Lisa's Point Of View

How do you express yourself?  I'm not speaking of emotions.  Most of us smile when we are happy, cry when we are sad, and possibly scream when we are mad.   What I am asking, is how do you express who you really are?  Me?  I love to write, and I write this blog.  I love to paint, color,  and draw.  I love photography.  All of these are expressions of who I am.  If you read my writing, if you see my art, if you see my photography, you get a glimpse, or better, of who I really am.   It's good to reach deep into ourselves and express ourselves.  It's good to show others the "real us," and not something that we want others to believe that we are.   I challenge you to do something today that truly expresses who you are.  You don't have to share it, unless it is something that you choose to do.  Post something in the comments about what you are going to do today, as an exercise in self-expressio...

It's the weekend!  Most of us have a three-day weekend for the Memorial Day holiday.   Get outside.  Have fun.  Enjoy friends and family!  Relax!  Forget about work for a little bit!  Take this time to recharge your batteries!   It's a holiday weekend, so some of us may find it hard to stay on track!  Remember, that we have each other!  We have tools to help us!  We have Connect.  We have our Facebook pages!  We have accountability partners.  And, if you don't stay on track, jump right back on track at the next meal!  We can do this.  We can enjoy the weekend, and work on reaching our goals!   Have a terrific weekend! Always remember – YOU ARE AMAZING!   Go out and make it a great day! **If you like this post, please feel free to share it, or to share the link to the blog!  It is with your help that I may reach, and inspire others!  I welcome comments!...

The mirror.  It can be our friend, or our worst enemy! I don't know about you, but my bathroom mirror likes me, or at least, I think it does.  Maybe it's a magic mirror that hides flaws!  Maybe, just maybe, it's an evil mirror, that likes to play practical jokes on me!  You decide. I get dressed in the morning, and I look in the mirror, and I think to myself that I look pretty good today.  Usually, I think that I look thinner.  I leave the house feeling good, and I get to work, and then, it happens.  The elevator doors are mirrored.  The insides of the elevators are lined with mirrors, and there is a huge, full-length mirror in our restroom.  "Holy Crap!  I can't believe that I left the house   looking like this!  What was I thinking?  My clothes are too tight.  You can see every single bulge that I have.  How did I think I look thin?  I sure don't look...

  I always try to make my blog posts, positive.  I try to pick topics that can be helpful, and inspirational to others.  Many of my topics deal with change, and changing our way of thinking.  I am, by no means, an expert on anything that I choose to write about.  I try to live by the words that I write, and try to not be a "Do as I say, and not as I do" person.  However, I do struggle with the positivity aspect at times.  Retraining my brain, is a work in progress. It is a requirement of this journey to retrain our brains.  If we don't, then we probably will not be successful.  We are having to change the way we eat, the way we plan, the way we think about food, the way we exercise, etc.  We all have our ups and downs, and sometimes it is difficult to keep going.  We have moments that we feel hopeful, and moments that we feel discouraged.  Sometimes it is hard to stay on track, and remain positive. When I start h...

 I had this blog post totally written, and I deleted it.  I wanted to take this topic in a completely different direction than I had originally planned. Since my Weigh-In last Saturday, my mind has been racing with thoughts about many different things, and coming to so many different conclusions.  Again, for the third time this week, this will be a sharing post, about my journey.  It may be something that you can relate to, and if so, I hope this helps you! First, on Saturday, I missed my 30 pound, and "half-way to goal" milestone by a mere .2 pounds.  I was discouraged, disappointed, and defeated, to say the least.  I sat in the parking lot and cried, and I couldn't stop the tears for a long time.  It was at this time, that I realized that I am super-hard on myself.  It was brought to my attention that I don't talk to myself the way that I talk to others.  I encourage everyone else.  I support everyone else, but I beat ...

I have figured out that I have succeeded on my weight loss journey thus far, because of guilt.  Yes, there has been discipline, and very strong focus, but guilt has been a major factor in my success.  A lot of people I know, including myself, were raised with guilt hanging over our heads.  If we did something "bad", we were told to go to confession.  (I'm not criticizing my religion, or any religion with that comment.  This is just what we were told.)  If someone corrected us, they always asked if we felt "bad" for what we said or did.  If we didn't feel bad enough, we were made to feel bad enough!  Basically, I have experienced enough guilt in my life, that it comes naturally to me. Maybe I'm an overall good person because of guilt.  I can't be mean to anyone.  I don't try to get revenge for those who have done something to hurt me.  I'm not saying that thoughts never cross my mind, but I just do n...

 Perfection.  I, for one, believe that if there is such a thing as perfection, very few people experience it.  Yes, we strive for perfection.  We may score perfectly on a test, but that doesn't make us perfect people.  We may excel in a sport, but that doesn't make us perfect people.  Everyone would like to be perfect.  However, we can't let ourselves be discouraged, if we don't achieve that perfection. We don't have to be perfect to be amazing.  We are already amazing.  We may weigh more than we like.  We may not like our hair, or anything about our looks.  We may not be good at math.  We may not be good at sports.  We may not be able to draw.  But, take a look at our hearts and at our spirit!  Think about how we never fail to encourage each other.  Think of how we give of ourselves!  Those things are more important than a perfect score on a test, or being able to play a sport, or draw, or anyt...