Feel Good Naked

Now with a few extra
 pounds of happiness

Several years ago I mentioned the Feel Good Naked book on my blog page. I may even have its image down below.  This program is one I have wanted to adopt for many years. I always start with step one--it is the easiest--treat yourself. Step 2 is not too hard--drink water. Step 3 gets more difficult--exercise for ten minutes a day. Step 4 is where I lose it--schedule fitness appointments and stick to them.  I just couldn't seem to make a schedule and keep it. Life always seemed to get in the way.

So when my cardiologist said that I could lose ?? pounds, and my general practitioner said that I needed to improve my cholesterol levels a bit, it caught my attention. I began searching for a way to relieve stress and do things to lower my bad cholesterol levels and raise my good levels.

I decided to be sure to add quiet time into my day.  Catholics have really cornered the market on meditation with the rosary, and I also thought it would be great for my spiritual formation if I picked up some faith-based reading.  Already in my few short days of reading from the book of Joshua and spending some time meditating on what I find there, I can sense a difference in how I feel. I try to get this time in during a 15 minute interval before work, and I leave the house without the weight of the looming day or the problems that may have erupted the night before having any lasting effect on my mood.  I even feel lost or naked when I am unable to fit this time in to my schedule.  Little do I know, that by doing this for the last two weeks, I have already incorporated Step 8 of the Feel Good Naked plan into my day:  Take thirty minutes of private time each day.

The other fifteen minutes I take when I go walking at work.  My phone and my computer both tell me to go walk every Tuesday and Thursday at 3pm.  I have become conscious of this on Mondays and Wednesdays as well, and I try to go walking by 2:45 each day.  I use this time to listen to music or talk to JJ. Step 3:  Watch ten minutes of exercise a day change your face and your life.  Step 4: Schedule fitness appointments in writing (the thing I was having the most trouble with all those years before!)

I have even been drinking water here lately. Something I saw once spoke of the benefits of drinking water with lemon, so I try to get in 8 oz every morning. I also will consciously make an effort to get water in the morning at work, instead of sodas or tea.  In the afternoon I am usually drinking the water that is left from the ice after my large drink is finished.  I am definitely thirsty after my walk, so I am sure to get some water around three each day.  When I get home at night I try to start the evening with a glass of water before I break out the tea with my dinner.  Step 2:  Drink water, drink water, drink water!

 The rest of the steps involve feeding the mind and soul. 

Step 1 is to be sure not to deprive yourself of anything you like to eat.  My doctor told me to hold off of carbs.  Is that even possible?  When we were kids the food pyramid had everything on it.  Including breads and cereals. It is impossible to go without starches...and enjoy what you eat.  So you eat a small fry instead of a medium fry. So you skip the fries when you eat the grilled chicken sandwich.  You can't have a sausage egg and cheese biscuit without the biscuit...but you can skip the hash rounds. Chocolate in mass quantities is bad for you, but dark chocolate has benefits for your body, even when trying to lose weight.  Jesus never said YOU CAN'T drink wine, He said to do it in moderation...in so many words.  The sin is the gluttony, not the treat itself.

STEP 7

Step 5: Stop eating in front of the TV. First of all, don't turn on the TV so much. JJ and Erin have the worst habit of watching a lot of TV.  And they eat, and eat, and eat...all day.  You have to break away from the TV, and engage your mind and body in some other activity. There is laundry to be done. Grass to cut. Cans to crush. Soccer balls to kick. Mail to retrieve from the mailbox...etc.  When JJ is out of town, we don't even turn on the TV. We come in and get started on some activity, and we stop before bedtime and read or relax,  Step 7:  Breathe consciously for five minutes every day.  And besides, when you eat in front of the TV, you don't pay attention to what you eat, you just shovel it in. You don't know how much you've had to eat until you come out of your fog and notice all the Nutty Bar wrappers lying around you.

Before?? pounds

Step 6:  Pick an idol and let that person motivate you.  I don't know about idol, but I usually think of a woman with the most class, and I try to be like her. I look at the way she speaks, smiles, holds her posture, and I try to do that for myself. I look at a lady who is cheerful in all things, and who is prayerful in her attitude, and I try to do things she would do, like pray for guidance.  I look at myself in pictures where I am the happiest or at the best weight.   In doing step six, I am also concentrating on Step 10: Stand up straight and tall. I worked on a ballet bar in the past--the Fluidity Bar--that mixed ballet and Pilates. The instructor kept telling me to bring my navel to my spine and stretch up straight and tall...it makes a HUGE difference in how you look in your clothes!  One of the women I like to watch is a very tall woman with graceful posture. She is not ashamed at all of her height, and it is beautiful on her.


The final step is also for the soul, but I have the hardest time with it.  Step 9 is to write yourself a love letter once a month.  I am not good at sending myself love letters; I did try it.  Back before Ginny died all of us girls used to send each other "warm-fuzzies". Shaye, Gin, Maria,  Dessie and I would send each other cards and letters telling each other things to brighten our day. They would come when the least expected, but the most needed. The Holy Spirit always led us, and it was always received at the time when it was most needed. Even now these warm fuzzies come in the form of hugs by new friends that I have made along the way, like Debbie.  These spontaneous notes of cheer mean more to me than any love letter I could write myself.  I think it is time to resend the "warm fuzzies". Even if I don't get one back, at least I know I made someone else's day.

The How To Use the 10 Steps section starts with beginning steps one and two for a couple of weeks and then add three and four.  The thing is that without thinking, and just by following my doctor's orders, I have begun over half the program without any real effort!

As my friend Becky says at times that she is "keeping it real", I plan to share my "real" journey with

those who have the heart to follow it, and if it is no one, then I put these thoughts down for myself in a form that I enjoy.

One other tool that I am enjoying is my SHealth app on my phone.I have a goal of how many steps I want to walk set into my phone, and when I walk that many steps in a day, I get a gold medal.  If I have achieved half my steps, I get a notification, so that I am motivated to press on to the goal  I can count my calories by entering in the food that I eat, and the app will keep a record of my calories burned and the caloric intake. I can even check my heart rate!  Earlier today I had a grilled chicken sandwich from Jack's, and my app lists the grill chicken sandwich from the menu of Jack's restaurant as having 380 calories.  Along with my drinks and breakfast and condiments of the day, I have reached 1500 of my 1600 calorie goal. I have also burned 144 calories ( that were recorded with my 15 minute walk) and a few other calories when I walked around with out my pedometer.  I can tweak my caloric intake to be less to lose weight, and I can increase my activity by adding extra walking and dancing and playing sports with my family as ways to burn more calories.

The small plan I have lain out in this blog is a start, and I will record my progress as I go. I will be grateful for your prayers and support as I reach a happier, healthier  and naked me!