Despite my current miniature house plumbing crisis
which I discussed in yesterday's article,
today I feel Joyful.
  And, I'll admit that part of that is due to
what my scale said this morning.

JOYFUL is a word I seldom hear.
The Definition of JOYFUL is:

Experiencing, causing, or showing joy: happy

Synonyms: blissful,  delighted, gratified,
happy, glad, joyous, pleased, satisfied, thankful, tickled

Antonyms: displeased, dissatisfied, joyless,
sad, unhappy, unpleased, unsatisfied

For those who are following my “Ask Grandma” videos
click to see my latest one: “Moving On After A Breakup”
which is located in DietHobby under RESOURCES, Videos, Ask Grandma.

I've noticed over time that it is common
to feel that Life gets in the way of one's Goals
and keeps us from reaching them.

Life is full of unexpected events.
Some of them are pleasant, and some are not.

Weekends, Holidays, Vacations, Celebration Events
happen for us all.

Everyone experiences Crisis Situations.
Things like health problems, financial problems,
relationship problems, family problems,
We go through changes in our environment, our homes, our jobs,
our daily routines.

Sometimes a crisis involves us on a personal and physical level,
other times it involves us emotionally because
it is happening to the others we care for.

The Point is, that even in such difficult times,
it is up to each of us to keep our ultimate goals in mind.
If weight-loss or maintaining weight-loss is an important goal for us,
then we need to work to keep our eating behavior off a roller-coaster
in these Life Situations.  
  We need to work to stay steadfast,
and learn not to use these "unusual" times
as "Exceptions" which give us permission to eat in a manner that won't  
keep us directed toward our goals.

Right now I'm experiencing a small and very minor "life crisis".
The hot water pipes under the concrete foundation of my house broke,
and early next week, all of the hot and cold water plumbing
will be re-routed through my attic
and down my walls to my sinks, tubs, toilets etc.

We have been living with only cold water for the past week,
and in a couple of days we will have to leave our home
and stay in a nearby hotel for several days while the work goes on.
Our 10 year old moody cat....who has never left my house and yard
(except for brief visits to the vet) will be coming with us.

Upon our return it will be up to me to deal with contractors who will
be repairing our walls. This will also involve painting walls,
as well as a strip on the front of my house
from the water source to the ceiling,
and new wallpaper in both bathrooms,

 I am very fond of my home. I've owed this house for 37 years,
I raised my children in it, and I'm finding this emotionally difficult,
as well as being a big time nuisance.
This is also a large and unexpected expense, although
I am fortunate enough to have homeowners insurance
that will pay about half of it.

So, this is one of the times that I could use to justify
Life getting in the way of my eating goals.
However, I am working very hard to keep from doing this.
Although there are routine things my situation keeps me from doing,
there are other things I can do to balance that.

I am working to avoid that mentality of throwing the baby out with the bath water.
that natural tendency that many of us have to say,
"oh well, I'll just eat what I want and deal with it later".
If I dent my car, I don't ram it into that obstacle over and over again.
But that is the kind of thinking we dieters often justify.

 So it goes. 
Maybe I'll be offline here a few days,
and maybe I won't.
But for certain, I'm going to be working really hard
toward eating behavior that will help me
toward my ongoing goal of maintaining my current weight.  

Set a very specific goal.

Losing weight requires a change in thought and behavior,
so set goals for your emotions and weight.
Don't just set vague goals like, "I want to lose some weight."
Be specific:
How much weight do you want to lose?
How do you want to feel?
Close your eyes and visualize yourself after you've reached those goals.
Use this visualization to feel commitment and inner strength.

Get a plan.

Work out a detailed strategy because willpower doesn't work!
To lose weight and keep it off, you must have a strategy.
Plan ahead.

Identify small, measurable steps.

implement steps that will fit your lifestyle, not somebody else's.
Be sure to move toward a positive goal, not just not to be fat.
Every step you take will bring you closer to being who you want to be.

Create a healthy, realistic timeline.

Don't expect to see huge results overnight;
take the time to change your lifestyle,
and you'll change your weight.

Create meaningful monitoring and accountability.

If you commit yourself
to log in all of your food into a computer software program,
you’ll know you have to face your eating behavior,
and you'll be more likely to stick with your plan.

DietHobby has active for 7 months now,
and as one can see by the archives,
during that time I’ve posted a great many articles.

Now that DietHobby is established,
I’ve decided to experiment
with a more irregular posting schedule.
My plan is to post new articles several times a week,
but not necessarily every day.

Those who’ve registered at DietHobby have the option
of receiving e-mail notices telling them
when a new Blog or News article is posted,
and if they’ve made a comment on an article,
they also receive a notice of additional comments on that article.

So, registered users who allow notification will know when I’ve posted.
Those users who haven’t registered will still see frequent posts when they check in,
and if they don’t see a new post, they can go to the Archives
and pick one of the many past articles to read.

I receive an e-mail every time someone makes a comment,
so please continue to make comments on any current or past article.

This is just one more experiment in my life of ongoing experiments.
My plan is to give myself more flexibility in my posting schedule,
and I want viewers who come here daily to know about that plan.

Sometimes I will post daily, and sometimes I will post less frequently.
This doesn't mean I'm ill, or away, or depressed or binging.
It just means that, at that moment, I need to spend my time another way.

I'm still going to be here,
and I hope you will be too. 

        
Consistency is a highly under-rated trait,
but it is one of the behaviors that is most necessary
for successful weight-loss and maintenance.

The definition of Consistency is:
reliability or uniformity of successive results or events
To be consistent means to constantly adhere
to the same principles, course, or form.

There are many different ways to eat,
and many different diet plans.
Most all of them will work
IF they are consistently followed.

We don’t all have to have the same diet,
or the same eating plan,
but to be successful,
we have to develop a pattern of eating
which gives us the same or less calories
as our individual body burns.

We don't always have to eat the same things,
or always eat at the same times,
or even always eat the same amounts.
But we need overall consistency
minute after minute, hour after hour,
day after day, week after week,
month after month, year after year.

When talking about weight-loss or maintenance.
I think a “lifestyle change” means that
we have to change the patterns of eating
that made us become overweight or obese,
and replace it with another, lower-calorie pattern.

This, of course, involves and requires consistency.