Throwback Thursday

Wow! Reading back through my old posts yesterday, really got me thinking about my patterns.  My description of myself yesterday as "consistently inconsistent" is spot on!  I wanted to share a throwback picture of a time when I think I looked really good.  It's not a full body shot, but from my face and facial expression, I can tell I'm relaxed, confident, and young... not even 40 yet!  Below is a picture of me from August of 2008.  I'm not entirely sure of my weight at this point, if I had to guess, I'd say I was around 130/135 lbs. If I had something akin to an inspiration photo, this would definitely be one.

Bonus points to anyone who's reading this post and can guess who's wedding I'm attending in this photo. Wendy, Teena, and Lisa, you were there... that's a major hint!

The next throwback photo I'm sharing is from January of 2016, after I lost weight on the VIP fitness program.  This one is a full body shot, and again looking at the expression on my face, I look happy and confident, and bonus... my stomach is flat! I'd have to confirm, but in this photo I'm definitely below 130 lbs, probably 125/127 lbs. I wasn't yet at my goal weight (in fact, if I'm being honest I never actually made it to my ultimate goal because in February of that year, I started having the first inkling of back pain.  I chalked it up to working out too much so I "took a break," a break that lasted until, well... until now).

TODAY'S BLE TAKEAWAY

Switching gears now (how's that for a transition...), as part of the 14 Day BLE challenge that I started, one of the components is watching a daily video from the founder of the program, Susan Thompson.  One of my takeaways from this morning's video was the following statement: "Behavior is always preceded by a thought."  For example, before you eat something, you think about whether you're going to eat it.  In this program I'm not supposed to eat sugar.  Susan reminds us that willpower alone is not enough to keep from eating a sugary item, so she's come up with three different mantras I can use as part of the "thought process."  

Mantra 1: Don't eat (drink) that no matter what, no mater what don't eat (drink) that.

Mantra 2: That's not my food (drink)! ("NMF" in BLE speak).

Mantra 3: That's not food (drink), that's poison.  

The last mantra seemed harsh to me at first, but Susan goes on to explain that sugar is a "chronic, dose dependent, hepatotoxin."  If I understood her explanation of hepatotoxin correctly, this means that fructose (such as table sugar, beet sugar, high-fructose corn syrup, etc.) is processed in the liver, and any excess fructose is stored there until the body needs to use it. If too much is stored, it gets released into the blood stream as fat globs called triglycerides which end up lining the arteries and causing heart problems, etc. Hence, it is toxic to the body. Flour is also a toxin, except flour is not solely processed in the liver, so it's not a hepatotoxin.

I'm going to try to employ these "think first" mantras for those times when I'm tempted to drink a glass of wine with dinner or sneak a piece of chocolate from my colleague's candy dish. Do you have any tips, tricks or mantras that you use to keep yourself from eating something you shouldn't?  I'd love to hear them!  Comment below!