Now the big challenge, fitting into the bathing suit I have had sitting in my dresser for years now. It is a sexy little black number but, will I be able to get into it is the question? I Skped my coach, Shareen for some words of motivation. We did a Structural Tension chart and goal setting exercise, from Dr. A’s Habits of Health (by Dr. Dwayne Scott Anderson) to come up with a plan to jump start my weight loss efforts.  After doing the chart we made small goals that would ultimately help me to reach my short term goal, like setting the bathing suit out as a visual reminder. If I get tempted I remind myself of the bathing suit. To date I have 77 days until I leave for Negril’s annual ATI/RTI Festival.

I can accomplish a loss of 24lbs. in 12 weeks.  I calculate it to be 2lbs a week. I can do it! I also have a few new people that are inspiring me, one is my friend Kim, she has been on  Shareen’s Power Loser Program now for a week and has lost 5lbs! Also, my friend Aaron has lost 16 lbs in 4 weeks on the program! I’m energized and ready, this has been a good week so far. I can’t wait to weigh-in tomorrow.

It’s not too late to shed some pounds for the summer. Call Shareen Today (510-552-3463) and get started on your weight loss goal!

For more information, click here.

When we are not getting enough sleep our bodies crave energy. Some ways we get a quick energy or boost we reach for something sweet. Sugar is sugar whether it be a candy bar, orange juice, soda or potato chips it gives your body what it craves…energy. When we reach for these high sugar snacks it gives us instant gratification but sabotages our long term goals.

So now do you see why I need to get back on a regular sleep schedule?

I was on the Habits of Health meeting this evening that Shareen hosts from her home, I chimed in through conference call. This week I met Christy via conference call. She is a lovely woman from Washington State and she shared her story. She is over 380lbs and has tried many programs in the past with no success. She has already lost 19lbs in 2 ½ weeks! I know those results aren’t typical and based on her weight but you can’t help but to be inspired.

Tonight’s call focused on BMI (Body Mass Index). BMI is calculated by height and weight. According to my weight, 175lbs and my height 5’3”, my BMI is 31. I am categorized as obese. A healthy BMI is 25 and below. I have set a new goal for the month of April. By the end of April I would like to reach the overweight category. To accomplish that my BMI needs to be 29.9, for my height that is 169lbs. I can do that! To calculate your BMI go to www.ffcpowerlosers.com

I’ve been doing Shareen’s Power-Loser program for a few months now and I bought the book at the same time.  I remember being so excited about receiving the food and course materials in the mail that I watched one of the videos that first night. I was intrigued and learned something new.

I learned that keeping a level blood sugar is a huge key to weight loss. The way to keep a level blood sugar is by eating 6, small portioned meals per day in 2-3 hour intervals. I knew that part but I didn’t know why. Spikes in blood sugar give you an up feeling then bring you immediately crashing down, which in turn makes you crave sugar and fatty foods to feel “up” again. Imagine doing this all day long. All that sugar gets stored as fat around your stomach. Wow! I learned that a few months ago and it sticks in the back of my mind. I must admit I haven’t watched that DVD since that day, I just got busy and never made my way back to it.

I meet with Shareen weekly and have started attending her weekly group meeting. It helps that we have an assignment due each week or else I would get caught up in something else and not do it, though I have every good intention. We all have good intentions but it’s the accountability factor. If you are on this weight loss journey, my advice is to not go it alone, it’s already a long road, who wants to walk it alone? Sometimes there is rough terrain and it’s nice when someone can help you maneuver through it. Shareen is a great coach and the group keeps me motivated by seeing their success.

Shareen is a very active coach. She is having a Make-over party this weekend in Niles, CA, where people can meet others who are doing the program and try some of the food.   A special guest, Tina Sanchez, a celebrity fashion stylist will show us how to dress the body we have now. I know I could use a few suggestions!  It’s like when you get a hair cut and decided, “You know, I really liked my hair long,” and your in that in-between stage and don’t know what to do with it. Well that’s where I am.  Some of my clothes are too big and some too small. I want to know if I can tailor some of my current items and dress them up with some inexpensive tops and how I should accessorize for my height and shape.  It’s going to be a fun event so I hope to see you there.

Contact Shareen for more details 510-552-3463. To see more info about the program visit this link. Stop thinking about doing something about your weight and DO something about your weight!

FFC Power Loser Text Book

This year I have been doing things differently than I have done in the past.  If I want a different result, I am going to have to step out of the box and learn a new way of doing things.  With all that said, I went to my Health Coach,  Shareen’s local support meeting last night, something I wouldn’t normally do. I figured the meeting would only be an hour, so why not.

When Shareen introduced me to the group there were people who recognized me from the blog.  That was cool to know that people are actually reading and my stories aren’t just floating through cyberspace.  Feel free to comment.  I would love to read your feedback.

