Saturday, June 19, 2010

Friday afternoons with my Tough Love Goddess




I ran into an old friend a few weeks ago. We hadn't seen each other in ages, so it's taken quite a few coffee sessions and park-bench chats to catch up. One afternoon she gazed straight into my eyes and said, "You look good. How are you feeling?"

It was a sincere question that deserved a sincere answer. So I said, "I feel great, mostly. I just wish I could lose more weight."

To which my friend said, "That's b---s---. You don't wish you could lose weight. You just do it."

The words look bald, even brutal, in black and white, but she said them with such firm, no-nonsense kindness, that instead of bristling I realized she was exactly right. When you want to do something good, it's not enough to sit around thinking about it. You have to get off your butt and do it.

I also realized that you need at least one friend in your life who isn't afraid to tell you when you're b---s---ing. And that there's no such thing as coincidence. But that's material for further reflection. This post is about what I'm doing now that I've gotten off my butt - and how my friend the Tough Love Goddess is helping me.

(I should explain that my friend is half-Greek and that her Greek name is Aphroditi. She is beautiful and feminine, with a big heart and an inner core of steel. She's also a super-fit personal trainer, among other wonderful things. This is why I call her the Tough Love Goddess. TLG for short. She is one of the most amazing women I know, and her story will be coming soon as part of the Wonder Woman series.)

So with TLG I've started walking on Friday afternoons. Yesterday we walked across the Cambie Street Bridge, enjoying the sunshine and the gorgeous views of False Creek, downtown Vancouver and the mountains in the distance.




Before we set out, we stopped by the Terry Fox monument at Robson and Beatty, for a moment of reflection and inspiration.










































I should also mention that I've started making a few changes to my diet. I'm using a combination of principles from The Skinny by Louis J. Aronne, M.D., and The Flat Belly Diet by Liz Vaccariello. I will explain more later, but basically, I'm eating a lot more veggies and filling up with healthy protein and fiber rather than with processed carbs. I've been doing it for just a few days but I feel so much better - not hungry all the time, lots more energy, no more dizziness due to dips in my sugar levels.

The other day I had lunch out...I ordered cedar-planked salmon, and for the first time in my life I asked for more veggies in place of the garlic mashed potatoes. I was rewarded with a forest of asparagus - my favourite veggie. I'm taking it as a sign that this is going to be easier and a lot more fun than I ever would have expected.

Stay tuned for more TLG in upcoming posts!

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