Seventy Percent! That’s the number to remember this week. If something makes up 70% of your body, you’d think it was pretty important, right? What am I talking about? Water!
You've done it before a million times. You're presenting at a meeting; you've got a serious parent-teacher conference; you need to confront your best friend – what happens first? You run through it in your mind, like a play running through your head. You anticipate possible comments and come up with responses. You alter what you're going to say accordingly. You're not physically there, but you see the scene as though you are. You're getting ready, preparing for the conversation or event.
Ever since I started writing my blog I vowed I would write about counting potato chips. Some of you will think this is “over the top”, but others will be able to relate.
OK, you’re on a diet and you want a serving of chips. Let’s say Lay’s Light Chips (my personal favorite). Naturally you read the nutrition label and see that the serving size is 21 chips for 75 calories. That’s a lot of chips! Excitedly you begin.
Vacation. Just the word is enough to give me butterflies. Look it up: "leisure time away from work devoted to rest or pleasure." Sounds divine. Hey ... even the planning part is fun! We Americans work so hard all year and we deserve those precious days which, for most of us, are so rare.
click to read more
As I was growing up, food always had a stronger pull on me than anyone else in my family. For years I had maintained a fairly “normal” weight range but it was only through countless new diets in between periods of weight gains. I was your typical yo-yoer. The battle raged on for years until, by my 40th birthday, it was clear I was losing the war. I weighed 347 pounds.
A monumental event happened in the Bensen home this past week – school ended for our two youngest children. No more early morning routines building to a panic to catch the bus. No more “...because it’s a school night” excuses for early bedtimes. The cessation of their nine month school year means a lot less structure for our entire family. Maybe that’s one reason they’re called the lazy, hazy dog-days of summer. What little routine remains is often a lazy one.
As many of you know, there were many little things that my husband Mark did and said that were a huge help to me on my weight loss journey. Thanks babe! So this week before Father’s Day I had asked him to be a guest blogger, talking about support ¬– offering it AND asking for it. Great topic, right? Well, emergency surgery has necessitated a quick change in plans …
Okay, you know when you have an event that you’re either excited about or dreading – or both? It kind of becomes the focal point around which everything else revolves. You say to yourself, “In two Thursdays it will be here.” or “By next Friday it will all be over.” You know what I mean? Well, that’s how I felt a year ago this week.
Just when the nip is starting to disappear from the nighttime air and the sun is taking longer to set in the sky … THEY appear on the horizon. THEY are dazzlingly bright and their twinkling lights promise fun and excitement to children of all ages. It’s the start of carnival season. Yes. The carnival came to my home town last week and hard as I tried not to use the road that ran past it with my 9 and 11 year olds in the car, on Thursday it was unavoidable.
“Living” on a diet has many rewarding moments, and many that are frustrating and painful. It’s a never-ending, all-consuming battle. Do you ever wonder if it’s worth it?
Seventy Percent! That’s the number to remember this week. If something makes up 70% of your body, you’d think it was pretty important, right? What am I talking about? Water! 
You've done it before a million times. You're presenting at a meeting; you've got a serious parent-teacher conference; you need to confront your best friend – what happens first? You run through it in your mind, like a play running through your head. You anticipate possible comments and come up with responses. You alter what you're going to say accordingly. You're not physically there, but you see the scene as though you are. You're getting ready, preparing for the conversation or event.
Ever since I started writing my blog I vowed I would write about counting potato chips. Some of you will think this is “over the top”, but others will be able to relate. 
As I was growing up, food always had a stronger pull on me than anyone else in my family. For years I had maintained a fairly “normal” weight range but it was only through countless new diets in between periods of weight gains. I was your typical yo-yoer. The battle raged on for years until, by my 40th birthday, it was clear I was losing the war. I weighed 347 pounds. 
A monumental event happened in the Bensen home this past week – school ended for our two youngest children. No more early morning routines building to a panic to catch the bus. No more “...because it’s a school night” excuses for early bedtimes. The cessation of their nine month school year means a lot less structure for our entire family. Maybe that’s one reason they’re called the lazy, hazy dog-days of summer. What little routine remains is often a lazy one. 
As many of you know, there were many little things that my husband Mark did and said that were a huge help to me on my weight loss journey. Thanks babe! So this week before Father’s Day I had asked him to be a guest blogger, talking about support ¬– offering it AND asking for it. Great topic, right? Well, emergency surgery has necessitated a quick change in plans …
Okay, you know when you have an event that you’re either excited about or dreading – or both? It kind of becomes the focal point around which everything else revolves. You say to yourself, “In two Thursdays it will be here.” or “By next Friday it will all be over.” You know what I mean? Well, that’s how I felt a year ago this week.
Just when the nip is starting to disappear from the nighttime air and the sun is taking longer to set in the sky … THEY appear on the horizon. THEY are dazzlingly bright and their twinkling lights promise fun and excitement to children of all ages. It’s the start of carnival season. Yes. The carnival came to my home town last week and hard as I tried not to use the road that ran past it with my 9 and 11 year olds in the car, on Thursday it was unavoidable.
“Living” on a diet has many rewarding moments, and many that are frustrating and painful. It’s a never-ending, all-consuming battle. Do you ever wonder if it’s worth it?