HABITS

I had gotten into the habit of "blogging" almost daily and I loved it! I received some great feedback, had many followers....but then my computer broke, I went skiing, saw a movie, etc, etc. Oh, I've got even more excuses, but the bottom line is that I just got out of the habit of doing it....but I'm back!

And in the last few months, I've developed some really good habits that I'd like to share with you because Spring's here and we're all trying to get into shape.

While I'll never, ever again wear an itsy teeny, weeny yellow polka dot bikini, I still want to look good at the pool. So, I was determined this year to lose weight and I'm thrilled to say I'm doing quite well at it. I've lost 10 pounds since early January and I attribute it all to 2 things....my IPOD touch and the MAYO Clinic Diet Book.

You might wonder what an IPOD Touch is, let alone how it helped me lose weight, but seriously, I give most of the credit to my IPOD Touch and the free "Lose It!" application . Using that application, I set weekly weight loss goals, but most importantly it forced me to write down everything....every bite, every M&M, every coke....that I consumed daily. I became religious about it (my best habit) and once I hit the magic number of around 1150 calories a day I knew I couldn't eat any more.

Then the MAYO Clinic Diet Book forced me to become more aware of "portion control" and measure everything I eat. It also introduced me to 5 new habits and showed me how to break some of my bad eating habits. Just go to any restaurant and you can see that we Americans are out of control when it comes to how much food is put on our plate and what we end up eating. I've become a fanatic when it comes to measuring. I'm not done yet as I'm going use my new found habits to lose that last 5 pounds.

............and how about you? What new habits would you like to form?
Just remember that it takes at least 21 days for a habit to take effect.
For additional tips on how to form good habits go to:
www.eruptingmind.com/forming-new-habits

I Hope You Dance

With the holidays here, you've just got to exercise or those 5 to 10 extra pounds will jump on you before you know it!

If we're honest with ourselves, we have to admit that it's gotten much more difficult to lose the weight and maintain a good shape as we've gotten older.

(Why do you think they invented elastic waistbands?)

I love to dance and like that song - I Hope You Dance by Lee Ann Womack. (lyrics at http://www.elyrics.net/read/l/lee-ann-womack-lyrics/i-hope-you-dance-lyrics.html

Tonight for exercise I went to a line dancing class. It was a lot of fun - we practiced the Electric Slide which I knew how to do and then I learned the Chocolate Hustle. I had never tried that dance and it was a little confusing to learn, but our instructor did a great job of breaking down the steps. She's done an excellent job of shaping a group of amateur dancers into a fine-tuned troupe as the HTC Line Dancers took 1st Place in June 2008 in the Line Dancing Category in the Greeley CO Senior Games.

So, eat all the turkey, fixings and pumpkin pie you want on Thursday, but get back to exercising on Friday! According to the MAYO Clinic there are 7 primary benefits of exercise:

• improves your mood
• combats chronic disease
• helps you manage your weight
• strengthens your heart and lungs
• promotes better sleep
• puts the spark back in your sex life
• can be fun

No matter what your preferred exercise is -- JUST DO IT! Don't use the holiday season as an excuse to let yourself go!

Need more encouragement? Pick up a copy of the book "Growing Old is not for Sissies" by Etta Clark. The book is an excellent pictorial display of older athletes and proves you can stay in shape no matter what chronological age you've hit.