Mentally Changing Our Lives

Today I was talking with a friend of mine who is also doing the HCG Liquid Diet that we have been doing and we covered some topics I wanted to write down here. She is on her second week of phase 2 the first round.. and we are getting ready to start phase 2 round three next weekend. I have learned a lot while on this diet.. one.. people hate the word diet. For me it holds no bad meanings or history or anything so I use it. I can understand that for others it may be an evil word...for whatever reason... so I am ok with them not using it. I think this word is one of the reasons I started thinking about the mental aspect of my life. How to me when I say I am on a "Diet" it means I am focusing on what I am eating and how I am living and trying to do it as healthy as possible. When other people use or hear the word diet they may remember a time when they were starving or they lost weight and then gained it back it may make them feel fat. I can understand that if when you hear the word or see it and it makes you feel bad that then chances are slim that you will have success in what you are attempting.

I have always believed that as humans we believe what we are told and what we see, and picking what we hear or see so that we do not have to face truths. I know that is how it is for me and I watch it happen with others. Example for me.. instead of looking at my whole self and telling myself I was getting fat.. instead I managed to find one thing I did like.. say my shoes.. each day and really focus on how cute they were and I would tell myself many times throughout the day how cute they were.. that way I did not have to see myself for what I was. This list could be endless. I found that by making cupcakes instead of cake I was lying to myself about what and how much I was eating... my bowls and plates and cups got bigger... that way I could pretend I was not eating more... I mean it still looked the same on the plate.

This diet I am on now is teaching me a lot about how I do things.. making me really sit and think and look at myself and how I got where I am and how I am going to get where I want to be and to STAY where I want to be. Number one is being open and honest with myself about me. One thing I have decided is that instead of telling myself I "can't" have fast food or whatever it is. I am just going to say I do not want it. When I use the word "can't" it right away makes me want it even more than I did before. The truth is.. I can have it.. but I really do not want it... not as much as I want to be healthy. In taking this approach I feel stronger... I am the one with the power.. no one is telling me I "can't" .. I am deciding I do not want it.

I need to stay focused on the here and the now with an eye on tomorrow. Keep working towards what I want and keep being honest with how I got where I am. I need to keep my eyes open to everything.. not just what I want to see. I need to take the good and the bad and work on a balance. I need to face those habits I have and change them. I have been thinking of food as a comfort.. and yet... it does not really comfort me when it makes me fat and unhealthy and keeps me from liking myself. This diet is changing how I look at myself and how I deal with things. It is teaching me a lot about myself and how I work. It is helping me to get focused and learn new habits. In the process I am also losing some weight. This "diet" is working well for me!

Walk on Beach

Beach to the left

Beach to the right.

Guarding his part of the beach.

I always want to climb up those stairs, I think there is a magical land up there.. must be to be connect to here.

The treasures I found today :)

Stores Coupon Policys

Some things we need to have. A way to organize our coupons so we know what we have and when it expires. I have mine in a binder and I have a little pocket thing in it so I can keep a pen and some paper and a calculator. Being new to this I have added and changed a few times already... so far so good.. will keep changing until I find what works best for me.

One thing we always need to know are the coupon policy for the stores we are shopping in. I have printed out the ones for the stores I use and added them to my binder.. I have also been told to be sure to check before shopping that they have not changed them.

Walmart Coupon Policy and Ad Match Policy

Target Coupon Policy

Rite Aid Coupon Policy

WalGreens Coupon Policy

Albertsons Coupon Policy

Working on Home Depot, Have been told they accept coupons but so far can not find anything printable... I think it may be a per store thing.. but worth checking your local store. We get the coupons from Lowes all the time but often use Home Depot instead.. I will be trying it next time we shop there. Can't hurt to try!

If there is a store you use not on this list let me know and I will do my best to find it

Coupon Mail Train

I have been reading about a great way to get coupons and have found some friends and family to help me give this a try. Would love to get more people involved so if anyone reading this is interested please let me know.

