|
All About Michelle Butler
|
the healthy writers
past bloggers
Connect with Michelle
|
||
|
Michelle's News & Fun Facts
|
Blog Posts from Michelle
Hope and OptimismPosted by Michelle Butler Feb 19 2012, 7:09 pm In my new love of Valentine’s Day, I read almost every Valentine’s Day themed story I saw. One in Parade Magazine had a sidebar story about how to heal a broken heart. Step number two was to exercise because it would bring your hope and optimism back. That piece of advice really struck me, but thankfully not because I’m struggling with a broken heart. I am struggling with having hope and optimism about my weight loss journey and chances to become a healthy weight. So much of this struggle is mental and emotional. When you realize just how big you’ve gotten, you recognize how much you’ve been backsliding, or you just can’t break the plateau you’ve been fighting, those old thoughts of this is impossible and you’re just meant to be fat can come back. I’ve battled those thoughts a lot recently, and it seems like Saturday, February 11 was all about the world shouting back at me, yes, you can do this! It started with an email from a friend and former diet buddy. She had lost more than 50 pounds in 2008 and inspired me to give it my all in 2009. Sadly by the time I’d lost more than 30 pounds, she had gained that back and more. This year, she started another Weight Watchers run and wanted to tell me she had lost 12 pounds in the first 5 weeks. She had found the courage to try again, and it was working. Later that Saturday morning, I went to my local RWA chapter meeting. This is always a fun, educational time, and I love catching up with old friends. I saw one I had not seen for several months. The last time I’d seen her she was showing off a 40-pound loss. She now has lost 70 pounds since the fall of 2010 (if I remember the timing correctly). I went to talk to her and make a fuss about her success and ask her about her journey. She said she was doing a medically-supervised diet that was about the right protein and fairly low carb. She also told me that I had been her role model and inspiration. There’s a lot of power and even responsibility in that, and it’s very moving. But, she was not the only friend who was taking huge strides to get healthy. I went to lunch with a bunch of friends, and it seemed like at least half the table was making diet changes for their health. One friend had become vegetarian. Another had started to meet with a dietician and had lost more than 10 pounds. A third had started a diet that came with prepared meals and guidelines on how to eat a few other times a week. Everyone around me was taking care to order correctly, and it inspired me to do the same. That night, I got together with the fabulous boyfriend. We are trying to eat out less and cook more to help jump start some more forward progress. We cooked a very healthy meal and could feel good about the food choices we had made. The world surrounded me with positive examples of people trying to be healthier, and it game me inspiration and even some hope and optimism that I can do the same. I lost 1.2 pounds at this week’s Weight Watchers weigh in and am trying to get back into the game. My dream to reach a healthy weight has not died, and my journey to become and stay a healthy writer continues. How do you find your hope and optimism again when you might have lost it for awhile? What gives you inspiration to keep on keepin’ on? Happy, Healthy Valentine’s Day!Posted by Michelle Butler Feb 12 2012, 9:29 pm in cooking, Expectations, food, Holidays, Michelle Butler, Michelle Mondays, positive thinking, recipes Yes, I know Valentine’s Day is tomorrow, but I have become a big fan of the holiday recently. When I was a kid, it was a great excuse to eat candy. That was always better than counting how many Valentine’s you received in your class as I never won that contest in elementary school. As [...] Dueling Chili DipsPosted by Michelle Butler Feb 5 2012, 10:39 pm in cooking, Holidays, Michelle Butler, Michelle Mondays, recipes As a New England girl, I am sad about the results of last night’s Super Bowl Game. I’m not sad though about the fun party I went to and the yummy, snacky food served. I did put a lot of thought into the food I was going to bring. When I think favorite snack foods [...] Zumba Makes You Feel Better than a Cookie DoesPosted by Michelle Butler Jan 29 2012, 9:25 pm in eating healthy, Emotional Eating, exercise, fitness, food diary, Michelle Butler, Michelle Mondays, stress, weight loss I’m hoping that last week’s post about my struggles with motivation, and the responses to it, are the start of a turn around in my health and fitness efforts. I have tried to do better this week. It wasn’t always pretty. I skipped Weight Watchers because I just could not face a bad weigh in. [...] Motivation?Posted by Michelle Butler Jan 22 2012, 10:00 pm in bad habits, eating healthy, exercise, fitness, food diary, Michelle Butler, Michelle Mondays, motivation I can’t seem to find my motivation. I know what I should be doing to pursue my health and fitness goals, but I just can’t seem to do them. To make things worse, baked goods (half the time baked by me!) and other not-wise-food choices keep calling my name, and I answer their cry. I [...]
|
||
Michelle Butler has made becoming a healthy writer a priority in her life. She is nearly 50 pounds down from her highest weight ever and is committed to getting back to a healthy weight for the first time since the age of 20 and making lifetime at Weight Watchers. Luckily, she finds healthy cooking a creative outlet, enjoys classes at the gym such as Zumba, step, body pump (weight lifting), body flow and pilates and is always willing to try new things at least once. One of these days, she’ll learn to appreciate running, but until then the elliptical will remain her favorite piece of exercise equipment.
home | about | the writers | resources | blog | contact
©2010 The Healthy Writer Blog. All rights reserved.
Site designed and maintained by Bemis Promotions.