GOSSIP FROM THE GIRLFRIEND GATHERINGS

Learning from YOU to empower ME !

Greta Grypp – Report #1

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SuperChgWomanThe journey that began 28 days ago is still on course.   My primary mission to remove gluten from my diet has been hard but successful.    In the first 10 days it was really tough and it was a conscious effort to shop for the right foods.   However, I found it is true that you can find all that you need to eat in the perimeter of the grocery store.

The amazing thing is I continued to eat chocolate, ice cream, falafel chips, nuts, guacamole dip, and I still lost weight.   I was not trying to lose weight this month but I lost 8 lbs just getting rid of wheat from my diet.   I plan to continue to refine this method and follow the guidelines in the book “Lose the Wheat, Lose the Weight” by William Davis, M.D. since I know I have gluten sensitivity.

The eating goal for February is to remove sugar from my diet – refined (permanently) and natural from fruit (until I reach healthier weight).  The only allowable substitute sweetener will be the natural one from the Stevia plant, Sweet Leaf.   Also, I will stop snacking in-between meals and eat at specific time intervals.   I do want to lose weight this month and continual grazing inhibits that for me.

In the past, a nutritionist calculated that I need to drink 92 ounces of water per day.   So, I rounded it up to 100 ounces and have been consistently drinking it every day.   It is amazing how my skin and hair appearance has improved.   Also, the craving for other drinks has disappeared and my appetite has been suppressed.   I contribute my increase in drinking water to be an important factor in the unexpected weight loss I experienced this month.

For the 3-6-5 MOVE movement, I did increase my motion this month consistently for 30 minutes per day.   I focused on incorporating the increase in the normal things I do each day – using the walking trail on the campus of my “day” job, riding my stationary bike while watching TV, walking around the perimeter of the parking lot before going into the grocery department, and walking around the mall after going to the movie theatre.   I did continue my long weekly bike ride on the Saturdays that we had good weather in preparation for our first large group ride in about 2 weeks.

For February, my 3-6-5 MOVE goal is to restart and incorporate organized cardio workouts into my daily life – using my equipment and DVDs at home.   I just don’t have time to go to the gym during this month.   Luckily, in my at-home gym, I have a treadmill, a new stationary bike, an elliptical, several DVDs by Leslie Sansone, weighted body bars + DVDs, a BOSU – so the only reason to go the gym is for the companionship.

This month was not too productive for my creative life.   I had some family matters that popped up and required my attention so I had to take a break from blogging but I did “revamp” my novel draft and will start the next revision/rewrite on  Monday, 2/2/15.

So, I avoided a Greta Grypp butt-kicking this month – which is a good thing.

 

QUESTION(S)

How did you do in the first month of the New Year?

Still Here – Taking a Short Break

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butterflyI know it has been a couple of weeks since I last posted.   Life and family has gotten really busy.  I started a couple of blog posts but I just could not get the words out in a manner that was suitable to present here.   So much was going on that I felt passionate about and wanted to write about but I could not get the tone objective enough for you.   I decided to just “chill” for a bit.

I am here today just to reach out and let all of my readers know that I am “percolating” on some ideas, rearranging some situations, and coordinating all of my “lives” so that I can come back writing strong.

I recall Arianna Huffington advising us at the BlogHer ’14 conference to take some time off when we need it to care for ourselves.   So, I am just taking a short pause and will return next week.   Maybe I will even find time to get to those dust balls under the sofa!

Get a Grip – On CHANGE

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SuperChgWoman“Change.  The frightening frontier.  This is the personal journey of a baby boomer.   Her ongoing mission: To manage the life process by jumping on, riding with, and holding on to change – to seek out a healthier and peaceful lifestyle – to boldly transform a lifelong dream into a creative new life!”

I have a simple resolution for 2015 and the years ahead.    I need to get a grip.   I have foregone many healthful and helpful practices in my life for the sake of convenience.   I have made some choices for the sake of comfort because what I really wanted to do was a bit uncomfortable.   Now, I am paying the piper because even though I have a good life it is not the great life that I know I can reach.   Since I truly believe the idiom that the present day is the first day of the rest of your life, I have decided to implement the practices that will improve my health and lifestyle.  I have decided to be uncomfortable so that I can be propelled to the next level and to my destiny.

I know I am human.  I will have days that I will vacillate.  So I used my creative juices to make a method to help me with a kick in my butt on those days.    Meet my little friend, Greta Grypp, at the top of the post.   Her whole purpose is to be my change manager, my voice of reason, my cheerleader, and my shero when the road to permanent life changes becomes a little steep.   When I start to succumb to choices and behaviors that will veer me from the path of change, I will envision Greta with her booted foot raised and in position to kick my butt into compliance.

My first mission is to introduce my creative voice to more readers through my blogging life and through my budding novelist life.   This is the most difficult mission because every writer has an inherent fear of putting their words out into the universe.  Also, the publishing world is changing and there are some great but frightening choices for new novelists.   Greta will probably wear out a couple pairs of boots kicking me with this mission.

