healthy nutritious food the majority of the time ( because chocolate ya know?)and get some good purposeful exercise in most days of the week.
It will be slow and steady ( as it should) you will eat foods you enjoy, without depriving yourself, and the money you save you can use towards that new exercise hobby you fall in love with.
Stay away from the diet schemes that require you to buy their products and promise you “to good to be true” results.
Really the only results you’ll ultimately have will be a lighter bank account.
sassyfitnesschick 