Autumn leaves

Monday, September 24, 2012

There are no Autumn leaves where I live in the desert & it's difficult to think about Fall when the temperature is still over 100 degrees. It's supposed to drop to 99 this coming week & I confess I'm ready for the cooler days.

However I woke to a snippet to an old song: "When Autumn leaves start to fall" & it made me start thinking about leaves.

What do I want to 'leave behind' as I continue on my weight management journey?

Poor food choices, inactivity, lack of energy, negative thinking, negative self talk are just a few. Also leave behind the concerns about getting off the couch with out rocking to do it, get into truck without shortness of breath, not worrying about chairs with arms & whether I'll fit or being sturdy enough to hold my weight, walking without canes or rolling walker & without gasping for breath, liking my reflection in the mirror or images in photographs, feeling good wearing clothes that fit comfortably.

"Once you understand the real principles of the business of beauty, you start to realize that Smart is the key to Beautiful. A beautiful woman is someone who feels good, is fit, and is firing on all eight. That's why I'm not a believer in the
yell-and-make-people-work-so-hard-they-b
arf theory of fitness; in my opinion tearing people down & "to get through to them"; steals from their soul and doesn't make them better people."- Teresa Tapp

"Achievement is largely the product of steadily raising one's levels of aspiration and expectation." - Jack Nicklaus

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Quotes to keep myself going

Saturday, September 22, 2012

"Life takes on meaning when you become motivated, set goals and charge after them in an unstoppable manner." - Les Brown

"There won't be a day that goes by that you won't want to quit, so think of a goal you can use to remind yourself every day of why you can't give up." - Sami Kader

Today I am motivated, however I know that there may be days I don't feel this way. Times when I'm not showing 'seeming' progress or am just plain tired of doing what needs to be done.

I write 'seeming' progress because right now I choose not to weigh. I had befriended the scale but in my absence, it became unfriendly. Maybe it was I who became unfriendly with the apparent lack of results. So for now the scale is shelved because the numbers weren't bringing me joy, even though I know I'm doing all the right things.

This morning my blood sugar was 123. Hip hip hooray! That pleases me. In a few months, I believe my cholesterol results will be lower as well. I can tell that I'm not quite as out of breath as I had been. It's about progress, not perfection.

Thanks to all who commented about my surgery. I am indeed glad it's behind me. My eye tires easily so I've just about reached my computer time limit. Soon I pray I'll be able to be more active on Spark & send goodies & make comments.

Have a Sparktacular Saturday. Gentle hugs & daily prayers. Injoy:) Carolyn

Remember to drink your water, eat your fruits & veggies & find measurements that take you all the way to your goal.


Here's a photo of my beautiful girl Precious who gives me great comfort.

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Back on track for 8 days

Friday, September 21, 2012

I haven't been on SparkPeople during the summer. I have only been back on track for 8 days.

Welcome to my new Spark Friends & thanks for the goodies & comments left in my absence.

I had my eye surgery a week ago. Today I'm pretty swollen & cannot completely open my left eye. I now have faded yellow bruises instead of what looked like purple & blue eye shadow. It was sort of like a miniature eggplant.

The surgeon removed a prolapsed lacrimal gland that he first thought appeared to be damaged by my Sjogren's disease, another autoimmune 'cousin.' I also had an ocular lymphoma removed at the same time.

I got the biopsy results on Wednesday September 19th. It was benign but considered pre-camcerous. It could return. It had been encapsulated (a GOOD thing). I just need to be aware if it should return. Please pray for ongoing positive results on my behalf.

Thank you very much.

I'd seen only the latter portion of this quote. I liked the entire portion too so wanted to share.

“Excellence is an art won by training and habituation. We do not act rightly because we have virtue or excellence, but rather we have those because we have acted rightly. We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit.”-Aristotle

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Quotes to fan the Spark

Wednesday, April 25, 2012

“Fires can't be made with dead embers, nor can enthusiasm be stirred by spiritless men. Enthusiasm in our daily work lightens effort and turns even labor into pleasant tasks.”-James Baldwin

“The future turns out to be something that you make instead of find. It isn't waiting for your arrival, either with an arrest warrant or a band, nor is it any further away than the next sentence, the next best guess, the next sketch for the painting of a life portrait that might become a masterpiece. The future is an empty canvas or a blank sheet of paper, and if you have the courage of your own thought and your own observation, you can make of it what you will. ”-Lewis Lapham

"We are made wise not by the recollection of our past, but by the responsibility for our future."- George Bernard Shaw

"We conquer by continuing."-George Matheson

I removed my weight graph because I'm focusing on behaviors & measuring 'success streaks' instead of the numbers which sometimes become stumbling blocks. It's working.

Hope you'll have a wonderful Wednesday.

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2-19-12 SparkGuy says:

Monday, February 20, 2012

SparkGuy says: 'You get one shot at life. Grab it and take control of your destiny starting today!"

Fortunately I've been seizing the moment each day & doing just that! What a cyber-cartwheel moment.


"There is nothing like a dream to create the future."-Victor Hugo

I visit my Primary Care Physician in the morning to get blood test results. I'm making a list of questions today to ask. Just have to remember to take the list.

This new medicine (methotrexate) is kicking my butt. I'm dizzy a lot *a very unpleasant feeling* & nauseated 5 days out of 7. I can't tell that I've gotten any relief in my joints or energy level. I'll be asking the doctor in NV when I go on March 1st if I can take the injections instead of the pills. Hopefully that could lessen the side effects.

Anyway other than that my life has been moving right along. I haven't weighed in at TOPS cause I missed two meetings cause of not feeling well. I hope to go Friday morning.

"Effort only fully releases its reward after a person refuses to quit." -Napoleon Hill

"If you don't know where you're headed, how can you know if you have arrived?

The sticky part for us humans is how bad we can feel if and when we don't arrive.

What if we were to consider reaching for what we want the triumph, and anything that comes after that gravy? What if we were to be grateful to know certain things are out of reach, so we can hone in on what may be better suited for us in this moment? When we feel satisfied with how we hold our choices, the outcomes of those choices matter far less."-Sage Cohen


I hope your week SPARKLES!

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