My second mission is to get healthier.   You know when you are younger you can get away with skipping out somewhat on a healthy routine but when you become “vintage” (as my blogger gal-pal Vintage Woman at http://www.amivintageyet.com calls it) you can’t do that anymore.    I have decided to make a simple start by doing three basic things (1) eat natural, gluten-free, and single-ingredient foods (2) move – walk, dance, bike, play, jump, whatever – my body for at least 30 minutes a day.  I call this my 3-6-5 Move movement (3) Drink 96 ounces of water per day.    For me, these three changes need to be implemented simultaneously for beneficial results.   Each month, I will make another change to enhance my healthier choices.

Now, I have my initial missions and my cheerleader but I need a virtual crew.   I have a virtual crew for my first mission (the writing life) but I need a virtual crew for the second mission.   It is always fun to have others to share the healthy lifestyle changes with as you gain confidence and knowledge from the interactions.   I plan to give a Greta Grypp report periodically on my progress with information on discoveries I make along the path of change.   Hopefully, some of you will consider joining me in the 3-6-5 Move movement and report back with comments on your progress, too.

Change is really all about choices.   Choices are the compass and the wheel of life.   They make life movement and they control the direction of that movement.   Because of that sometimes it takes all of your courage and will to make one.   However, the opportunity to make a choice is a gift and the change it engenders is the reward.

QUESTION(S)

Will you come join me in the 3-6-5 Movement?   If so, reply back with a comment on the post.

Letting Go for the New Year

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Evening SeaIt is the last day of the year.   The New Year starts on tomorrow.       December 31st is a good day to look back on the past year and “let go” of those internal and external things that will prevent you from productively moving forward in the New Year.   A “letting go” ritual is a good way to start implementing change in your life.

A “letting go” ritual can be as easy as making a list and physically destroying it or using your imagination to create an entire “letting go” scenario.    One scenario I employ is to imagine I am standing on a small cliff over a beach watching the rolling waves.   Riding on each wave is something or someone that I am letting go.   I like this scenario because it is not destructive……it is not “labeling” the thing I am letting go…… it is just simply carrying it away to another shore.

For some of us, letting go is difficult – especially when there is another person involved.   However, it can be a cleansing and healing experience.   It can be a peaceful ritual that can truly foster personal growth.     Consider it as another positive way to bring in the New Year.   Try it.

QUESTION(S):

How do you celebrate the end of one year and the start of the New Year?

What Color is Your Lipstick?

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HiRes

 

I have had a long lasting relationship with lipstick.   It started when I was a young girl watching my Mom, who was (and still is) a very beautiful woman, applying her makeup.   She would always put her lipstick on last and it was as if putting that lipstick on was sealing a jolt of confidence into her persona.   However, she would always pause a moment for a second look and complain about her lips because they were so thin by African-American standards.   As I looked up at her in the mirror she would look down at me and tell me she was glad I did not have her lips but beautiful full lips like my father.   This made me feel just as beautiful as she looked and I couldn’t wait to grow up to wear lipstick.

When I started wearing it, I bought all of the vibrant bold colors and I wore them proudly.  Every morning when I lavished my lips with those colors, I must admit I felt more confident.   Perhaps I exuded that confidence, too, because one day a co-worker tried to burst my bubble.    It was summer and I was a young, twenty-something, popping female.   This particular day I wore a bright orange lipstick which I knew looked good with my brown skin.    My desk was in a large area with other workers. As I arrived to the office and sat down at my desk, my co-worker looked me over and said “You know men don’t like it when a woman wears a ‘loud’ colored lipstick.”

I gaped at her.   I felt my confidence slipping away……departing from me.  I decided to hold on to it.   So, I looked her in her eyes and said, “I don’t wear my lipstick for men.  I wear my lipstick for me.”   KAZAAM!   I snatched back my confidence with the quickness of a Muhammad Ali punch!   However, even though I said that as a comeback, I later realized it was true.   I continued to wear my vibrant, bold colors but I did start paying cursory attention to how my dates/boyfriends reacted to it.

Well, one boyfriend sung praises about my “bee stung” lips.  He was so obsessed with them that he became upset when an artist drew a sketch of me and captured the likeness of them.   He said he did not like the fact that the artist (a male) saw my lips in the same manner he did.  I found that amusing.    Another experience was on a first date when I wore a lilac lipstick with my attire.   The guy couldn’t take his eyes from my lips while I talked to him.  It was to the point that I became nervous.   So, I think my co-worker was wrong in her assessment and the real issue was she did not have the confidence to wear those colors on her lips.

To me, lip color is the first visual cue of your level of confidence.  You should definitely choose and wear the colors that make you feel good because when you feel good you will look good.    There are so many brands of beautiful lip color and I have over 100 tubes of lipstick but if I had to choose a color that personifies confidence it would be Borghese Scarlatto.   When you wear that red one you are saying to the world – I am Woman!

So, girlfriends, wear the bold, vibrant colors on your lips.   Be the 3 B’s in your lip color – Bold, Bright and Bodacious!   Kiss your man all over his face with those “loud” colored lips because if he is in to you he won’t mind.

QUESTION(S)

How do you feel about wearing bold and vibrant lip color?

What color is your favorite lipstick?