I’ve been intrigued by this site for years. I think I took my first test in my mid-twenties and my “real age” was over well over 30. It was depressing.

Over the next few [...]]]> While moping around the internet procrastinating work (actually, I’ve been uninspired but that’s another story) I stumbled across RealAge.com.

I’ve been intrigued by this site for years. I think I took my first test in my mid-twenties and my “real age” was over well over 30. It was depressing.

Over the next few years I took it a few more times and it was always told me I was a few years older then what I really was. Although, as I lost weight, changed my diet and got more active, the gap lessoned.

I really wish the site kept archives of past “real ages” because I’d love to see the progression but I can’t find any kind of history on the site.

Anyway, I decided to take the test again tonight and I was SHOCKED at the results…

For those that don’t know, I’m 35. That’s 8 years!

Insanity!

This was the boost I needed. A friendly reminder that the lifestyle I’m leading is worth every bit of hard work, time and compromise it takes.

After I took the test I checked out RunningInTheUSA.com and found a few races over the next few months and registered. Running is my Basketball. No more moping around feeling sorry for myself. If I can’t run, I’ll walk.

If you have an extra 10 minutes (the test is long) take the quiz. In my opinion, lowering that number is a much better goal then trying to beat the scale.

Unless you are reading this on Roni's Weigh or your RSS reader, it is stolen content!

I’ve been hungry all day, but not really hungry. Does anyone know what I mean?

There are days I get into a mode where all I want to do is eat even though I’m not physically hungry. It’s a different kind of hunger. A feeling that’s really hard to explain.There’s just a desire [...]]]>

I’ve been hungry all day, but not really hungry. Does anyone know what I mean?

There are days I get into a mode where all I want to do is eat even though I’m not physically hungry. It’s a different kind of hunger. A feeling that’s really hard to explain.There’s just a desire to eat that’s constantly present even after I’ve had a satisfying meal. Sometimes IMMEDIATELY after I had that satisfying meal.

Some observations about my non-hunger hunger…

• Sometimes it corresponds with a certain time of the month, but not always.
• Sometimes it follows a day of eating more processed foods.
• Sometimes it’s emotionally based, like when in a funk or feeling lonely.

These days are inevitable, for me anyway, and I deal with them in my own ways

• Sometimes I just succumb.
• Sometimes I satisfy the cravings with healthy alternatives to the junk I really want.
• Sometimes I divert my attention to something else altogether.

Who shares this non-hunger hunger? Have you experienced it? How did/do you deal?

Unless you are reading this on Roni's Weigh or your RSS reader, it is stolen content!

I’ve been trying to gain a little control over my snacking habits lately. Feeling uninspired and unmotivated has resulted in grabbing all of the husband’s junky treats.

So I gave myself a good talking to and Laura brought up a great idea in the comments…

Hey Roni… your example grocery lists are some [...]]]>

I’ve been trying to gain a little control over my snacking habits lately. Feeling uninspired and unmotivated has resulted in grabbing all of the husband’s junky treats.

So I gave myself a good talking to and Laura brought up a great idea in the comments…

Hey Roni… your example grocery lists are some of my favorite things (like the Trader Joe’s one). Would it be possible for you to maybe give us a quick rundown of a few quick-grab-and-go snacks that you pick up at the store? For some reason I feel at a loss lately… pretty much the only quick-grab snacks I buy are the Stretch Island fruit leathers, which I LOVE, but I need more suggestions. Like, what kind of nuts do you get? Are they salted?

Well Laura, as I said, lately I’ve been out of my groove, but normally I buy carrots, sugar snap peas, Triscuits Thin Crisps, popcorn, Cocoa Roast Almonds, light yogurt cups, pistachios, and of course, fresh fruit.

For some reason I haven’t been choosing these things though, so maybe it is time to change things up a little. Let’s get a good list going of everyone’s favorite snacks. Hopefully it will inspire us to stay away from the junk and try something new!

So… What are Your Favorite Grab-and-Go Snacks?

Unless you are reading this on Roni's Weigh or your RSS reader, it is stolen content!

Aaannnyway… I was inspired to write this post after jamming out in my car alone to this song…

Yea.. yea.. it’s the Bangles and [...]]]> I may have asked this for a previous Question of the Week but honestly, I can’t remember. I’ve asked over 100 of them. I really can’t keep track anymore.