I knew I would enjoy it as soon as we were halfway through the introductions.  There were a lot of stories that I could relate to like Leah. She told her success story about recognizing her triggers. She realized in situations that make her angry, she craves chocolate. She had a situation recently where she was stood up by a co-worker during a lunch meeting. She was pissed!  In her fury she had thoughts of chocolate delights that immediately sent her to that place of WooooooooSSSSaaaaaaaahhhhh. You know the comfort food that you always seem to grab for. Is it salty or sweet? Apparently for Leah, its chocolate. Leah channeled the Chocolate Demon into a rock Shareen passed out during the last Habits of Health meeting. Shareen instructed her pupils to rub their rock in “trigger-happy- moments.” Leah was able to recognize her trigger and curb her behavior. Recognizing the trigger, made her able to make a better choice. She was able to talk herself down and go home for  lunch. Its difficult to calm yourself in stressful or anxious moments. I have had to wrestle the chocolate demon myself a time or two.  I made sure to get a magic rock from Shareen before I left!

We also did some situational role playing, which was interesting.  There was a role play that we did that involved looking into a full length mirror at ourselves. Shareen then prompted us with questions to answer in our head. “Look in the mirror, look at your self from each side and what do you see? How do you feel about your body?  “I look fat in these jeans”, “I have let myself go” and  “I see why no one likes me” – just all the negative BS that we say to ourselves. These are things I say to myself on a daily basis.  I related to Judy’s reaction when told, “Judy, please remove your jacket,” during the negative self talk exercise; her reaction was priceless! She was asked twice, then Judy sharply replied,” No, I will be keeping my jacket on, thank you!” Lawd! I was so glad Shareen let it go. Our jacket is our shield and you are asking us to remove it? Umm, there’s men in the room! NOT HAPPENING! LOL!

Then we had to turn around to the person next to us, a complete stranger and say to them what we said to ourself in the mirror.  Instead of starting off the sentence or phrase with “I”, we had to say , “You.”  For example if your negative self talk was “I look fat in these jeans,” the person would say , “You look fat in those jeans.”

First of all, the horror!  Can you imagine telling a complete stranger “You look fat in those jeans?”  I felt embarrassed and mortified, I would never say that to anyone.  Those thoughts are reserved for the confines of my own mind and fulfill my need to wallow in my own self loathing. But I would never subject the world to such verbal abuse.

The point of the exercise was to make you realize if you wouldn’t say something so mean and hurtful to a passerby on the street or someone casually sitting next to you, then why would you say such things to yourself?  And there is your light bulb moment my friends!

Experiencing these types of moments with a collective group, who is on the same mission is what makes this program and my coach different.  The support and educational component is essential to my success. I am learning the “Habits of Health” to lose the weight and keep it off.

Shareen is a great resource not just for results but she makes it fun!  Take advantage of the opportunity to become a success story.  I look forward to meeting you at the next “Habits of Health” social.

Well this thing of mystery turns out to be SUGAR!! I was thinking for the usual reasons I had heard before, diabetes, belly fat that leads to a heart disease. I was thinking, well that’s not new and certainly not worth all the  suspenseful music. Well it turns out they he said that sugar leads to not only diabetes, but hypertension and liver disease. Liver disease? Liver disease is mostly associated with alcoholism. He also talked about how much sugar is recommended in the average diet. It was like 6 teaspoons or tablespoons. I’m not sure but you can check out the links for all the specifics, but I realized I am on the right path!

Doing the Power Loser Program, I have eliminated a substantial portion of the sugar I used to consume. The program is based on regulating blood sugar. So for those of you who have some of the aforementioned conditions may want to consult your doctor and see if this program is right for you. My belly is flatter and I have lost on average about 2lbs a week. I must admit its due to cheating. Sometimes I just gotta have it. But I am re-focused and ready to go hard. I have continued to loose, at a slower rate of course with just light exercise, usually a walk just to get away from my computer. But it is the most consistant weight loss I have had in a very long time. Contact Shareen if you are ready to get started to better health.

Awnica at 175lbs!

Did ya miss me? I haven’t blogged in awhile. So tell me, how did you finish off 2010? Did you meet or exceed your weight loss goals? Or did you decide to get started after the New Year and pigged out over the holiday season?

For me the holiday season was filled with good times, friends and a lot of work! I decided to work for a major retailer during the holiday season. Busy does not even describe the holiday shopping chaos. Working retail does not offer a set schedule so I abandoned my work out schedule completely during the month of December. I wasn’t so concerned about not exercising in the traditional sense because I got my share walking that retail floor for an eight hour shift, 5-days a week.

Imagine helping customers, replacing clothes back on the floor, cleaning out dressing rooms, grabbing sizes and the end of the day clean; all of this activity with a 1-hour break. There were days I would have the morning shift and need to be at the store at 8 am. For me that was quite a feet, I am an artist by trade so I don’t even leave the house most days until 10am. I would drink my shake on the way to work, sneak in the back to munch on a bar when I would go into the stock room to grab a size; have a regular lunch that I would purchase in the store’s bistro; sneak another bar during my last break; have a soup in the evening and have another snack as I watched tv and elevated my aching feet.

I was able to reach my goal of finishing the year at 175lbs. I am not a Super Loser like some of the people on the program like Jodi, who lost over 40lbs but I am a Power Loser who finished out the year losing 23lbs! That’s a Win in my book. I did modify the program at times, come on it was the holidays. The year before it took me just about a complete calendar year to loose 17lbs doing mainly exercise. So I will take that 23lbs doing the Power Loser Program and add that to my total weight loss of  38lbs!

