Short and not so sweet report for you today.  Weight this morning 13 stone and 2 lbs, so down another 3.5 lbs.  Very pleased with that.  Still going strong and encouraged by the kind donations from everyone, thanks all!

What are you doing to move one step forward towards your dreams before you sleep tonight?

Thank you for donating to Guide Dogs for the Blind in support of our Founder’s Challenge: if you haven’t already, please click here.

Did you miss me?  Sorry, computer gremlins running riot and playing havoc with ISP which means I was offline for the most part since Friday evening until today.  One dongle invested in later, half of ISP service back and we have lift off again almost at full function! 

Despite IT going off track, I am still very much on track with the changes to eating I have in place!  Plan is working and I’m working the plan.  Simple and it works.  Give it a go!

 4 lbs off this week and another 2 % drop in fat.  All good.  Scales ‘groaning less’ at 13 Stone and 5.5 lbs.  Not long to go to that 2 stone off milestone! 

How about your own challenges – whether healthy changes or otherwise – are you making progress?

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Okay, I promised you all a before picture and now is the time…. brace yourself…. I’m the big bird in the middle.  LOL

Are you noticing all of the ways in which you’re growing and developing as you progress in your challenge?

Guide Dogs for the Blind are a terrific charity to support:  please join us in doing this by clicking here

I read this and thought of you! 

Folks have been continuing to support my challenge, with kind words and many are being motivated to join in making their own positive lifestyle changes too.  Fabulous.  

It is really great to receive your emails telling me how you are getting on.  One thing that keeps coming up is the expense that special diet food or products can incur.  I wanted to share with you that ‘diet foods’ have their place – and – are far from the only way to go about shifting the pounds or kilos. 

You can makes the changes in health you need without too much cost.  How?  Simply keep it simple! Mike’s article below demonstrates just how you can put the changes you want in place easily, sensibly and with no special expense. 

“Cheat Your Way Thin – The Basics of Fat Loss

You may think that what is the best way to diet? There are several methods which teach you how to lose weight on the Internet. In this article, you will discover my method which consist of eating and exercise that everyone can follow it easily.

Before start I want you to write down your goals on a sheet of paper and monitor constantly your progress.

First, you should drink a lot of plain water.

There are a lot of people who confuse between hungry and thirsty. They usually eat food a lot when they feel thirsty, but they make a huge mistake. They should drink a glass of water. Moreover, you have to stop drinking diet sodas and other caffeine drinks because they have a negative effect on your health and fat loss.

Second, I recommend you eat several light meals during the day. This is the secret.

At least 5 meals or eat every 3 hours in one day. If you can control calories for each meal, you will find that it is easier to diet rather than eat a lot of high calories food in one time. Because your body will speed up your metabolism while keeping your energy levels up. There for, women who skip some meals can not lose weight definitely. You should also eat all major nutrients including protein, carbohydrate, and fat.

Last, Sprinting at least 3 times a week

This will help you increase your metabolic rate effectively so you are able to lose weight naturally.

Finally I hope this article will help you get the idea to lose your weight.”

What excuses do you put in the way of your success?

Please support the Founder’s Challenge 2009 by donating here to Guide Dogs for the Blind

Once upon a time there was a pair of black, skinny legged jeans… they were lonely, neglected and sad… because the person that bought them was too fat to wear them.  :-(

Thankfully, the tale does have a happy ending!   :-)   Read on….

I got into the above jeans this morning and – even though I say so myself – they looked pretty damn good. 

The End.  LOL. 

Okay, feeling pretty darn chuffed and proud of myself today (in my slinky and comfortable jeans – Rrrrr), in fact almost vain enough to say,  if I was  chocolate I’d want to eat myself….  of course, am resisting because I remember ‘nothing tastes as good as slim’! 

 What have you done today to feel proud of your achievements?

Spread the word, dig deep and donate here please for Guide Dogs for the Blind and the Founder’s Challenge:  thank you

Weigh in was this morning.  After my week of eating dinners (okay and a couple of chocolate bars and ice cream - oink) I didn’t lose any weight this week.  The good news is I didn’t put any on either AND lost 2% in Fat to boot.  So the scale read 13 Stone and 9.5 lbs.  This week it’s back to protein shakes and maybe the odd protein bar in place of the occasional shake.  I’m hoping for a good weight loss this week, so please watch this space!