Aaannnyway… I was inspired to write this post after jamming out in my car alone to this song…

Yea.. yea.. it’s the Bangles and it was the 80s but I don’t care what you say… this song ROCKS! I blasted it as loud as I could and sung it at the top of my lungs. If I was on an episode of Motormouth you would have had a good laugh at me. Especially because the next song was this…

and it requires signing aloud too. It just does. If I ever get the guts to do karaoke that or this..

will be my song of choice.

But I digress. The reason for this post is for you to think about what truly makes you happy. Peel away all the self-consciousness and body image crap. Remove all filters and external influences. Dig down deep and THINK about it. When are you happiest? What puts an instant unforced smile on your face? Is it a person? A thing? An activity?

Me? Well as I established, driving alone with the radio blasting makes me happy.

These guys make me happy…

Cooking makes me happy.

Feeding my son good food and actually having him eat it makes me happy.

The beach makes me happy.

A good movie makes me happy.

Helping others makes me happy.

UPDATE: I had to add this one on post fact… Watching The Husband play with the boys puts a smile on my face every time!

Reaching goals makes me happy… (today’s food journey)

Ok YOUR turn. What makes YOU happy??

Unless you are reading this on Roni's Weigh or your RSS reader, it is stolen content!

At least it feel like that way for me right now. I’m so UNMOTIVATED. ugh.

Image thanks to Randy Glasbergen, one of my favorite cartoonists.

Right now I am fighting the munchies something FIERCE! It seems everyday around this time (10PM) I want to snack on something, anything. Normally I choose popcorn, make some banana soft-serve, or if the husband is around, fall prey to the Doritos.

Considering I don’t actually WANT Doritos, I’m tired on popcorn, and [...]]]>

Right now I am fighting the munchies something FIERCE! It seems everyday around this time (10PM) I want to snack on something, anything. Normally I choose popcorn, make some banana soft-serve, or if the husband is around, fall prey to the Doritos.

Considering I don’t actually WANT Doritos, I’m tired on popcorn, and all out of bananas, I thought I’d open floodgates and ask you…

What is Your Nighttime Snack of Choice?

Unless you are reading this on Roni's Weigh or your RSS reader, it is stolen content!

It’s true. I work a lot.

Don’t we all?

Lately I’ve been finding myself procrastinating. I get so overwhelmed with all that has to get done that I don’t actually accomplish anything. It’s a [...]]]> A few weeks ago I wrote a post called Work Smarter Not Harder where I, sort of, confessed my workaholic-ness.

It’s true. I work a lot.

Don’t we all?

Lately I’ve been finding myself procrastinating. I get so overwhelmed with all that has to get done that I don’t actually accomplish anything. It’s a maddening circle.

My inbox will stay full for days. Laundry baskets of clothes sit waiting to be folded. The dinner mess waits until lunch the next day. I’ve even been procrastinating grocery shopping. And I love grocery shopping! Last week we ran out of bread, milk, and eggs!

Then I got inspired to put a work smarter not harder concept into practice.

Little Guy and I cleaned out a cabinet making room for his water bottles and the Baby’s new bowls and cups. When we finished, we both had such a sense of accomplishment.

We got SOMETHING done!

Then I looked at the clock. All it took was 15 minutes.

15 minutes and I had an organized cabinet and momentum to accomplish something else.

I decided to put my 15 minute idea to the test a couple of more times.

Yesterday at 4:45 PM

I focused on the pantry.

15 minutes later…

Amazing!

Right? (Note: the baby only lasts about 15 minutes in the bouncy so I really was on the clock! ;)

All it took was 15 minutes!

This afternoon I tried it on my bedroom…

It was 12:41 PM

After 15 minutes…

Taaa Da!

"15 minutes" is my new mantra when I’m feeling overwhelmed and unmotivated. I take a deep breath, look around and focus on 1 thing for 15 minutes.

Every day I vow to do this at least once.

Take 15 minutes this week and DO SOMETHING. Something that’s been bugging you. Something you’ve been putting on the bottom on your to-do. Even if you only get started it’s a start!

What Can You Accomplish in 15 Minutes?

Let me know how you make out in the comments!

Unless you are reading this on Roni's Weigh or your RSS reader, it is stolen content!

Google “Diet Plan” and you get over 20,000,000 results.

Search “Weight Loss Program” and get 11,000,000.

Amazon has more than 31,000 books under the “Diets and Weigh Loss” category.

