Live the Ideal Way - New Blog!

Check out my new Blog - Live the Ideal Way!

This is full of ideas, inspiration quotes- and who doesn't love those, recipes, and updates for Living the Ideal Way.
Updates for Ideal Protein program - a great way to lose weight or maintain your Ideal weight.

see you on Live the Ideal Way!

cheers
Judi

Good Year!


What is it about a fresh year meaning a fresh start? The school starts in September, the flowers start to grow in the spring and more animals are born in the spring after a long cold winter.  January 1 falls in the middle of cold, snowy days, just after we have seen the longest day of the year. Hey! that is a good reason to celebrate especially here is Ontario - the days start to get longer. But that is not what people usually think of when they think of January 1.

It is the start of a new year. The start of a new month. Time to make new beginnings. New Resolutions! Time for new hope! This is a great time to reflect on the past - the past year, the past dreams, our health, and see how we can improve the future. We want to learn from our past mistakes or even congratulate ourselves on what we did right. But there is always the underlying thought! How can we improve?
We start simple - wishing everyone a happy New Year. Then move on to making our resolutions - starting personal: drink less, eat better, go to the gym, all the things to make us heathier; then move on to visiting/ calling friends, then the big clincher - how to improve our finances… and of course taking holidays, spending time with families,…
This is a lot to accomplish in one day!
So many resolutions disappear after a day or maybe a week. Or maybe you just never get started. What could make it different this year? Well YOU could!

You are a year older and a year wiser! Take control! Make changes and plan changes that mean something to you! Not the generic `world peace` nice but doesn’t seem to be happening. So what can you do to change just your part of your world?

I started ending the year getting back to my work outs. Didn’t realize how much time had passed but my muscles are letting me know it was a long time. Now I am looking at my calendar to book my workouts.  I am a reluctant exercise participant but love it when I get stated.
2. Back to my blog. Being accountable to me and anyone who reads this. Great way to make you do something.

3. Listen to teleseminar. Time to get back to my course and get something accomplished.

4. Started the day with a good breakfast (after a relaxing sleep in … can’t be too crazy it is Jan 1)

5. Taking time to reflect and plan. Where do I want to go and accomplish this year?

6. Planning a get together for friends.

Nothing too unreasonable. Something I can accomplish.

 I accomplished a lot this year. Lost 40 pounds and was in the best shape ever. Now to get back on track and loose the last 10 pounds. Putting exercise on my calendar will help. Schedule the time. Not something to `get around to`!

Wishing you HEALTH, HAPPINESS and FUN oh and WEALTH in 2010 and beyond. And I will meet you on your journey.

E@t dessert first!

The future is always beginning now.

- Mark Strand

Eat dessert first!

I love the idea of enjoying life.

For so long life seemed a struggle. Just getting through the day! So much to do! Things that needed to be done! Simple everyday tasks just seemed to much. Why cook dinner if no one was going to eat it. Or the suggestion – 'lets not try this recipe again!' The dreary struggle just to get out of bed! Always ready to break in to tears. Crying at commercials! Heavens they are just angels advertising toilet paper!


Maybe you have been there. Maybe you still are there!

But I didn’t like myself very much then. Why would anyone want to be around me if I didn’t want to be around myself?
Some call it depression!
I called it marriage!

You stay together for the kids but is that realistic. Will they appreciate your sacrifice? And it feels like a sacrifice.

You stay together because you are married and the vows you took. But people are breaking the law every day!Answer: Is that paper so important that you can’t just rip it?

You stay together because your job is in your home – not just keeping the home clean but you need the physical building because clients come there.Answer: They could always come someplace else.

You stay together because you can’t afford to be on your own. Answer: There are always ways to make money and you do get half of everything you accumulated during those together days.

You have never been on your own.  Answer: You are never too old to learn something new. Find out who YOU are!

Another b*tch session and the ‘well if you meant it you would do it.'

The brain is a funny thing. It takes awhile to really grasp an idea but once it does it moves. And the Law of Attraction takes effect. Next time I was out for dinner with our group I ended up sitting beside a real estate agent. Next thing I knew I was looking at places to live. Our house was up for sale. And my future was changed.

This brings me back to the idea of enjoying life.

Life is meant to be lived.

Laughter is the best medicine.

I have made some crazy financial decisions in the last few years. But they were MY decisions. I am not saying it wouldn’t have been great to have someone there to discuss my ideas with. Someone to listen to my ideas and share their ideas. Not just the negative – ‘you can’t do that! Have you really thought of what you are doing? What a dumb idea! You aren’t as young as you used to be!’ (duhhhh!) So my decisions are my own! I have been on a very long road through the woods. I am going to get to the other side soon. I am positive! The path may go through many side trips and around many corners but I will get there. I am positive!


Financial freedom is not the goal but a means to the goal. I want to enjoy life. Laugh, meet people and do many new things. I have a bucket list which I add to constantly. Nothing like going to the moon - just not interested … hey wait maybe….! There are so many possibilities.

Be the BEST you can be!  and when in doubt – Eat dessert first! ... You might not have room for it otherwise!

Enjoy life! The future is always beginning now.

Rememebering 911 and Where we were and how far we have come!

Remembering 911 and Where we were?

The year is now 2009. It has been 8 years since the world changed. Everyone is remembering, radio, on facebook, phone calls! Where were you on that September morning when the planes soared to their end? The question for today on so many minds!

