Self-confidence and obesity

I see myself as the thin girl I always was up until I was about 37 years old. Then I look in the mirror. It's always kind of a shock. Since I was a thin kid, my self esteem was built around my talents and abilities, which hasn't changed in my head even though I've doubled my weight in the last 10+ years. I still feel confident about my self worth, except I know I can't be a model any more. Besides that, I'm a grandma and have to color some stray gray hairs.

Anyway, I was thinking about obesity and self confidence. There are always exceptions, but in general, people who became overweight as adults usually have a self concept that gives others confidence in them regardless of their size. They believe in themselves, so others easily follow their leadership.

However, in general, adults who were overweight children and have always been overweight have a different world view. The cruelty and teasing of others often shattered their self esteem. They carry that lack of self confidence with them throughout their lives. They often weren't able to focus on other talents and abilities because of this.

And girls are hit harder than boys. And white girls are hit harder than black girls. I'm not being racist, just stating a fact. I see many chubby black girls in entertainment, where it is almost impossible for a chubby white girl to get a gig. For some reason, an overweight black girl can still be considered sexy where the same sized white girl isn't. I'm just wondering what the social reason for this is. I have no idea. Maybe black skin looks better than white skin no matter what.

And sometimes chubby boys are viewed as bigger and stronger, whereas girls aren't. I'm just saying.

So we need to help overweight kids find something they are really good at and can focus on to have confidence in themselves and exude that vibe to those around them. I am sick and tired of discrimination based on weight. And I've only been obese for a decade of my 47 years, but I feel for those who didn't get to be the skinny kid first, didn't get to develop a world view not based on their weight. It makes a lot of difference.

http://godfreymethod.com/default.aspx

The Biggest Loser Audition - Season 10

Hey, Girlfriends,
Guess what?! I am auditioning for The Biggest Loser, Season 10. I put my audition video on YouTube in 4 parts. If you want to see them, they are:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zd_A3W8cTy4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UytWIngfNsY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Kb2gfk4Im0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Kw66TNl3zg

Wish me luck!

http://godfreymethod.com/default.aspx

Prevent dyslexia with easy phonics lesson plan and flash cards

What parent wouldn't want to prevent dyslexia? What parent wouldn't want to raise her child's IQ and increase his capacity to learn for life? What parent wouldn't want to improve her child's self-esteem and confidence in school? What parent wouldn't want to prepare his child for the workforce of the future?

What could help solve all these? Reading early the right way – the Godfrey Method – an innovative phonics system of unique picture-letters, the way for parents to teach them properly, and a colorful story that ties them all together, "A Pretty Girl Was Alpha Bette."

With the Godfrey Method, parents can and should teach their children to read before kindergarten, during that crucial learning window between the ages of 2-5 years old. Early reading by phonics increases a child’s IQ and capacity to learn for the rest of his/her life. Universal preschool is not the answer. The Godfrey Method is simple and effective – something mom and dad can do at home. And the child never forgets.

Parents can also prevent dyslexia. The Godfrey Method allows parents to start phonics younger than other methods – the key to preventing dyslexia. And prevention is much better than remediation.

If a baby can read by sight words now, s/he may have problems reading as an adult and stumble on unfamiliar words. The Godfrey Method teaches young children to read the right way, to easily decode new words by phonics.

Sight reading puts a child behind from the get-go. Phonics has been proven to wire a child’s brain properly for reading. And phonics is the only proven cure for dyslexia.

The Godfrey Method empowers parents to reverse the downward educational trend, put their children at the head of the class, and increase their children’s self-esteem. It helps give their children a foundation for the technology jobs of the future because reading is the core of everything else.

The Godfrey Method fits easily into any busy schedule, giving children the two most crucial things they need: parent time and reading skills. Young children learn best from their parents, who are the solution to our educational problems.

With the Godfrey Method, school children who are struggling come up to speed. Children who are doing fine learn faster and easier. It fixes the top ten wrong ways that schools and parents teach reading.

 

The benefits for parents~

Early reading develops a child’s imagination. When your child’s imagination is engaged, he is able to face tough things with a creative problem-solving ability. He will be able to think phenomenally well when the day comes that he has to make decisions without you. The tool for that is to open up his world to reading.

There are going to be problems and fights along the parenting way, so I want to tilt the scales in your favor, with your child looking back and saying, ‘I had a great life!’ because of the opportunities you opened up for him with reading early the right way.

When he has to make his own decisions in Jr. High, the magical bullet to get him through may be his ability to think and imagine possibilities, which starts with reading.

I want you to look back when your child is in college, knowing that you gave him what he needed to follow his dreams. You’ll think, ‘I wasn’t perfect, but I gave my child what he needed to be happy in life.’

At his college graduation, your 22-year-old son will be able to hug you and say, ‘Mom, thank you.’

Meg Whitman (former CEO of eBay and candidate for California governor) quote,

“We all hear reports of China and India becoming the next centers for technology and innovation. We’re running behind as a nation in engineering, science, math, and technology... Being near the bottom in education is a tragedy for our kids and a threat to our future. To restore our prosperity and do right by our children, we need to better educate them in the basics… to prepare them to excel in the workforce."

I am not making a video again until I lose more weight! Week 6

Well, Girlfriends, I am failing again this week. I have fallen off the diet wagon. The Girl Scout cookies arrived, and I tried to just give them to the kids, but failed. I refuse to make another weight loss video for YouTube until I weigh less than my last one, and I am having a hard time wrapping my mind around it.

But I hate being fat, and I hate this apron of fat on my belly. It hits my thighs when I walk, cuts off the circulation in my legs when I sit, and is annoying to get around in the shower. I need to hate it enough to get back on my diet.