Please take a moment to support the Founder’s Challenge and Guide Dogs for the Blind:  click here

Now for something slightly different: I’m proud to announce that Pads and Paws Designs, Denise Allen is joining us with Guide Dogs for the Blind nominated as their chosen charity of the year too!

You can read all about it at her blog here.

Who else can you call on to join forces in supporting you to win over your own challenges?

In the meantime, please support us by making a donation to the Guide Dogs for the Blind by clicking here

We’re off to Sheffield to visit friends.  A mixture of business and pleasure.  I promise to be on my best behaviour diet-wise and will be back on Day 42 with an update for you all.  Meantime, have a terrific week and happy dieting.

Let me leave you a little funny… 

What bad habits do you need to break sooner rather than later?

Guide Dogs for the Blind are a great charity that the Founder’s Challenge is supporting this year, please support them here

What an interesting day.  Had some lunch, Chicken, noodles and veg in ‘broth’ in Wagamama (Chicken Ramen).  The funny thing for me, from a psychology viewpoint, I was notably underwhelmed.  Well I didn’t expect that!  LOL

It wouldn’t have bothered me in the least to have either a protein shake or ‘real’ food. Either way I enjoyed the company more and the food was ‘refuelling’.  Wey hey…transformation for me.  Finally getting the ‘eat to live’ mindset rather than ‘live to eat’. 

Proves the point that most of my overeating was bad habits and boredom eating.  This weight shedding journey is certainly revealing so much.  Okay, after that ‘self-analysis’… just enjoyed my vanilla shake, yum!

What are you expecting?

Please dig deep and make a donation to Guide Dogs for the Blind on behalf of the Founder’s Challenge

Something different for you today contributed by Karen Skidmore of www.CanDoCanBe.com (see full credit at the end of this post). 

Business Attitude or Business Idea: Which is more likely to lead to your success?

What did your friends and family say to you when you told them you were off to start your own business?

And how did it affect the way you went about creating your business?

When I first started telling colleagues and friends of my plans to start my own life coaching business back in 2004 [this is where I started 5 years ago], I remember all too well the sucking of the teeth and the “you’re very brave” comments.

Everyone around me told that going freelance and becoming self-employed was all very well but beware the feast and famine.  Working for yourself may give you control and freedom to do what you want, but clients come and go like a roller-coaster ride.

The first few months, I would have to spend all my time marketing. I would then get some clients and then the work would dry up. And I have to do a few more months of hard marketing all over again.

But the reason I decided to start my own coaching business was because I wanted to work part-time.  I wanted to create a new career around my children’s school terms so that I worked when they were at school and took my foot off the peddle when the holidays came around.

And if I was to be faced with a feast and famine roller-coaster ride, this just wouldn’t work.  I wanted to be in control of when and where I worked in the business and didn’t want to fall in to this trap that was being described to me.

So, although I listened to their advice and kind thoughts, I secretly challenged these opinions and decided that it didn’t have to be that way.

Five months later and I was contemplating going back to corporate life.  They were right!  It was tough out there and my marketing was getting me nowhere.  I hadn’t even experienced the feast – it was just famine all the way!

I had hit rock bottom and fortunately the only way was up.  Which is exactly what I decided to do!

I am sharing this story because I firmly believe that it doesn’t matter how great your business idea is, how brilliant your business plan is or how unique your product is – if you haven’t got the right business attitude, there is every chance you’ll fail.

Sounds dramatic, doesn’t it?

But let’s flip this over the other way.

It doesn’t matter how competitive the marketplace is, how average your business idea is or how inadequate your business plan is – if you have got the right business attitude, there is every chance you’ll succeed.

And probably succeed beyond your expectations, too.

Give me a great business idea or a person with a great business attitude and I’ll put my money on the attitude any day.

So my tips for you today is to surround yourself with people who support you and believe in you, be clear on your “big picture” and go for gold.

Because with the right business attitude, you’ll win every time.

“Karen Skidmore helps Coaches, Trainers, Virtual Assistants & self-employed professionals to work smarter and attract the right clients to their business. To subscribe to her free email newsletter and get access to practical advice and marketing ideas that will move your business forward, visit www.CanDoCanBe.com”

Are you winning with your attitude?

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