Winner! Winner! Winner!

Well, the Isabody Challenge for 2010 is over and guess what?  I finished in the top 10 out of 4000 entrants!  That's right!  I am so excited by this.  First because it's a huge honor to be included among a group of people who have worked so hard to transform their lives.  And second because, I managed to reach a goal! I released 50 pounds in about six months and have kept it off.

And continue to keep it off!  (as well as continue to change my body)

My life is completely different ... my mind, body and spirit have transformed.

I have struggled with my weight since childhood.  My earliest memory of being 'too fat' was age 5!  This has been a monkey on my back that has followed me throughout my life. Somewhere deep inside myself I held on to the belief that because I was not able to set a goal of loosing weight and stick to it, that setting goals in general was an exercise in futility!

THIS IS THE TRANSFORMATION in me!

Here's the secret I learned, some goals are meant to be achieved, others are not.  Others are meant to be failed at, learned from, re-tooled and retried. And the most important lessons are often learned more from the failures than the successes.

The secret is to keep on going, no matter what. If you want something badly enough, no matter what it is, don't stop, don't give up and don't give in!  Remember this and eventually YOU WILL FIND A WAY TO ACHIEVE YOUR DREAMS!  This is the strategy of a TRUE WINNER!

Don't Take it Personally

"Don't Take Anything Personally.  Nothing others do is because of you. What others say and do is a projection of their own reality, their own dream. When you are immune to opinions and actions of others, you won't be victim to needless suffering." Don Miguel Ruiz, The Four Agreements

This week try to not take anything personally. Remember that YOUR path to serenity is made of slow, steady steps and that when you work from your heart and remain resolute in your convictions, the Universe will go ahead and make curved roads straight!

Be Bold ...

"Boldness has genius, power and magic in it." Goethe

Lately I've been beyond bold, in fact I've been bodacious (bold and audacious)! Maybe it's the full moon or that all the planets are all aligned, or maybe it's just that I'm tired of feeling stuck in a rut, but whatever the reason there's something in me that's on fire!

There's a sense of relaxed but intense urgency and a real presence of magic. Like NOW is the time to get healthy.  NOW is the time to grow my business. NOW is the time to be happy and enjoy all that life has to offer.

Goethe was correct ... there is genius and power and magic in the way I'm living today!

So this week BE BOLD! If there's a project you've been dreaming of NOW IS THE TIME TO BEGIN ...  I dare you ... jump in, start, play, have fun ... be afraid and do it anyway!

Let go and fly and be AUDACIOUS and open and fully experience all the genius and power and magic life has to offer!

The Art of Imperfection

"Imagine a different world, one in which people do not spend an inordinate amount of energy fuming against their fate each time the make a mistake."  Veronique Vienne

Many of us in today's society are so obsessed with getting it right, that we forget that while right is good, sometimes accepting imperfection can be so much more fun! I used to be one of those women. I had to do everything perfectly or I wouldn't do it at all.

The result was for me, either a. doing everything right, but being so stressed out that no one wanted to be near me or b. I'd abandon the project for fear of making a mistake leaving way too much undone.

This is no way to live. I don't remember when, but one day I woke up. A friend invited me to see a movie and I said I couldn't go because I had laundry to do. Then  I looked at a pile of unfolded laundry and said  'so what.'  A hundred years from now, is anyone really gonna care?  Is anyone really gonna care that my laundry isn't completely done?

The answer, for those of you who are wondering, is no.  Then I called me friend back and said yes to the movie.  This made her day.  Later she told me she couldn't believe I would have chosen laundry over her. Then she made fun of me and we laughed at my obsessive need for perfection.

I learned something that day.  Life is meant to be imperfect. This week, let go of the obsessive need for perfection, learn to laugh at your mistakes and keep dancing when you misstep and see how much more fun your life becomes!

The Joy of Meditation

Yesterday was my friend Joy Kingsborough's birthday  and we spent hour talking about meditation and energy and allowing. She said the Universe wants to support us in our endeavors. And that when we align with our heart, life just seems to flow. You can attract what you desire by putting you attention on it. It's that simple, if you let it be.
(http://howtobewellnow.com)

It was THE MOST incredible hour!  She reminded me of so many things I needed to remember. First, no one is too busy to meditate.  In fact, if you ARE too busy, it's TIME TO MEDITATE. Stopping and getting clear is the biggest gift you can give to yourself and the world around you.