Right now we are starting off with 4 people, Greta, Brenda, Gina and myself. That is our circle. The plan is that I will clip a bunch of coupons and put them in a business envelope and I will mail them to Greta, she will go through the coupons and take out any that she would like to keep. She will then add in some more.. about the same amount she took about. It is not important here that the Same amount are added.. we do not want to have to use more than one stamp so we want to keep it about the same or a little less. About 60 regular newspaper type coupons is about an ounce, which is one stamp.. anything over that and it is 64 cents up to 2 ounces.. over 2 ounces it changes to 84 cents. Then she will mail it to the next person on the list, Brenda, who will do the same and so on until it is mailed back to me.

If we always take out expired ones and we are always adding new ones it should cycle through and have new coupons each time it gets to each of us. We do need to be sure that we keep it moving... since the coupons do expire. I am hoping that each of the people involved with this will take a moment to post a comment here ( at the bottom of the page ) and let us know what type of coupons you are looking for, certain brands or items. That way we can all keep our eyes open for each other and this could work really well.

Since we are all new to this and there are no real rules.. please let me know if we need to change how anything works.. you can always get a hold of me on twitter, facebook. email, phone, or leave a comment here on the blog :) If you want in on this.. just get me your mailing address and I will add you into the circle.

*I have done some looking into sending expired coupons to the troops and have talked with a friend who is stationed in Germany and I am going to be sending all of them to them to use so no need to take out the expired ones.. I will take care of that when the envelope comes back around :)

Store Coupon Policy links

Out Sailing on the Water

Friday was a beautiful day, warm and windy.. perfect for sailing! We left early and picked up Dave's son and then down the street we picked up his parents. Off we headed to the water. Dave's dad loves to sail, has his own boat but it has not been in the water for a few years and needs a little TLC (which it will be getting over the winter) His dad is having some health issues and one thing we have learned over the years is that it is not a good idea to wait to do things you really want to do and to share them with people who you really love. We have been talking about going sailing with his dad and with john for years... the time was Friday.

The only sail boat I have ever really seen was Steve's ( Dave's dad) his is 25 feet and well.. to me.. it is a sail boat.. that is about all I know. When I booked the charter for Friday I booked it on a 33 foot sail boat.. I figured it would be huge.. like a yacht or something.. well I was totally clueless. It was a lot longer than Steve's.. but the sitting area was not any bigger.. in fact it is smaller.. was a bit of a crowded trip but we all like each other so that was ok.

We ended up powering up to Langley because it was too windy and the captain said we would all end up soaking wet and maybe sea sick.... well we ended up soaking wet anyway but it was still fun. We had a wonderful lunch in Langley at the Braeburn and I loved it. The food was wonderful, the service was great, the building was fun .. We will go back there for sure! There was a street fair going on right outside the windows so we were able to watch people and sit and visit while having lunch.. was a great time. On the way back we were able to sail.. I have to say.. getting the sails up and ready to go was a bit nerve wracking.. both sails were not really ready to go.. they were twisted and it was a bit of a mess.. twice the boom went flying almost knocking people off the boat.. but once they were up and we were on our way it was wonderful. Made some good time on the way back too.. 10.3 knots was the fastest we went.. ( on the way there we only went like 3.5) But it did not seem very fast.. the wind was with us and the water was beautiful, the sun was warm and it was so quiet.

On the way up to Langley Steve was in charge of the tiller (?) I have no clue.. I just know it is not called a wheel.. and in this case it really looks just like a stick so I am not sure. On the way back Dave and John did the raising ( not pulling ) of the sails and that sort of thing.. I am seriously going to have to learn a whole new language here. John and I had not been on a sail boat before and both of us are ready to be on one again ASAP.. we can't wait to get dads all fixed up and maybe even go out for a long weekend in it.

Not only was the sailing wonderful but the very best thing about Friday was the time spent with people I care so much about. So many smiles and hugs and happy memories. It will be a day I will never forget and that I will always treasure. I hope to have a lot more of these days to make memories like this with these people and with the rest of my family and friends too. It is important to remember that we never know what will happen tomorrow and we need to live each day to the fulliest and to share our love and smiles and to care for each other before we are gone.

This picture wraps up the whole day for me. Everyone smiling.. and in one picture! These guys almost never smile.