Sometimes it seems useless to try when their is little progress. I'm sure that is just the lymbic system in my brain trying to keep the status quo. I need to use my pre-frontal cortex part of my brain to visualize the 145 lbs that I want to be. Visualizing is the only way to overcome the lymbic system's resistance to change. Dang. Help!

In my head, I am the thin woman I was up until my late 30s, then I look in the mirror.


http://godfreymethod.com/default.aspx

Shannah's weight loss - week 5!

Well, Girlfriends, I fell off the wagon last week, so I didn't bother to make a weight loss video. It was a weight-gain week. I am so upset with myself. I have no good excuse except lack of will power. The kids were off school all week because of snow and ice, making the Christmas vacation drag out even longer! They just went back to school today, yeah!

We had to think of activities to take the 3 kids and 4 grandkids to, or we'd all be crazy with cabin fever and kill each other! So we went to the mall playground. We went to the movies. We went to the library. We spent too much money, right after Christmas. I had a hard time finding non-carbs to eat and gave up.

I also think that the HCG drops don't work right for me. They seem to make me really hungry, as if I were pregnant. My brain then no longer cares about my goals. HCG drops work well if you stay on a 500 calorie diet of mostly raw veggies with a little protein.

I just couldn't do it this week. Today my husband took me to Red Lobster for lunch. I did not eat the cheese biscuits. I ordered grilled tilapia with broccoli on the side. I drank water. I am trying to get back in the swing of my diet.

Dang. I hate lost time and backsliding. This is hard enough already! One thing I have to say is that my husband has always loved me no matter what. He never criticizes me. He is still my Prince Charming after all these years!

Thank goodness for Protandim. It is what probably keeps me from being diabetic already.

Don't forget to check out my videos on YouTube http://www.youtube.com/user/RocketMom14

Shannah's weight loss - week 4!

Hey Girlfriends!
Well, it's week 4 of my weight loss video diary. I lost 1.5 lbs this week, now weighing 295.0 lbs. I've lost 5.0 lbs in 4 weeks, and I've lost 14 lbs since October.

I have to tell you that I think the girls are starting to shrink. Dang. I wanted my belly to shrink but not my boobs! Oh, well. Comes with the territory, I suppose.

Stress contributes to weight gain, according to the magazines. So what are the stressors in my life?

Pregnancy - last 2 children came when I was 37 and 39 years old.

Sleep Deprivation - had apnea for years without knowing it. Major lack of sleep.

Oxygen Deprivation - from the apnea. Stopping breathing a lot at night. Major lack of oxygen.

Defiant Teenagers - I've raised 10 of those, so far. Dang.

Working 12-hour Graveyard Shifts - you do what you gotta do when you're a mom.

Attending College Full-Time - Did this while working full-time, twice, for my BS and MBA.

Hysterectomy - had a radical hysterectomy. Losing your uterus and ovaries plays havoc with your weight. I ballooned up faster than ever before.

Well, enough of these excuses. I have to overcome all of these barriers to lose weight. I've fixed the sleep apnea with a CPAP machine each night. Wow the difference in my energy level and alertness all day!

I got laid off from my stressful job in April 2009. Now I have the stress of being jobless for this long. I am trying my hand as an entrepreneur for my books, since no one is hiring.

You know, I was thinking, how do people lose weight from gastric bypass surgery? Their food intake is drastically reduced. They eat 7 bites of protein and 7 bites of vegetables each meal, and not much else. So why not do that without the surgery? That is what I'm going to try next - tighter portion control of my diet foods.

Hang in there, Girlfriends!


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9eALvMVQ-0s

Shannah's weight loss - week 3!

Okay, Girlfriends (and Guyfriends),
This has been a hard week. I only lost half a pound, even on HCG drops. But I have to tell you that I cheated. I ate carbs during the week leading up to, and including, Christmas. So my weight actually looked like the stock market - up, down, up, up, up, down, down. Finally it's down below last week's weight, yeah, but not much.

I've been so good, even through Thanksgiving, but I couldn't resist my daughter's homemade pumpkin pie at Christmas. She bakes her Halloween pumpkins, peels off the skin, then freezes the pulp fresh. And her pie recipe is to die for!

Today I am back on track, being really good, avoiding the carbs. Did I ever tell you when and how I weigh myself? I only weigh myself in the morning, after using the bathroom, before I eat or shower. I let all the air out of my lungs- and hold- while I step on the scale, naked.

This is the closest I am going to come to my actual body weight, with nothing in my stomach, dry hair, empty bowels and bladder, and no air weight in my lungs, no clothing. This keeps all the variables constant, so I can get a good comparison to my previous weights.

So as of yesterday, I weighed 296.0 lbs. I'll count any little victory I can. You know, the other problem I have is that I was taught to not waste food. My dad always made us kids be in his "clean plate club." Wasting food was a sin. As a mother, I can't stand to see my kids waste food, so I ate whatever was left on their plates (I could never get them to buy-in to the 'clean plate club' idea).

You don't know how hard it is to just throw good food down the garbage every day. I know it's better than packing it on me, but it just feels so wrong. I was a skinny child, skinny teen, and skinny into my 30s, until my metabolism slowed down. I could eat thirds every meal and not gain weight. Then it has been hard to overcome that eating habit when I slowed down and started putting on weight.

But I'm doing it - I'm throwing away the food the kids left on their plates. Whatever the dog (also picky) won't eat, goes in the garbage. Hard to do!

Check out my video weight loss diary on YouTube:
Small intro- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qw_jiOPaKI4
and
Full report- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O16xuvl1Gc0