Jimmy Moore's '30-In-30' Challenge

Greetings everyone and thanks so much for dropping by for Teeeeeerrific Tuesday (aka "Weigh-In Day") here at The "30-In-30" Low-Carb Weight Loss Challenge. Did you have a great week on your low-carb lifestyle and are chomping at the bit to tell us all about it? Well, don't wait...go right ahead and share your joyful success with us all! Now more than ever we need to be about encouraging each other to not just go through the process of losing weight, but enjoying the experience as we make the necessary lifestyle changes that it takes to get healthy for good! YOU CAN DO IT!!!

Last week I received an e-mail from one of my longtime regular readers who quite frankly is feeling the pressure of being overwhelmed by what she is going through in her life right now. Hoo boy!

Can I get a witness anyone?!

When you are livin' la vida low-carb, it seems all the stresses of life are magnified ten-fold which makes things like weight loss, feeling better, and eating the right way seems so insignficant. We've all been through those times, haven't we (yes, even I have had my fair share)?

It breaks my heart to think that many would-be low-carb weight loss success stories get so frustrated, discouraged, and fall flat on their face when these times come that they let their guard down on their diet so they can "comfort" themselves.

May I be just brutally honest with you (I'm gonna be anyway because you wouldn't expect anything less!)--that's just plain STUPID! I realize we are all prone to succumbing to our emotions and letting (mostly high-carb) food become our medicine of choice when we are down and out about life.

But that's where making the right choices BEFORE calamity hits becomes such a critical part of your success in weight loss and in life for that matter. If you know that tough times are coming and prepare yourself adequately for when they do, then you can't help but get through them without a hitch. I realize there are certain things in life you cannot even begin to imagine or expect, but staying strong when life goes AAAAACK on you is an absolute MUST!

Here are some portions of the e-mail from that dear reader:

I haven’t been doing very well on my diet lately...as soon as I got back from my trip to Hawaii, I got sick and I am now starting to get over it. Really bad cold and chest congestion. I’m still having trouble sleeping without snoring terribly...that and my job stress level is now at Orange!!!

Oh well, I’ve been still reading your blogs on and off. I’m so busy now here at work, I can’t seem to find a minute...I am trying to get back on track, but it is really hard. I never take enough breaks to eat and I find myself snacking on bad things...

I am probably overwhelmed and my to-do list runeth over...I have my son’s graduation in June, I’m having an open house, I’m secretary/treasurer of my husband’s family reunion committee, and I have to find a place to hold that and send out fliers...YIKES! That’ll be happening right in line with the invites to the graduation and all...what did I get myself into????

Holding on for dear life right now...

If you looked up the word "stress" in a thesaurus, then you'd probably see synonyms like "pressure," "anxiety," or "fear." But that's for normal "stress."

What about the

"STRRRRREEEEEESSSSSSS"

my reader is going through right now?

How do you define all the experiences she is going through in her life with the sickness, difficulty sleeping, job pressures, nervous eating, her son's graduation preparations, her husband's family reunion?!

CALGON, TAKE ME AWAY!!!

I think we can safely say this person is (to put it mildly!) quite "stressed" out right now. But I want you to do something with that word "stressed" right now if you are like my reader (God be with you if you are) and feel like your entire world is consuming you right now. Let's look at that word very carefully right now:

S-T-R-E-S-S-E-D

STRESSED! Lean in, look at the word, and imagine for a moment that we could turn it around backwards. In other words, we're gonna reverse that "stressed" life we are living to make something much sweeteer than we could have ever thought possible. Start with the "d" at the end of "stressed" and move back to begin spelling out a new word I want you to think about when life gets to be too much for you. Are you doing it? Here's what you spell:

D-E-S-S-E-R-T-S

DESSERTS! Yep, it spell desserts! When you think of being stressed from now on, I want you to immediately turn that right around and visualize "desserts." Let me qualify that and make an obvious point--don't go crazy on me and start stuffing your mouth with sugar-infested "desserts" and all that. LOL!

But the point is that we all know life is coming at us full force, so prepare your mind ahead of time that being stressed means it's time for desserts. When you are trying to lose weight and get healthy, just knowing that everything is going to work out in our life no matter what happens should give you the stability you need to press on.

Here are a few of my tips for dealing with the stress:

1. Don't sweat the small stuff (and it really is ALL small stuff!).
2. Learn to relax and seek out the good in every situation.
3. When you start to feel stressed, close your eyes and breathe slowly.
4. Never underestimate the power of a walk around the block.
5. Realize that you are too blessed to be stressed!

Anyone feeling the stress of life this week? You are most definitely not alone. But it's how you respond to that stress that will determine whether you are able to be a success or failure in the game of life. Since weight loss is a part of that life, the same holds true for your health goals. Don't allow this to happen to you because life is too short to worry yourself to death!

Please share your feedback on dealing with stress and let's hear how your week went.

Labels: 30-in-30, challenge, Jimmy Moore, life, low-carb, stress, weight, weight loss