Lately I've been too busy to focus on writing my blog. Or so I thought. Really what was happening was just a shift.  In my mind unexpressed was this thought, 'The official Isabody Challenge is over, now what?'

I felt like I had nothing more to share. This is so not true.  With a few minutes of silence and stillness, it came to me that I still have a journey to share.  I still have inspiration to give. There is much more to learn.

Here is  the lesson for the day.  There is light in each and every one of us, it's time to let it shine. Everyone has a unique message, so get out there (however that looks for you), let the world see how wonderful you really are.

I'm dedicating the next six months to releasing old thinking.  It's time to change!  Out the the old driven 'do, do, do, do. model and in the with new 'allow, be, enjoy' model.

Have a fantastic day!

Perseverance


"You've got to say, if I keep working at this and want it badly enough I can have it." That's what Lee Iococca called perseverance. 

It's a mantra I've been repeating to myself a lot lately. I've reached the 50 lb mark and have been a little stuck for almost a month. I've been struggling to stick to the program, to adapt to the change in my body and to get past this HUGE (and amazing) milestone! 


And to not sink into old eating patterns. Aahh the slippery slope that starts with just one... just one cupcake or one drink or one pizza or one ... way too many 'just ones' = weight creeping on again. I can feel it happening.  (But just a little) I am mindful of the fit of my new 'skinny' jeans. Today there was less of them and more of my body. 


A friend once told me that I couldn't handle being thin. He was right, in a way. I can't. Well, I couldn't.  But I'm learning. As a fat person, I am invisible. Unseen. A cellophane observer of the turning world around me. 

But now, the invisibility cloak of chub has worn thin. People can see me again for the first time in years. I am no longer invisible. There is a certain danger in this that's been causing me to eat more again. On a subconscious level it seems I am anxious to restore my own non-existence. I think this is the reason for the yo-yo effect.


But I am determined to stop it this time. 

Perseverance is the key. That along with motivation and courage. And the willingness to face head on whatever fears and shadows are lurking in the psyche.


FEAR.  False Evidence Appearing Real  (I just learned that from Karynne Boese of dreamliving.org, isn't it fabulous???)  


Fear, like shadow, disappears when light is shined on it. 

Knowing this is the key to reaching all your goals in life. So today, remember this ... no matter what your goals are, YOU CAN ACHIEVE THEM!  Just keep going, even when you think you can't go any further ... take one more step!

Lessons from the Past

Funny how the Universe brings people back into your life at the perfect moment. I've been struggling with some very core issues regarding my weight.

Ideas that somehow solidified back in 6th grade and stuck.

Things like I'm a FAT (I was teased mercilessly by two mean boys in my class - who taunted me and called me ELEPHANT on a daily basis) And my other favorite, because I couldn't stick to a diet I was a failure, unable to achieve any goal I set.

Yep. I spent much of my life under the shadows of this stuff! It sucks growing up large in LA.

But alas, I've done the work and those ghosts have long gone, or so I thought. While cleansing, there are occasions when these thoughts still rear their ugly heads.  Here's where Universal timing comes in.

A few weeks ago, while I was knee deep in the muck of my past, I got a call out of the blue from my 6th grade friend Kim P.  (We'd re-connected on Facebook, which was very cool!)  We talked for about 45 minutes.

Here's the irony.  I remembered myself as the fat girl who was a sloth and did nothing.  She remembered an athletic girl who wasn't rail skinny, but who was thin and active and healthy.  She reminded me I was always swimming and riding horses! Seriously, her perception of me was 180 degrees of what I thought of myself.  As mine was of her.

I always thought she was so thin.  She had these long, lean legs and to my recollection was seriously skinny!  But in her mind, she was the fat one!  Can you believe it?

She also reminded me that when I left in 7th grade and came back to visit, I was 'totally skinny.'  She was right, it was after my first ever crash diet .... at age 13 I created the Dexatrim and Tab cola and Campbell's Chicken Noodle soup diet!  Yep, I wouldn't eat all day, I'd take Dexatrim and drink Tab to suppress my appetite and finally, at dinner eat a can of Campbell's Chicken Noodle soup!  My poor parents!  I remember being perpetually hungry and mean as a rabid dog!  Hey, but I was thin! LOL!

Can you say not sustainable???  Thankfully now, I am an adult making better choices.  My paradigm has shifted ... from THIN to HEALTHY.  I am grateful to Isagenix every day for providing me with a healthy option to release not only the weight, but also the baggage from my past!

Anyone else out there want to share their craziest crash diet??