Hello and welcome to my little megabyte of Spark Peoples World. As I am entering my fiftyth year of living with my body, I am not only redirecting my efforts on changing my lifestyle, but acknowledging that my health and body are giving out and need medical intervention so there can be improvement. Therefore on January 2013 once again still being considered obese with a BMI of 45% (according to the US Navy Circumference Method), I am embarking on a redictation of my “Personal Weight Journey”. ...

Hello and welcome to my little megabyte of Spark Peoples World. As I am entering my fiftyth year of living with my body, I am not only redirecting my efforts on changing my lifestyle, but acknowledging that my health and body are giving out and need medical intervention so there can be improvement. Therefore on January 2013 once again still being considered obese with a BMI of 45% (according to the US Navy Circumference Method), I am embarking on a redictation of my “Personal Weight Journey”. I am keeping several spiral notebook of my food eaten good and bad...and updating the photo journal with lots of pictures of me, to keep me motivated and showing the changes. An a exercise notebook and iPhone apps, trying different styles of exercise to find one that works for me and keeps me from getting bored.

So in other words, I have reset all my goals, cleared everything, I am starting over from scratch from when I first joined in August 14th, 2008 weighing in at 220 lbs.

Starting January 2013, I want to work on losing the 45 lbs of fat weight to reach my short term goal of 160 lbs. My long term goal is losing 65 lbs and the ideal weight of 140 lbs according to the doctor. But in the meantime till I get to 160 lbs and stop smoking I can not have my back surgery for levo rotary scoliosis ( meaning that the vertebraes are not only curved into an "S" shape, but also twisting/rotating to the left) and spondylolysis(spon-dee-low-lye-sis) which is a stress fracture or defect of the pars interarticularis in a vertebra. Yes, yes it is painful, some days worst than others, but know what... I am not going to let it defeat me.

When I joined this site I was looking to find motivation and support. Instead I found much more than that. I found out why I keep failing in my battle with the bulge. I was trying to work on all areas of my life at once, and what I still need to do is to start small and focus my attention on the one area for improvement then gradual small goal to work toward the most immediate and significant goals that will have the biggest impact on the quality of my life.

Of course the one significant area was to lose weight and keep it off. But, my friend the big weight loss "secret" is not easy, and it is not a simple solution. It’s not in simply pop a pill or to stop eating a certain food item. Unfortunately, there are no quick fixes to weight issues. However, I can offer you something that is so much better and healthier in the long run. SparksPeople.com! Yes this website can show you a new, more fulfilling, empowering lifestyle. Yes, it will take work, some may struggle a bit ( I have a lot), but overall it is a much longer lasting, well-rounded solution guaranteed to work for everyone who really wants to change and is willing to make a few new lifestyle choices.

So Step 1. Create a mission statement and vision statement. This describes an ideal destination or end result.

Step 2. Use brainstorming and do research, use the SparksPeople tools. I got ideas about what I want, desire, and need so I can achieve this, then organize and prioritize what is most important to you.

Step 3. DO IT!

These are my statements.

My Mission Statement: Live life to enjoy all the pleasures and happiness it has to offer, while at the same time living a healthy lifestyle.

My Mission Statement: Live life to enjoy all the pleasures and happiness it has to offer, while at the same time living a healthy lifestyle.

My Vision Statement: With continuous development of healthy habits, exercising and accountability, weight is loss and the body and mind grow stronger.

I am putting away the old motivational visual board and am making myself a new updated visual board where I place and read these statements daily. My reason, is as I have grown and changed so have my goals both short and long term.


From what I am experiencing, I believe that in order to lose weight and keep it off, one must following few basic rules: Accept, Connect, and Educate.
Accept yourself as you are now, and love yourself enough to make some difficult choices and decisions. I have seen how important this step is for most, if not all, people to successfully lose weight. In my opinion, the most important part of keeping weight off is self-acceptance and self-love.
Connect with others and share the good times and the bad times, can’t do it all by yourself.
Educate; keep on learning about what you can do to help yourself.

Each step takes time, energy, support, effort, and a wholehearted desire to change. As previously mentioned, this is not a quick fix. Everyone’s journey is unique and takes varying amounts of time to accomplish. I am not able to say, "Oh, it’s easy. It will take one month of this, and two weeks of that, and voila!" It can take anywhere from weeks to years depending on where you are on your own individual path. Your life will change from the inside out. You will grow more confident and comfortable in your body and in your life.

ABOUT ME
~My Interests ~
General A thru Z way too many to list here you see... well ok a few highlights. Collecting thimbles from places I travel. I enjoy all sorts of needlecrafts, reading, archery, camping, fishing, gardening, landscaping design and horseback riding, scuba diving, DRT( Daughters of the Republic of Texas -13th Generation Texan), OES (Order of the Eastern Star) just a few things I like to do in spare time, when not out riding Harley's with my husband.

My favorite hobbies are "Geocaching” Check it out at www.geocaching.com & "Grave Headstone Hunting" at findagrave.com

NOTE: I did not put dieting as an interest; I believe it is a lifestyle.

After spending time searching various forms of philosophy and religion, I choose to observe everything and believe little.

My personality is one of truth seeking, nature respecting and supreme being accepting.
I am a very open minded person, but I am also well grounded.
Tolerant and flexible, I appreciate most lifestyles and viewpoints.
But I also know where I stand firm, and I can draw that line.
I am open to considering every possibility - but in the end, I will stand true to myself.
Lastly, I don't judge anyone, so don't be judging me. It's not just a moral thing to overcome but human nature too.

Music:
Uhmmm, I have a wide range of music taste from country western, rock, jazz, alternative, new age, meditative asian, and some blues. Sorry but can't take rap or hate music.

Movies:
Action, adventure, and some chick flicks...

Television:
CSI- Vegas, Law and Order, and SciFi channel if I have time to I watch any TV.

Books:
Like reading Sci-fi to gothic vampire romance novels (yeah the horror mushy stuff *laughs softly*). Most books written by Ann Rice, Dolores Stewart Riccio and Nora Roberts.

Heroes:
People who are true to themselves and to the world around them.

"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God/dess. Your playing small doesn't serve the world. There's nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God/dess that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we subconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we're liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others."

Read More About STORMIE62 (Updated January 11)

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