There have been many news worthy events that have effected many people but nothing as dramatic as the morning of 911. Wide spread media – from internet to TV. have brought it to our homes – and keep bringing it. So many things have been written about 911.

My mother passed away at 5:30 a.m. on September 11, 2001. The world stopped but I stopped earlier. Saying good-bye, making arrangements,… and then the phone rings – go watch TV!........ We saw but did not compute! We went on our way down to the funeral home, the cemetery. ! spent a lovely day with my dad. Very strange to say tha!. My mom had just died! But it was as if she was watching over us. We were able to remember and know she wasn’t suffering any longer. We went to a nice little restaurant for lunch. And somehow we didn’t hear the world crying!

My daughter went to the airport in Thunder Bay to make arrangements to come home from University. No flights! Now reality is starting to hit. She went three times to be told to come back later. No one knew what to do! She ended up taking the bus from Thunder Bay. It is a long bus ride – 28 hours. Normally an empty bus was now full. She made it just in time for the funeral.

This morning facebook stories tell about the phone calls – new born babies,kids broken legs and visiting the hospital, being sent home from work, TV’s on mute and being turned up, crying all day and nursing babies, … everyone has their story. Thank you for sharing. Many many people died that day and many just stopped living a little bit!

The world goes on! I was working on a scrapbook and putting things in order. Funny how the order became …. Before mom died and what happened after! I started to realize that so much had happened since then. My mind might have stopped but the world did go on.

So much good living has happened. My daughter got married. She had children. My other daughter got married. She had a baby. My life changed.  I became a grandma and also learned to live on my own again. Yes life goes on! But it is so good to remember!

No one really dies if you remember them. The life is in our thoughts, our memories and if we are lucky our pictures. Pray this day! And REMEMBER!

The Pursuit of Happin*ss, the Perfect Job, the Ideal Weight, oh and the INTERNET!

The Pursuit of Happin*ss, the Perfect Job, the Ideal Weight, oh and the INTERNET!

Now I am enjoying the perfect life. Well life style! I am enjoying each day. The sun shining, soft breezes the birds, the loons,… oh did I mention I am at the cottage? Every thing is perfect. Only missing one thing – you guessed it – the INTERNET. I inquired at both Bell and Rogers. Seems that Devil Lake in Ontario is in no man’s land, the devil of a place to get reception – even cell phones do not work.

Imagine my excitement when I found the Westport Tourist Information has FREE wireless connection! I can now sit outside the Information building and enjoy the view of the Big Rideau and check my emails, work on my web site, enter my blog,… you get the picture… all until my battery runs out on my lap top. Seems that is in just over an hour. Time to get things done but not explore.

This is where the fitness part comes in. My computer has decided it is time for a break. So a walk around Westport checking all the shops is on the schedule, then a drive around the countryside listening to my inspirational / motivational cds and back to the cottage.

Being at the cottage without internet and a laptop is not a new experience for me. Now of course everything has changed. I can make the 15 minutes or so trip in to town and send my emails in a timely manner. Don’t feel so isolated or …. Forgotten. There are people (maybe just on auto-responder) but who email me.

What a crazy world we live in that we need to feel connected – ALL THE TIME! Check out your facebook entries. You find out what your friends are doing, what they are watching, where they are going, or where they have been. Pictures of holidays, concerts, or just something they have heard all make it to their posts. And I am loving it! The world is a big place and we just don’t get to see or talk to all the people we meet. Facebook is filling the gap.

I was leery of facebook. Warned about it! You have heard it all! But there is a place for it. I re-met with many friends from high school at a 40th Anniversary reunion (still think the number is wrong!) I don’t have anything in common with them. It has been almost 40 years since we went to school together but the neat thing is we still do connect. We are the same age. Grew up in the same neighbourhood – well for a time and now are grown up. Facebook has provided another link. We read comments or ideas from each other. Next time we meet we won’t be such strangers.

And the INTERNET has provided it. Well I guess it is time for my trip to town. So many emails to send and receive! ENJOY YOUR SUNSHINE! Take a walk and drink your water! And remember to stay focused to be the BEST YOU CAN BE!

To B* or Not to Be - Seriously!

Never take life too seriously; nobody gets out alive.

Received this great email this morning and thought I would like to share with you.

'To get something you never had, you have to do something you never did.' When G*d takes something from your grasp, He's not punishing you, but merely opening your hands to receive something better.

Great words of advice for your personal journey whether you are losing weight, eating better, getting your health in shape, finding your perfect job, or keeping in contact with old or new friends. If you don't do anything nothing will change. You hear it, you see it BUT do you BELIEVE it.
It takes effort to make change. Now everyone has heard the saying it takes15 muscles to smile and 38 to frown. (Variations on numbers) So why not use less energy and smile! According to SNOPES (isn't the internet great) it isn't true!
Counting only the muscles that make significant contributions, he concludes that smiling takes one more muscle than frowning (12 vs. 11).
My take on it is enjoy life! SMILE! LAUGH! It makes you feel better and everyone around you. Effort or calories!?!?! Does it matter? If you feel better you will do more (and that burns the calories!)

So enjoy life. Go for a walk. Go for a drive - then a walk. See something. Do something. Be the best you can. ENJOY life! The rest will fit in.