Thank you Shareen for staying in touch with me during my crazy schedule last month. I think it is really important to have an accountability partner when taking on a big weight loss goal. Someone that you can call or better yet someone to call you and just check in, someone that will not let you off the hook and remind you on those hard days; that you can do it!

This is the beginning of the year and could be the beginning of the new you. Call Shareen today or visit her site and become Shareen’s next Success Story! Get even more inspired and join her Facebook page to read success stories and get motivated!

I started doing a to my fitness boot camp, 3-4 days a week two weeks ago. I cheated by drinking alcohol, I didn’t re-order and ran out of food, so I was off program for a few days. Ya can’t ever ignore those reminders!!

Shout out to Coach Shareen for enlisting her hubby Greg to meet me at his office and loan me a week’s supply of food until my shipment arrives.  Now that’s service!!!!

Shareen & Greg Newman celebrating in Las Vegas

My weekly check in this week was at my coach Shareen’s house. We decided to have a face-to-face to talk about my progress on the program. The afternoon started off talking a little chit chat over sparkling water.  She asked me to bring my “Habits of Health” book and “Living a Longer & Healthier Life” workbook.  Available at www.ffc.tsfl.com under shopping/program materials as part of Shareens www.FFC.TSFL.com program.

Awnica & her Health Coach Shareen

We went over the first few chapters and Shareen did the exercises along with me. I learned about behaviors that would make me successful for long term weight loss like getting enough sleep, drinking more water, eating portioned meals, hanging out with like minded eaters and stress reduction. We did goal setting with specific action items to create structural tension. Finally, we outlined an end of the year goal as well as 3 month interval goals for 2011.  Being  a small business person as well we were able to apply some of the same strategies to my business and include those goals and other personal goals as well.

After our meeting we enjoyed a Lean and Green meal together; a lovely Southern Slow Cooked Beef Pot Roast with green beans, mushrooms, and brussel sprouts, accompanied by wine glasses filled with Sparkling Water. It was great.

Though there was no movement on the scale this week, I am now able to pull my pants down without unzipping or un-bottoning them, that’s COOL!   I am also able to put on some rings I haven’t worn in…I can’t remember when, and that’s REALLY cool! More people have noticed I have shed some pounds, that’s SUPER COOL!   The point is to be happy for the little things, and don’t let the scale be your only measure of success.

Contact Shareen to help you start YOUR weight loss journey.  You CAN Do It!!!!

For More Details about “Power Losers” and the “Habit’s of Health” – watch the videos at www.FFCPowerLosers.com or contact Shareen@FormerFatChick.com  (510) 552-3463  For a FREE phone consult.  Tell her Awnica sent ya!!!

Awnica at 182lbs

Instead of concentrating on how much weight I have to loose (or had to loose) I concentrate on the amount of weight I want to loose for the week. For example this week I goaled myself at 3lbs, so even when I was out, I would think to myself, ok self if you drink that drink or nibble on this or that, you can forget about the three pounds you want to loose for the week and if you gain like you did in week three, you will lose a week because you will have to loose the weight you regain. So with this thinking I went to the Bilal show. It was at a great venue, which was a Asian Fusion restaurant, with great drink and appetizer specials. I came prepared, I made sure I had dinner before I went and got a bottle of Perrier instead of my usual libations. I just had the bartender add a twist of lime so I would blend in. I’m proud of myself, but please don’t let me mislead you to think that these little decisions are easy, but I just keep my eye on the prize.

For next weeks weigh in I am goaling myself at 3lbs. I am on my weigh to the 170’s y’all! Thank you to all the fine people I have met in cyberspace in the 4 weeks of doing this blog. All of your emails and comments on the Former Fat Chick Fan Page keep me motivated. I am always so touched when people let me know that they are following my progress and are rooting me on. Thank you very much. I encourage all of you to set goals, find a workout buddy and accountability partner. Shareen has been mine for 4 weeks and its been great, she calls me, sends me emails and lets me know when she is going to be out of town.

I'm in the 180's y'all!

I reported last week that I wasn’t so good and gained some weight. I am pleased to announce, that not only did I loose that weight but a few pounds more. I am at 186lbs. I can’t remember the last time I was even in the 180’s so I am proud of myself. The trousers I bought at the beginning of this program are fitting a bit looser. I have been trying not to obsess over the scale, but I went out and bought another one, just to compare. That was a mistake so I quickly returned it the next day. The new scale reading was off. To calibrate it or make sure it would give me the correct reading I put a 5lbs weight on it and it read, “0lbs,” so then I put a 10lbs weight on it and it still read, “0″. On the other hand when I put a 5lbs weight on it, it read, “5lbs and 10lbs” respectively. I told my mom about it and she said without hesitation, “Awnica, return it, you don’t want to make yourself crazy.” I agreed and got my money back. It would only stress me out.

All that to say, I look forward to my Monday weigh-ins to see how far I’ve come or to let me know I need to do better next week. You don’t loose until you quit. Keep going! Contact my coach Shareen to get started on your journey today!