Needless to say, there is no shortage of eating plans, programs, and supplements for those of us that want to lose weight.

I’m [...]]]>

Google “Diet Plan” and you get over 20,000,000 results.

Search “Weight Loss Program” and get 11,000,000.

Amazon has more than 31,000 books under the “Diets and Weigh Loss” category.

Needless to say, there is no shortage of eating plans, programs, and supplements for those of us that want to lose weight.

I’m sure there is a percentage of the population that can read one of those books, tweak their diet and drop the pounds they want, but I’m guessing they are the minority.

Ahh screw it…

I KNOW they are the minority.

Do you want to know how I know?

They keep writing books and coming up with new diet plans!

If you did actually read a diet book, put it to practice, and lose weight WHY in the world would you have to ever buy another one again?

Nope. That’s not how it works.

We–yes, WE, if you are reading my blog I’m almost positive you fall into the “WE” here–keep buying the books. WE keep searching for the plan. WE keep coming up with an excuse on why the last one didn’t work to justify buying into a new one.

At least that’s what I did for YEARS!

Here’s the thing… “WE” probably don’t even need a book or a plan. We read them all. We know we should ease up on the fries and get a side of veggies instead. We know we should make fruit our go-to snack. We know reducing carbs and upping lean proteins is a good thing. We know taking a walk burns more calories than watching TV. We know. We know. We KNOW!

We also know the scale won’t change over night, our lifestyle needs to support our weight loss for long term success, and that not everybody, or every body is the same.

We know all this, right?

Note: This week’s question is a bit rhetorical, but I welcome your thoughts. I wrote it in response to two things. 1.) My recent break from Weight Watchers, and 2.) Seeing Bob Harper’s new Weight Loss Starter Kit.

In other news…

• I’m fighting cheese cravings something fierce. This helped today, and
• I posted about Little Bean’s weird Breastfeeding reaction.

Unless you are reading this on Roni's Weigh or your RSS reader, it is stolen content!

I swear, I pondered it for a good 15 minutes. Then I [...]]]> Last night I could have come up with a million reasons not to go running. It was after a long day. I was by myself with the kids. The power went out. I’m backlogged with work. I couldn’t find my sneakers (easily.)

I swear, I pondered it for a good 15 minutes. Then I decided to stop searching for the excuse I needed to not go.

I’m good at coming up with excuses. I did it for years.

I can’t lose weight.
It’s too hard. It will never work anyway. I can’t start until Monday, I have a party this weekend. I just like to eat. I’m big boned. I’m going to gain it back anyway.

Exercise?
I don’t have the time. I’m too tired. I don’t like to sweat. It’s too hard. I don’t know anyone at the gym. I don’t know what to do. My shows are on tonight. I’m not in shape.

I’ve said all of these things at least once in my life. They were all excuses. It’s easy to see that in hindsight now, of course, because I did lose weight and I do exercise. But at that time, I told myself what I needed to hear so I can get out of doing what I knew I should (and wanted) to be doing.

Why?

I’m not sure.

I guess because it was, and is, hard. When things are difficult it’s simply easier to not do them. It’s easier to order in than cook. It’s easier to stay home and watch TV than take a walk. It’s easier to grab a bag of chips than peel an orange.

It’s also easier to succeed when you don’t give yourself an excuse.

I went for that run last night and I felt fantastic afterwards. Sometimes you have to ignore your excuse generating inner voice and do what it is you know you should be doing.

Here’s the food journal for yesterday…

Unless you are reading this on Roni's Weigh or your RSS reader, it is stolen content!

Then there are other times when I feel… bleh. All I notice [...]]]> I think I have a bi-polar body image. There are times I feel on top of the world. Confidence bountiful. I’m unstoppable. Everything I put on looks fabulous. My hair falls just right. I glance in the mirror and, wow, I look great!

Then there are other times when I feel… bleh. All I notice are flaws. I’m aware of my body and I’m just not comfortable in it. It doesn’t matter what anyone says or does, I’m miserable.

What causes these huge shifts in my body image? It can be anything from my diet to the way my clothes fit. And it amazes how fast it happens. It’s day by day, sometimes hour by hour.

I find I’m winning the body image battle more and more by basically telling my negative inner voice to shut the hell up, but there are still things that mess with my head.

I can’t be alone. Can I?

What Affects Your Body Image?

Unless you are reading this on Roni's Weigh or your RSS reader, it is stolen content!